Can't stabilize my GPU

[ja3s]

Hello, my setup is as follows:
It's an ASUS CM6850 with a few changes.
650w Power Supply
Galaxy GTX 560 ti GC
HAF 912 case
i7 2600
P8H67 M-Pro mobo


I've been trying to overclock my graphics card. Doing about 20mhz at a time. With other games, it runs perfectly fine. But, when I try to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I get artifacts on the screen. When I go to 950/1900/4008DDR clock speeds, it locks up after about 10 minutes of playing. Even messing with the voltage won't stabilize it.

What I know is that my motherboard does not support SLI or overclocking. Would this affect the ability to overclock my graphics card (more than it is from the factory overclock).

As per reviews, I should easily be able to achieve high clock speeds without messing with voltage changes.

One review in particular was showing a voltage read-out of about 1000mV (I think). When I run MSI Afterburner, I am only getting about 970mV to the card. Is this power supply dependent?

I would really love to stablize the card at 950/1900/4008(2004). I bought this card instead of the MSI GTX 560 TI Hawk, which has those speeds, to save $50-$60. I'm a little bummed that I can't get the speeds I want out of this card.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

Hello, my setup is as follows:
It's an ASUS CM6850 with a few changes.
650w Power Supply
Galaxy GTX 560 ti GC
HAF 912 case
i7 2600
P8H67 M-Pro mobo


I've been trying to overclock my graphics card. Doing about 20mhz at a time. With other games, it runs perfectly fine. But, when I try to play Battlefield: Bad Company 2, I get artifacts on the screen. When I go to 950/1900/4008DDR clock speeds, it locks up after about 10 minutes of playing. Even messing with the voltage won't stabilize it.

What I know is that my motherboard does not support SLI or overclocking. Would this affect the ability to overclock my graphics card (more than it is from the factory overclock).

As per reviews, I should easily be able to achieve high clock speeds without messing with voltage changes.

One review in particular was showing a voltage read-out of about 1000mV (I think). When I run MSI Afterburner, I am only getting about 970mV to the card. Is this power supply dependent?

I would really love to stablize the card at 950/1900/4008(2004). I bought this card instead of the MSI GTX 560 TI Hawk, which has those speeds, to save $50-$60. I'm a little bummed that I can't get the speeds I want out of this card.

Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Your mobo not being able to OC doesnt affect the GPU board's capability to OC.
If you are wanting to up the voltage on your card in afterburner, make sure it is enabled first... It will take more power to run the card, but that 650w should be able to suffice your OC without any issues.

 

[ja3s]

Is the initial voltage read-out dependent on your power supply? Comparing my card's voltage to that of the review I read, there is a 30mV difference.

What's the general rule of thumb when messing with voltage changes? As far as how much to add or take away.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

Is the initial voltage read-out dependent on your power supply? Comparing my card's voltage to that of the review I read, there is a 30mV difference.

What's the general rule of thumb when messing with voltage changes? As far as how much to add or take away.

Threr are different ratings for different cards- my 570 achieved stability at 1000mv. just slide away, but when you are messing with voltages, you run the risk of severely damaging your system, but 1000mv like what you have seen for that OC shouldnt be a problem with that card. Just activate the voltage slider and try it out 10mv at a time until you reach 1000mv and see how it works out.
another question: what are your temps like when this happens? I just find it odd that one game does this, while the rest were reportedly running fine.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

http://www.overclock.net/nvidia/970377-gtx-560-ti-safe-voltage.html

 

[ja3s]

Idle temps are low 30 degree celcius. Spike to like mid 50 degree celcius under load.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

so what are your results from the voltage increase? the clocks you have your card at just might not be stable for that game try backing them off a bit and see what happens

 

[ja3s]

I haven't tried anything yet. I made a few changes here and there. I also read the ASUS EZ-Mode is a little buggy. Going to try to back off the performance and see what that gives me. Will report back in a while.

 

[ja3s]

Ok, this is what I did. On the Nvidia Settings from the task bar I had the quality set to Performance and in the Bios, the ASUS EZ Mode was set to performance also. I switched the Nvidia setting back to quality, and the EZ Mode setting to Power Save (Don't remember the exact name).

Card is running stable at 950/1900/2175 @1050mV. 1000mV still gave a little artifacts, 1025mV was less, 1050mV was none!

Before, on those clock speeds, it would lock up after about 5-10min of playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I was playing just now for a little over an hour. Smooth as butter.

Thanks for the help.
Hopefully it continues to run stable. As for now, I'm very excited.

 

[FlintIronStagg]

Ok, this is what I did. On the Nvidia Settings from the task bar I had the quality set to Performance and in the Bios, the ASUS EZ Mode was set to performance also. I switched the Nvidia setting back to quality, and the EZ Mode setting to Power Save (Don't remember the exact name).

Card is running stable at 950/1900/2175 @1050mV. 1000mV still gave a little artifacts, 1025mV was less, 1050mV was none!

Before, on those clock speeds, it would lock up after about 5-10min of playing Battlefield: Bad Company 2. I was playing just now for a little over an hour. Smooth as butter.

Thanks for the help.
Hopefully it continues to run stable. As for now, I'm very excited.

Grats, and happy gaming, I was glad to be of help