3080 Ti clock speed dropping under load

[theokoles]

Specs:

• Ryzen 5950X
• Gigabyte 3080 Ti Gaming OC
• 32GB DDR4
• MSI X570 Unify
• Seasonic Focus 1000 W
• Windows 11

Last week my desktop suddenly shut down while listening to Spotify and then refused to POST. There was no warning and nothing notable in Event Viewer other than the typical 'unexpected shutdown' logs.

I reset the CMOS and was able to boot successfully. I enabled XMP and adjusted a few other minor settings in the BIOS. I haven't had any more crashes.

However, I noticed that I'm getting about half of my usual FPS in various games (Insurgency: Sandstorm, Doom Eternal, RDR2). Using the 3DMark TimeSpy benchmark, my score is ~6000 less than the average of other comparable systems:

Overall score

Detailed monitoring

The detailed monitoring shows that my GPU downclocks as soon as it hits 100% load. At idle, it returns to its base clock speed. I've compared my 3DMark results to others with similar specs, and this downclocking doesn't seem to be occurring. Unfortunately, I don't have results prior to the system crash for comparison. You can see that my temperatures for both CPU/GPU hover around 55°C, so I doubt it's a thermal issue.

Troubleshooting:

• Clean installed latest NVidia driver
• Upgraded BIOS to latest iteration
• Reseated GPU and RAM
• Verified that CPU Pump is running at full tilt
• Toggled GPU BIOS (no effect)
• Verified that GPU power limit is 100% (Afterburner)
• Replaced power supply

Any other items to test before moving forward with a GPU RMA? Thanks for reading!

 

[TheRealJCole]

@TheRealJCole
Good news: I got "my" card back yesterday. It has a different serial number but they might have swapped backplates. There was a memo included in the RMA that states: "U6 PCB BURNOUT/Y"

Bad news: It doesn't work! There's no display output at all now. Getting a d6 trouble code on my motherboard.

I'm going to spend the day troubleshooting before deciding whether or not I want to go through with another RMA. I hope your experience is better, but I'm feeling really defeated at this point.

EDIT: I managed to get it working after a BIOS reset. TimeSpy score is improved and above average now. It's no longer dropping clock speed under load. I hope this is a good sign but I'll need to use it for a while before I'm confident it's fixed. Thanks to everyone in this thread that offered assistance.

Ah thats interesting. How did you reset the bios ? Just flashed the latest stock bios to it ? Mine is still in limbo. I got the following answer back from them the other day:

"Since this is not the service team, we do not have access to their database.
We'll forward over to our service team to provide you with an update.
You can also contact them directly as well

Email: ( services@gigabyteusa.com )
Phone : 626-854-9338 option 4 between 8:30am - 5:30pm PST"

 

[theokoles]

Ah thats interesting. How did you reset the bios ? Just flashed the latest stock bios to it ? Mine is still in limbo. I got the following answer back from them the other day:

"Since this is not the service team, we do not have access to their database.
We'll forward over to our service team to provide you with an update.
You can also contact them directly as well

Email: ( services@gigabyteusa.com )
Phone : 626-854-9338 option 4 between 8:30am - 5:30pm PST"

Sorry, I should have clarified. I meant my motherboard BIOS, just a CMOS reset.

That was the same reply I received as well. E-mailing services@gigabyteusa.com was useless (never received a response). I hope you get yours back soon and there's no issues. Keep me posted!

 

[TheRealJCole]

Welp, just got the new card back, and it seems to work properly. There was a description that came with it "8 pin burnt out"

After no response whatsoever from calling, voicemails etc from the official RMA center in the USA, I went onto the Gigabyte discord and explained the situation, someone from there messaged be and got the RMA on track. So, December 27th to April 19th is the RMA turnaround time.

 

[eidairaman1]

Welp, just got the new card back, and it seems to work properly. There was a description that came with it "8 pin burnt out"

After no response whatsoever from calling, voicemails etc from the official RMA center in the USA, I went onto the Gigabyte discord and explained the situation, someone from there messaged be and got the RMA on track. So, December 27th to April 19th is the RMA turnaround time.

Sucks.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

Welp, just got the new card back, and it seems to work properly. There was a description that came with it "8 pin burnt out"

After no response whatsoever from calling, voicemails etc from the official RMA center in the USA, I went onto the Gigabyte discord and explained the situation, someone from there messaged be and got the RMA on track. So, December 27th to April 19th is the RMA turnaround time.

When I RMA stuff, I normally give them a grace period of a month before i start harassing them every other week about the status of the RMA. Turn around used to be between 1-3 months depending on how much stock they have but Covid has just thrown everything out of whack so im not too sure what to expect.

Just dont be like this guy here who never contacted Zotac after he sent them his card and they pretty much didnt bother with him for 3+ years. He's probably still waiting for them to send him back a working 1070 today.

I picked up multiple infractions from that thread from calling the guy an idiot/numbskull/stupid/silly/moron/dumb etc etc for not being more proactive about harassing Zotac about his RMA.

A manufacturer has to send you back a replacement within a reasonable period of time or offer something of equal value or performance OR issue credit based on the cards street value if giving you back a card isnt possible.

A lot of manufacturers have often bumped people up with a more powerful card if they dont have the exact same model to return in stock.

I RMA'd a Corsair HX1050 a while back and they bumped me up to an AX1200 or AX1500 - I had already bought an AX860 so sold the RMA'd unit for a small profit

 

[eidairaman1]

When I RMA stuff, I normally give them a grace period of a month before i start harassing them every other week about the status of the RMA. Turn around used to be between 1-3 months depending on how much stock they have but Covid has just thrown everything out of whack so im not too sure what to expect.

Just dont be like this guy here who never contacted Zotac after he sent them his card and they pretty much didnt bother with him for 3+ years. He's probably still waiting for them to send him back a working 1070 today.

I picked up multiple infractions from that thread from calling the guy an idiot/numbskull/stupid/silly/moron/dumb etc etc for not being more proactive about harassing Zotac about his RMA.

A manufacturer has to send you back a replacement within a reasonable period of time or offer something of equal value or performance OR issue credit based on the cards street value if giving you back a card isnt possible.

A lot of manufacturers have often bumped people up with a more powerful card if they dont have the exact same model to return in stock.

I RMA'd a Corsair HX1050 a while back and they bumped me up to an AX1200 or AX1500 - I had already bought an AX860 so sold the RMA'd unit for a small profit

1-2weeks