Graphics card dropping performance level and under clocking for no reason

sparkey6 · Oct 19, 2016

My 980ti has been acting up recently, it'll run completely fine running EVE, Wow and the new DOOM, but it has started to lower its clock speed.
Using Nvidia Inspector it shows its dropping into lower performance levels. The drop will happen when i load a game, such as the ones listed, but will only do it randomly, like ill be playing eve or wow for hours, then play doom for a bit, then coming back to wow will cause it to drop into performance level 2 or even down to 1.
The graphics card is factory overclocked by PNY and I've done no overclocking myself, I've ran a stress test for an hour and had no issues.

Any help would be greatly appreciated because its getting really frustrating at this point.

My Specs are:
PNY OC 980Ti
i7 4790k
MSI gaming 7 motherboard
750w RM series corsair PSU

Multipack · Oct 19, 2016

It could be throttling because of memory overload or high temps. What stress test was it? Did it max out the power and gpu usage? Most benches dont max the memory out like games do.

Are you monitoring the GPU stats in Afterburner or similar? Whats maxed out when it crashes? Is the core clock getting throttled or running at max frequency?

sparkey6 · Oct 19, 2016

Multipack :

The temps never go above 70c when under full load, and its never at that max when it goes wrong, the stress test was 3dmarks fire strike stress test, gpu load was at 99% and power was 97-99% load, memory wouldn't be high though.

I've got afterburner installed but i use HWmonitor to check clock speeds and loads. Nothing does seem to be maxed out when the issue occurs. The clock speed drops from 1164 down to 505mhz and memory goes down from 3506 to 3300Mhz. these are the ones set in the performance level 2 in Nvidia Inspector, i can alter these and make it go back up to the desired speed without any issue thus far.
When running the stress tests its able to run at its OC clock of 1329Mhz solidly for the entire run, and doesn't go above 70c

Multipack · Oct 19, 2016

No the memory clock crashes it usually, not the VRAM cache. Overheating is usually the problem, and that isnt recorded with the GPU temps. Afterburner gives more detailed info on various stats. Also, max clock speed doesn't mean usage, in the same way a CPU core can run at 4Ghz without being under load.

You could either try underclocking the power or taking it off OC (whichever performance number that is in nvidia inspector) mode to see if it makes a difference. If it only happens in OC mode then you know thats the issue. If not it's a real problem.

sparkey6 · Oct 19, 2016

Multipack :

Okay, i haven't changed any settings, its still running on its base clocks. I'm just kind of confused on why its able to do stress tests, and sometimes be able to play games all day without issue but after a restart it can randomly trigger when loading up a game, even if that isn't the first game to be loaded.
And i meant that the GPU would go to 98% under the utilization tab on HWmonitors while being at 100 ish % power while in the stress test.

Multipack · Oct 19, 2016

Do you just mean the power and usage fluctuate? Because they will all naturally go down when not under load, even clock speed. Does it affect fps or crash games? Or do you just mean the perf level in Nvidia Inspector goes back to default when you change games? Because they adapt depending on load. Sorry, am trying to keep up here lol.

Check the Overclocking section towards the bottom http://wiki.step-project.com/Guide:NVIDIA_Inspector

sparkey6 · Oct 19, 2016

Multipack :

Ah okay, sorry i think i've explained this poorly. When the issue occurs and it drops into performance level 2, the clock speed goes from 1164Mhz down to 595Mhz, the Power goes down to about 45% but the GPU usage stays at 98%.
So its using 100% of its 595Mhz clock speed but it doesnt require the full power available, and this is noticeable in game with overall reduced frame rates.

Normally it can run at its factory boost clock of 1329Mhz at nearly 100% power and GPU usage for hours without issue, such as in the stress test.

I only found out about the performance levels once i had a look into Nvidia inspector. So i'm not entirely sure what the trigger might be to cause it to drop into the lower state, there is also no way i can unlock it from that state unless i restart the computer, to which it can sometimes not have the issue again until turning the computer off and on again, or it can happen again within a couple game swaps.

Thanks for the help, i'm truly lost on this issue lol

Multipack · Oct 19, 2016

So basically it's downclocking itself when under load and affecting games? And you cant raise the clock again without a restart?

You should definitely try locking the profile as I think the dynamic change could be an issue. Its easier to set everything yourself when overclocking a GPU. I can't see any other reason, unless maybe your PSU is faulty but it's a good model and unlikely. I would say its to do with your GPU being overclocked or throttled somehow.

Try MSI Afterburner lol.

sparkey6 · Oct 19, 2016

Multipack :

Not when its under load, it will do it on the loading of a game, often before anything GPU intensive has began, i'm able to move the clocks back using Nvidia Inspector. And i'm not sure how i would lock the profile so it can't change.

Multipack · Oct 19, 2016

Read that article I linked about locking the performance level. Its easy. Otherwise they change dynamically, and it is going to a lower profile for some games obviously. Dont know why but thats why dynamic overclocking is a bad idea and you should set it yourself unless you use your cards own in-built OC profile maybe.

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