FPS Drop GTX 980

[TurboT]

Hi

I am trying to troubleshoot my sons GPU, it is a strange problem, when he boots his PC either the CPU works completely normally, or runs a what seems like half speed judged by the FPS, then he has to lower all settings to below medium to get a decent FPS.

In one in fifty PC boots the GPU performs as expected for a GTX 980, and remains working until next boot.

I have now swapped my GPU (A GTX 1070) with his, so I am now testing his 980 in my PC. Seemingly now both cards work well. Except a game like Hitman is way worse with the 980 than in was with my 1070, or even my old 680. A game like Ghost Recon Wildlands runs pretty much as expected.

I thought it might be a PSU issue in my sons PSU, but would the reduced TDP of the 1070 make that problem go away??

Running GPU Z on my PC with the 980, I noticed something under PerCap Reason:

It is constantly indicating VRel. and VOp, and sometimes PWR.

Any suggestions are welcome.

UPDATE

Now my GTX 1070 had developed the same problem on my sons PC, so its not the GPU, presumably the MB or PSU, but which is it?

 

[DRDNA]

68 cels and GPU load at 12% sounds like a clogged up GPU heat Sync and that will cause GPU to throttle down. Welcome to TPU

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Might just have been tarnished pciex connectors tbh , refitting can often negate that issue i use a pencil rubber on the gpu bit and alcohol on slots after a few years but just air and refit for first few years on pciex slots, you may well have noticed something there though too.
Perhaps a heatspot symptom, maybe the 980 requires new tim or themal materials on its vrms etc.

 

[RejZoR]

The PerfCap changes are normal, all cards are getting them, it's how GPU Boost works.

I have same issues with my GTX 1080Ti and I can't seem to figure it out why it's happening. The most obvious give away is mouse movement. I am incredibly sensitive to that and when things go weird, I see it with that first. It can run flawlessly with lightning speed and then it just starts acting sluggish and performance looks totall ybelow what one would expect from 1080Ti.

EDIT:
Perf stats are all ok, clocks are also correct, but perofmrance is just shit. Usually system reboot fixes it, but it's just so random it seems I can't be 100% sure.

 

[R00kie]

It would be useful to see what the rest of the PC specs are, please @TurboT

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

The PerfCap changes are normal, all cards are getting them, it's how GPU Boost works.

I have same issues with my GTX 1080Ti and I can't seem to figure it out why it's happening. The most obvious give away is mouse movement. I am incredibly sensitive to that and when things go weird, I see it with that first. It can run flawlessly with lightning speed and then it just starts acting sluggish and performance looks totall ybelow what one would expect from 1080Ti.

You saying that brings to mind something i noticed, i got similar performance last night on pubg ,i play it at 1440p (amd vega)mixed settings as im trying (not successful) to be competitive but i was getting 30 odd fps half my usual , because it's pubg i passed it off but could a windows update be responsible?

 

[DRDNA]

It would be useful to see what the rest of the PC specs are, please @TurboT

Remember though this is happening on two different systems, The Dads and his Son's PC with normal behavior with the 1070. but yeah specs will help.

You saying that brings to mind something i noticed, i got similar performance last night on pubg ,i play it at 1440p (amd vega)mixed settings as im trying (not successful) to be competitive but i was getting 30 odd fps half my usual , because it's pubg i passed it off but could a windows update be responsible?

I'm pretty certain there were No Today is Tuesday Windows 10 updates yesterday.

 

[RejZoR]

You saying that brings to mind something i noticed, i got similar performance last night on pubg ,i play it at 1440p (amd vega)mixed settings as im trying (not successful) to be competitive but i was getting 30 odd fps half my usual , because it's pubg i passed it off but could a windows update be responsible?

I wasn't monitoring FPS, but I can feel it something was off. My first thought was that clocks are dunking. But they are consistently at 1950MHz and they don't move anywhere. So, I have no clue what would be causing this. But it's ULTRA annoying. I have the fastest card in the world and it feels like shit even at 1080p sometimes. Wouldn't be surpised it's another driver nonsense considering how crap they are with NVIDIA... Or the clocks aren't reported correctly and they actually drop, but they are reported as normal. Dunno.

 

[R00kie]

Remember though this is happening on two different systems, The Dads and his Son's PC with normal behavior with the 1070. but yeah specs will help.

From the graph he posted, I see no problems, and he only mentioned a single game that he had problems with on 'his' PC, which still doesn't help sort this, unless we know the rest

 

[DRDNA]

From the graph he posted, I see no problems, and he only mentioned a single game that he had problems with on 'his' PC, which still doesn't help sort this, unless we know the rest

I do indeed see a problem with his GPU running at 68 degrees cels at only 12% GPU load, that indeed is a problem even though the temperature is still with in tolerances it is way too high!

 

[R00kie]

I do indeed see a problem with his GPU running at 68 degrees cels at only 12% GPU load, that indeed is a problem even though the temperature is still with in tolerances it is way too high!

The whole of the graph is filled, the numbers youre seeing after it is just after the game was turned off. No issue there.

 

[TurboT]

UPDATE

Now my GTX 1070 had developed the same problem on my sons PC, so its not the GPU, presumably the MB or PSU, but which is it?

 

[Vya Domus]

Too vague of an issue in my opinion.

Do you have actual benchmark scores before and after ?

 

[DRDNA]

UPDATE

Now my GTX 1070 had developed the same problem on my sons PC, so its not the GPU, presumably the MB or PSU, but which is it?

Like advised the system specs please.

 

[Zyll Goliat]

Hi

I am trying to troubleshoot my sons GPU, it is a strange problem, when he boots his PC either the CPU works completely normally, or runs a what seems like half speed judged by the FPS, then he has to lower all settings to below medium to get a decent FPS.

In one in fifty PC boots the GPU performs as expected for a GTX 980, and remains working until next boot.

I have now swapped my GPU (A GTX 1070) with his, so I am now testing his 980 in my PC. Seemingly now both cards work well. Except a game like Hitman is way worse with the 980 than in was with my 1070, or even my old 680. A game like Ghost Recon Wildlands runs pretty much as expected.

I thought it might be a PSU issue in my sons PSU, but would the reduced TDP of the 1070 make that problem go away??

Running GPU Z on my PC with the 980, I noticed something under PerCap Reason:

It is constantly indicating VRel. and VOp, and sometimes PWR.

Any suggestions are welcome.

UPDATE

Now my GTX 1070 had developed the same problem on my sons PC, so its not the GPU, presumably the MB or PSU, but which is it?

Maybe you have one of those mining viruses in your system.....

 

[TurboT]

It would be useful to see what the rest of the PC specs are, please @TurboT

My sons PC:

MB ASUS Z97-AR
CPU i5 4690K
RAM DDR3 16GB
PSU Zalman ZM700GLX

Too vague of an issue in my opinion.

Do you have actual benchmark scores before and after ?

No not exactly:

Ghost Recon would run at Ultra settings 55-60 FPS when running normally, when the problem is present FPS is 20-24 at the same settings, and returns to 55-60 when graphics setting is dropped to Low.

 

[Vya Domus]

Ghost Recon would run at Ultra settings 55-60 FPS when running normally, when the problem is present FPS is 20-24 at the same settings, and returns to 55-60 when graphics setting is dropped to Low.

Post FPS , Frame time , CPU and GPU usage graphs using MSI Afterburner while running at the same graphical settings and playing in the same location in a said game.

My point is your issue isn't very well fleshed out , saying that your games runs slower out of the blue randomly on several machines just doesn't really says much.

 

[R00kie]

Wildlands is an ass of a game in general, it would run fine at the start, and then it would gradually drop frames like its anyone's business. It would be a good idea to see the same GPU-Z graph while you're on your son's PC, just to see how it handles it.

 

[eidairaman1]

Post FPS , Frame time , CPU and GPU usage graphs using MSI Afterburner while running at the same graphical settings and playing in the same location in a said game.

My point is your issue isn't very well fleshed out , saying that your games runs slower out of the blue randomly on several machines just doesn't really says much.

Zalman psu is in question!

980s are a little more hungry for good clean stable power

 

[RejZoR]

Looks like this is a general NVIDIA thing. Unless someone with Radeon is experiencing similar thing. In benchmarks all is fine and I get high scores, but in games it's often total dump. But then, without changing any game settings, 2 reboots later, it's all smooth again.

@TurboT
What refresh are you using on those affected monitors? 60Hz or higher? Just trying to figure out similarities at this point...

@Vya Domus
The problem is you'd have to run FPS counters all the time and even then, framerates do fluctuate and it's hard comparing FPS's from different locations and different activities.

I have this especially noticeable in Killing Floor 2 but the mouse sluggishness then carries over to Windows desktop as well. Not even reboot solves it every time, but usually does. Figuring it out is a freaking nightmare...

 

[Vya Domus]

The problem is you'd have to run FPS counters all the time and even then, framerates do fluctuate and it's hard comparing FPS's from different locations and different activities.

So then you are saying this not measurable in a reliable manner ? OP is quoting a performance reduction to more than half , there is no way that can't be proven in an objective manner even with all of those variables.

 

[silkstone]

Have you tried a fresh install of the latest drivers? What is the CPU usage like in the games?

 

[RejZoR]

So then you are saying this not measurable in a reliable manner ? OP is quoting a performance reduction to more than half , there is no way that can't be proven in an objective manner even with all of those variables.

I can visually sense the change, but yeah, I don't have the framerate numbers to back it up. But the difference is VERY noticeable. If most of the time is absolutely silky smooth on 144Hz monitor and next time it feels like it's locked to 30fps. It's not stuttering or pausing, but gamers with lots of mileage sense that even if framerate is consistent, it's not smooth as it is at beyond 60fps.

 

[TurboT]

So then you are saying this not measurable in a reliable manner ? OP is quoting a performance reduction to more than half , there is no way that can't be proven in an objective manner even with all of those variables.

The drop was established using the Steam FPS counter, it may be crude, but matched the gaming experience, the drop is real.

 

[John Naylor]

It would appear from the graphs that you are seeing 68C well after load is no longer present. And if you are gaming, I imagine you are not seeing the digits till after you shut down. IIRC, the throttling point on the 980 is 80C, and ;looking at the graph's right side versus the left which is 68C. it looks like you getting there.

I usually run Furmark (Flying Doughnut) and watch load and temps on screen. Give it a try and see what comes up. As to why is it happening ... what is case cooling (suggest one 140mm for each 75-100 watts of componentry if ya like quiet system... 50 - 75 watts for 120mm), have you blown out dust lately from case , filters and GFX card ?

GPU ~ 200 watts* (240)
CPU ~ 90 watts* (135)
MoBo ~ 35 watts
RAM, Storage. etc ~ 20 watts

Add appropriate % for OC if applicable ... with the OC, Id want 4-5 140mm fans minumim. Another issue pope up often when using top fans as exhaust and ya have more fans blowing out then in ... inlet fans with filters will be reduced in capacity from the filter ... more and more as they collect dust. recommend 3 ins for every 2 out to inside positive pressure. While most folks will identify dust as the issue w/ negative pressure you have to recognize that any air brought into the case as a result of negative case pressure will come oin from the rear grille ... right above your PSU and GFX card exhaust ... so you wind up recirculating the hot air exhaust from say 650 watt PSU and 200+ watt GPU right back into your case.

If throttling is an issue and none of the above have resolved it, I'd recommend taking off the shroud and reseating the cooler with Gelid Extreme TIM (it has a much longer period of workability than most premium brands and you have a lot of surfaces to apply)... clean all surfaces thoroughly with Indigo Extreme Cleaner or 90+% rubbing alcohol and apply a good TIM to all GPU, memory and VRM surfaces... make sure to do back side. If thermal pads used, apply TIM to both sides using the application tool that comes with Gelid Extreme TIM ... GE costs more tham most competitors and ya get 3.5 gm w/ Gelid compared to 1.5 for most others.

https://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109869260.pdf See steps 2 and 3
https://www.ekwb.com/shop/EK-IM/EK-IM-3831109830383.pdf See step 3 if have backplate

Hope links work ... could not copy / paste the links into forum message and had to manually type