The default fan curve is controlled by the card's VBIOS unless it's overridden by software such as EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner..The card has an ACX 2.0 cooler and by default the fan won't turn on until the GPU temperature hits 60C unless overridden by software such as EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner.
 
The card is designed to maximize performance over, and at the expense of temperature (less fan noise), so higher GPU temperatures are not out of the ordinary when the fan is not being controlled by software..Your PC case airflow may not be so good, you could take the side panel off and see how much it matters..The Maximum GPU Temperature for a GTX 960 chip is 98C. 

arestavo

CoffeeKeepsMeGoing
The other day i noticed my video card hit 83c for the first time ever, and i saw thermal throttling taking place while playing games. apparently the precision x i usually have set up to load on windows boot did not load, and because of that my custom fan curve did not kick in....
 
my question is, isnt there some sort of a default fan setting for the video card regardless if the precision x is running or not? it seems dangerous not to have the fan automatically run even if precision isnt running and end up going into thermal throttling mode.
 
thx for feedback

Yes, and what you're seeing IS the default way Nvidia set their GPUs to run without software like Afterburner or PrecisionX fan curve changes.

 
so then anyone who doesnt run software to set up fans will have to regularly tolerate thermal throttling if it hits high temps?? thats a terrible design on nvidia's part...
 
 

bob16314
The default fan curve is controlled by the card's VBIOS unless it's overridden by software such as EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner..The card has an ACX 2.0 cooler and by default the fan won't turn on until the GPU temperature hits 60C unless overridden by software such as EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner.
 
The card is designed to maximize performance over, and at the expense of temperature (less fan noise), so higher GPU temperatures are not out of the ordinary when the fan is not being controlled by software..Your PC case airflow may not be so good, you could take the side panel off and see how much it matters..The Maximum GPU Temperature for a GTX 960 chip is 98C. 

the thing im confused about, is if the fan kicks in automatically via the card's bios at 60c, shouldnt it have prevented my card from hitting 83c?