4090 almost no performance loss at 75% power limit sweet spot

[xDiVolatilX]

 

[jhatfie]

Yeah I had messed with reducing the PL when I got my Suprim 4090. At 90% PL, I did a OC of +150 and +1000 memory and saw around a 5-7% performance boost (depending on benchmark) while consuming 50W less power at 400W peak. Not sure if it was 100% stable there, but gamed for a few hours without issues playing the Dead Space remake. Have not started playing with the voltage yet though.

 

[III_Slyflyer_III]

I get why people have done this in the past with temps, or if rendering for work... but for gaming on these cards, whats the point? I maxed my power slider and voltage to the max, with 3045Mhz core and +1250mhz on the memory and it never gets above 54C gaming for hours on end at 4K. Even at this, it rarely goes above 450W and uses less power than my 3090 did... lol. TBH, as cool as it stays, I'd push it more if it let me and actually used it... 😆

 

[Dayaks]

I get why people have done this in the past with temps, or if rendering for work... but for gaming on these cards, whats the point? I maxed my power slider and voltage to the max, with 3045Mhz core and +1250mhz on the memory and it never gets above 54C gaming for hours on end at 4K. Even at this, it rarely goes above 450W and uses less power than my 3090 did... lol. TBH, as cool as it stays, I'd push it more if it let me and actually used it... 😆

I’ve done it slightly to reduce noise (or more set a max temp target / fan curve) but yeah on these cards that are quiet and cost so much I fail to see the reason.

It’s basically only useful to counter power usage complaints by non-owners. I’d be surprised to find an owner who cared on a card that’s almost $2k.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

I get why people have done this in the past with temps, or if rendering for work... but for gaming on these cards, whats the point? I maxed my power slider and voltage to the max, with 3045Mhz core and +1250mhz on the memory and it never gets above 54C gaming for hours on end at 4K. Even at this, it rarely goes above 450W and uses less power than my 3090 did... lol. TBH, as cool as it stays, I'd push it more if it let me and actually used it... 😆

It's because on particular games that I don't need all the power I can reduce the voltage to not put any additional voltage/heat/power into the card for no reason. Even though mine is watercooled I still don't need to heat up my room or abuse the card when I am already hitting my target 144hz and well above it. If you're not hitting your monitors target fps or you have it uncapped that is different but I always run with gsync/vsyc 144hz on 4k.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

I’ve done it slightly to reduce noise (or more set a max temp target / fan curve) but yeah on these cards that are quiet and cost so much I fail to see the reason.

It’s basically only useful to counter power usage complaints by non-owners. I’d be surprised to find an owner who cared on a card that’s almost $2k.

A lot of people don't want the extra heat. For me it's a big factor. Also keeping the card cooler with less voltage is generally better for it's lifespan if you plan on keeping it for years milking it.
You don't have to you can run it 100% or over if you want but if you are already at the fps limit and/or want to keep the rig/card/room cooler etc the option is there and quite luxurious if you use it to your favor.

 

[III_Slyflyer_III]

It's because on particular games that I don't need all the power I can reduce the voltage to not put any additional voltage/heat/power into the card for no reason. Even though mine is watercooled I still don't need to heat up my room or abuse the card when I am already hitting my target 144hz and well above it. If you're not hitting your monitors target fps or you have it uncapped that is different but I always run with gsync/vsyc 144hz on 4k.

Thats the thing tho, in games I have even at 4k that are not pushing the card hard, the power usage is well below 400W to begin with, sometimes 350W or thereabouts. Id think on these cards, you would only be limiting based on if you are hitting your monitors refresh rate, but just use an FPS cap and that keeps the draw down too I have found. I am in a similar boat with 4K gsync 144hz.

A lot of people don't want the extra heat. For me it's a big factor. Also keeping the card cooler with less voltage is generally better for it's lifespan if you plan on keeping it for years milking it.

I can see the heat for some people, I have yet to use this card in summer, but so far, my 3090 ran waaaayyyyyy hotter.

However, ive never heard of lifespan ever being an issue on any modern video card. I've pushed every single one over the last decade at max power, voltage and overclock and they all still work at the same settings I have always used. I always get the flagship card, but the ones I had prior get used in other PCs and are run at the same settings. My 3090 is on my entertainment system now and my 2080Ti is in my Wife's PC, all still work the same. Maybe if I ran it that way for 10+ years? I dunno. In absence of voltage modding, maxing sliders out is still well within nvidia spec anyway.

 

[Dayaks]

It's because on particular games that I don't need all the power I can reduce the voltage to not put any additional voltage/heat/power into the card for no reason. Even though mine is watercooled I still don't need to heat up my room or abuse the card when I am already hitting my target 144hz and well above it. If you're not hitting your monitors target fps or you have it uncapped that is different but I always run with gsync/vsyc 144hz on 4k.

I just vsync (gsync) to 75/100/144 depending on the game, capping it at those framerstes. I usually adjust settings to about 70-80% usage so my minimums stay consistent. Then it had the PL when needed here and there. Just food for thought….

 

[xDiVolatilX]

Thats the thing tho, in games I have even at 4k that are not pushing the card hard, the power usage is well below 400W to begin with, sometimes 350W or thereabouts. Id think on these cards, you would only be limiting based on if you are hitting your monitors refresh rate, but just use an FPS cap and that keeps the draw down too I have found. I am in a similar boat with 4K gsync 144hz.


I can see the heat for some people, I have yet to use this card in summer, but so far, my 3090 ran waaaayyyyyy hotter.

However, ive never heard of lifespan ever being an issue on any modern video card. I've pushed every single one over the last decade at max power, voltage and overclock and they all still work at the same settings I have always used. I always get the flagship card, but the ones I had prior get used in other PCs and are run at the same settings. My 3090 is on my entertainment system now and my 2080Ti is in my Wife's PC, all still work the same. Maybe if I ran it that way for 10+ years? I dunno. In absence of voltage modding, maxing sliders out is still well within nvidia spec anyway.

Well I've had a few cards die on me before. I can't say what the exact cause of it was but perhaps it was from heat? Yea I keep the normal vsync/gsync on 4k at 144hz at all time. I don't let it go above that, never uncapped. The thing about the 75% power limit is more like a hard cap for the power at all times. You only lose less than 5% of performance in exchange for 25% less power draw. That's a hell of a fair trade for me since I still don't use the maximum capabilities of my 4090. Even my 13900KS i keep it undervolted and turn off some cores because I don't need the extra power/oc yet. It feels nice to undervolt the entire system and still hit 144hz max settings in all the games I play. Even if you have a fps capped limit, the voltage isn't always lower even if the power draw is lower. Voltage is the biggest heat producer. When you undervolt the cpu/gpu it guarantees the lower voltage and thus cool/lower temps inside and outside of the case/room.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

I just vsync (gsync) to 75/100/144 depending on the game, capping it at those framerstes. I usually adjust settings to about 70-80% usage so my minimums stay consistent. Then it had the PL when needed here and there. Just food for thought….

I try to keep it at 144 on all games. I even mod the files on all my Batman Arkham games to 144 from the native 60 because It's so much nicer with the higher refresh. Interestingly enough, the Batman games push my 4090 quite a lot at almost 80% usage. For such an old game I am surprised lol. Can still easily get away with the 75% power limit.

 

[WilyKit]

I was running a lower power target when I first got my 4090 but I cranked it up to its default settings again. These cards aren’t drawing nearly as much power as I thought they would and they are among the coolest running GPUs I’ve ever owned. Outside of benchmarks and stress tests it’s pulling a little more power than a 3080 and about the same as a 3080Ti. That combined with its massive cooler and I don’t think longevity of the card due to heat related failures is really going to be a problem.

 

[Furious_Styles]

I try to keep it at 144 on all games. I even mod the files on all my Batman Arkham games to 144 from the native 60 because It's so much nicer with the higher refresh. Interestingly enough, the Batman games push my 4090 quite a lot at almost 80% usage. For such an old game I am surprised lol. Can still easily get away with the 75% power limit.

You want to cap at 2-3fps below refresh rate. Honestly though if you have gsync set up properly (gsync on vsync on in nvidia CP/vsync off in game) + low latency at ultra you typically don't even need to cap as it stays several fps below refresh rate anyhow.

 

[Armenius]

A lot of people don't want the extra heat. For me it's a big factor. Also keeping the card cooler with less voltage is generally better for it's lifespan if you plan on keeping it for years milking it.
You don't have to you can run it 100% or over if you want but if you are already at the fps limit and/or want to keep the rig/card/room cooler etc the option is there and quite luxurious if you use it to your favor.

Yeah, the heat these things dump into the room it's in is no joke.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

You want to cap at 2-3fps below refresh rate. Honestly though if you have gsync set up properly (gsync on vsync on in nvidia CP/vsync off in game) + low latency at ultra you typically don't even need to cap as it stays several fps below refresh rate anyhow.

Yea it naturally stays a few fps beneath the 144 cap with V-sync and G-sync on. Although low latency mode from the Nvidia control panel caused a bunch of studdering issues where the in game low latency mode is perfect.

 

[Furious_Styles]

Yea it naturally stays a few fps beneath the 144 cap with V-sync and G-sync on. Although low latency mode from the Nvidia control panel caused a bunch of studdering issues where the in game low latency mode is perfect.

That's odd. With top end HW you shouldn't get stutter with that setting. Could just be that game though.

 

[III_Slyflyer_III]

That's odd. With top end HW you shouldn't get stutter with that setting. Could just be that game though.

Thought that specific mode in the NVidia control panel was for DX11 games only? If you are on DX12, it handles the frame buffering and NVidia reflex within a game is what handles all that with DX12...

 

[Furious_Styles]

Thought that specific mode in the NVidia control panel was for DX11 games only? If you are on DX12, it handles the frame buffering and NVidia reflex within a game is what handles all that with DX12...

Yes I'm pretty sure that's right though a bunch of the batman games aren't dx12 right?

 

[xDiVolatilX]

Yes I'm pretty sure that's right though a bunch of the batman games aren't dx12 right?

Yeah the Batman games are DX11.

 

[xDiVolatilX]

Thought that specific mode in the NVidia control panel was for DX11 games only? If you are on DX12, it handles the frame buffering and NVidia reflex within a game is what handles all that with DX12...

Yeah the in game reflex mode works good. It's the Nvidia control panels low latency ultra mode that is buggy for me.