NVIDIA GTX 970 getting horrible FPS on games it used to run perfect. [SOLVED]

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sbkspyder

sbkspyder

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Feb 17, 2015
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(((((Too Long - Don't Want To Read - Problem and Solution)))))

Problem: Video card was showing display but not using the graphics card for during gaming or really anything. Core and Memory Clocks were at a constant rate (Usually 135/165). Same results after using another power supply, using another system, wiping windows, wiping drivers and bios flash.

Solution: GPU-Z was used to monitor card, as suggested by cst1992. TDP was at 232%+, indicating that there was a problem with the card. New card was purchased and works properly. Old card was sent off for RMA. PSU is suspected cause but not confirmed.

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Original Post
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Hello All,


I am here because I am truly done trying to search, test, reset and search again. I have a GTX 970 SSC from EVGA that I bought in April I believe. When I first got it the thing ran perfectly. All my games were set to high/ultra/ultra high and ran without issue. Skyrim, Planetside, Max Payne 3, ARK, BF4, CS:GO, Sims 3, Arma 3, Cities : Skylines and so on. After a few months of playing without issue I even found the receipt for it and realized that it came with Witcher 3 for free, so I downloaded and installed that. It played perfect on the highest settings. I thought I was set until about a month ago. I messed up by dual booting Linux and then accidentally deleting linux (Which happened to be using that partition with Grub as the primary bootloader). I was able to get all back together (Minus the Linux install) and my games still seemed to run great but it seems like out of nowhere it just went to junk.

In Skyrim I was seeing an FPS of around 90+ almost constantly. ARK was around 60 usually. I am now at the point where I am seeing pretty much 20 FPS on Skyrim on High and Ultra settings, 18 FPS on ARK with the lowest settings possible and 16 FPS on Witcher 3 with the lowest settings possible. I've always made sure my drivers were up to date, always keep the case and internals clean, run MalwareBytes when I am not gaming, did disk defrags on the HDD that the games are stored on and I even used DDU to wipe it all off and install again. None of these things have helped. I've followed numerous posts on this site about changing NVidia Control settings, lowering gaming settings and so on with no luck. Mind you that I am playing Witcher 3 on the lowest settings possible and getting 18.

My rig is as follows.

AMD FX 9590
GTX 970 SSC
ASUS SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0
120 GB Kingston SSD
1TB WD Caviar Blue
Corsair H75 Cooler
16GB Corsair Vengence 1600 DDR3
EVGA SuperNOVA NEX 650W 80+ Gold

Dual Monitors at 1920x1080 each.
Windows 7 Ultimate

My GPU temps are usually right at 34c and CPU are usually 35c - 45c (Lots of fans and sits in a cold room).
GPU does show full usage. CPU shows about 30 on 3 cores depending on the game (Witcher has put a few of them at 50 usually not higher as confirmed by MSI.


I know something is surely wrong here and ran Firestrike again to prove it. My previous score (4/25/2015) was 9093. My most recent score (12/13/2015) was 1109. If that doesn't scream PROBLEM at the top of it's lungs then I don't know what does.

Please help people. I built the thing myself so I am not afraid to rip it back apart (Actually did that last night for cable managements sake). Let me know what I need to do. So far the next things on my list are re-seating the CPU (Which it should have no reason for) and if that doesn't do it then I am prepared to wipe it clean (Or at least put Windows on another HDD and try again).
 
Solution
cst1992
Before you do that, do one thing. Put the 970 in a system that can handle it(500W or more PSU rating, a good brand), and repost the GPU-Z screenshots.

It seems the OCZ(Firepower is the name of the new owner of their PSU business) PSU caused something to blow internally in the GPU over those 7 months you had it. 232% TDP is NOT normal. If that's consistent, RMA the card and don't use the new one on the OCZ or the CX.
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I will be sure to check that when I get home but do you have any thoughts on how those things would be changed without me ever doing anything to the system? I overclocked the GPU once just for fun but set it back the same day (And that was back in April). The CPU has never had anything outside of factory settings (Currently at 4.7 right now).
 
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Well maybe Linux screwed up something... I would on your place Just take the ssd to a another computer plug it in and delete alll data on it and completely reformat it, and then do a fresh Windows install
Maybe some pictures of your bios would help, maybe something is wrong there?
 
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BIOS is set to default and mainly has been since the install of the 970. I've kept it in the back of my head that maybe Linux did me in but I am sort of doubtful of that as nothing else seems to be wrong except for the games. I can still play my older games (SWG, Hitman Contracts/Blood Money, CS 1.6 and so on) without issue, granted they also ran great on systems that have had 512mb cards in them and some even held their own with integrated chips. I am still able to use 3DS Max, Photoshop, Unity, Unreal Engine and other intensive software without issue which makes me think it is a GPU problem.

I am right on the line to just wipe the thing but I want to make sure there is no other alternative first. The last thing I want to do is download almost Witcher 3, BF4, CS:GO, ARK and Diablo 3 all over again. I'd be waiting all day just to test if it worked and I'd probably have to take part in a very nasty conversation with my ISP about why I hit my cap so quickly. I work doing IT so my first thought would be Wipe and Reinstall in a heartbeat if it wasn't for all those downloads.
 
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Update to everything. I windows and started fresh. No go. I took out the GPU, cleaned it a bit and put it back. No go. I took off the CPU cooler, cleaned it and the CPU off, put on new thermal paste and put it all back. No go. I am not sure where to go from here. Clean Windows install, freshly seated CPU and CPU Cooler, freshly seated GPU, freshly installed drivers, clean install of the game. Going to start screwing with the BIOS tomorrow to see if that gets anywhere because that seems to be the only place left to look.
 
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That won't solve anything, the GPU ran perfectly fine before the dual installation, so the GPU won't be defective.


I second this.
Check if the frequency for the GPU and memory is 405MHz using GPU-z, and post a screenshot of the sensors tab. If it is, then it'll indicate a dialdown of frequency due to temp issues or an unstable overclock.
 
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I have not got around to trying it with the game running or benchmark running yet but that is on the list (I think that will actually have to wait until I get home due to those programs not liking to cooperate while on a RDC session.



I installed GPU-Z this morning and intended to remote onto my system during at lunch to check it out but I forgot to forward the port on my router and set the firewall rule in Windows. Going to see if the women can enable all of that for me in a bit so that I can continue with that plan but if not then I will have to wait until I get home. If I remember correctly, I think at a standstill the core clock speed on the graphics tab was somewhere in the 130 to 150 range. I could be wrong (And very well might be) but I want to say that was what it was. I will post back when I know for sure and will post the screenshots that were asked for as well.
 
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Yeah if its that low, then its got stuck in low power mode. It should be going at over 1000-1300mhz

I would remove all the drivers, reinstall the latest drivers and set to Maximum performance in Nvidia control panel under the power settings.
 
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Will surely be giving that a try once I get home. I seem to remember explicitly setting Witcher 3 to Maximum Performance in the 3D Settings section but that might not have been enough to complete the job. I am surely hoping this is the solution as I am about at the end of my rope with this problem. I want to thank you and all other posters to this very much for the suggestions offered in this thread. It is highly appreciated. Glad I wasn't "self-upping" this thing 5 days from now hoping for a response. lol.

 
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That's what I am showing in CPU-Z.
 
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Been home for a bit and gave this a try a few times. It's a no go. Not sure where to go next.
 
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@OP I said to download GPU-Z, not CPU-Z.
This, specifically(why I didn't link it earlier, I don't know): www.techpowerup.com/gpuz

@Bossyfins Good observation, but I'd say a 650W should be enough for this setup? Typical high end Intel CPUs consume around 100 W, and if you install a 300W card, even then a 650W is usually enough. All other factors being equal, a 220W CPU and 145W GPU should consume the same(even a little less) amount of power.

If you overclock the 9590 and the 970, it's a different story.

As for the H75, I did find threads posted by people that the H75(and a H80i) wasn't enough for a 9590.
 
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It isn't that you can't run it on 650 watts. But the quality of the PSU means the chances of it supplying the needed power is bad. If anything, I'd recommend an 850 unit and a new cooler, like the d15 and seeing if that fixes it. I am almost positive it is one of those 2.
 
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You need to see what the GPU clock speed is when actually in a benchmark or game, arent the screen shots from idle?
 
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Actually listed the PSU wrong. It is a FirePower ModXStream Pro 700W 80Plus. I went by my PCPartPicker list and not by my Amazon orders list (Though I doubt 50 watts makes a difference here but just wanted to be correct about the specs)



Sorry about that. Had a bit of a dyslexic moment there. Will be downloading GPU-Z (Not CPU-Z - Mental note to self. lol) when I get home and testing again.



Yes, those shots are from idle. I've tried running a benchmark and games with CPU-Z (Though I see now I really needed GPU-Z) and it did not change. MSI Afterburner listed no changes as well.



The one thing I am wondering about this is why would it suddenly not be enough after almost 7 months of successful operation? Absolutely nothing has changed from my specs yet now the PSU or Cooler aren't sufficient? That puzzles me, no matter how many times or ways I think about it. It seems entirely possible and I'd be willing to replace out those parts if it comes down to it but I want to be sure it is the problem before I start throwing money at it.
 
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