GTX 660Ti Thinks It's a 680. Possible Power Consumption Issue

dbarkowsky · Jul 11, 2016

I took everything apart to clean the dust out of my computer. When I put it back together and tried to play some games, I was getting 20FPS instead of my usual 60. After some investigation, it seems that my computer has decided that I have a GTX 680, not a 660Ti. I've been using this card for about 3 years without any problems.

http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/16/07/11/m8m.png
Here it suggests that it is drawing too much power (presumably for a 680 though), and I'm thinking that's why it is holding back on performance. Any help that would get it sorted out would be greatly appreciated.

Here's the Reddit thread where I have asked the same question.
https://redd.it/4s85hf
Someone there suggested to try and flash it, but that's a little out of my comfort zone unless absolutely necessary.

In short, I've tried the following:
Reseating in another slot.
Clearing the drivers with DDU and installing the current ones again.
Inspecting components.
Changing NVIDIA 3d settings.

Been on chat with an NVIDIA rep. He has been helpful, but no solution so far.
The GPU-Z log is interesting. It shows that during a game, the clock speeds did not increase, but it registered at 100% load.

William Henrickson · Jul 11, 2016

My theories might be bs, but maybe nVidia would be interested in this conundrum, WOW.

Perhaps this fused off 680 cut down broke its cage and has more CUDA's active, maybe defective ones. SO WEIRD!

k1114 · Jul 11, 2016

Does it show the right specs in gpuz?

dbarkowsky · Jul 11, 2016

William Henrickson :

Haha, well that would be great if it would perform like a 680. Right now, it isn't doing much at all.

dbarkowsky · Jul 11, 2016

k1114 :

No, it does not.
http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/16/07/12/9sa.png

dbarkowsky · Jul 11, 2016

Additional info: it seems that whenever I completely remove it and put it back, the first time it starts it will start with the fans at 100%. Windows eventually gets somewhat loaded, but it is clicking in and out. Almost like when the power goes go. Still strongly suspecting a power issue.

k1114 · Jul 12, 2016

The only way it says the wrong model is if the bios was flashed. This gets done to trick people when buying the card. Did you buy this new?

dbarkowsky · Jul 12, 2016

k1114 :

I bought it new and have been using it for three years where it worked flawlessly. The model is definitely what I said it is. Serial number shows it. My computer has had no problems identifying it properly until now.

dbarkowsky · Jul 13, 2016

Can anyone make sense of the GPU-Z log? It shows that the core and memory clocks didn't increase, but it considers the load to have increased.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B39FM2qUdT5_cHRhS3ZOWjFwUTQ/view?usp=sharing

It doesn't look nice on Google Drive, but if you open it with a text editor that's not Notepad, it's easy to read.

William Henrickson · Jul 13, 2016

Bro, cosmic rays flip bits, all the time. I think your only hope is to NVFlash a fresh 660Ti ROM.

k1114 · Jul 13, 2016

The chances of any type of data corruption changing to exactly what corresponds to a 680 is near impossible. It might have always been reading like that but cleaning the pc must have done something. Maybe a short to it damaging it and giving you the erroneous power reading. That would be causing gpu not to go full speed if it thinks it's getting too much power already. Are you still under warranty? See if they will replace it either way but don't mention the cleaning part.

dbarkowsky · Jul 20, 2016

Update: I had the power supply and the card bench tested. Both checked out as working properly. I 100% out of ideas at this point. The motherboard I guess? Or a software issue that for some reason wasn't resolved by completely clearing and installing new drivers.

William Henrickson · Jul 20, 2016

Flash a ROM or throw it away already

dbarkowsky · Jul 20, 2016

William Henrickson :

Again, that was a last resort, and now it's clear that it's not the issue due to the bench test. I have nothing to gain by flashing it.

William Henrickson · Jul 20, 2016

Been working on computers as a repair technician for 12 years, and I have no idea what a bench test is. What does that even mean?

EDIT: You sound like you got scammed by someone and they didn't do diddly squat. What do you have to lose by flashing it at this point. Sorry for sounding snippy but you are wasting your time being paranoid.

k1114 · Jul 21, 2016

If it's working properly as you said then you can just ignore the wrong name. But it's obviously a vbios issue and nothing else will do anything.

junkeymonkey · Jul 21, 2016

'' it seems that my computer has decided that I have a GTX 680, not a 660Ti ''

well there been ''gray market'' or ''fake'' cards where they as k1114 said above guys would flash a lesser card with a better card bios and sell it off as a better card when in fact it not

also I seen gpu-z read cards wrong like you got a older card using the latest gpu-z ?? try a older gpu-z from around your cards release time frame and see if it shows correct [maybe gpu-z 6.9 or something ?? ]

thing is are you 100% sure the card did read 660 before or just now noticing its showing as a 680 ??

also under NVidia control panel under system info it should also state the cards model correctly as well

hard to find a good link as a example on the ''fake'' cards anymore

https://www.reddit.com/r/pcmasterrace/comments/2etcwo/german_website_watch_out_any_german_pcmr_sisters/

https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic/940431/off-topic/is-this-card-fake-/

http://www.overclock.net/t/1460019/warning-fake-gtx-680s

https://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/flashing-fake-gtx-680.201711/

dbarkowsky · Jul 21, 2016

William Henrickson :

It was at a reputable store: Memory Express. A bench test is essentially them testing it on their bench system for 24 hrs at full load and monitoring it. According to them, it's working fine. I appreciate your suggestions, even though it is sounding snippy at this point, but there's no sense in doing it anymore if it has been ruled out.

If it's working properly as you said then you can just ignore the wrong name. But it's obviously a vbios issue and nothing else will do anything.

I think the vbios issue is ruled out with the successful testing. It's still not working properly on my system. PSU and GPU are ruled out. Even though I thought the motherboard was okay, I think I'm at the point where that's the only variable left.

well there been ''gray market'' or ''fake'' cards where they as k1114 said above guys would flash a lesser card with a better card bios and sell it off as a better card when in fact it not

also I seen gpu-z read cards wrong like you got a older card using the latest gpu-z ?? try a older gpu-z from around your cards release time frame and see if it shows correct [maybe gpu-z 6.9 or something ?? ]

thing is are you 100% sure the card did read 660 before or just now noticing its showing as a 680 ??

I've had it for three years. I doubt Newegg would ship a "fake" card. It has always read properly before. I've only started using GPU-Z when I noticed the problem existed. Everything else sees it the same way: device manager, NVidia's tools, CPU-ID, and HWmonitor.

junkeymonkey · Jul 22, 2016

sounds like just run it as is if seemingly working as normal ? just shrug shoulders and let it bop till it drops and replace it if or when necessary ??

cant say for sure but when you handled the card to do the cleaning job maybe something like a static charge affected the cards bios chip or corrupted it in a way its not able to read proper??

try the card in another capable computer to see if it shows all the same in it as in yours ??

dbarkowsky · Jul 24, 2016

Final news. It seems the hardware on the video card was fried after all. Another motherboard couldn't even get past POST with it. Not happy with the 100% OK diagnosis I received before. I'll be talking to them tomorrow.

GTX 660Ti Thinks It's a 680. Possible Power Consumption Issue

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