Question Gtx 980 underperforming and gddr5 chipset temperatures high

[Matthew44]

hi everyone, so a couple days ago, i bought a gtx 980 off of cex to get better performance out of my pc (i was going to buy the gtx 1060 3gb but saw the 980 is supposedly faster, which in my case, it isnt.) i received the evga 980 SC and in games like fortnite, when i set my fps to 240, im getting 80 on gpu, 240 on cpu. i do have a slight cpu bottleneck but i dont think the cpu is downgrading the performance that bad. ( i have disabled the vega 8 through device manager) and in apex, im also only getting 55-80 fps . For the temperature problem, i can see on Techpowerup-gpuZ the vram temps are 88-90 and the gpu die temp is 78. i have taken my gpu apart however and have seen that the thermal paste is still wet, which does confuse me slightly as to why temps are so high. When i was reinstalling the gpu back into my pc, i did notice the gpu is sagging slightly, but it is sagging enough so the pcie slot pins, as you get closer to the end, are lower than the ones at the front. (if that makes sense.) Thank you for helping me. (toms hardware isnt letting me post photos so ive had to include links to the photos, sorry about that
my pc specs are as follows:
ryzen 3 2200g
asus prime a320m-k
16gb crucial 2666mhz ram
EVGA gtx 980 superclocked
cooler master mb320L
rm750x
Hot spot temp and GPU die temp photo
Gpu sag causing pcie slot pins to be lower
Thermal paste application on heatsink
no thermal pads on vrams and vram chips missing
thermal paste on gpu die

 

[Matthew44]

Also, i must mention, i am overclocking the gpu through msi afterburner to allow an extra 23% performance
sorry if i dont respond to your reply on the same day, i get lots of emails, so im sorry if i reply slow

 

[KananX]

Of course you will have higher temps when overclocking, increase fan speed or deal with it. There’s no magic solution other than maybe replacing the whole heatsink of the GPU with a better one.

 

[Matthew44]

Of course you will have higher temps when overclocking, increase fan speed or deal with it. There’s no magic solution other than maybe replacing the whole heatsink of the GPU with a better one.
ok thanks
any idea as to why my gpu performance is bad though?

 

[Eximo]

Those links don't work. We recommend imgur.com/upload to upload your pictures, then put the links in your question.


Those temperatures are little high, but nothing drastically bad. When you pulled the cooler, did you apply new thermal compound?

Is this the EVGA SC with the founder's edition blower style cooler? It isn't the worst cooler, but it is far from the best. I still have one of those in use and another sitting on a shelf.

If the image is small enough you can directly insert them by using the insert image option above the text area. You have to use the direct image link, not the web link as below.

https://imgur.com/qw3S09l

View: https://i.imgur.com/qw3S09l.jpeg
rather than

https://imgur.com/a/qw3S09l

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/qw3S09l

 

[Third-Eye]

hi everyone, so a couple days ago, i bought a gtx 980 off of cex to get better performance out of my pc (i was going to buy the gtx 1060 3gb but saw the 980 is supposedly faster, which in my case, it isnt.) i received the evga 980 SC and in games like fortnite, when i set my fps to 240, im getting 80 on gpu, 240 on cpu. i do have a slight cpu bottleneck but i dont think the cpu is downgrading the performance that bad. ( i have disabled the vega 8 through device manager) and in apex, im also only getting 55-80 fps . For the temperature problem, i can see on Techpowerup-gpuZ the vram temps are 88-90 and the gpu die temp is 78. i have taken my gpu apart however and have seen that the thermal paste is still wet, which does confuse me slightly as to why temps are so high. When i was reinstalling the gpu back into my pc, i did notice the gpu is sagging slightly, but it is sagging enough so the pcie slot pins, as you get closer to the end, are lower than the ones at the front. (if that makes sense.) Thank you for helping me. (toms hardware isnt letting me post photos so ive had to include links to the photos, sorry about that
my pc specs are as follows:
ryzen 3 2200g
asus prime a320m-k
16gb crucial 2666mhz ram
EVGA gtx 980 superclocked
cooler master mb320L
rm750x

You're probably trying to run with your graphics settings too high and your CPU and ram speed are going to hold you back even more. You might even only have a single 16GB module which can be even worse than slow ram when gaming.

The vram and GPU temps are mostly normal for gaming loads based off what you said in your post. If the GPU temp was hitting 83c constantly, then you would have a problem with overheating on the card either from poor case airflow or bad thermal paste application on the GPU. 75-80c is normal under gaming loads for GTX 980.

GPU sag is caused by the display output plate of the card not being designed properly to take the sagging load. It's unfortunately a common thing from GPU manufacturers to save money on either on materials or some other reason. It shouldn't affect the cards performance unless you actually break the card or the slot, which would only happen if you push down on it hard or were rough when moving the case around.

I'm also not sure what you mean by "setting" your fps in Fortnite. Do you mean FPS cap or monitor refreshrate?

 

[KananX]

I would say the CPU is holding the system back, it’s not just about feeding the GPU with data, that’s a older weaker quad core without SMT.

 

[Matthew44]

Those links don't work. We recommend imgur.com/upload to upload your pictures, then put the links in your question.


Those temperatures are little high, but nothing drastically bad. When you pulled the cooler, did you apply new thermal compound?

Is this the EVGA SC with the founder's edition blower style cooler? It isn't the worst cooler, but it is far from the best. I still have one of those in use and another sitting on a shelf.

If the image is small enough you can directly insert them by using the insert image option above the text area. You have to use the direct image link, not the web link as below.

https://imgur.com/qw3S09l

View: https://i.imgur.com/qw3S09l.jpeg
rather than

https://imgur.com/a/qw3S09l

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/qw3S09l
hi, no i did not apply new thermal paste as i dont have any on me. this is not the founders edition.
here are the photos, sorry about them being big

thank you for the reply

 

[Matthew44]

You're probably trying to run with your graphics settings too high and your CPU and ram speed are going to hold you back even more. You might even only have a single 16GB module which can be even worse than slow ram when gaming.

The vram and GPU temps are mostly normal for gaming loads based off what you said in your post. If the GPU temp was hitting 83c constantly, then you would have a problem with overheating on the card either from poor case airflow or bad thermal paste application on the GPU. 75-80c is normal under gaming loads for GTX 980.

GPU sag is caused by the display output plate of the card not being designed properly to take the sagging load. It's unfortunately a common thing from GPU manufacturers to save money on either on materials or some other reason. It shouldn't affect the cards performance unless you actually break the card or the slot, which would only happen if you push down on it hard or were rough when moving the case around.

I'm also not sure what you mean by "setting" your fps in Fortnite. Do you mean FPS cap or monitor refreshrate?

hi, i am playing on low settings, i have 2x8 memory modules, i may upgrade ram and cpu in future, and when i mean "setting", i mean capping the fps, sorry about that. i dont think airflow is too bad, but it could be better
thank you for your help

 

[Matthew44]

I would say the CPU is holding the system back, it’s not just about feeding the GPU with data, that’s a older weaker quad core without SMT.

yeah the cpu is bottlenecking the gpu. i may buy a better cpu in the future.
thanks for your help

 

[Matthew44]

Those links don't work. We recommend imgur.com/upload to upload your pictures, then put the links in your question.


Those temperatures are little high, but nothing drastically bad. When you pulled the cooler, did you apply new thermal compound?

Is this the EVGA SC with the founder's edition blower style cooler? It isn't the worst cooler, but it is far from the best. I still have one of those in use and another sitting on a shelf.

If the image is small enough you can directly insert them by using the insert image option above the text area. You have to use the direct image link, not the web link as below.

https://imgur.com/qw3S09l

View: https://i.imgur.com/qw3S09l.jpeg
rather than

https://imgur.com/a/qw3S09l

View: https://imgur.com/gallery/qw3S09l

just to let you know, the picture of the gpu temps are at idle. sometimes the gpu die idles at over 60, just thought id let you know.

 

[Phaaze88]

Uhh, GTX 980 memory temperature can't be read without specialized equipment, like thermocouples.
I'm assuming Gpu-Z's Hot spot reading is being mistaken for it? Hot spot is the reading from the hottest sensor on the gpu die.
Cooling the memory should be a non issue, as long as the gpu's fans are running and there's good case airflow. GDDR5 should be able to be cooled on air alone - unlike with GDDR6 and R6X.

 

[Matthew44]

Uhh, GTX 980 memory temperature can't be read without specialized equipment, like thermocouples.
I'm assuming Gpu-Z's Hot spot reading is being mistaken for it? Hot spot is the reading from the hottest sensor on the gpu die.
Cooling the memory should be a non issue, as long as the gpu's fans are running and there's good case airflow. GDDR5 should be able to be cooled on air alone - unlike with GDDR6 and R6X.

oh right, sorry, i didnt really know, i just thought that the "hot spot" was the memory chips, my bad. yes the gpu fans work
thank you for letting me know

 

[Phaaze88]

yes the gpu fans work

What I meant by fans running, is that some models out there have a 0rpm mode where the fans shut off when they're below a specific temperature.
I would rather ignore this feature and leave them running. Those fans are part of the PC's case cooling.

 

[Matthew44]

What I meant by fans running, is that some models out there have a 0rpm mode where the fans shut off when they're below a specific temperature.
I would rather ignore this feature and leave them running. Those fans are part of the PC's case cooling.

oh right thanks for letting me know, ill edit the fan curve on msi afterburner
thanks for the assistance

 

[Matthew44]

oh right thanks for letting me know, ill edit the fan curve on msi afterburner
thanks for the assistance

actually though, the fans are a bit too LOUD to be on 24/7. its like theres a plane in my room. if i can should i upload a video of the noise?

 

[Phaaze88]

Even at 20%?

 

[Matthew44]

Even at 20%?

well no, i didnt test that, but now however ive changed it so the fans are spinning at 20% until 60 degress then, after that, the fans will spin 10% faster than the temperature