This is because it is not really a low voltage design. It has a power converter (the one top left of the GPU) which converts the 5V voltage supply of the PCI bus to the acual voltage the card needs. This linear power converter emits additional heat which gets distributed to the PCB.

Too hot to touch is relative.. but I won't worry if the temp is around 70-80°C.

Sounds like the Voodoo3 PCI. I'm sure you could fry an egg on those.

I had a few of these and I know how hot they get, you can always tell when you get one that has seen a lot of use as the pcb will be darker in some spots. The only solution is to either add a fan or install a better cooler that has a fan. They can overclock a little on the side once the cooling is improved.

FGB wrote:

This is because it is not really a low voltage design. It has a power converter (the one top left of the GPU) which converts the 5V voltage supply of the PCI bus to the acual voltage the card needs. This linear power converter emits additional heat which gets distributed to the PCB.

Too hot to touch is relative.. but I won't worry if the temp is around 70-80°C.

Thanks, that makes a lot of sense actually!

I made a measurement, stuck a sensor to the heatsink and back of the PCB. I could not get a reading higher than 54 C under load.

I have run the G200 for years on a computer running 24/7 without the fan and never had an issue. Once I felt the heat though, I added a fan, but that was after years of no fan.

Is that a voltmeter that can measure temperature???
My first G200 died because of heat (I received it dead on arrival).
I guess they tend to get warm.

Arctic wrote:

Is that a voltmeter that can measure temperature??? http://www.aquarium-forum.at/images/smilies/icon_eek.gif My first G200 died […]
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Is that a voltmeter that can measure temperature???
My first G200 died because of heat (I received it dead on arrival).
I guess they tend to get warm.

Yeah, I suddenly remembered that the voltmeter I bought came with a temperature sensor 😀 I guess it's 'just' a temperature-dependant resistor, but good enought for my use. It's not really exact, the booklet says +/- 2 C.

They are usually thermocouples, not so muh thermistors.

My PCI Matrox G200 seems to run hot too and its not just the heat-sink, heat radiates through the whole card. Even though I didn't experience any stability issues I installed a fan for good measure.

As I no longer run a this system 24/7, I removed the fan because the Voodoo2 favoured the only slot which could accommodate a fan.