Question Underclocking a Gigabyte 4080 Super ?

[cgash3]

Hello, I recently bought a 4080 Super and I'm happy with my purchase. However, the GPU keeps fairly high temps and thus, often turns the fans on even for a simple YouTube video or a remote desktop work. This is very uncomfortable to me since most of my day passes in work using remote desktops and I only use the GPU (either for work or games) in my free time.

For the reasons described above, I'd like to have an Underclocked (not just undervolt) profile and a "default" one that I can switch between depending on my needs. The issue is that I don't have any Over/Under clocking experience and I can't find anything I can use on the internet.

I tried using MSI Afterburner, where I basically got everything after 825mV and lowered it to 825mv's MHz value (2000 in my case). Also, I used the power/temp limit sliders and got both to the minimum (46% power / 65 degrees). However this is still not enough as I tested it with a simple YouTube video (1080p 60fps) and it still got my fans working and raised my temps.

Since my GPU is Gigabyte, I also tried GCC but it was kind of buggy and I switched to MSI Afterburner.

Can anyone help me achive the results I'm looking for so I have a cool, non-powerfull GPU profile?

P.S: I also thought about using my old GPU, a1080 Ti for this, but it would get extremely tedious constantly switching the cables as I'm using 3 monitors. Also, it would raise my temps and clutter the case.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

Have you tried setting your own fan curve using MSI Afterburner? Hit settings, click on fan tab, now you can set your fan speeds to correlate with certain temperatures. I believe your cards default fans come on at 63 Celsius.

 

[cgash3]

Have you tried setting your own fan curve using MSI Afterburner? Hit settings, click on fan tab, now you can set your fan speeds to correlate with certain temperatures. I believe your cards default fans come on at 63 Celsius.

Thank you for answering!

This is something I would like to avoid doing since I would be spending more energy to cool off my GPU that I'm not using for anything resource intensive. It just doesn't make any sense to me. My goal is for my GPU and CPU to stop producing so much heat when they're not under heavy load.

The best I could achieve is ~49-50C when idle or using a remote desktop and ~50-60C on YouTube videos both of which still seem too high for "doing nothing".

I'd like to point out that my 3-monitor setup involves 2x2K + 1x4K monitors which is a lot of pixels to compute. Nevertheless, with my 1080Ti I didn't have such high temps. This is why I thought I could achieve my temp goals with just underclocking.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

Well I do not mean to sound fresh, but buying a 480 super then underclocking it severely kind of defeats the whole purpose of buying that level of a gpu. If you change the fan curve you may be able to keep it from revving up so high when it hits a certain temperature.

 

[cgash3]

Well I do not mean to sound fresh, but buying a 480 super then underclocking it severely kind of defeats the whole purpose of buying that level of a gpu. If you change the fan curve you may be able to keep it from revving up so high when it hits a certain temperature.

I agree. However, I use the GPU's power, just not at all times. That's why I need multiple profiles. I managed to take 10-12C off by bringing down my 4K monitor's refresh rate from 144 to 60Hz. I guess that would be my fix for the "working hours". If anyone has any better ideas - I'm up for trying out.

 

[kurdtnz]

What PC case do you have?

 

[cgash3]

BeQuiet! Dark Base Pro 900 (v1). I agree that the case probably raises the temps since I value silence

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I agree. However, I use the GPU's power, just not at all times. That's why I need multiple profiles. I managed to take 10-12C off by bringing down my 4K monitor's refresh rate from 144 to 60Hz. I guess that would be my fix for the "working hours". If anyone has any better ideas - I'm up for trying out.

Hey there,

I'd have to agree with @Fix_that_Glitch here. The fan curve is the thing to do. It's very straight forward, but requires some testing as you go to get the right fan speed v load. It takes less than an hour. Not sure why you won't at least try the suggestion before dismissing it.

Whilst undervolting can help with temps, it's not a panacea. You may have to tweak undervolting, apply an underclock and create custom fan curve that achieves your goal.

Before trying to diagnose further, we need a little more info.

Firstly, please list your full PC spec, make and model of all components.

Are all drivers up to date, including GPU and chipset?

What Windows power plan are you running?

Given your goals, I assume you have not OC'ed any component. Is that correct?

How many case fans are there and what way are they oriented?

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

That's why I need multiple profiles.

But you have this option with MSI AB.

 

[cgash3]

But you have this option with MSI AB.

I agree, but in MSI AB I'm at the minimum of all settings and still getting pretty high temps.

Hey there,

I'd have to agree with @Fix_that_Glitch here. The fan curve is the thing to do. It's very straight forward, but requires some testing as you go to get the right fan speed v load. It takes less than an hour. Not sure why you won't at least try the suggestion before dismissing it.

Whilst undervolting can help with temps, it's not a panacea. You may have to tweak undervolting, apply an underclock and create custom fan curve that achieves your goal.

Before trying to diagnose further, we need a little more info.

Firstly, please list your full PC spec, make and model of all components.

Are all drivers up to date, including GPU and chipset?

What Windows power plan are you running?

Given your goals, I assume you have not OC'ed any component. Is that correct?

How many case fans are there and what way are they oriented?

The reason I'm running away from the Fan Curve option is that I don't want to generate heat to just spread it in my room. I'm trying to generate as little heat as possible in the first place.

As for the specs:
CPU: AMD Ryzen 5900X (using a built-in UC profile with freq fixed at 4.2GHz (same reasons) which produces ~50-51C (trying to bring that down as well)
GPU: Gigabyte 4080 SUPER GAMING OC 16GB
RAM: G Skill Ripjaws V F4-4000C18 (18-22-22-42), UC-ed to 3800MHz due to instabilities
MB: Asus ROG Crosshair VIII Hero (Wi-Fi)
Main SSD: Samsung 980 PRO 1TB M.2
Secondary SSD: Samsung 850 EVO 500GB M.2
2x HHDs: 1TB + 6TB

Case: beQuiet! Dark Base Pro 900 (v1)
Case Fans: Default fans, installed as default (2x 140mm front fans taking air in (although there's the case door), 1x 140mm on the back pushing air out of the case. 1x extra 140mm fan on the top, in the back, pushing air out of the case). All case fans work at minimum speeds for silent work (~400 rpm)

CPU cooler: beQuiet! Dark Rock Pro 3 (I think it's version 3, it doesn't say on the cooler itself)
CPU cooler fans: 2x pushing air to the back
PSU: beQuiet! Dark Power 11 PRO 1000W 80+ Platinum
Monitors: 2x Dell P2416D (2K), 1x LG UltraGear+ 27GR93U-B (4K, using at 60Hz while not gaming)

BIOS: Updated 22 Mar 2024 (latest version)
OS: Windows 11, Balanced power plan, all drivers up to date

I've done no OC to anything but the RAM since it came at 1800 MHz and I had to manually push it to 4000 (or in my case - 3800)

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

I don't know how else to help you. I guess the wisest thing would have been to buy a less powerful gpu that generates less heat. Your original complaint was the fan runs too much and t that makes you uncomfortable. Then it morphed into don't want heat in your room. Modern gpu's are workhorses now, although they are more efficient, they are still power hungry which translates into more heat. You will have to find the balance somewhere in the middle.

 

[John Chesterfield]

All your issues here are related to your choice of case. I have the same card and it runs at 3Ghz and tops out at 55 Celcius while being quiet.

You can try and fix it with software, but at the end of the day, it's the piece of hardware that holds all your components you need to address.

 

[emitfudd]

You won't like this suggestion, but why not use this PC for gaming as it has game level specs and build a quiet, cool running PC for your other tasks. I have a similar setup for my gaming rig with a 5900X and a 4090. I then use my home office PC for mundane tasks. It never heats up at all with my 7700K and 750ti.

50C at idle isn't normal. I am at 32C for GPU and 38 for CPU right now.

I just watched a Youtube video. 33C for GPU and 40 for CPU.

 

[Roland Of Gilead]

I'm trying to generate as little heat as possible in the first place

I think the minutiae of your goal is bringing you down a rabbit hole a little. PC components generate heat. We can control some of that, but after a certain point there is no further reduction to be had. I think this is the plateau you've' landed on.

Running the CPU in ECO mode, and reduced power, clock speed, mem clock via MSI AB on the GPU, along with fan curves are the only options available. There is no magic silver bullet. You can try different cases, and while some might have better airflow, I don't think you will achieve much lower temps than you've gotten to already.

Good suggestion from @emitfudd too. Build your self a mini PC that doesn't suffer from temp issues, and use your rig for gaming.

I'd also agree with them about your idle temps. My own GPU idles at about 35-40c, and average about 45c when watching youtube or browsing (which can use come GPU cycles).

Anywho, I will bow out, and wish you success in your search for the holy grail!

 

[Phaaze88]

That idle operation is a result of the:
-design of the case
-fans cranked way down
=Air is stagnating inside the case; it's not getting in and out fast enough.

Multi monitor also uses a little more energy from the gpu than single.
Certain parts generate MORE heat(in watts) the COOLER they operate, because then they try to clock higher, thus requiring more air moving. You've run into a wall of which a compromise should be made.

 

[Fix_that_Glitch]

All your issues here are related to your choice of case. I have the same card and it runs at 3Ghz and tops out at 55 Celcius while being quiet.

You can try and fix it with software, but at the end of the day, it's the piece of hardware that holds all your components you need to address.

But then we get back to the fans again to move the air in the case.

 

[Unolocogringo]

Your high temperatures at idle and load are caused by your quiet case.
It took me about an hour to hour and a half to configure the fans for my system
My HAF 912 case is inside my desk on its side with the printer drawer closed.
I placed 3 ML140 fans in a filter box in the back botton of the desk blowing air in and 2- 120 and 1- 140 in the front of the case blowing air in and out the top back of the desk. no exhaust fans and side and top grills are closed over.
Basically a 4u case inside my desk.
After configuring the desk and case fans for delays and curves so I did not get quick fast ramp ups I moved onto my graphics card.
It is set to 40% at 40c and 80% at 80c then 100% from there on up.
My CPU with one core @ 100% for folding and my GPU at 94-100% load 24/7/365 equals ........
Cpu hot spot 57c I/O die CPU 46c and motherboard 36c.
Asus Dual 4070 Reaches 59-65c depending on work unit.
You just have to put in a little effort in good fans/airflow and configure them for best performance/noise desired.
You can not have 2 high performance components in a case with minimum airflow and still have low temps.
Better fans with better fan curves can only do so much.

 

[cgash3]

I consider this thread to be resolved.

I am very disappointed in the results but extremely thankful to everyone who joined in on the discussion.

The reason I'm disappointed is because my goal was to bring down the power of my PC while doing office stuff, but have all the power for gaming and CPU/GPU-intensive work. I thought that this was possible and that it should even be easy to achieve. Apparently, I was wrong.

A few notes:
1. Changing my case, improving the airflow, getting more fans - all great suggestions to bring the temps down if the goal was just to have lower temps. When I'm trying to produce less heat, however all of these ideas would just make everything worse in terms of room temps.

2. Having a second, "office" computer doesn't work for me as I have a lot of dependencies. It's good advice for someone who has the extra space and no dependencies though.

3. Maybe the best solution is to actually change my MB + CPU. Maybe I need to buy a new CPU, one that has "efficiency cores" along with the "performance cores" and also has an integrated GPU. Then I could just use the efficiency cores and the integrated GPU for the "office" work and still have all the power for everything else.

 

[Unolocogringo]

I consider this thread to be resolved.

I am very disappointed in the results but extremely thankful to everyone who joined in on the discussion.

The reason I'm disappointed is because my goal was to bring down the power of my PC while doing office stuff, but have all the power for gaming and CPU/GPU-intensive work. I thought that this was possible and that it should even be easy to achieve. Apparently, I was wrong.

A few notes:
1. Changing my case, improving the airflow, getting more fans - all great suggestions to bring the temps down if the goal was just to have lower temps. When I'm trying to produce less heat, however all of these ideas would just make everything worse in terms of room temps.

2. Having a second, "office" computer doesn't work for me as I have a lot of dependencies. It's good advice for someone who has the extra space and no dependencies though.

3. Maybe the best solution is to actually change my MB + CPU. Maybe I need to buy a new CPU, one that has "efficiency cores" along with the "performance cores" and also has an integrated GPU. Then I could just use the efficiency cores and the integrated GPU for the "office" work and still have all the power for everything else.

Color me confused.
You have a terrible case for cooling to begin with.
You run your fans at the lowest RPM they will run. Which means very little to almost no airflow.
You complain that your temperatures are too high.
But you will not increase air flow through the case to make your components cooler because the heat will heat up your room.
Now you suggest a change to an Intel system which uses more electricity and produces more heat as a way to fix your system.
No one has a magic wand here that can achieve what you want.
Good luck.

 

[rcald2000]

Hello cgash3. Suggestion: Purchase a long fiber optic DisplayPort or HDMI cable(s), and move the PC to another room, while keeping your monitors and setup where they are; just simply eliminate heat and noise from the equation.

 

[thestryker]

Case cooling is absolutely part of the problem as you shouldn't have that kind of idle temperature. By using a closed off case and low fan speeds you're basically creating a hotbox for your competents.

If you upgrade your platform to something with integrated graphics you should be able to connect your secondary screens to that which may allow your idle to be better. Multiple screens always plays games with video card idle, especially when they're running high refresh rates.

As for CPUs the only place Intel tends to be better is idle, but as soon as the cores start boosting it's at best equal, but generally somewhat worse on the Intel side.