UK datacenters benefit from a cooler average ambient than warmer climates, but GPU thermals on a dedicated server still deserve active monitoring. Throttling is the first sign of a thermal problem, and catching it before it matters keeps customer-facing performance steady.
Contents
Limits
| GPU | Throttle Temp | Max Operating |
|---|---|---|
| RTX 4060 Ti | ~85°C | 90°C |
| RTX 3090 | ~83°C | 93°C |
| RTX 5080 | ~85°C | 90°C |
| RTX 5090 | ~88°C | 90°C |
| RTX 6000 Pro | ~88°C | 93°C |
Monitor
Three metrics via DCGM Exporter:
DCGM_FI_DEV_GPU_TEMP: core temperatureDCGM_FI_DEV_MEM_TEMP: memory temperature (GDDR6X/7 runs hotter than core)DCGM_FI_DEV_THERMAL_VIOLATION: cumulative time throttled by thermals
Memory temp is the sleeper – on heavy LLM decode, VRAM can hit 95-100°C while core stays at 75°C. GDDR7 runs a few degrees cooler than GDDR6X in equivalent conditions.
Alerts
- alert: GPUCoreTempHigh
expr: DCGM_FI_DEV_GPU_TEMP > 80
for: 10m
- alert: GPUCoreTempCritical
expr: DCGM_FI_DEV_GPU_TEMP > 87
for: 1m
- alert: GPUMemoryTempHigh
expr: DCGM_FI_DEV_MEM_TEMP > 100
for: 5m
- alert: GPUThermalThrottling
expr: increase(DCGM_FI_DEV_THERMAL_VIOLATION[5m]) > 0Remediation
Sustained high temps mean one of three things:
- Chassis airflow is blocked – check intake and exhaust
- Ambient datacenter temp rose – contact the facility
- Workload pushed a previously-marginal card past its limit – lower power limit (
nvidia-smi -pl) to restore headroom
On our UK facility, sustained alerts are rare because ambient is stable and we provision chassis with airflow margin.
Thermal-Stable UK Hosting
Cool-ambient UK datacenters with active thermal monitoring on every dedicated GPU.
Browse GPU ServersSee DCGM Exporter and GPU power management.
