Question RTX 3060 Ti stutters

[spokiechris]

Hey all,

Observed Problem:
Recently, I upgraded my motherboard, CPU, GPU, and PSU. The motherboard and CPU work fine, but the RTX 3060 ti stutters in Windows 10 and 11 even without any open applications.

Specifications:

• AMD Ryzen 7 5800X Boxed
• ASRock B550M-ITX/ac
• MSI GeForce RTX 3060 Ti Ventus 2X 8G
• Cooler Master V750 SFX Gold (750W PSU)
• 2x16GB DDR4 RAM Team Group Elite TED416G3200C2201
• Kingston A400 2,5" 480GB SSD
• Seagate Firecuda Compute, 1TB HDD
• Noctua NH-L9a-AM4
• Fractal Design Node 202

Old replaced specifications were: Intel Core i5-7500, MSI GeForce GTX 980 GAMING 4G, ASRock H110M-ITX/ac, Integra SFX 450W PSU)

What I tried:

• Fresh Windows 10 and 11 install
• DDU (DisplayDriverUninstaller) in safe mode with fresh Nvidia drivers (tried several recent versions). Often (not always) the PC would crash during driver installation. In this case, I got BSOD's (blue screen of death) with VIDEO TDR FAILURE, nvlddmkm.sys. This BSOD would then reoccur until DDU'ing again. Online advice seems to suggest DDU for this, as well as finding the nvlddmkm.sys file and enabling full user control, neither of these solutions helped.
• Updating BIOS to most recent version
• Tried RTX 3060 Ti in a friend's PC which worked fine (AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, ASRock X570 Steel Legend, 1000W PSU Corsair RM1000, 2x G.Skill Trident Z F4-3600C15D-16GTZ, Crucial P1 1TB SSD)
• Tried different known-working RAM stick (1x16GB 2133 MHz).
• Using old GPU (MSI GeForce GTX 980 GAMING 4G), works just fine

Other notes:
After ignoring my problems for 3 weeks I got back to the PC and upon installing the drivers (presumably after DDU'ing a couple weeks ago) the GPU ran acceptably without stutter (3DMARK score 2000, though the average for these specs is 3000). Then, I let Windows do some updates (among others some AMD stuff), and upon rebooting the stuttering was back (3DMARK score 200).
The motherboard, CPU and PSU are second hand. Potentially, there is a motherboard BIOS configuration I overlooked from the previous owner that messes with my system? I can't think of what that would then be, however.

Conclusions from troubleshooting:
It seems to me that there is a GPU driver problem. I think this is the case due to the GTX 980 running fine whereas the RTX 3060 Ti stutters in the same system, as well as the fact that the 3060 Ti runs fine in my friend's PC. However, the multiple driver reinstallation attempts (fresh W10/W11, DDU, different recent driver versions) makes me unsure to fix this.
There is the off-chance that my 750W PSU is not sufficient (my friend's PSU is 1000W, the GTX 980 has a power power draw). However, my old 450W PSU displayed the exact same behaviour, and I would expect the 300 additional wattage of my current PSU to at least cause an improvement. AMD recommends 650W (https://www.msi.com/blog/recommended-psu-table), implying my 750W is sufficient.

Planned (for Friday) troubleshooting following very kind forum feedback :

• CMOS reset: I did briefly attempt to reset the CMOS but did not know/look into verifying whether this correctly execute. I will look into this again Friday and verify whether the CMOS reset correctly executed.
• RAM on MOBO QVL list: I did not verify whether the RAM stick was on the QVL list as I always assumed any DDR4 RAM stick with compatible speeds was compatible, but I will check this too (I guess Team Group Elite RAM is a bit niche).
• XMP/DOCP settings: I have not verified XMP/DOCP settings and will do so Friday.

I'd love for any input on how to fix this issue, as I've spent numerous days on this problem and am out of ideas. I'm new to this forum and hope I didn't miss any guidelines in writing this post, if not then my apologies. Thank you all in advance for your time and potential help .

Note: edited to include previously missing information

 

[helper800]

This is probably not a PSU issue. A PSU either works or it does not. When a PSU cannot supply the requested power you get unexpected shutdowns. Are you getting unexpected shutdowns?

Have you tried resetting CMOS since the BIOS flash? Is that kit of RAM on the motherboard QVL list or at least tested by the RAM manufacturer as working with that motherboard? Have you tried reseating the graphics card since the DDU and driver reinstall? Have you tried reseating the RAM? XMP/DOCP enabled?

 

[spokiechris]

Hey helper800,

Thank you so much for the quick reply.

Regarding PSU: I did not get unexpected shutdowns. However, when Nvidia driver reinstallations failed I did get BSOD's (blue screen of death) with VIDEO TDR FAILURE, nvlddmkm.sys. This BSOD would then reoccur until DDU'ing again. Online advice seems to suggest DDU for this, as well as finding the nvlddmkm.sys file and enabling full user control, neither of these solutions helped.

Regarding BIOS/MOBO: I did briefly attempt to reset the CMOS but did not know/look into verifying whether this correctly execute. I will look into this again Friday and verify whether the CMOS reset correctly executed. I did not verify whether the RAM stick was on the QVL list as I always assumed any DDR4 RAM stick with compatible speeds was compatible, but I will check this too (I guess Team Group Elite RAM is a bit niche). I did not reseat the GPU after DDU and driver reinstall, and will also try this on Friday. I did try reseating the RAM. I have not verified XMP/DOCP settings and will do so Friday.

I'll also update my original post to reflect this previously missing information.

 

[helper800]

Regarding PSU: I did not get unexpected shutdowns. However, when Nvidia driver reinstallations failed I did get BSOD's (blue screen of death) with VIDEO TDR FAILURE, nvlddmkm.sys. This BSOD would then reoccur until DDU'ing again. Online advice seems to suggest DDU for this, as well as finding the nvlddmkm.sys file and enabling full user control, neither of these solutions helped.

If a PSU stops supplying power there is no time for a BSOD. As I said, I do not think the PSU is the issue at hand. DDU is a great tool for the purposes of diagnosing and getting rid of graphics drivers. Do you have another known working graphics card you can use to test the PC?

Regarding BIOS/MOBO: I did briefly attempt to reset the CMOS but did not know/look into verifying whether this correctly execute. I will look into this again Friday and verify whether the CMOS reset correctly executed. I did not verify whether the RAM stick was on the QVL list as I always assumed any DDR4 RAM stick with compatible speeds was compatible, but I will check this too (I guess Team Group Elite RAM is a bit niche). I did not reseat the GPU after DDU and driver reinstall, and will also try this on Friday. I did try reseating the RAM. I have not verified XMP/DOCP settings and will do so Friday.

Post back whenever you can get to the above diagnostic tests.

Hey helper800,

Thank you so much for the quick reply.

I'll also update my original post to reflect this previously missing information.

Of curse! Thanks for updating the original post with that info!