Question ASUS TUF RTX 4070 fluctuating memory clock?

[GFYNG]

Hi everyone, I was just wondering if this was normal behavior or not. While playing certain games my memory clock continuously fluctuates between 5002mhz and 10502mhz. There are no performance issues while this is happening, thankfully, but it's just weird. I've never seen a GPU do that before. Again, it only seems to happen in certain games. It was doing it on Resident Evil 2 Remake. It also does it on the Xenia emulator while playing Saint's Row 2. However when I played Days Gone, Quake II RTX etc. it stayed at 10502mhz consistently. Can anyone tell me if this is normal behavior? I'll list my specs own below.

Ryzen 5 5600x
ASUS TUF RTX 4070 OC Edition (switch set to performance)
32GB RAM (4 8GB modules)

I also game at 1440p

Any feedback is much appreciated, thank you in advance! 😊

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

Hey there,

Yeah, that does seem a bit odd. I don't recall ever seeing my mem drop below it's max, whilst in game.

What are you using to monitor it? It could be a software glitch. Possible driver issue, or maybe a bios update might be required.

What happens when you switch to normal mode? Same issue?

 

[GFYNG]

Hey there,

Yeah, that does seem a bit odd. I don't recall ever seeing my mem drop below it's max, whilst in game.

What are you using to monitor it? It could be a software glitch. Possible driver issue, or maybe a bios update might be required.

What happens when you switch to normal mode? Same issue?

I'm using MSI Afterburner to monitor it, and no I haven't tried using normal mode. I should also note that I upgraded from a 3070 and didn't bother reinstalling the driver. I figured since it's the same driver it shouldn't be a problem. I figured maybe certain games aren't too demanding for such a beast of a card that it only utilizes what is necessary depending on whatever it's rendering? 🤷‍♂️

 

[thestryker]

Unless it's something new with the 40 series memory speed shouldn't change when being used and typically with undemanding games the GPU clock is really high (though low power consumption).

 

[GFYNG]

Unless it's something new with the 40 series memory speed shouldn't change when being used and typically with undemanding games the GPU clock is really high (though low power consumption).

Then why does it only happen on certain games? 😅
Even when I play older titles like Deus Ex GOTY it only utilizes around 400mhz and it remains at that speed indefinitely.

 

[thestryker]

Then why does it only happen on certain games? 😅
Even when I play older titles like Deus Ex GOTY it only utilizes around 400mhz and it remains at that speed indefinitely.

Like I said might be something new with the 40 series, here's my video card running Deus Ex GOTY on the main menu:

 

[GFYNG]

Like I said might be something new with the 40 series, here's my video card running Deus Ex GOTY on the main menu:

Interesting. I found an older post regarding this issue with the same card you have and someone replied that it's nothing to worry about https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/are-constant-memory-clock-mhz-fluctuations-safe.3759922/ 🤔

Edit: Maybe I'll try reinstalling the driver later and seeing what happens.

 

[thestryker]

Interesting. I found an older post regarding this issue with the same card you have and someone replied that it's nothing to worry about https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/are-constant-memory-clock-mhz-fluctuations-safe.3759922/ 🤔

Edit: Maybe I'll try reinstalling the driver later and seeing what happens.

I checked GPU-Z's render test based on that post you found and it's possible the VRAM clocks are directly tied to GPU clocks in some fashion. I've never looked at afterburner while running something that low before (it's even lower than Deus Ex) but here's what I saw:

So it could be load related, but it seems more like it's GPU clock related that it cuts down (maybe it's a combination of both?). It looks like it's arbitrary locked factory settings too as it doesn't apply memory OC in any fashion. Perhaps check your GPU clocks while the memory clock is lower and that'll explain it.

 

[GFYNG]

I checked GPU-Z's render test based on that post you found and it's possible the VRAM clocks are directly tied to GPU clocks in some fashion. I've never looked at afterburner while running something that low before (it's even lower than Deus Ex) but here's what I saw:

So it could be load related, but it seems more like it's GPU clock related that it cuts down (maybe it's a combination of both?). It looks like it's arbitrary locked factory settings too as it doesn't apply memory OC in any fashion. Perhaps check your GPU clocks while the memory clock is lower and that'll explain it.

Huh. Yeah I figured it was probably normal behavior since I don't suffer any performance loss while it happens. Anyway I just did a clean install of the driver anyway just because. Thank you for all your help and responses! 🙂

 

[GFYNG]

I checked GPU-Z's render test based on that post you found and it's possible the VRAM clocks are directly tied to GPU clocks in some fashion. I've never looked at afterburner while running something that low before (it's even lower than Deus Ex) but here's what I saw:

So it could be load related, but it seems more like it's GPU clock related that it cuts down (maybe it's a combination of both?). It looks like it's arbitrary locked factory settings too as it doesn't apply memory OC in any fashion. Perhaps check your GPU clocks while the memory clock is lower and that'll explain it.

So I seemed to have fixed the "issue". All I did was change the power management setting from Normal to Prefer Maximum Performance in the Nvidia control panel, and boom! No more fluctuating memory clocks! It also fixed the stuttering/hitching issues I was having in some games. Amazing how much of a difference changing one little setting could do.

Normally I'd leave that setting alone because changing it would result in my former GPUs sounding like a hair dryer, and my temps would also sky rocket even in less demanding titles. Thankfully the ASUS TUF's beefy heatsink can handle it without breaking a sweat!

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know. Maybe this will help someone else in the future who is having the same issue.

 

[thestryker]

So I seemed to have fixed the "issue". All I did was change the power management setting from Normal to Prefer Maximum Performance in the Nvidia control panel, and boom! No more fluctuating memory clocks! It also fixed the stuttering/hitching issues I was having in some games. Amazing how much of a difference changing one little setting could do.

I wonder if that's at all linked to your Windows power settings. I've got mine on normal, but my Windows power settings are on high performance as I don't need to rely on Windows to manage clocks on my CPU.

Anyway, just thought I'd let you know. Maybe this will help someone else in the future who is having the same issue.

Very valuable information.

 

[GFYNG]

I wonder if that's at all linked to your Windows power settings. I've got mine on normal, but my Windows power settings are on high performance as I don't need to rely on Windows to manage clocks on my CPU.

Very valuable information.

I think Windows power settings is only for CPU performance. I have mine set to AMD's high performance mode, or whatever it was called. Not at my rig atm haha.