This can't be right

[Goblingee]

Hi guys,

My friend just sent me this pic as he is having frame rate issues with his new GTX 970.

http://tinypic.com/r/33tgnpc/9

Drivers are up to date and bios is all at default Is this likely to be a PSU issue?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Someone Somewhere]

Is the fan spinning? Looks like fan failure to me, though the "200% TDP" is strange.

 

[Goblingee]

he only has 1 cable running to the card on a y-split.

also under load the GPU stays at 67.5mhz

 

[Solandri]

he only has 1 cable running to the card on a y-split.

also under load the GPU stays at 67.5mhz

My first guess would be that he doesn't have the GPU's power connector plugged in or the power cable/PSU is defective.

However, I did receive a gaming laptop with a 970m (same nviida core as the GTX 970) which would start up just fine when playing a game, but after a few seconds would lock at its lowest frequency (64.8 MHz). The issue was power-related. It would run just fine on battery or if the battery was charging (albeit not at full speed since the battery couldn't provide enough Watts), but within a few seconds of plugging in the AC adapter with a full battery (so the laptop was getting full power), its GPU core would drop down to 64.8 MHz and get stuck there.

I returned it to the vendor who ran a bunch of tests on it. They concluded it was a defective GPU and sent it back to the manufacturer.