What tools do the techs use to diagnose problems with a GPU?

[Maq___]

Hi all,

I've been experiencing some issues with my GPU's clocks,but before I send it to the laptop's service ,I would like to know what tools do the techs from the service use to diagnose a problem with a laptop's GPU?
Do they use the same diagnostics tools which the laptop's manufacturers provide on their sites?

The GPU is Nvidia GTX 960M,and it is a Lenovo laptop!

Can I download their tools to diagnose a problem myself?
And where can I find them to download them?

Please tell me!
Thanks to all in advance!
Best regards!

 

[k1114]

Laptop manufacturers don't have their own software and you may be just seeing their bloatware links. You can get the same software as we all use but without that knowledge to understand the results and what the next step in troubleshooting is, you won't be able to diagnose it yourself. I see you've posted a number of times so you've seen some of what goes on here. It's the same there. If you wish to learn, we will help but it will take years to get good.

There's a huge list of software and not all are necessary as many do the same thing but it's dependent on what the issue is. Gpu clock issues is commonly heat or power issues. You can check temps with hwmonitor, coretemp, msi afterburner, realtemp, gpuz, cpuz, and many more. If I were to list for other uses, you'd see it would be a very long list. And again, many do the same thing so you don't need them all but you will want a few to double check.

Power is just checking settings, nothing to diagnose there. If it was a hardware related power issue, it wouldn't turn on, crash, or give you an error. You could also check usages to see if there is anything going on during the times clocks are an issue. You don't say what exactly the issue is and the results of these determines the next steps so I'm just going to stop here.

 

[Maq___]

Laptop manufacturers don't have their own software and you may be just seeing their bloatware links. You can get the same software as we all use but without that knowledge to understand the results and what the next step in troubleshooting is, you won't be able to diagnose it yourself. I see you've posted a number of times so you've seen some of what goes on here. It's the same there. If you wish to learn, we will help but it will take years to get good.

There's a huge list of software and not all are necessary as many do the same thing but it's dependent on what the issue is. Gpu clock issues is commonly heat or power issues. You can check temps with hwmonitor, coretemp, msi afterburner, realtemp, gpuz, cpuz, and many more. If I were to list for other uses, you'd see it would be a very long list. And again, many do the same thing so you don't need them all but you will want a few to double check.

Power is just checking settings, nothing to diagnose there. If it was a hardware related power issue, it wouldn't turn on, crash, or give you an error. You could also check usages to see if there is anything going on during the times clocks are an issue. You don't say what exactly the issue is and the results of these determines the next steps so I'm just going to stop here.

Thank you for replying,and please take a look at my thread where I have explained the clocks issues:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/answers/id-3676120/nvidia-gtx-960m-gpu-boost-stopped-working.html

 

[Spicynoodle]

This probably might not help, but if you're like me, just having support of people trying to help puts me at ease.

From what i'm seeing, i think what you're going to need to do is completely take whatever OC you have on the GPU off and then test things. I know you've already uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, but sometimes OC software will continually override what was being done and force settings from boot. So try doing a fresh install again and check to see if the boosts still aren't happening. In my opinion, however, i think its more to due with a software issue/setting than the GPU itself.

Usually, what people recommend to see is: make sure to check your temp -- as stated above with other softwares that you could use. If the temps do not exceed 80 on average (unless improper airflow, dust, or bad ambient temperatures [but only you'd know personally]) then its probably not an overheating issue to, so its not throttling itself. If it is going towards higher temperatures, throttling could be an issue as well.

I also highly recommend not to OC any sort of laptop just because of how bad most laptops, even if made decently, have bad airflow and significantly reduces the life of your card itself. It also causes a bunch of issues later on, including micro stuttering. Don't be worried, however, as this could 100% not pertain to you at all.

Last i could honestly say is to check your nvidia settings on the NVIDIA control panel. If you have it open, click 'manage 3d settings' and look for the tab 'global settings'. Scroll down until you see 'power management'. If its not on 'prefer maximum performance', make sure you check that.

Now try testing games and seeing the boost clock speeds.

The only other solution that i can think of on the top of my head is to simply plug your laptop in and then test. I'm actually on a ASUS ROG laptop with a 960m, and something that i noticed was that if i'm strictly on battery, my laptop prefers to go into power saving mode and hinder my GPU performance by half until it gets the correct power (or you change it in the settings for shorter battery life). So i plug it in.

Sorry if this didn't help, but who knows -- maybe it will. Tell me how it goes!

 

[Maq___]

This probably might not help, but if you're like me, just having support of people trying to help puts me at ease.

From what i'm seeing, i think what you're going to need to do is completely take whatever OC you have on the GPU off and then test things. I know you've already uninstalled and reinstalled drivers, but sometimes OC software will continually override what was being done and force settings from boot. So try doing a fresh install again and check to see if the boosts still aren't happening. In my opinion, however, i think its more to due with a software issue/setting than the GPU itself.

Usually, what people recommend to see is: make sure to check your temp -- as stated above with other softwares that you could use. If the temps do not exceed 80 on average (unless improper airflow, dust, or bad ambient temperatures [but only you'd know personally]) then its probably not an overheating issue to, so its not throttling itself. If it is going towards higher temperatures, throttling could be an issue as well.

I also highly recommend not to OC any sort of laptop just because of how bad most laptops, even if made decently, have bad airflow and significantly reduces the life of your card itself. It also causes a bunch of issues later on, including micro stuttering. Don't be worried, however, as this could 100% not pertain to you at all.

Last i could honestly say is to check your nvidia settings on the NVIDIA control panel. If you have it open, click 'manage 3d settings' and look for the tab 'global settings'. Scroll down until you see 'power management'. If its not on 'prefer maximum performance', make sure you check that.

Now try testing games and seeing the boost clock speeds.

The only other solution that i can think of on the top of my head is to simply plug your laptop in and then test. I'm actually on a ASUS ROG laptop with a 960m, and something that i noticed was that if i'm strictly on battery, my laptop prefers to go into power saving mode and hinder my GPU performance by half until it gets the correct power (or you change it in the settings for shorter battery life). So i plug it in.

Sorry if this didn't help, but who knows -- maybe it will. Tell me how it goes!

Dear Spicynoodle,thank you for replying!

You know,the GPU temps are fine,and I have tested the GPU with the Lenovo's diagnostics tool,and it didn't show any problems,the GPU passed all of the tests!

The problem are only the clocks!