Question 980Ti can hardly run games at 1080p lowest settings

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Jan 26, 2021
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So I just upgraded most of my system, except for my 980Ti and now know it's the reason I have to play on the absolute lowest settings 1080p. Apex and CoD MW both on lowest settings give me between 20-40 fps, among many others, but certain games like Valorant give me 60 at 4k. I've done a full fresh driver install, changed motherboard, changed connectors, nothing helps. I just want to know what's causing this issue so I know if I need to spend the money on a new GPU or not.

Specs:
GPU - Asus Strix 980Ti
CPU - i7 10700k
Ram - 64GB G.Skill Ripjaw 4 2400
MOBO - Asus Prime z490-A

Any help would be very appreciated.
 

HWOC

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Jan 9, 2020
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Did we discuss thermals yet? Just wondering if thermal throttling could be at play here. What case do you have, what type of case fan setup, what CPU cooler? If your CPU or GPU was overheating and throttling down, could cause poor FPS.
Did you check temps for CPU and GPU under load?
 
Jan 26, 2021
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Alright lads. Full reset has finished, with only one issue I can see. I have some type of driver issue for "PCI Device", "SM Bus Controller", and "Unknown device" Tried getting updates from Intel but it's telling me I'm all updated. I've seen a bunch of people with this issue but every solution is just useless. It seems to be an issue for Z490 and newer motherboards. Should I just uninstall those devices and restart my computer or? Also it is a "Code 28" if that helps anyone.
 
woahh uhh ok..forgive me for thinking a reinstall of windows would...reinstall windows. I wouldn't lose any files, they are all backed up in Onedrive. I just have work to do and didn't have the hours it would take to do that full factory reset at the moment. Could you please explain what the actual difference would be between the semi reset I did, and a full reset, in terms of my GPU issue?
Well a clean install is a full wipe of everything, nothing left on the drive, which means everything that will be installed would be "pure", virus free, uncorrupted, default settings with no junk left in registry or in the program files. The reset does not have the same effect as a virus can still remain, junk can be left back and the worst in my opinion is the registry remain not properly clean.

Brainstorming here:
  • Have you checked the power options in control panel? If it is not at High Performance, it might be causing these issues? Or if it is, try another mode.
  • It seems that the 1.1 and 3.0 numbers you are seeing after 'PCI 3.0 @ x16' might be about saving power.
  • There is a nice monitoring software part of 'MSI Afterburner' which helps you monitor your hardware during game.
    • Maybe you could download that and enable GPU core and memory clocks as well as some other GPU stuff to see whether it might be downclocking for some reason?
  • Or maybe you have already done these.in that case clean install would really be the only thing left.
    • You asked earlier why it is better than the normal one where you keep files...I have no clue, but there is something about 'clean' that makes it sound nice :) Things screw up in windows from time to time and cleaning the whole of C might help.
  • How about your PSU, you have probably already checked that but what wattage is it, is it enough? You mentioned it is an EVGA Supernova 80 Gold but make sure there's enough wattage, not familiar with the different options under that model.
I'll reply with anything else that comes to mind.
You've decided to ask a question on this forum and, one way or another, an answer shall be found.

Regards,
Kamen
Sound advices, yet 2 things I can point out.
Pci 3.0 and 1.1 is indeed from a lower power state. If you click on the question mark next to it, a small benchmark will run, in which the GPU will run at 3.0 if it does work properly.

The calculator is not something that you should use unless you are extremely tight with your PSU which should not happen either way. Also, wattage on it's own, means nothing if the quality and the performance of the PSU is not up to par. An excellent 550w psu can and will be better than almost all 650w and in some cases even higher than 650.
 
Jan 26, 2021
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Did we discuss thermals yet? Just wondering if thermal throttling could be at play here. What case do you have, what type of case fan setup, what CPU cooler? If your CPU or GPU was overheating and throttling down, could cause poor FPS.
Did you check temps for CPU and GPU under load?
My temps are kinda weird I'll be honest. My GPU pretty much never passes 65, idles there pretty much all day, even under load. But turning the fans on higher will bring it down to around 50-55. Cpu is fine, and the issue persisted through getting a new motherboard and cpu.
 
What is Hardware ID of this unknown device?
You can find it in Device Manager - Device Properties.

QoSy2wX.png
 
Jan 26, 2021
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What is Hardware ID of this unknown device?
You can find it in Device Manager - Device Properties.

QoSy2wX.png
Okay, so the location is "Intel(R) Serial IO I2C Host Controller - 06E9" and the Hardware ID is "ACPI\CYP0002\4&34CA9BBE&0"
I'm sure this has nothing to do with my original issue but I do appreciate the help with it.
 
Jan 26, 2021
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Now, after the clean install and the side quest completed, have you tried gaming to see how things are?
Unfortunately, the same :/ Apex only hits 60 fps if I'm playing 1080, lowest settings, everything off, adaptive sampling on, but my screen is blurry and just awful to look at. I have this feeling my VRAM isn't what it thinks it is, because I have 6GBs, but anytime I hit even half that is when my games start to tank, but honestly I have no idea. Should I also scrub my drive? I can't imagine that would be the issue, I've changed from an HDD to an M.2 with no change in gaming, just slightly better Blender performance really.
 
Might need to reflow the RAM chips, if you don't have a hot air rework station. You can try baking the GPU in the Oven for 8 minutes @385 degrees F. Make sure the oven is preheated of course and remove all of the heatsinks and cooling fan.

You can set the amount of VRAM in APEX LEGENDS settings, try setting it to 3GB and increase the graphics quality. You'll see textures load in and out for many objects do to lack of ram, but performance should be better.
 
Jan 26, 2021
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Might need to reflow the RAM chips, if you don't have a hot air rework station. You can try baking the GPU in the Oven for 8 minutes @385 degrees F. Make sure the oven is preheated of course and remove all of the heatsinks and cooling fan.

You can set the amount of VRAM in APEX LEGENDS settings, try setting it to 3GB and increase the graphics quality. You'll see textures load in and out for many objects do to lack of ram, but performance should be better.
I'll have to look more into baking it, I'd heard about it but never thought I'd have to actually try it. And I have gone through all VRAM settings' in Apex, and every other game I try. No luck :/ 4gb seems to be the highest I can ever play games in, despite having 6GBs available.
So, it's not software related as it seems. Faulty GPU seems to be the biggest probability
Yeah, that's what I've thought/dreaded, I've spend hours and hours over weeks on chat with both Nvidia and Asus (my aftermarket, it's a Strix 980Ti) and they are so unbelievably unhelpful I gave up and came here.
 

Karadjgne

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What happens if you bump the settings to high? If the fps tanks hard, then I'd definitely agree there's an issue with the card, something is not doing as it should hardware-wise, but if there's actually little change then I'd be looking more at the cpu and/or its ability to process the frames. Which could be anything from ram to storage etc.
 
Jan 26, 2021
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What happens if you bump the settings to high? If the fps tanks hard, then I'd definitely agree there's an issue with the card, something is not doing as it should hardware-wise, but if there's actually little change then I'd be looking more at the cpu and/or its ability to process the frames. Which could be anything from ram to storage etc.
If I push settings to high, in almost any game, no matter how well it runs at low settings, my FPS does tank. I have 64gb of ram and this occurred both on my old Xeon processor and the same on my new i7 10700K.
 

Karadjgne

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If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's not a swan. You've done everything I can see to verify, fix, change the issue, yet it remains. Gpu is bunk. Either the vram has failed (baking might save or might not) or VRM's have failed (baking won't fix). So you can try to band-aid and hopefully that works, but no guarantees. Unfortunately, that only leaves one cure, and at the worst possible time. Replace the gpu.
 
Jan 26, 2021
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If it walks like a duck, looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it's not a swan. You've done everything I can see to verify, fix, change the issue, yet it remains. Gpu is bunk. Either the vram has failed (baking might save or might not) or VRM's have failed (baking won't fix). So you can try to band-aid and hopefully that works, but no guarantees. Unfortunately, that only leaves one cure, and at the worst possible time. Replace the gpu.
😩 Literally the worst possible time. "In Stock" has an average of like, 2 minutes between restocking and sold out for both 3070's and 3080's. That's why I've been trying so hard with this one. Especially knowing since basically the day I bought this it's been busted and I just never knew it, always attributed it to having a Xeon processor.
 

Karadjgne

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Buy direct. Means a waiting list, but is guaranteed to be delivered, and the price will not be market value. I'd strongly suggest you go through Evga. That'll get you covered every which way til Sunday with the best service/warranty vendor out there for gpus.

Bought my psu directly from Corsair in the middle of the worst part of covid shipping and shopping. Took a month, but it cost $50-$100 less than buying even on eBay used market. And now I don't have to worry about any retail warranty BS from JimBobsAcmeElectronics.com.
 

HWOC

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Jan 9, 2020
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By any chance would you happen to have a friend nearby who would be willing to try your GPU in their PC? If it doesn't perform as expected in their PC, it would be the final nail in the coffin of your 980Ti to be retired.
 
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Jan 26, 2021
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Thanks everybody for all your help. I'm on the waiting list for an EVGA anything at this point. If anyone can suggest a good temporary GPU I could grab in the meantime to just sell when 30xx's get more stock I'd appreciate that as well. I'll try throwing mine in another computer if I get a chance, I did just buy a new mobo and CPU for this computer, but who knows at this point. Thanks again everyone.
 

kamenrusev

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Thanks everybody for all your help. I'm on the waiting list for an EVGA anything at this point. If anyone can suggest a good temporary GPU I could grab in the meantime to just sell when 30xx's get more stock I'd appreciate that as well. I'll try throwing mine in another computer if I get a chance, I did just buy a new mobo and CPU for this computer, but who knows at this point. Thanks again everyone.

Sorry to see that the damn issue wasn't solved...

I've come across something which you could try if you've got nothing to lose.

View: https://youtu.be/GcnS3HfEg64?t=895


The guy flashes the GPU bios/firmware. Apparently people sometimes try this technique if there are some awful issues with existing firmware or when they are overclocking. Not familiar at all with the topic. If you've got a bit of free time when you get your new GPU, and you feel comfortable doing this kind of stuff, maybe give it a try.

Kind Regards,

Kamen
 
Jan 26, 2021
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She's gone bois. Started crashing every program, even task manager. Had to buy a prebu....a preb.......pre..built..still won't get here for another month or two but, I need a computer I'm a 3D artist. Gonna try flashing the bios like kamenrusev suggested and then baking it. Also, fun fact, turns out the reason I got certain games like Valorant to play at 4k was, you hardly need a GPU to run it in the first place. A+ to Riot because Valorant and League are the only 2 3D games I've found I can run on just my CPU. Good frames too. Thanks everyone.