Latest graphics driver overclocking issue

[Kabuka]

Hi,
I've come across a problem where the latest graphics driver version provided by the driver manager tends to overclock my gpu to ridiculously high level of performance without even starting doing anything.

Inside the nvidia graphics settings, it shows two level of performance 0&1. Level 0 already keeps the gpu on a temperature between 60 & 70 Celsius degrees.
When I just open a folder or open the browser, it switches to level 1 where it overclocks the gpu and the temperature raises to 100 Celsius degrees.

Of course, I applied a new and good quality thermal paste(corsair), reinstalled linux, installed the latest graphics driver manually but got the same dead end.
Now I am operating on the open source (xserver-xorg-video-noveau) version 1:1.0.16-1 which means worse performance but normal gpu temperatures.

- System specs:
Linux Mint 20.2 Cinnamon - Version: 5.0.5
Linux kernel: 5.4.0-84-generic
Processor: Intel© Core™ i7-2720QM CPU @ 2.20GHz × 4
Memory: 7.7 GiB
Graphics Card: NVIDIA Corporation GF119M [NVS 4200M]

[mikeflan]

Welcome to the forum.

There is nothing wrong with using any driver that works well for you. I use nouveau on this computer of mine.

On another computer I used the 460 driver for months, then I accidentally upgraded to the 470 driver and it worked OK. So I stuck with that. I see no noticeable performance difference between this computer and my 470 driver computer, but I tend to get pretty good graphics cards on my computers. My graphics cards typically cost $350 to $600 since I do GIS.