If a GPU is throttling....

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Deemo13

Deemo13

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Jul 18, 2011
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Hey Tom's

So I made an earlier post in the systems forum stating that my power supply might be on its way out. Its an old unit from the Dell I am using, and its nearing 7 years old. I'm thinking its time for a replacement, but I thought the unit would last at least until I could get a new one.

I've been running stress tests via MSI Kombustor, and I noticed that my GPU (GTX570) is throttling from its stock clock of 732MHz to a lower 366MHz. It seems to happen every couple of seconds or so for about half of a second.

The temperatures are around 75C, so I dont think its throttling because of the temperatures. Would the GPU throttle at 75C? Would it throttle because of insufficient power?

Just curious more than anything. I'm getting a 650W XFX when I get the cash.

Thanks
-Josh
 
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InvalidError

InvalidError

Titan
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AFAIK, the only indication the GPU receives about of how much power is available to the GPU is the number of 75W/150X (6/8-pin) PCIe power connectors that are plugged in. If the PSU cannot deliver that much power, you end up tripping the PSU's OPP/OCP/UVP or under-voltage lock-outs on other components which usually ends up with the PC shutting down or rebooting.
 
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clonazepam

clonazepam

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I can tell you right away, that I have had this issue with my gtx 570. It's basically switching itself over to its 2D profile clocks while in the 3D program. In my situation, it had more than adequate power.

Again, in my situation, I believe I did a fresh install of the drivers. Are you using MSI Afterburner? That software allows you to save profiles. In its options, you can also specify a specific profile for 2D operation, and a default 3D profile.

I realize you aren't currently overclocking, but there could still be some underlying software glitch that's causing the card to switch back and forth between its 2D and 3D profiles.

Did you install nVidia's Performance (ntune) add-on for the nvidia control panel? It adds its own overclocking section to the nvidia control panel, and saves its setting in:

C:\Users\(Your_Username)\AppData\Local\NVIDIA Corporation\nTune\Profiles. There's two files there, sysdflt.nsu and userdflt.nsu. You can safely delete those, as they will be auto-generated again. I've had this resolve some issues for me. That's assuming you even installed it. This step would be reserved for the situation where you decided to do a complete cleaning out of the system by uninstalling all of the nvidia software, as well as MSI's Afterburner/Kombustor software.

Lastly, and most importantly, I would absolutely replace that power supply as soon as possible. It's total watts might be sufficient, but its very possible its not supplying the necessary amps to the rails.
 
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Deemo13

Deemo13

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I figured that if the GPU (or anything else for that matter) was not getting enough power, that it would shut down. It didnt. I still want to change the power supply anyway, since the current one had not been well taken care of.

I am currently using MSI Afterburner, and there are no overclocks on my system. Its all stock. I might try that profile trick to see if it is the cause of the problem.

Would I be able to see clearly if I installed the ntune? I most likely wouldnt have if I was given the choice, but it might be on there.

The power supply is going to be replaced by an Antec HCG-900 that I found for $100 new at Fry's. So I am going to go with that over the XFX (since I am sort of an Antec fan lol).

EDIT: I forgot to mention that in my other post in the Systems Forum, I've had some games crashing lately that are on the heavier side of 3D. Shogun II and Fallout 3 so far, but I am unsure if this is because of this particular problem. It might just be because Fallout 3 is buggy for Win7 and I was running the Shogun II benchmark, which might be buggy.
 
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ihog

ihog

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Card could be dying, maybe the PSU is giving a tiny bit less voltage than it should be (like if you're overclocking and the voltage is too low, causing a driver crash).

Try some other benches/games. Like Unigine Heaven.
 
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