GTX 980 not working properly when not under huge stress

[LeipeMeuteleider]

so I recently built a new PC. I have already made an earlier post about this problem, but after the issue suddenly disappeared for 2 months on end I spent no more time on that. the problem has returned unfortunately.
My current rig:
GTX 980
i5 6600k
32GB HyperX Fury DDR4 RAM
750W Gold Corsair PSU

now I mostly play space engineers, since planets have just been released. I think I did not notice the problem for 2 months because I was playing only on the planet surface then, which requires a lot from the card. I even overclocked it a bit(goes up to 1400 MHz now) and did the same with my processor(4500 MHz) to run this smoothly. on the planet surface, my FPS and clock speeds are fine, although the GPU usage varies around 50-60% and my CPU usage varies around 80-100%. my system is very well cooled and my GPU temperature has not exceeded 65 degrees celsius ever since I built my rig. my CPU temperature has never exceeded 45 degrees.

alright, now to the problem. I have lately started playing some other games as well, and an excellent example is unturned: very minimalistic graphics, yet it does not matter how high or low I set the graphics, my GPU just refuses to work. if it clocks higher at all it usually goes up to 600MHz in that particular game, which is good and gets me stable FPS, but it never lasts long. it will quickly go down again and often go back to 135 MHz, which is just nominal speed, plenty for some browsing or working on a school project, but not enough for even light gaming.

in space engineers, something similar occurs when I fly away from a planet. when I am working on a planet and my GPU is under heavy load(despite indicating the GPU and VRAM usage is only 50-60%) my GPU goes up to 1400MHz and runs the game at 70-80FPS. but when I quickly fly over to my space shipyard just out of the planet's gravity well using the spectator cam(and teleporting my character there too) my clockspeed and FPS will steadily decline until after a few minutes I only have 20-30 FPS left and the game becomes unplayable until I bring a visit to the planet in spectator mode again, which grants me about 2 minutes of 60FPS play until my FPS is terrible again.

I measured all this using MSI afterburner on my second monitor, so I did not have to alt+tab out every time I wanted to see my clockspeed.

I'm starting to get pretty desperate here. this occurs on all games that don't push my graphics card to the absolute limit, and I still have no idea why in spite of searching on the internet for hours on end.

 

[Leaps-from-Shadows]

Do you have the GPU set to Prefer Maximum Performance in the Nvidia Control Panel?

 

[LeipeMeuteleider]

Do you have the GPU set to Prefer Maximum Performance in the Nvidia Control Panel?

Yes, I do. but even if it would have been set to high quality it should not have been a problem for my 980 in any of the given examples in the above post.

 

[pasow]

so, what is your CPU usage looking like during all of this? from whats up there this sounds like a CPU limitation rather than GPU problem. given Space Engineers just released the planets update i wouldn't be the bit surprised if there's some optimization needed either. however, that gradual decrease overtime i have no explanation for, out side of a potential memory leak or overheat. but it sounds like nothings getti0ng hot enough to warent throttling.

also if you could include or OS that would be helpful, as some Windows 10 updates have been known to cause graphics performance issues.

 

[LeipeMeuteleider]

so, what is your CPU usage looking like during all of this? from whats up there this sounds like a CPU limitation rather than GPU problem. given Space Engineers just released the planets update i wouldn't be the bit surprised if there's some optimization needed either. however, that gradual decrease overtime i have no explanation for, out side of a potential memory leak or overheat. but it sounds like nothings getti0ng hot enough to warent throttling.

also if you could include or OS that would be helpful, as some Windows 10 updates have been known to cause graphics performance issues.

I am currently running windows 8.1. like I said, my CPU usage is between 80-100% and indeed, space engineers currenlty has the worst optimization I have ever seen. and like I said but maybe did not make clear enough, space engineers is just one of the many games that has issues with this.

 

[pasow]

so, what is your CPU usage looking like during all of this? from whats up there this sounds like a CPU limitation rather than GPU problem. given Space Engineers just released the planets update i wouldn't be the bit surprised if there's some optimization needed either. however, that gradual decrease overtime i have no explanation for, out side of a potential memory leak or overheat. but it sounds like nothings getti0ng hot enough to warent throttling.

also if you could include or OS that would be helpful, as some Windows 10 updates have been known to cause graphics performance issues.

I am currently running windows 8.1. like I said, my CPU usage is between 80-100% and indeed, space engineers currenlty has the worst optimization I have ever seen. and like I said but maybe did not make clear enough, space engineers is just one of the many games that has issues with this.

well, at least you are escaping the Win10 bugs.

an overall percentage of usage isn't really relevant in measuring CPU utilization these days. an easy example for me to give is Team Fortress 2 which hits a single core hard and then just about non of the rest. because of this, my usage never goes past 25% and my GPU basically idles. your further iteration about unturned points me towards a CPU bottleneck too rather than GPU (some games just dont need much GPU to keep up with their CPU usage). i recommend checking what is setting the performance cap for your drivers. (GPUz can show this). if its by utility then its likely a CPU performance issue however unlikely that may sound with the latest Intel CPU... but given you went through a period when these things weren't happening it could be something else.

you can always try the old hardware swap, reinstall GPU drivers, check for updates for components. (windows update will some times install drivers), roll back to an older driver...

 

[LeipeMeuteleider]

so, what is your CPU usage looking like during all of this? from whats up there this sounds like a CPU limitation rather than GPU problem. given Space Engineers just released the planets update i wouldn't be the bit surprised if there's some optimization needed either. however, that gradual decrease overtime i have no explanation for, out side of a potential memory leak or overheat. but it sounds like nothings getti0ng hot enough to warent throttling.

also if you could include or OS that would be helpful, as some Windows 10 updates have been known to cause graphics performance issues.

I am currently running windows 8.1. like I said, my CPU usage is between 80-100% and indeed, space engineers currenlty has the worst optimization I have ever seen. and like I said but maybe did not make clear enough, space engineers is just one of the many games that has issues with this.

well, at least you are escaping the Win10 bugs.

an overall percentage of usage isn't really relevant in measuring CPU utilization these days. an easy example for me to give is Team Fortress 2 which hits a single core hard and then just about non of the rest. because of this, my usage never goes past 25% and my GPU basically idles. your further iteration about unturned points me towards a CPU bottleneck too rather than GPU (some games just dont need much GPU to keep up with their CPU usage). i recommend checking what is setting the performance cap for your drivers. (GPUz can show this). if its by utility then its likely a CPU performance issue however unlikely that may sound with the latest Intel CPU... but given you went through a period when these things weren't happening it could be something else.

you can always try the old hardware swap, reinstall GPU drivers, check for updates for components. (windows update will some times install drivers), roll back to an older driver...

I used GPUz and it indicated the PerfCap reason as "util" until my world was finished loading. I had perfect FPS, 80+. as soon as it was loaded it indicated the PerfCap reason was "VRel". the clockspeed was at boost speed, just over 1400MHz. this remained for about ten seconds, until I looked at the nearby planet. my FPS started rapidly dropping and so did my clockspeed. from there on it varied from 800-1300, and the PerfCap reason was again "util". even when my clockspeed was at 1300MHz, the maximum clockspeed(1400 being the boost speed) it was still "util and I had around 30FPS, 33% of my FPS when at 1400MHz.

When I looked away from the planet again, my clockspeed remained low, but my FPS immediately rose to 80+ again. this should mean that the planet is simply very demanding, right? well here's the strange part. when I flew over to the planet and waited until everything was loaded in, my clockspeed rose to boost speed again and my FPS was between 45 and 60, higher than from space, while it should be a lot easier to render from space since there's barely any details to render, right?
my PerfCap reason flickered between "util" and "VRel" on the planet surface.

now you have probably noticed my clock speeds are higher than usual: I overclocked my card 123MHz extra. later tests without overclocks had the exact same results.

I will test some other games after I have had dinner.

 

[pasow]

I used GPUz and it indicated the PerfCap reason as "util" until my world was finished loading. I had perfect FPS, 80+. as soon as it was loaded it indicated the PerfCap reason was "VRel". the clockspeed was at boost speed, just over 1400MHz. this remained for about ten seconds, until I looked at the nearby planet. my FPS started rapidly dropping and so did my clockspeed. from there on it varied from 800-1300, and the PerfCap reason was again "util". even when my clockspeed was at 1300MHz, the maximum clockspeed(1400 being the boost speed) it was still "util and I had around 30FPS, 33% of my FPS when at 1400MHz.

When I looked away from the planet again, my clockspeed remained low, but my FPS immediately rose to 80+ again. this should mean that the planet is simply very demanding, right? well here's the strange part. when I flew over to the planet and waited until everything was loaded in, my clockspeed rose to boost speed again and my FPS was between 45 and 60, higher than from space, while it should be a lot easier to render from space since there's barely any details to render, right?
my PerfCap reason flickered between "util" and "VRel" on the planet surface.

now you have probably noticed my clock speeds are higher than usual: I overclocked my card 123MHz extra. later tests without overclocks had the exact same results.

I will test some other games after I have had dinner.

did some poking around and VRel is the Nvidia defined voltage limit. when your bumping against that, the card should be drawing as much voltage as Nvidia will permit. if you ever get VOp then your limited by the vBIOS of the card. any ways... the fact that util is the one hitting when your frame rate crashes brings me back to a CPU limitation.


its still sounding to me like your seeing a CPU limitation for space engineers, as the cards clocking low when your frame rate tanks, and im presuming CPU usage is still high. the clock speed is high when your frame rate is high because its being fed enough to warrant higher clocks to keep up. really im interested in the per core CPU usage when the above three instances occur. so long as the primary threads maxing out a core, your going to be CPU limited. also poking around some searches reveals most performance issues in space engineers is CPU related.

i'm interested in your tests from other games at this point. if you could keep an eye on clock speed of the CPU and usage during and out side of these frame rate crashes that would be helpful.

 

[LeipeMeuteleider]

did some poking around and VRel is the Nvidia defined voltage limit. when your bumping against that, the card should be drawing as much voltage as Nvidia will permit. if you ever get VOp then your limited by the vBIOS of the card. any ways... the fact that util is the one hitting when your frame rate crashes brings me back to a CPU limitation.


its still sounding to me like your seeing a CPU limitation for space engineers, as the cards clocking low when your frame rate tanks, and im presuming CPU usage is still high. the clock speed is high when your frame rate is high because its being fed enough to warrant higher clocks to keep up. really im interested in the per core CPU usage when the above three instances occur. so long as the primary threads maxing out a core, your going to be CPU limited. also poking around some searches reveals most performance issues in space engineers is CPU related.

i'm interested in your tests from other games at this point. if you could keep an eye on clock speed of the CPU and usage during and out side of these frame rate crashes that would be helpful.

I did not test other games but did a little more testing on space engineers. I did not note the CPU usage for individual cores but all four cores were active and the CPU remained at 100% load...
until I turned my music off. I have it running in the background in youtube using chrome very often, and only now did I discover that it used between 30 and 40% of my CPU, which is absolutely ridiculous.

when I turned it off my CPU usage was around 80% when looking at the planet, and my FPS was around 40-50 rather than 25-35, and my clockspeed was still low when looking at the planet... and that is still some ridiculously low FPS, and why would it drop in clockspeed still? the rest of the results were the same as earlier tests.

when I moved far away from it and looked at the planet my FPS was fine and so was my clockspeed.

This is an improvement, but there's still lots of stuttering close to the planet, even when looking away from it. and it also does not explain why I am lagging in games like unturned. so far space engineers has been my prime example, but I will try to monitor everything I play during the LAN party this weekend, although I will not have access to a second monitor to provide realtime information unfortunately. I'll post the results here again.

 

[pasow]

did some poking around and VRel is the Nvidia defined voltage limit. when your bumping against that, the card should be drawing as much voltage as Nvidia will permit. if you ever get VOp then your limited by the vBIOS of the card. any ways... the fact that util is the one hitting when your frame rate crashes brings me back to a CPU limitation.


its still sounding to me like your seeing a CPU limitation for space engineers, as the cards clocking low when your frame rate tanks, and im presuming CPU usage is still high. the clock speed is high when your frame rate is high because its being fed enough to warrant higher clocks to keep up. really im interested in the per core CPU usage when the above three instances occur. so long as the primary threads maxing out a core, your going to be CPU limited. also poking around some searches reveals most performance issues in space engineers is CPU related.

i'm interested in your tests from other games at this point. if you could keep an eye on clock speed of the CPU and usage during and out side of these frame rate crashes that would be helpful.

I did not test other games but did a little more testing on space engineers. I did not note the CPU usage for individual cores but all four cores were active and the CPU remained at 100% load...
until I turned my music off. I have it running in the background in youtube using chrome very often, and only now did I discover that it used between 30 and 40% of my CPU, which is absolutely ridiculous.

when I turned it off my CPU usage was around 80% when looking at the planet, and my FPS was around 40-50 rather than 25-35, and my clockspeed was still low when looking at the planet... and that is still some ridiculously low FPS, and why would it drop in clockspeed still? the rest of the results were the same as earlier tests.

when I moved far away from it and looked at the planet my FPS was fine and so was my clockspeed.

This is an improvement, but there's still lots of stuttering close to the planet, even when looking away from it. and it also does not explain why I am lagging in games like unturned. so far space engineers has been my prime example, but I will try to monitor everything I play during the LAN party this weekend, although I will not have access to a second monitor to provide realtime information unfortunately. I'll post the results here again.

Yeah, running other applications, especially web browsers, can crash frame rates. i have to say though the CPU usage Chrome was pulling sounds a little high. (got a bunch of plugins installed?)

the clock speed of the GPU is only what is necessary to complete the task as fast as the CPU is spitting it out. i play a lot of Helldivers currently and my CPU hovers around 33% during game play and GPU never hits its maximum clock speed. (I've set Vsync on, with out it, i will hit 200+ fps and really tax/wast the hardware) if your CPU can not prep enough frames for the GPU to warrant running at its maximum clock speed to keep up, then drivers typically throttle down the GPU to save on power and heat. you can adjust this behavior in drivers typically by setting the Power management mode to "Prefer Maximum Performance". however i wouldn't expect that to raise your frame rate much if any. (you can always try though)

the other game you listed, Unturned, is built in Unity and is still an early aces title so im not surprised your having performance issues. Unity is historically single thread limited and that game appears to have very basic graphics. there's practically nothing for the GPU to do compared to the CPU. under both games given CPU performance is more important than GPU, so i would keep an eye on that more than your GPU. (especially if adjusting visual quality has no effect on frame rate) if you could, remove the OC on your CPU and let me know how much your frame rate changes. (GPU limited games will see a minor shift down, CPU limited games will plummet)


So, how did the weekend go? any new information?

 

[LeipeMeuteleider]

did some poking around and VRel is the Nvidia defined voltage limit. when your bumping against that, the card should be drawing as much voltage as Nvidia will permit. if you ever get VOp then your limited by the vBIOS of the card. any ways... the fact that util is the one hitting when your frame rate crashes brings me back to a CPU limitation.


its still sounding to me like your seeing a CPU limitation for space engineers, as the cards clocking low when your frame rate tanks, and im presuming CPU usage is still high. the clock speed is high when your frame rate is high because its being fed enough to warrant higher clocks to keep up. really im interested in the per core CPU usage when the above three instances occur. so long as the primary threads maxing out a core, your going to be CPU limited. also poking around some searches reveals most performance issues in space engineers is CPU related.

i'm interested in your tests from other games at this point. if you could keep an eye on clock speed of the CPU and usage during and out side of these frame rate crashes that would be helpful.

I did not test other games but did a little more testing on space engineers. I did not note the CPU usage for individual cores but all four cores were active and the CPU remained at 100% load...
until I turned my music off. I have it running in the background in youtube using chrome very often, and only now did I discover that it used between 30 and 40% of my CPU, which is absolutely ridiculous.

when I turned it off my CPU usage was around 80% when looking at the planet, and my FPS was around 40-50 rather than 25-35, and my clockspeed was still low when looking at the planet... and that is still some ridiculously low FPS, and why would it drop in clockspeed still? the rest of the results were the same as earlier tests.

when I moved far away from it and looked at the planet my FPS was fine and so was my clockspeed.

This is an improvement, but there's still lots of stuttering close to the planet, even when looking away from it. and it also does not explain why I am lagging in games like unturned. so far space engineers has been my prime example, but I will try to monitor everything I play during the LAN party this weekend, although I will not have access to a second monitor to provide realtime information unfortunately. I'll post the results here again.

Yeah, running other applications, especially web browsers, can crash frame rates. i have to say though the CPU usage Chrome was pulling sounds a little high. (got a bunch of plugins installed?)

the clock speed of the GPU is only what is necessary to complete the task as fast as the CPU is spitting it out. i play a lot of Helldivers currently and my CPU hovers around 33% during game play and GPU never hits its maximum clock speed. (I've set Vsync on, with out it, i will hit 200+ fps and really tax/wast the hardware) if your CPU can not prep enough frames for the GPU to warrant running at its maximum clock speed to keep up, then drivers typically throttle down the GPU to save on power and heat. you can adjust this behavior in drivers typically by setting the Power management mode to "Prefer Maximum Performance". however i wouldn't expect that to raise your frame rate much if any. (you can always try though)

the other game you listed, Unturned, is built in Unity and is still an early aces title so im not surprised your having performance issues. Unity is historically single thread limited and that game appears to have very basic graphics. there's practically nothing for the GPU to do compared to the CPU. under both games given CPU performance is more important than GPU, so i would keep an eye on that more than your GPU. (especially if adjusting visual quality has no effect on frame rate) if you could, remove the OC on your CPU and let me know how much your frame rate changes. (GPU limited games will see a minor shift down, CPU limited games will plummet)


So, how did the weekend go? any new information?

well, about my PC... take a look at my latest post for more information.

 

[pasow]

well, about my PC... take a look at my latest post for more information.

ouch, that's pretty bad. but, i have seen computers come out of similar alive (got me on how a friends desktop survived a pepsi, there was liquid residue over everything).

well, once you get a working computer again, if your still having issues feel free to post again in here. given i ran in to a rut though, it might be best to post a new thread then and maybe catch the attention of another geek.

 

[LeipeMeuteleider]

ouch, that's pretty bad. but, i have seen computers come out of similar alive (got me on how a friends desktop survived a pepsi, there was liquid residue over everything).

well, once you get a working computer again, if your still having issues feel free to post again in here. given i ran in to a rut though, it might be best to post a new thread then and maybe catch the attention of another geek.

I don't know if this will get any response anymore, but I have just rebuilt my PC and I am having the same issue again: I just downloaded the division beta and I am getting 35-45 FPS.

The really weird part is the conflicting information I am getting: MSI afterburner reads 520MHz clock speed while GPU-Z reads 1,3GHz clock speed, which is the maximum clock speed. what the hell? and the performance is of course terrible.

EDIT: The PerfCap reason is listed as VRel, which a google search identifies as Reliability Voltage.

 

[pasow]

I would consider testing with a different power supply if you can. I've had some weird performance anomalies linked before to power supply issues. (not to mention one PSU that fried several cards...)

It is rather odd that MSI Afterburner and GPU-z are reading such distinctly different clock frequencies. It's as though ones reading a completely different power state. I dont know what to say/do about that as i have never seen it before.


(apologies for the delay in response. if some one else has resolved your issue, pleas link to it in case any one stumbles on this thread)