GPU Temps weird behavior, please help me not go nuts

[Arbiter051]

I have a weird problem going on and please bare with me for anything dumb I might ask. I good with tech, but I have never encountered a problem like this before.

I built a computer just last week and my specs are these.

Cpu: i7 4790 @3.6 ghz
gpu: msi nivida gtx 970
Ram 16gb avexir core series 2 8gb sticks
Motherboard: msi Z97 SLI Krait edition
power supply: seasonic G series 550-watt atx12v/eps12v

I am currently afraid to game on this pc because of how the gpu is acting. I know core temps fluctuate and mine do not go above 57c when producing a video, even though they rapidly change every second.

My gpu however is just weird. My idle temps are fine, they are the usual 35c and I use a dingy little tv as a second monitor, I use a benq monitor 60HZ 21.5 inch as my main mintor.

First of all it fluctuates its load for frame buffer and gpu load %(I am using hwmonitor from cpuid). When I am watching a stream through something called livestreamer (allows you to watch streams through vlc), when I first load up a stream, my temp will go from 35-40 and then slowly go back down which I find weird. Not only that, but the load % fluctuates every second rapidly, however the clocks are normal.

While watching I load up firefox and the temps are fine, if I bring back up the vlc window, the clocks go nuts for a few seconds and then go back to normal, the temp of the gpu will go up for a min and then slowly go down again. At this point I am starting to get pissed off .

I load up a game called marvel puzzle quest through steam and for the first few days, my temps for core and gpu rose to over 50 which I thought was weird, but after a few minutes they go back down to 38-42 for core, but my gpu slowly creeps back down to 40-43 and this is all Celsius of course. Sometimes while still on the game and watching a stream through vlc, the gpu temp will go up and down and up and down for no good reason, but it doesn't go over 46, rarely it does and only last a few seconds.

Hearthstone it was doing the same thing, I play magic the gathering online and my gpu is slightly more tamed with that one. Tonight I was on skype with a friend, listening to a youtube video and playing hearhtstone. My gpu temp again, up and down up and down, like its never satisfied. It reached 58 and then it began to creep down to lower 40s and stay there but almost reaching 50 again at some points.

After my skype call eneded, I tried to make sure shadowrift from geforce expeirence was off (I have read that its on in the back round or the serever is still running or something so idk.) and it looked off. My gpu was a good 41-43c for a little while. Then while uploading a few videos to youtube, gpu went up to 47 and then down again, uploaded another, did the same thing.

My question is, are any, if not all, of these things normal behavior? There is no dust and good airflow and I will be installing a third fan in a few days (there are 2 case fans currently). Any help is appreciated please.

Also something else, when I first started using hearhtstone, I would sometimes get random frame drops. I then made the game in geforce experience run at 60 frames lowered the resolution and it now works fine. But it still sometimes lags and eats my mouse clicks. dunno if thats just my internet connection or not, I see streamers use hearthstone and everything runs really really fast.

Also nothing is overclocked, everything is stock/defualt.

 

[Arbiter051]

I have a weird problem going on and please bare with me for anything dumb I might ask. I good with tech, but I have never encountered a problem like this before.

I built a computer just last week and my specs are these.

Cpu: i7 4790 @3.6 ghz
gpu: msi nivida gtx 970
Ram 16gb avexir core series 2 8gb sticks
Motherboard: msi Z97 SLI Krait edition
power supply: seasonic G series 550-watt atx12v/eps12v

I am currently afraid to game on this pc because of how the gpu is acting. I know core temps fluctuate and mine do not go above 57c when producing a video, even though they rapidly change every second.

My gpu however is just weird. My idle temps are fine, they are the usual 35c and I use a dingy little tv as a second monitor, I use a benq monitor 60HZ 21.5 inch as my main mintor.

First of all it fluctuates its load for frame buffer and gpu load %(I am using hwmonitor from cpuid). When I am watching a stream through something called livestreamer (allows you to watch streams through vlc), when I first load up a stream, my temp will go from 35-40 and then slowly go back down which I find weird. Not only that, but the load % fluctuates every second rapidly, however the clocks are normal.

While watching I load up firefox and the temps are fine, if I bring back up the vlc window, the clocks go nuts for a few seconds and then go back to normal, the temp of the gpu will go up for a min and then slowly go down again. At this point I am starting to get pissed off .

I load up a game called marvel puzzle quest through steam and for the first few days, my temps for core and gpu rose to over 50 which I thought was weird, but after a few minutes they go back down to 38-42 for core, but my gpu slowly creeps back down to 40-43 and this is all Celsius of course. Sometimes while still on the game and watching a stream through vlc, the gpu temp will go up and down and up and down for no good reason, but it doesn't go over 46, rarely it does and only last a few seconds.

Hearthstone it was doing the same thing, I play magic the gathering online and my gpu is slightly more tamed with that one. Tonight I was on skype with a friend, listening to a youtube video and playing hearhtstone. My gpu temp again, up and down up and down, like its never satisfied. It reached 58 and then it began to creep down to lower 40s and stay there but almost reaching 50 again at some points.

After my skype call eneded, I tried to make sure shadowrift from geforce expeirence was off (I have read that its on in the back round or the serever is still running or something so idk.) and it looked off. My gpu was a good 41-43c for a little while. Then while uploading a few videos to youtube, gpu went up to 47 and then down again, uploaded another, did the same thing.

My question is, are any, if not all, of these things normal behavior? There is no dust and good airflow and I will be installing a third fan in a few days (there are 2 case fans currently). Any help is appreciated please.

Also something else, when I first started using hearhtstone, I would sometimes get random frame drops. I then made the game in geforce experience run at 60 frames lowered the resolution and it now works fine. But it still sometimes lags and eats my mouse clicks. dunno if thats just my internet connection or not, I see streamers use hearthstone and everything runs really really fast.

Also nothing is overclocked, everything is stock/defualt.

I'm sorry, I did not see an edit button. I should also add before someone asks, my computer is malware free, I do usual virus checks almost daily. Please trust me this is not malware.

Think I found the update button. Right now as we speak, im on the internet, reading a couple of huffington post articles. Watching a stream on source through vlc player and that's it. Graphics MHZ 683 and just a second ago I saw 405. Memory just a second ago was 324 MHZ and now it just switched to 810.

its now stable at 43c and it hit 45 for a few seconds and then it creep-ed down to 43 and its still creeping and now is at 42c. Why the hell is this happening??? When I first opened the program, the load % went to 54 for GPU and Memory was 40, it then quickly went to 30s, then 20s, then teens, then 30s then 20s then 30s etc... Please help me understand.

When I closed firefox and brought back up the vlc window. GPU mhz went to 1114 and Memory went to 3506 and my temp imminently went to 47c... Then it went back down to what I showed you above. Then I open firefox to tell you all what happened. It again went to 1114 and 3506. Now its at 671 and 810, load % for both gpu and memory are in the teens and when I close firefox, its going to freak out again... ugh

 

[17seconds]

All of this is very normal. I'm assuming your card has the Twin Frozr cooler on it, which keeps the fans off below 64c. This will cause rapid temperature variations, since there is no fan self-regulation happening.

Web page graphics can cause your card to kick into full 3D clock mode, and GPU usage will normally fluctuate depending on the situation, bouncing up and down on the graph.

This seems like maybe a case of too much information isn't necessarily a good thing. If you turn off your monitoring graphs, are you getting the performance you expect? Really, if I'm understanding correctly, it seems like everything is normal, and your understanding of graphic card behavior is the issue.

 

[Arbiter051]

All of this is very normal. I'm assuming your card has the Twin Frozr cooler on it, which keeps the fans off below 64c. This will cause rapid temperature variations, since there is no fan self-regulation happening.

Web page graphics can cause your card to kick into full 3D clock mode, and GPU usage will normally fluctuate depending on the situation, bouncing up and down on the graph.

This seems like maybe a case of too much information isn't necessarily a good thing. If you turn off your monitoring graphs, are you getting the performance you expect? Really, if I'm understanding correctly, it seems like everything is normal, and your understanding of graphic card behavior is the issue.

Well I will start off by saying this is my first time with a good/well built/gaming pc with a high end card. Yes, I admit this is more of, I don't know how the graphics card is supposed to act, heh. Also yes its the twin cooler and it does indeed stay off until I think 65c but I could be wrong. I decided to let it be that way, but im gonna change the fan speeds eventually. I also suppose your right, if anything on a website uses some type of graphics, the card will read it.

I am getting the performance I expect so far. I just wonder why it freaks out and honestly I get paranoid with high temps because im always worried I bought a bad card or mine is defective and i need a new one, don't want to wait until its too late and what not.

So in the end this is all normal behavior?? Nothing wrong? If thats the case, then that is a huge relief. Like right now I have this page, a stream through vlc and marvel puzzle quest open, its at 45c and ticking down and the loads are between 25-30%. I am assuming you also say this is normal.

Can you possibly shed light on my mouse clicks being eatin by hearthstone? like I said, ive seen streamers have hearthstone run super fast and smooth. Wondering if I am doing something wrong haha.

 

[17seconds]

Your card's target operating temperature is 80c, so your temperatures are actually excellent. So good, your fans don't even need to turn on!

Are you using VSync? That may be the source of GPU usage fluctuations and your mouse lag. Try to enable Adaptive VSync instead of regular VSync, and see if that helps.

 

[Arbiter051]

Your card's target operating temperature is 80c, so your temperatures are actually excellent. So good, your fans don't even need to turn on!

Are you using VSync? That may be the source of GPU usage fluctuations and your mouse lag. Try to enable Adaptive VSync instead of regular VSync, and see if that helps.

Just changed it, fingers crossed haha. Also I am guessing by target means, don't go over 80c for too long? I know the card either shuts off at 98c or does something else, I figured 80c also was the max I should go if it does. Hopefully it doesnt lol.

 

[17seconds]

The target temperature is called the Temp Limit in Afterburner. It pertains to your Turbo Boost algorithms only, and is adjustable as part of the process of overclocking. Below 80c and your card will heat itself up with increased Turbo Boost clocks (while also boosting performance). At or above 80c, and your card will decrease its Turbo Boost clocks to cool off.

The Turbo Boost Temp Limit is not the same as the card's thermal limit, where you risk damaging the GPU at 94c.

 

[Arbiter051]

The target temperature is called the Temp Limit in Afterburner. It pertains to your Turbo Boost algorithms only, and is adjustable as part of the process of overclocking. Below 80c and your card will heat itself up with increased Turbo Boost clocks (while also boosting performance). At or above 80c, and your card will decrease its Turbo Boost clocks to cool off.

The Turbo Boost Temp Limit is not the same as the card's thermal limit, where you risk damaging the GPU at 94c.

Oh, so above 80c it throttles back you mean?

 

[17seconds]

It will reduce it's Turbo Boost clocks back down to its standard clock speed as advertised in your GPU specs.

This is as opposed to "throttling", which is a reduction below your standard base clock speed. Throttling happens at 94c to prevent damage to the GPU.

 

[Arbiter051]

It will reduce it's Turbo Boost clocks back down to its standard clock speed as advertised in your GPU specs.

This is as opposed to "throttling", which is a reduction below your standard base clock speed. Throttling happens at 94c to prevent damage to the GPU.

Ah, ok, had them mixed up. Alright, you have been a big help!!! Thank you so much. I am trying hearthstone right now as we speak. Will say if it changes from eating my clicks. If I may ask, what if it doesn't change? Anything else you can think of?

 

[17seconds]

Turn VSync off.

 

[Arbiter051]

Turn VSync off.

Alright then.