[SOLVED] Undervolting - keeping the voltage settings that crashed the benchmarking program?

[rbogomolec]

I'm undervolting my GTX 1660 6gb GPU in the MSI Afterburner. I'm using Heaven Unigine for the stress test. I do know how undervolting works and all, but I have a question where I need your help...

After running some tests I went for 862mV and 1830MHz. I was expecting to be able to do at least 850mV, but the benchmarking program crashed on me twice. That being said, it also crashed with the 862mV and 1830MHz settings, but only cuz I left it running a little longer after the benchmark was already done (maybe like after 10min altogether). My PC didn't crash, just the Heaven Unigine. The results I got from that test were the best so far though (lowest temperature, best fps, best overall score) so I'm trying to keep this voltage despite the fact that the Heaven Unigine still crashed 3-4min after the benchmarking part was done.

The most GPU-demanding game I play is Genshin Impact, but even that game never uses more than 70% of my GPU and with these new voltage settings my GPU rarely went above 70'C. Do you think that these new voltages will be ok? Cuz the app crashed under 99% GPU usage and 75'C, but in Genshin Impact I'm never going above 70% GPU usage and the temperature is usually around 66'C, the highest I had was 72'C. And I also rarely play longer than 2-3 hours straight, mostly just 1-2 hours. So I would say that I'm not stressing the GPU nearly as high as Heaven Unigine did and that due to this fact, this "unstable" voltage should actually be stable for my demands.

Is this a smart move that I made or should one really ALWAYS go for the voltage that allows the GPU to remain stable 30min straight under max load?
Or is it just as simple as "As long as your game/PC doesn't crash, the voltage is ok"?

GPU: GTX 1660 6gb
CPU: intel i5 9400f
RAM: 16GB

 

[Lutfij]

Do you think that these new voltages will be ok?
If what you use the GPU on a daily basis has no issues operating with those voltages, then leave it be. Often times benchmarks don't reveal any issues while a task or game taxation can cause the system or the GPU to misbehave(for lack of a better word) which is why we ask users who undervolt or overclock to benchmark and tax their newfound numbers and put them through their paces. Once you see a lock up or glitch or artifact and that artifact is removed when you add a little more voltage, then that's the answer.

 

[jasonf2]

What is your goal with undervolting? If you aren't having a thermal throttle problem or trying to tweak for mining efficiency undervolting is pretty pointless. As a general rule the higher the clock frequency the more voltage necessary to maintain stability. There is a certain amount of safety margin built into the stock settings and undervolting is really just removing that safety margin. That being said being too aggressive with an undervolt will cause system instability. It is kind of the opposite of overclocking. If a GPU is actually getting a performance boost from an undervolt it is only because its thermal solution is marginal in the first place.

 

[rbogomolec]

Do you think that these new voltages will be ok?
If what you use the GPU on a daily basis has no issues operating with those voltages, then leave it be. Often times benchmarks don't reveal any issues while a task or game taxation can cause the system or the GPU to misbehave(for lack of a better word) which is why we ask users who undervolt or overclock to benchmark and tax their newfound numbers and put them through their paces. Once you see a lock up or glitch or artifact and that artifact is removed when you add a little more voltage, then that's the answer.

Cool, just the answer I was hoping for! So as long as my game runs smooth and renders correctly, that means that the GPU has enough power. This game has never glitched, crashed or slowed down before, so if now something like that should happen, it just means the GPU needs more power. Thank you very much for the fast reply! I’ve been casually gaming for the past 2 years on 1080p without having to tweak anything, but now that I bought a 65" 4k TV, I have to use all my knowledge to get some extra performance out of my GPU to make games run at 1440p and let the TV's and Nvidia's tweaks and upscalers do the rest.

 

[rbogomolec]

What is your goal with undervolting? If you aren't having a thermal throttle problem or trying to tweak for mining efficiency undervolting is pretty pointless. As a general rule the higher the clock frequency the more voltage necessary to maintain stability. There is a certain amount of safety margin built into the stock settings and undervolting is really just removing that safety margin. That being said being too aggressive with an undervolt will cause system instability. It is kind of the opposite of overclocking. If a GPU is actually getting a performance boost from an undervolt it is only because its thermal solution is marginal in the first place.

The reason I'm undervolting is cuz I've recently got a 65" 4k TV. I used to game on a 40" 1080p TV until now and never had to tweak anything, I could run everything smoothly. Now on the 4k TV though, I have to set the game's resolution to 1440p and use some other tweaks from the Nvidia control panel to get the picture to look as nice as it did on the old TV (I know it's not as nice as it was, but I'm sitting 3 meters away from the TV and so I don't really see the difference from that distance). I'm undervolting my GPU to keep the temperatures lower. Before undervolting, my GPU's temperature went as high as 82'C. And though that is still considered kind of safe for the GPU, I don't like the temperature going above 75'C cuz then the fans get much louder and it's not really nice to play a chill game like Genshin Impact while your PC is blasting like an airplane. Now after the undervolt the temperatures are constantly under 75'C and the PC works quietly.

But say, I never heard someone call undervolting pointless. Usually people say it's great cuz you gt more performance for less power, and that it's good for the longevity of the CPU/GPU. I even heard some people recommending undervolting your CPU/GPU regardless of if it has performance issues or not. I mean, I don't wanna sound like I'm trying to argue with you. I'm just curious to hear why you said it's pointless.

 

[jasonf2]

The reason I'm undervolting is cuz I've recently got a 65" 4k TV. I used to game on a 40" 1080p TV until now and never had to tweak anything, I could run everything smoothly. Now on the 4k TV though, I have to set the game's resolution to 1440p and use some other tweaks from the Nvidia control panel to get the picture to look as nice as it did on the old TV (I know it's not as nice as it was, but I'm sitting 3 meters away from the TV and so I don't really see the difference from that distance). I'm undervolting my GPU to keep the temperatures lower. Before undervolting, my GPU's temperature went as high as 82'C. And though that is still considered kind of safe for the GPU, I don't like the temperature going above 75'C cuz then the fans get much louder and it's not really nice to play a chill game like Genshin Impact while your PC is blasting like an airplane. Now after the undervolt the temperatures are constantly under 75'C and the PC works quietly.

But say, I never heard someone call undervolting pointless. Usually people say it's great cuz you gt more performance for less power, and that it's good for the longevity of the CPU/GPU. I even heard some people recommending undervolting your CPU/GPU regardless of if it has performance issues or not. I mean, I don't wanna sound like I'm trying to argue with you. I'm just curious to hear why you said it's pointless.

In the case of thermals undervolting can reduce them, but it isn't guaranteed. When you undervolt you run the risk of system instability, especially at higher clock frequencies. You are using the machine in a HTPC type environment and wanting reduced fan noise that is great and a functional point. But if you are facing system instability with the undervolt you have created a pretty major system issue with the premise of reducing an annoyance issue. As I stated in my prior post I do have some use cases for undervolting I just don't think it is necessary by default for most cards. Your use case works in this situation. In my defense I see way too many people having issues who watched a youtube video of someone undervolting and think that it is a magical process that is going to make your card run cooler and be faster, which isn't really the case. If the card is cooled properly the thermal ceilings should get close, but not be hit. If you aren't getting any real gains and it could cause your system to crash I define that as pretty pointless.

 

[rbogomolec]

In the case of thermals undervolting can reduce them, but it isn't guaranteed. When you undervolt you run the risk of system instability, especially at higher clock frequencies. You are using the machine in a HTPC type environment and wanting reduced fan noise that is great and a functional point. But if you are facing system instability with the undervolt you have created a pretty major system issue with the premise of reducing an annoyance issue. As I stated in my prior post I do have some use cases for undervolting I just don't think it is necessary by default for most cards. Your use case works in this situation. In my defense I see way too many people having issues who watched a youtube video of someone undervolting and think that it is a magical process that is going to make your card run cooler and be faster, which isn't really the case. If the card is cooled properly the thermal ceilings should get close, but not be hit. If you aren't getting any real gains and it could cause your system to crash I define that as pretty pointless.

True that. Now I see what you've meant. Come to think of it, as I was watching those YouTube vids on underclocking, some of them really make it seem like win-win magic process where you get like 30% more out of your PC just like that. But lucky for me, I used to be a laptop-gamer, so I learned all the pros and cons of underclocking the hard way.

 

[rbogomolec]

Do you think that these new voltages will be ok?
If what you use the GPU on a daily basis has no issues operating with those voltages, then leave it be. Often times benchmarks don't reveal any issues while a task or game taxation can cause the system or the GPU to misbehave(for lack of a better word) which is why we ask users who undervolt or overclock to benchmark and tax their newfound numbers and put them through their paces. Once you see a lock up or glitch or artifact and that artifact is removed when you add a little more voltage, then that's the answer.

Just wanted to let you know that the game did crash in the end. I've tested it today by going into the most GPU demanding part of the game map and it did crash within 5min. The rest of the game map was running smoothly for over 30min though. Anyway, I've now raised the voltage from 862mv to 868mV, ran the benchmark test again and this time it didn't crash, even after running for 15min. So I guess that it is bad if your benchmarking app crashed during the test and that you should raise the voltage then after all. But it's still like you said, raise the voltage by a small amount until it is stable. This setting seems fine now.

 

[jasonf2]

True that. Now I see what you've meant. Come to think of it, as I was watching those YouTube vids on underclocking, some of them really make it seem like win-win magic process where you get like 30% more out of your PC just like that. But lucky for me, I used to be a laptop-gamer, so I learned all the pros and cons of underclocking the hard way.

Many laptops, due to marginal cooling solutions (Most are pretty terrible.), can often times get gains from undervolting. However just like what you are running into you have to dial in most hardware tweaks by try and test cycles. The majority of problems come from people thinking because someone else did it that it will work for them. Every processor is a little different due to manufacturing variances. That is why the default settings have a bit of wiggle room. That wiggle room is what you are removing but the amount that is physically available is on a per chip basis. Over clocking is kind of the inverse but the same rules apply. With laptops in particular I find that just keeping the cooling solution really clean is more important than any tweaks. A fair number of laptop thermal issues are due to nothing more than crud in the cooling system that you cannot see. Anyone getting a 30% performance bonus from an undervolt has a system with cooling issues. If it is a laptop you are pretty much stuck. But if it is a PC I personally will focus on increasing cooling to reduce thermals before going after an undervolt. For GPU related issues case cooling is critical.