Question Odd 980ti power/clock issue.

[jt9247]

Hello,
A few weeks ago, I started noticing some decreased performance when playing games on my PC. I'm not exactly sure what/when it started. Basically in some games, I am getting poor framerates and some odd stuttering.

Some specs (let me know if more are needed)

GPU: 980ti 6GB

CPU: i5-4570

PSU: Coolermaster 650W

I have attached a screenshot of GPU-Z while running Heaven Benchmark. The start of the graphs are just idle running (before that Perfcap goes green is the idle time). The benchmark stutters, runs slows most of the time. You can see there are brief spikes where the power consumption goes up , and the clock speed does as well. But otherwise power comsumption and clock speed stays below 50%.

Assuming this was a power save issue, I have gone into my Nvidia control panel, 3d settings, and set the power management mode to Prefer optimal performance, didn't help. I used MSI afterburner, everything seems fine in there. Power limit is set to 100% and GPU clock base is set to the standard 1151Mhz.

I can't seem to identify the cause of this problem. I ran some hardware test software on my GPU and CPU, results were all passes. I completely uninstalled my nvidia drivers, using DDU in safemode, reinstalled an older version. No change. Is this some software/bios/driver issue? Is my PSU dying? Is my GPU dying (please no!)?

Thanks in advance for any insight. Let me know if I can provide more detail.

 

[Lutfij]

You need to be specific about the model for your PSU. The brand and wattage are critical but the quality of the unit also needs to be known. You should also include the age of the PSU.

List your specs like so:
CPU:
Motherboard:
Ram:
SSD/HDD:
GPU:
PSU:
Chassis:
OS:

Which BIOS version are you on for your motherboard?

 

[jt9247]

Thanks for the speedy reply Lutfij. I apologize for my delay and lack of detail.

CPU: Intel i5 4570
Motherboard: MSI H81M-E33 with BIOS: American Megatrends Inc V6.2
Ram: 16GB (2, 8GB sticks, not sure of the brand).
SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 250GB
HDD: Western Digital Black 2TB and Western Digital Blue 1TB
GPU: Gigabyte GTX980ti 6GB G1 Gaming Edition
PSU: Cooler Master GXII 650w. Getting older, maybe 4 years.
Chassis: some generic, average chassis
OS: Windows 10 Home

 

[jt9247]

I've now also made sure the Windows Power settings are on High Performance, and the the PCI-e Link state power management is off.

I also have physically removed and reinstalled my GPU, including power cables.

Unfortunately I do not own a second GPU or PSU to test.

I am the verge of going out and buying a new PSU, but I would hate to spend that money and time, then realize the problem is not PSU related.

 

[jt9247]

Well just an update here. I went ahead and purchased and installed a new PSU into my machine:
Thermaltkae 750w RGB Bronze.
Should be well overpowered for my rig. It's 100w more than my previous PSU.

Unfortunately, the problem has not been resolved. The issue is the same as above, graphs and all. This was very disheartening for me.

Any advice at all would be appreciated. Is this some setting somewhere? Something in the BIOS?

My worst fear is that it is my GPU, a physical problem. I am not really in the position to buy a new GPU at this point, so any ideas are welcome. Thanks.