GTX 970 Running hot

Hey all. I have recently built a new pc with a GTX 970 Strix GPU. When I first started using it it seemed fine, staying relatively cool when playing The Evil Within and The Last Remnant. However after a few days it started running extremely hot at 90C almost immediately after starting the game. This started happening after I installed two case fans to give it more airflow, my case is the Silverstone MIL07 by the way, and after I removed the fans the temperature stayed at the same 90C. When running at idle it seems fine staying at around 50C but as soon as I start gaming everything goes down hill. Ive also tried reinstalling drivers which had no effect. Anyone have any idea why this may be happening?

RMA

I know the EVGA 970s run really hot, but that sounds too hot. Id RMA

Are you using any fan profile in MSi afterburner ?

Thats something I noticed with the 970's and 980's. They run hot. Maybe remove those fans and see if there is an improvement. However while i was at a convention, they had dual 980's playing bf4 and they were rocking 98,99 degrees. Even on a hot summers day, my 780 at stock clock sees a max of 77. I dont think asus lets you remount the heat sink (I would otherwise recommend opening it up, clean out the dust and apply better thermal paste. With asus that voids the warranty so I would RMA if changing your fan config doesnt help. Remember ambient temps will affect the cards temps. 

I think he already tried removing the fans. It sucks, but a RMA is the only option, IMO.

Thanks guys. I was afraid this was the case but if theirs no other way i guess ill have to RMA

Upon further expection i figured out the problem. The bracket that you use to hold the graphics card in place in the MIL07 was not wide enough to fit on the gpu so i used electrical tape to hold in place. When i taped it, it caused the GPU to bend slightly, which kept the heatsink from making  good contact with card. After removing the tape however, the card is back to normal. Thanks to Rudster forgiving me the idea by making the suggestion about the heatsink.

I have two of the Strix 970s. I noticed that they were sagging but I haven't had time to build a bracket for them yet. I will say as for the heat goes, I have only had the fans turn on when playing BF4. Even when they do kick on the most I have seen on my cards was 63c. So I am with everyone else and say RMA it.

90C seams realy hot to me, thats more terrible then a reference 290X lol.