[SOLVED] Why is my GPU unstable when it reaches a certain clock speed?

[AnriRB26]

I have a completely stock GTX 760ti OEM (in an Alienware X51 R2 System) and it is exhibiting some strange behaviour.

It works absolutely flawlessly when the GPU clock stays below 1058MHz, yet when it reaches said clock speed it will cause a black screen (sometimes another solid colour) and no signal to my monitor while the PC is still powered on and the fans increasing in RPM. This black screen will hang for about a minute and not allow me to do anything until the PC then restarts itself and shows no signs of anything wrong. This ONLY happens during gaming and as stated only when the GPU Clock speed reaches 1058MHz, sometimes it will hold on for about an hour or more at this clock speed before black screening and sometimes black screen within 30 seconds of the GPU sitting at 1058MHz.

I have ran Unigen Heaven for more than an hour loop with the card maxing out at 83C and no crashing (the card never exceeds 75C during normal use) so I doubt its a temp related issue, I've even tried a reflashing of the original BIOS yet the issue still persists. The only "solution" I have come up with is to manually underclock the card using Afterburner to reduce the default Core and Memory clock by -100MHz, this stops the card reaching the dreaded 1058MHz and thus no more crashing. Should I just live with the -100MHz underclock, will the performance difference even be noticeable? Or has anyone had this issue before and knows how to solve it?

I was just wondering why my GPU is not stable at it's factory settings anymore? could it simply be old age and degradation, as it is an 8 year old GPU or is there something worse going on?

System Specs:
(Pre-Built System - Alienware X51 R2: with options configured below)
CPU- i7 4770
GPU- GTX 760ti 0EM
RAM - 16GB 1600MHz (2x8GB Sticks)
PSU- External 330W unit
OS- W10 all up to date
Drivers- Latest NVidia Driver (466.11)

 

[dotas1]

You already said what's wrong with it. It has degraded. It's a classic example of degradation as the way to verify it is to underclock it and see if it is stable, which you did and it was.
You will be fine for some months or even 1-2 years with a small underclock but eventually you won't even reach those clocks without issues. Better start saving for a GPU (which I wish you would get at a somewhat normal price with all that is going on now.)

 

[AnriRB26]

You already said what's wrong with it. It has degraded. It's a classic example of degradation as the way to verify it is to underclock it and see if it is stable, which you did and it was.
You will be fine for some months or even 1-2 years with a small underclock but eventually you won't even reach those clocks without issues. Better start saving for a GPU (which I wish you would get at a somewhat normal price with all that is going on now.)

Thanks for the response, I guess 8 years of gaming has really taken it's toll. I'll still squeeze what I can out of it for now. Thank You