How to really underclock my GPU?

[josysclei]

So, as I already posted before, I'm having issues with my Zotac GTX 780 in games, and one of the last things I haven't done yet is underclocking it to factory base clocks. GPU Boost will turbo it to 1084Mhz, while the base for my model is 941Mhz. The problem is, Precision and Afterburner only let me underclock it by -105Mhz, still leaving the clock higher than base!! So I'm still crashing in a few games and can't know for sure if it has something to do with overclocking. How the hell can I underclock my card as much as I want? Without doing some crazy BIOS modding, I'm hoping not to lose warranty.

 

[ulysses35]

What issues are you having in games ?

 

[josysclei]

Okay, currently BF4 and Valley/Heaven crash after a couple of minutes. Screen goes black/brown, sometimes PC restarts sometimes it manages to recover. Already formatted the system, all new drivers, now other stability issues at all, some other games like Skyrim, LoL and Magic works fine.

i7 4790K
Asus Z87 Hero
Cougar CMX 700W

PS: Ran Furmark and Prime95 at the same time for 2h and no problems, so I think the PSU is just fine.

 

[i7Baby]

Might be your CPU overheating or the poor quality power supply not coping.

Post your complete and detailed build. drives, ram, os, case

 

[josysclei]

Might be your CPU overheating or the poor quality power supply not coping.

Post your complete and detailed build. drives, ram, os, case

Like I said, already tried a bunch of things. CPU ate full load won't go over 60C, GPU sits at 65C, so it's definetely not overheating. Since I just formatted it, all the drivers are new and freshly installed, but I'm having this issue for months now. Happened with both Win 7 and 8.1. Ram is 8GB of Corsair Vengeance Pro 1600Mhz. And if my PSU can handle the load of Furmark and Prime95 together, I'm pretty sure it can handle a game.

 

[josysclei]

You have eliminated drivers etc by running w7 and w8.1 with fresh installs and still have the same problem.This leaves hardware. The symptoms point at the graphics card and the power supply.
You are sure you have eliminated the power supply.
Personally I would not use that psu for a door stop,but anyway.
The symptoms conflict here. Everything works fine except for a couple of games and the psu can handle firmark and prime.(I'm not convinced these load the power supply the same as something utilising all system and gpu ram by the way)
But the crashes persist.
You need a hardware swap to nail down the culprit.You cannot move forward without physical intervention.
Personally I would buy a power supply but if you can borrow one or try the card in another pc you would find your answer.
You could RMA the card as well.If you still have the problem its the psu.If you dont its the card.
Either way you would know.
Footnote; Unigene and bf4 crash symptoms indicate undervoltage, sometimes resulting in total pc shutdown and re start.
Tying a $600+ cpu and gpu setup to a $30 power supply is absolute folly.

Wow, is it that bad?? Before buying it I researched a little and read some good reviews about it. And by the way, welcome to Brazil, where that "door step" costed me R$350, or $120...

 

[i7Baby]

What 12v, 5v and 3.3v readings do you get from bios?

 

[josysclei]

What 12v, 5v and 3.3v readings do you get from bios?

Just tested 5v and 12v with a multimeter, 5v and 12.1v respectively

 

[josysclei]

Knah. I dont believe taht for a minite.

wth??

 

[josysclei]

You can test 5 v and 12 v under load conditions,any other test is pretty worthless to be honest.
A multimeter only goes down to 1/10th of a volt (unless you spend 'Real' money) accurately.
A motherboard readout from (whom) is actually more accurate.
You will not see the effects of Voltage droop otherwise.
(more pronounced with a cheap power supply to the point of system crash).
There is little point testing the voltage (electrical pressure) of a power supply whilst it is idle,because it will not give you a true indication of its ability to handle a load.
A ten % drop of voltage (pressure) is often system fatal and will result in crashes etc.
Perhaps I should put it another way; until you buy a decent power supply,you are wasting your time,my time,i7 baby's time and everybody elses time who looks at your post on more than one occasion.
You seem to be in denial about your problem.
Frankly , until you replace your power supply I for one will not trouble myself with your problem again.
You are just taking up peoples time and effort otherwise,and you have actually posted about this problem before.
You have been Told!?
(Y YOU NO WRISTEN?)
You seem intent on proving your dead cheap awful power supply is up to the task,so its better if we leave you to get on with it.

Well, could you at least tell me why you think my PSU is so horrible??

 

[i7Baby]

See reviews eg http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cougar-CMX-700-W-Power-Supply-Review/1317/10

It doesn't meet 80 plus Bronze cert at full load

It has poor voltage regulation

They can't recommend this unit.

 

[josysclei]

See reviews eg http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cougar-CMX-700-W-Power-Supply-Review/1317/10

It doesn't meet 80 plus Bronze cert at full load

It has poor voltage regulation

They can't recommend this unit.

Mine is a newer model man, it has a golden certificate from that same site

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/Cougar-CMX-V2-700-W-Power-Supply-Review/1686

 

[i7Baby]

I'm just going on what you're telling me. If you won't pass on info as I ask for, then I can't really help you. Good bye and good luck.