[SOLVED] GTX 980 TI Crashing at base speeds // Only stable when underclocked

[Hyponikz]

Hey all not the most tech orientated person just so it's announced beforehand!

So a while back my games would crash randomly due to my GPU crashing and it would restart without me having to restart my computer but it wasn't frequent at all!
Recently I downloaded Lost Ark Online and have been playing with very frequent crashes. What I did was underclock my GPU but I don't want to have to do this for the fix.

Core Clock -90
Memory Clock -201

PC Specs

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (x64) Build 19044.1526 (21H2)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770K CPU @ 3.50GHz 3.50 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 980 Ti FTW ACX 2.0+
Ram: 16GB Corsair DDR3 SDRAM
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS V EXTREME BIOS Version:1903


Things I've noticed

• My GPU usage when at regular settings (no underclock or over) would spike to 100% and crash the game after being at around a stable 50-60%!
• Core Voltage doesn't stay stable even with force constant voltage enabled in MSI Afterburner regardless
• The Core clock on my card seems to go up and down at random temps! Although memory clock stays stable
• I NEVER have to restart my PC it crashes and no error is displayed (but the screen goes wonky as hell) and goes back to normal after 10 seconds with game having to be closed via task manager

Things I've tried

• DDU and reinstall drivers
• Clean the whole entire graphics card
• Turned monitor off of 240hz to 144hz (because I can't get that fps anyways, don't ask why I bought this monitor) which seemed to reduce temps for some reason
• Played around with Power limit and Core voltage on MSI afterburner (core voltage doesn't even do anything really when I touch it and wont stay stable)

Any help is appreciated I'm a little short on funds is why I wouldn't just upgrade so thanks in advance

 

[spentshells]

Have you cleaned and applied new thermal paste a d thermal pads? You should do that right away.

 

[dotas1]

Hey all not the most tech orientated person just so it's announced beforehand!

So a while back my games would crash randomly due to my GPU crashing and it would restart without me having to restart my computer but it wasn't frequent at all!
Recently I downloaded Lost Ark Online and have been playing with very frequent crashes. What I did was underclock my GPU but I don't want to have to do this for the fix.

Core Clock -90
Memory Clock -201

PC Specs

OS: Microsoft Windows 10 Home (x64) Build 19044.1526 (21H2)
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-3770K CPU @ 3.50GHz 3.50 GHz
GPU: EVGA GTX 980 Ti FTW ACX 2.0+
Ram: 16GB Corsair DDR3 SDRAM
Motherboard: ASUS MAXIMUS V EXTREME BIOS Version:1903


Things I've noticed

• My GPU usage when at regular settings (no underclock or over) would spike to 100% and crash the game after being at around a stable 50-60%!
• Core Voltage doesn't stay stable even with force constant voltage enabled in MSI Afterburner regardless
• The Core clock on my card seems to go up and down at random temps! Although memory clock stays stable
• I NEVER have to restart my PC it crashes and no error is displayed (but the screen goes wonky as hell) and goes back to normal after 10 seconds with game having to be closed via task manager

Things I've tried

• DDU and reinstall drivers
• Clean the whole entire graphics card
• Turned monitor off of 240hz to 144hz (because I can't get that fps anyways, don't ask why I bought this monitor) which seemed to reduce temps for some reason
• Played around with Power limit and Core voltage on MSI afterburner (core voltage doesn't even do anything really when I touch it and wont stay stable)

Any help is appreciated I'm a little short on funds is why I wouldn't just upgrade so thanks in advance

Unfortunately the fact that you need to do an underclock in core and memory to avoid crashes, means the silicon has degraded. The GPU starts slowly going to gpu heaven.

As @spentshells suggested you might get a little more time by changing the thermal paste and thermal pads.

 

[Hyponikz]

I just don't get how that can be the issue when the temps seem fine!

 

[Jay Fury]

Cards degrade it just happens. I'm willing to bet it's the memory and not even the core clock. All cards are subject to this and memory usually goes first. I highly doubt it has anything to do with thermals or such a little underclock wouldn't have "fixed" it. Sadly this IS your fix. The good news is your card is pretty old and starting to be the bare minimum for games so and upgrade hopefully isn't too far in your future.

If you had an OC on the card whether manually or out of the box it degrades them faster. If your next card is going to have to last 3 almost 4 GPU series then I wouldn't OC it at all next time.

 

[dotas1]

I just don't get how that can be the issue when the temps seem fine!

The temps are not an issue. It just helps because the paste may have dried out a bit and lower temps help a higher clock being sustainable easier.
It's not a solution, it's just a thing you can do to make things easier for the GPU.

 

[spentshells]

I just don't get how that can be the issue when the temps seem fine!

Could be a reporting issue. It feels pretty clear that if you down clock to avoid crashing that the GPU and memory chips could be overheating. The 980ti was a powerfulAnd thus hotter card. The thermal paste on the CPU and the thermal pads on the memory are likely fully cooked by now. Proper application of new thermal pads could potentially bring down the temps by as much as 8c.

If the thermal paste has not yet been changed since purchase it is certainly time.

 

[spentshells]

I just don't get how that can be the issue when the temps seem fine!

Could be a reporting issue. It feels pretty clear that if you down clock to avoid crashing that the CPU and memory chips could be overheating. The 980ti was a powerfulAnd thus hotter card. The thermal paste on the CPU and the thermal pads on the memory are likely fully cooked by now. Proper application of new thermal pads could potentially bring down the temps by as much as 8c.

If the thermal paste has not yet been changed since purchase it is certainly time

The temps are not an issue. It just helps because the paste may have dried out a bit and lower temps help a higher clock being sustainable easier.
It's not a solution, it's just a thing you can do to make things easier for the GPU.

Well the temps are the issue, the memory has been subjected to a lot of heat and have degraded in quality, they can no longer sustain the original temps they were originally supposed to maintain.

 

[King_V]

Could this possibly a power supply that's degrading and on its way out? You know, managing to hold up when the load isn't great, but when the GPU suddenly puts a heavy demand on it, the power supply can't keep up anymore?

What's the brand and exact model of power supply you have? Also, how old is the power supply?

 

[Hyponikz]

Could this possibly a power supply that's degrading and on its way out? You know, managing to hold up when the load isn't great, but when the GPU suddenly puts a heavy demand on it, the power supply can't keep up anymore?

What's the brand and exact model of power supply you have? Also, how old is the power supply?

Corsair 750W i believe

 

[King_V]

Corsair 750W i believe

It should be ok, but what exact model? Even at the same wattage, some Corsair models are tanks, and some are . . not so tough. That's the same for a lot of brands, though. ie: an RM750x is fantastic, but the CV 750, well, I wouldn't be very hesitant to put that in a gaming machine with a power-hungry video card.

And, how old is the PSU?

 

[Goorath]

Repaste, try stock settings, write back the results. I mean what's so difficult on doing just that???