Gtx 970 question

[Arbiter051]

I would like to try and play hearthstone at 120 fps instead of 60. When I set the cap to 160, my gpu maxes out its clocks, which makes my temps rise to 60-62c (the fans don't really kick in till 65 I think). Which makes me a little weary to do other things that involve the gpu because of extra heat and I don't like it going over 70

It's an Msi gtx 970. I believe it is the boost 2.0 doing this and almost every it friend I ask about specifically what it does and they say for the 900 series it's doing nothing. I called up Nividia one day just I ask them and even the person on the phone said it does nothing and feel free to turn it off.

So I ask. How do I turn off the boost 2.0 feature and if I am able to, does it affect anything? My card functions normal from what I understand and it's a good card for my needs.

it's also not just hearthstone. Any game that runs at a certain fps cap, if I up the cap, the card really believes it needs to run at full clocks, even if the cap is 65 fps... No I'm not kidding. It also doesn't help that due to boost, anything I do and I mean anything makes the clocks fluctuate from low clock and memory use to max and then up and down and it's very annoying and makes the temps fluctuate which is also annoying.

Please help if you can, thank you.

 

[Gam3r01]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what your card is doing currently. Unless your card is hitting 80C you shouldnt be worried about temps at all.
If it really does bother you, set a more aggressive fan curve.

 

[Arbiter051]

I know my card is doing what it's supposed to. I'm just asking if there is a way to turn the boost off is all. Unless it is actually doing something useful, I'm not exactly sure what boost does and why it's behaving the way it is. Especially because everyone tells me it's doing nothing for the 900 series cards.

 

[ingtar33]

What boost2 does is automatically overclock your gpu up to the NVIDIA approved thermal limit, which i believe is 73C when the gpu needs more power then what it currently can supply. If you want it to stop turn your settings down or buy an AMD, as BOOST2 is hardcoded into the NVIDIA gpu bios. and short of hacking the bios you can't turn it off.

and the people saying it "does nothing" are talking about it causes no harm. not that it doesn't do anything. as it clearly overclocks your gpu in the 900 series cards, just as it did in the 700 series cards. Those cards are safe up to 90C, 60-65C is nothing to them, and literally causes ZERO harm.

 

[Arbiter051]

Ah, so there is no way to actually turn boost off. Also when you say settings I assume you mean my game settings.

 

[ingtar33]

Ah, so there is no way to actually turn boost off. Also when you say settings I assume you mean my game settings.

yep; boost2 only kicks in when you're asking for more from the card then the card can produce normally. it's just automatic self overclocking tool.

 

[Arbiter051]

Alright then I'll learn to live with it i suppose. One last question. You say 80c is the point in which I don't want to hit.

Let's say my card sits at 71-74 for an hour, that's not a bad thing I assume? It hasn't hit that high, but just for future reference incase doing other things while playing hearthstone at 120fps makes it reach that.

I ask because I plan to keep the card working for the next 2 or maybe 3 years. Just making sure u do what I need to so that I can achieve that goal.

 

[Gam3r01]

My card regularly runs at 78C for periods of up to 10 hours, its no issue at all.
80C is only when you need to start tweaking fans and whatnot, the actual point where you dont want to hit is 90C.

 

[Arbiter051]

Aleight thank you for the help^_^