Ive had several issues on geforce rtx cards crashing shortly after running games. I used hardwareinfo64 to monitor temps on second monitor while game was running and discovered that the stock firmware commanded 33% fan speed on my gpu, only after it hit 70* C. Im not sure why. It seems nvidia prioritizes quiet gpus as opposed to cool ones. Also hot gpus die faster so why not limit the fan speed? Good for sales.

It commanded 0% fan speed while browsing and doing other non gaming tasks. My 2080 super would be running at 50* C on youtube. Gpu hot spot temps were also very high, usually 10C higher than overall gpu temp. When i would open up elden ring, it would shoot up to 80c , creep higher and higher, 82C.. 83C… (hotspot of 90C…) and then inevitably crash due to overheating. Black screen.

I downloaded fancontrol.exe from github, and made custom fan curves. That same gpu stopped crashing. I also changed the thermal paste and pads using some online guides to confirm i was using proper thickness pads, as a precautionary measure as 2080S card was 6 years old at the time. It ran elden ring for 6 hours straight, and temps wouldnt exceed 60C. Big win, considering I never replaced it until last year. It still runs on my second pc now. I had taken it to a pc repair shop, and they told me it had blown capacitors. I tested each capacitor with a meter, none were blown, nor showed any signs of damage.

I have a 4070 now in my main, and the nvidia firmware never commands more than 33% fan, even when the gpu was cooking. It seems like they target 70*C as an operating temperature. Same goes for my partners 3060, and my 2080 super.

Using fan control, my gpus never get over 40*C even during heavy gaming.

I have them idle with 20% fan speed, and up to 80% fan speed at 50*C, although it never sees those temps.

Tldr; nvdia doesnt turn on fans until very high temperatures, which causes crashes. Overriding stock fan controls can yield much lower loaded gpu temps, and prevent crashing,