Does the graphic card overheat if the power supply is not powerful enough?

[Baanbhatt]

I have a clear doubt going around in my mind. I have been working around with my Radeon ATI card and found that it keeps on overheating all the time with no reason. Even if I do not run any high settings game the card goes beyond 80 degree. My fan is properly installed and working at 90%. But still the graphic card is overheating.

The main problem occurred when I consulted two my friends. Both their view point were completely different and opposite. One of them said that the problem is with the dust on the card so cleaning the card could play some trick where as the other one said that the problem is with the power supply. I will have to get such a PSU that would provide a sufficient power to the card. However I do not agree with the other friend’s suggestion as I don’t see any relation between the PSU and the graphic card. Is it really true that lack of power supply can overheat or harm the graphic card?

[Omanand]

That’s an interesting question my friend. Do not doubt your other friends as he has somewhat predicted the right thing. There are huge chances of a graphic card overheating if it is not getting enough power supply. Usually graphic cards are supposed to get a minimum power supply in order to function smoothly without any issue. Mostly the issue that has been noted down with the graphic card is the overheating problem. Make sure that before you always install the graphic card in your system verify the minimum Watts require for it to run smoothly.

[Dixie-R]

Yes, you will always find the minimum watts requirement mentioned on your graphic card. I am not sure what issue you might get if you do not install a proper powerful PSU for your system but definitely you might end up getting a problem if the minimum requirement of the card is not fulfilled.

I too have the same graphics installed in my machine i.e. ATI Radeon 4770 and the minimum power supply needed for this card to function smoothly is 450Watts and this is what installed in my computer. However until now I haven’t faced any problem.

[Emeryjon]

I do not agree with any of your comments. That amount of power supply doesn’t really makes any difference. My graphic card is getting overheated and also sometimes crashes my system. I must say that my situation is almost similar as mentioned above. Even if my computer is at idle state the card overheats as if I am playing a high resolution computer game. Initially when I asked a computer technician he told me that there is something wrong with my power supply unit and told me to check whether my graphic card is getting sufficient amount of power. He was sure that my card is not getting enough power but after i checked I found that the PSU was proper and also it was providing enough amount of power to the card.

Over heating of the graphic card has nothing to do with the power supply. There might be something wrong with the heatsink or thermal grease or the fan installed on the graphic card.

[singham2011]

Whenever I find any overheating problem with my ATI graphic card the first and the foremost thing I do is check out the thermal paste applied on the graphic because I am sure that the thermal paste might have dried up which in turns affects the card directly. Always remember that if the thermal paste on the graphic card and the heatsink is dried up then it means that the thermal paste has completely lost its effectiveness.

The lack of thermal paste effect disturbs the heatsink and therefore the heat generated due to the graphic card is not taken out through the heatsink. If you wanted to get rid of the any overheating issue firstly check the thermal grease and then replace it with a fresh paste. always verify and check the paste after every 2 to 3 years.