Semi-new to this, but had the stuff on my computer for months before I decided to dive in. Was wondering a few things and I thought this might be a good place to start, since I have to post here before I can post anywhere else. I have a 7970 I use for gaming and was always scared of stressing it out with mining, but I need to start investing time into something and these seemed reasonable for me.
Anyway, what is a temperature too high for leaving my GPU on for mining? Last night is when I started and before it would easily hit 80C when I tried a few months ago, but I setup one of my fans right next to my case and it helps push air out so it was teetering at 59-62C for some hours which I was content with. I woke up this morning and it was at 66C. I think I might be worrying too much, but just in case it got too hot I set an alarm for my computer to turn off if it hits 72C. I know that isn't that bad of a temp, but running it constantly worries me. I need to know average temps and run time? I plan on investing in hardware specifically for mining once I get a few bitcoins.
Also any recommended pools that pay decently? Right now I'm using Slush's pool and it seems fine. I don't want to hop around, I want to be dedicated to one server. If there are any other tips, please throw them my way.
