I bought an ASUS RTX 5050 8GB about a month ago, and the memory temperature stays around 70–72°C even when the system is idle and the GPU fans are running. HWiNFO64 reports an average memory temperature of roughly 70°C, while the GPU core sits around 48–51°C. The card does downclock normally—the memory can drop to 101 MHz and PCIe speed falls to 2.5 GT/s. My Lenovo P340 Tower has limited airflow, with only a rear vent and the stock CPU cooler. A local PC service suggested idle temperatures should be closer to 40–43°C, and the retailer advised sending the card in for service since the return period has ended. I have also opened a support ticket with ASUS. Is this memory temperature abnormal, or could the case airflow be responsible?
3 Answers
The case airflow is probably the first thing to investigate. A single rear exhaust fan and a stock CPU cooler may not move enough air across the graphics card, especially in a compact prebuilt system. Try checking the temperature with the side panel temporarily removed. If it drops noticeably, adding an intake fan or improving the case ventilation would likely help.
A 70–72°C memory temperature at idle is higher than expected, but the exact normal range depends on the card’s sensor calibration, fan-stop behavior, room temperature, and case design. Since the card is new and the memory stays that warm even while downclocked, document the temperatures with screenshots and let ASUS or the retailer inspect it. I would avoid opening the cooler or replacing thermal pads while it is under warranty.
Check whether the memory clock is actually dropping at idle in HWiNFO or Afterburner. If it remains at a high clock because of a second monitor, high refresh rate, HDR, or an application using the GPU, that can keep VRAM warmer. In this case, though, 101 MHz memory and 2.5 GT/s PCIe show that it is entering a normal low-power state, so the temperature is more likely related to the cooler, thermal pads, ambient temperature, or restricted airflow.
I confirmed that the memory drops as low as 101 MHz and the PCIe link also reduces speed, so it seems to be downclocking correctly.
The GPU core stays around 48–51°C, so I was mainly concerned that only the memory temperature is so high. The system does have very limited airflow, though.