RTX 3080 High temperature during play

When playing POE, the GPU temperature is quickly going up to 100 degrees. My computer case is an Alienware R13 with good ventilation and was cleaned up recently. My graphic setting are set to High/Ultra everywhere as optimized by Nvidia Experience driver thingy. The GPU utilization is fairly low (~30%) and the memory usage is also reasonable.

The temperature should not be spiking that high and causing the fans to spin loudly. I have seen others in the forum having the same issue.

It is happening more often on certain maps. For example, in Desert Hideout the GPU temperature is averaging 90 and when going to Karui Shores it is going to 100 and fans start spinning, same on maps. Some maps are worse than others.

I believe the problem should not be happening because comparing with other highly demanding games such as Death Stranding, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and others, the issue is not felt and GPU temperature are at a comfy 60 to 70. All graphic settings are maxed out on those games too.

I have switched my graphic settings to low one by one to try and isolate the issue and have found the it is caused by "Shadows + GI Quality". When set to "Low (Default)" the CPU temperature drops down to 70 in Desert Hideout and stays the same in maps and other areas.


Am hoping this can be investigated or at least give information to other players if they get the same issue.

Could you double-check the name of your video card?

There is no “RTX 3030”.


When you say changing the Shadows + Global Illumination setting reduces temperature, did you mean to say of the video card, or is your CPU also experiencing high temperatures?

Sorry yeah, typo in the card's name. Correct name is Nvidia RTX 3080.

The setting I changed in the Path Of Exile's setting, Option -> Graphics -> Detail Settings -> "Shadows + GI Quality". No settings on the graphic card was changed.

As for the CPU, no changes in temperature with out without the fix. Issue does not seem to cause CPU to heat up.

Couple more observations. Setting the in-game setting "Lighting" to "Shadows (Default)" also fixes the issue. It seems to be related to Global Illumination only, either setting when removing GI is solving the issue.

Have also tested with MTX and without, does not seem to have an effect. Scene lighting must be at cause when the Global Illumination feature is on.