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gpu downclocking

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wadec22

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Jul 26, 2005
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hey guys. things appear to be going very well using my two gtx 280's and nvidia's latest drivers. however, i noticed that after a bit they downclock. they are still working away, but at 400 core and 800 shader mhz. how do i keep them from downclocking? i can't find any nvidia power controls that seem to make a difference. there is no way they are folding at full potential with these speeds right?
 
Do you use NTune, by chance, so that you can manually adjust the core / memory settings, as well as the fan control? I'm wondering if maybe there are some thermal issues and the card is scaling back in order to keep from overheating? I usually keep my GPU fans around 70% when folding on them.
 
I am working on this same issue today myself :(
2x GTX260's - 190.38 Win7 Drivers
The down clocking is happening to me running Boinc GPU projects.
I use nTune to overclock with and RivaTuner doesn't support this driver.
So far I am trying to figure out exactly what and where to enter into the Registry to change the PerfLevel so it won't down clock to 3D levels.
It may be that these drivers just push the card [H]arder so I am reducing my OC's to see if that helps.
 
let me know if you get anywhere. i've tried everything. i force rivatuner to recognize the driver and i have messed with fan, oc, etc... no matter what, it downclocks. i think it has something to do with nvidia's new low power profiles for the 9 series and above with these drivers.
 
I just came across that there is a power management mode options under Manage 3D Settings/Global Settings - setting it to prefer maximum performance
New in Release 190.38
Adds a new user-controlled power management setting for select GeForce 9-series and later graphics cards (cards must already support more than one power state). This option allows users to set a performance level for each DirectX or OpenGL application.

I'll let you know if that helps.

clipboard01wkm.jpg
 
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This was the dreaded bug I was talking about.

Let us know Razor. My upgrades and others hang in the balance.
 
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Power Management mode​

Many NVIDIA graphics cards support multiple performance levels so that the PC can save power when full graphics performance is not required.
To provide more control over these power management capabilities, NVIDIA has added the Power Management Mode control.
The control consists of two settings–​

Adaptive and Prefer​

Maximum Performance​

.

Adaptive: This is the default setting in which the graphics card monitors GPU usage and seamlessly switches between modes based on the performance demands​
of the application. This allows the GPU to always use the minimum amount of power required to run a given application, and can allow even older 3D games to
run in lower power modes if the game does not require full 3D performance. NVIDIA recommends this setting for best overall balance of power and performance.​

Prefer Maximum Performance: This setting lets you maintain the card at its maximum performance level when 3D applications are running regardless of GPU
usage. This option can be set Globally (for all 3D applications), or an application profile can be created under Program Settings to set the preference for a particular
3D application. This feature is supported only on select GeForce 9 Series and later GPUs and applies only to DirectX and OpenGL ‐based applications.
 
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i have already tried this. i currently have mine set at max perf and am looking at two downclocked gpus. :(
 
190.40 driver is posted on guru3d.com, non-whql of course. i may try those tomorrow night and see if they remedy things.
 
My suggestion would be roll back the driver and see if you have the same issues. The only upgrade they did in this driver was some SLI fixes for certain games and added that Power Mgmt. So there should be little performance diff for all the headaches it is causing.
 
Razor_FX_II said:
I am working on this same issue today myself :(
2x GTX260's - 190.38 Win7 Drivers
The down clocking is happening to me running Boinc GPU projects.
I use nTune to overclock with and RivaTuner doesn't support this driver.
So far I am trying to figure out exactly what and where to enter into the Registry to change the PerfLevel so it won't down clock to 3D levels.
It may be that these drivers just push the card [H]arder so I am reducing my OC's to see if that helps.
Click to expand...


rivatuner should still work with the drivers even if it says it doesnt recognize the drivers.. im still using rivatuner 2.20 with the 186.18 drivers.. but im about to drop back down to 182.xx because i hate these 186.18 drivers and the 185.xx drivers are just as bad.. im starting to lose trust in nvidia's drivers.. unless theres some amazing change with the 190.xx drivers ill probably start getting ready to switch to ATI when i replace these 8800GT's..


btw another thing you could try doing.. though i doubt it will work.. is change the priority level for FAH and in your case razor the gpugrid cruncher from idle to normal.. like i said i doubt it will work but its worth a shot..
 
Sunin said:
My suggestion would be roll back the driver and see if you have the same issues. The only upgrade they did in this driver was some SLI fixes for certain games and added that Power Mgmt. So there should be little performance diff for all the headaches it is causing.
Click to expand...

except the new drivers allow both gpu's to fold while still configured in sli. if i roll back, i have to disable sli every time i want to fold, PIA.
 
So it sounds like the NV mobo curse is still there.

I hope they get the drivers figured out some time soon. I'd like to sli my 2x GTX260s
 
wadec22 said:
except the new drivers allow both gpu's to fold while still configured in sli. if i roll back, i have to disable sli every time i want to fold, PIA.
Click to expand...

Yeah, but its not that hard to re-set sli each time I do it on my gaming rig.
 
was excited about not having to jack with it, but i will disable sli when i go home for lunch. on the positive side, it's summer so i game a lot less. :)
 
After a day know it is clear that the 190.38 WHQL's power management mode set to prefer maximum performance did help but did not completely fix the down clocking problem.
However after upgrading to version 190.40 beta Win7/Vista x64 driver and set the performance mode to prefer maximum performance has made the problem a little bit better yet, but not fixed all together.
I noticed almost no down clocks if I take one step down on my overclocks that I usually have no problems with in earlier 185.xx driver releases.
Recommended driver version: 190.40 beta Win7/Vista x64 but down clock problem still remains in this release.
 
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Would it be downclocked because of temps?
Would forcing the fan to run at 100% have any effect?
 
No.
GPU temps are only 51-53C at full load. I run the fan at 90% on both systems with the GTX260's in them.
Seems I have one that will down clock about 1-2 times a day but the other runs without down clocking at all. Identical cards, same bios, same motherboard, same OS and driver version's but the card that doesn't down clock is the card that I can take to one higher overclock step compared to the card that does down clock. The faster card has always been my strongest card, the other one that is down clocking may finally be showing the signs of DC'ing 24/7 at max overclock.
 
i am still on the 190.38's. if i change the windows power savings to never put the monitor to sleep and just shut the monitors off, my gpus do not downclock, yes!
 
wadec22 said:
i am still on the 190.38's. if i change the windows power savings to never put the monitor to sleep and just shut the monitors off, my gpus do not downclock, yes!
Click to expand...

what about dummy plugs for dedicated boxen? any ideas?
 
wadec22 said:
i am still on the 190.38's. if i change the windows power savings to never put the monitor to sleep and just shut the monitors off, my gpus do not downclock, yes!
Click to expand...
The system that down clocks on my has it's monitor always turned off except when i turn it on to see if it has down clocked.
nitrobass24 said:
what about dummy plugs for dedicated boxen? any ideas?
Click to expand...
With 190.xx drivers there is no need for dummy plugs on a second card as long as PhysX is enable on the second card. But if you have a third card in a system then you may need dummy plugs.
If you need dummy plugs I can make some for you, I think I have 5-8 all ready made.
 
No yea I dont need any I was just wondering how this downclocking will affect this.
Thanks though:)
 
I see that 190.56 Beta drivers are available at guru3d. I've been having a lot of problems since I moved to 190.40 -- it seems like the second card in SLI will get "lost" and start to EUE, and I have to mess around in the NVIDIA control panel to get it working again.
 
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