- Dec 8, 2014
- 31
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- 4,530
I recently picked up an MSI GTX 980 Gaming 4G. The card runs very well and I'm extremely happy with a single 980 atm, (I came from SLi 970's that got returned shortly after the 3.5GB memory controversy). When the Witcher III came out I found that I could easily play at 1080p with Ultra settings, (including hair-works) or 1440p with slightly adjusted High settings, (Hair-Works off). After a few days of playing I found myself really wanted to get a little more out of my card. After I OC'd a little with Afterburner I found myself wanting a little more... and then more... you see where this is going...?
A few days into my addiction with finding a nice and stable OC for my MSI 980 I started recognizing that even though my card would benchmark and game with stability - the card would start throttling as soon as it hit 61c. The throttling was mild, but it would take my 1500Mhz core to around 1466Mhz as soon as it hit 61c. Also, as long as the card was under 61c it would allow the full rated 1.2250 volts but as soon as 61c hit it would drop randomly to around 1.0000 volts. I attempted to offset this by raising the core past 1500Mhz so when it throttled it would only drop it to around 1503Mhz but that's where I ran into stability issues. No amount of Power Limiter or adding mV would effect the card. Afterburner and GPU-Z would not register any changes no matter what I raised the Power Limit / mV settings to...
After racking my brain for days I came to the realization that the OC's I had were in fact stable... it was the throttling that was compromising stability. This really started to aggravate me. I felt as if I was being cheated. There isn't anything dangerous with running 1.2250 volts so why was it throttling? Finally one night I spent hours scourging the web trying to find a solution. After pages of reading I finally found some others that were having the same issue. Suggestions ranged from RMA'ing the card to just dealing with it. Post after post I read through when FINALLY I found someone who not only experienced the issue but stated that he had fixed it with a custom bios flash.
Now, I'm no beginner when it comes to things like this... on the other hand... I'm no expert either. I've actually flashed a few cards back in the day but that feels like ages ago. After carefully reading through multiple guides and accepting the penalty of potential failure... I did it. After the Flash completed and I performed a quick reset... a magical thing happened... My card, was now at, 1.2750 under GPU load... and STABLE. No Throttling! Temps were great. Stability was great. HUGE difference.
The flash occurred a few nights ago. Since then I've been able to STABLIY OC my MSI GTX 980 to 1550Mhz Core and 2000Mhz Memory. It's rock solid. I'm able to run all my benchmards, (Vally, Heaven and 3dMark FireStrike Exteme). On top of that I've logged around 10 hours of Witcher III since then too. Temps are a tad higher but I have a good setup / environment to keep the card happy and cool. Max recorded temps is 75c, average running temps around 66c. FurMark is where it hit 75c but to be honest I stopped running it. It feels unrealistic and I've had it give me a lot of random non-stability related issues with the GTX 960, 970 and this 980.
Just a few moments ago I actually popped out the MSI 980 and removed the factory thermal paste. The did a HORRENDOUS job and really made a mess of things. After the reapplication of some Noctua NT-H1 the cards running even cooler. 5 pass-through of Valley, Heaven and Firestrike Extreme resulted in a MAX core temp of 67c.
So, here is what I'm leading up to. The reason I made this extremely long and overly informative post... Under load, is 1.2750 safe? My current OC's are rock solid and at some point I may try to find this cards seemingly elusice wall. For now I'm extremely happy with my 1550Mhz / 2000Mhz OC... but the addiction is ravenous. One day, I'll want more.
Thanks for reading and my advance gratitude to any replies!
OH, I almost forgot. With my OC I'm able to run the Witcher III at 1440p with MAX settings, (other than Hairworks, I keep that off) and average around 50fps. I've seen some dips into the realm of high 30's but it beasts through it at a nice 45-55 fps.
A few days into my addiction with finding a nice and stable OC for my MSI 980 I started recognizing that even though my card would benchmark and game with stability - the card would start throttling as soon as it hit 61c. The throttling was mild, but it would take my 1500Mhz core to around 1466Mhz as soon as it hit 61c. Also, as long as the card was under 61c it would allow the full rated 1.2250 volts but as soon as 61c hit it would drop randomly to around 1.0000 volts. I attempted to offset this by raising the core past 1500Mhz so when it throttled it would only drop it to around 1503Mhz but that's where I ran into stability issues. No amount of Power Limiter or adding mV would effect the card. Afterburner and GPU-Z would not register any changes no matter what I raised the Power Limit / mV settings to...
After racking my brain for days I came to the realization that the OC's I had were in fact stable... it was the throttling that was compromising stability. This really started to aggravate me. I felt as if I was being cheated. There isn't anything dangerous with running 1.2250 volts so why was it throttling? Finally one night I spent hours scourging the web trying to find a solution. After pages of reading I finally found some others that were having the same issue. Suggestions ranged from RMA'ing the card to just dealing with it. Post after post I read through when FINALLY I found someone who not only experienced the issue but stated that he had fixed it with a custom bios flash.
Now, I'm no beginner when it comes to things like this... on the other hand... I'm no expert either. I've actually flashed a few cards back in the day but that feels like ages ago. After carefully reading through multiple guides and accepting the penalty of potential failure... I did it. After the Flash completed and I performed a quick reset... a magical thing happened... My card, was now at, 1.2750 under GPU load... and STABLE. No Throttling! Temps were great. Stability was great. HUGE difference.
The flash occurred a few nights ago. Since then I've been able to STABLIY OC my MSI GTX 980 to 1550Mhz Core and 2000Mhz Memory. It's rock solid. I'm able to run all my benchmards, (Vally, Heaven and 3dMark FireStrike Exteme). On top of that I've logged around 10 hours of Witcher III since then too. Temps are a tad higher but I have a good setup / environment to keep the card happy and cool. Max recorded temps is 75c, average running temps around 66c. FurMark is where it hit 75c but to be honest I stopped running it. It feels unrealistic and I've had it give me a lot of random non-stability related issues with the GTX 960, 970 and this 980.
Just a few moments ago I actually popped out the MSI 980 and removed the factory thermal paste. The did a HORRENDOUS job and really made a mess of things. After the reapplication of some Noctua NT-H1 the cards running even cooler. 5 pass-through of Valley, Heaven and Firestrike Extreme resulted in a MAX core temp of 67c.
So, here is what I'm leading up to. The reason I made this extremely long and overly informative post... Under load, is 1.2750 safe? My current OC's are rock solid and at some point I may try to find this cards seemingly elusice wall. For now I'm extremely happy with my 1550Mhz / 2000Mhz OC... but the addiction is ravenous. One day, I'll want more.
Thanks for reading and my advance gratitude to any replies!
OH, I almost forgot. With my OC I'm able to run the Witcher III at 1440p with MAX settings, (other than Hairworks, I keep that off) and average around 50fps. I've seen some dips into the realm of high 30's but it beasts through it at a nice 45-55 fps.
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