Gigabyte GTX 670 OC Problem

[WildMonkey]

I just switched from an HD6970 to a Gigabyte GTX 670 and now when I alt-tab out of a game my PC is super slow, as if all the resources were being used up. If I play a video the video is all choppy and jerky, and the machine feels generally slow, even web surfing or opening folders, until I close the game (ANY game or 3D app).

As if I had a memory leak problem, but those are easy to stop in the task manager, but I'm not running out of system resources, I check Task Manager and it seems normal. Nothing unusually high as far as resource usage, weird.

I'm just using my comp as I normally do. I have a 2500K @ 4.3 GHz with 16 GB RAM, ASUS P8Z68-V PRO mobo on Windows 7 x64, like I said, the only difference is the card/drivers and it happened the very day I switched, and when I switched I uninstalled the AMD drivers first.

I even used Driver Sweeper to get rid of the AMD drivers, I also as a last resort uninstalled the Nvidia drivers, went to Safe Mode, used Drive Sweeper on Nvidia drivers, rebooted, and re-installed the Nvidia driver with the clean install option.

I ran out of ideas, could it be a bad card or some other related process/drivers that are screwing up my machine?

Or it is simply the fact that these cards don't have the raw computational power as the AMD ones, even though true, I find it hard to believe that this is the case.

Help? I'm just about ready to give up and change it for a 7970 or something.

 

[Don Karnage]

Something is up. What games are you playing and don't even waste your time with a 7970. 670 is the best gaming card for the money

 

[WildMonkey]

Something is up. What games are you playing and don't even waste your time with a 7970. 670 is the best gaming card for the money

Pretty much with any game it will do this, but I usually play Skyrim, DOTA 2, TF2, BF3, Portal 2, Arkham City, etc...

 

[Don Karnage]

Pretty much with any game it will do this, but I usually play Skyrim, DOTA 2, TF2, BF3, Portal 2, Arkham City, etc...

What kind of PSU are you running? Do me a favor and run 3dmark11 at stock settings then post a link to your results

 

[SlowSpyder]

That's funny, I used to have this problem with my GeForce 6800 and 7900GS cards. That was the one thing that drove me nuts about Nvidia drivers, alt+tab'ing out of a game basically meant a reboot. Anytime I wanted out of a game my only option was to exit out of the game, God forbid I hit the Windows button on accident. But, that was a long time ago, I doubt that is really a problem for Nvidia drivers anymore, something wierd is likely going on with your system.

 

[Don Karnage]

That's funny, I used to have this problem with my GeForce 6800 and 7900GS cards. That was the one thing that drove me nuts about Nvidia drivers, alt+tab'ing out of a game basically meant a reboot. Anytime I wanted out of a game my only option was to exit out of the game, God forbid I hit the Windows button on accident. But, that was a long time ago, I doubt that is really a problem for Nvidia drivers anymore, something wierd is likely going on with your system.

I dont think its the drivers as i have zero issues with the 670's

 

[Jaydip]

Some games just behave weirdly if u alt-tab.Download and run 3dmark11,unigine heaven 3.0 and report back.

 

[N4n45h1]

There is definitely something wrong with your system. I'm not encountering the same issue and I have the same card. Like Don said, try running 3dmark. Hopefully that will point us in the direction of your problem. I think most are scoring in the upper 9xxx range at stock.

Otherwise, you might want to check gpu utilization and frequency during these events.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I dont think its the drivers as i have zero issues with the 670's

I'm not saying it is or isn't. But we cannot say it isn't, we don't even know what driver version he's on. I was just mentioning that it is kind of funny that I had this same problem with my (much older) Nvidia cards. But Googling "Nvidia drivers alt tab" shows plenty of results, many with current cards and driver versions. So it is certainly a possibility. Back when I had the GeForce 6800 and 7900 it was a known issue.

And every system is different. My 7970 doesn't have any of the sleep problems that others still have (though I did see it with earlier driver versions). My 5870's never once gave me a gray screen. Just because you or I don't have an issue doesn't mean it isn't a possible problem in a given version of a driver.

 

[Don Karnage]

Also make sure you change the power management settings to prefer maximum performance

 

[WildMonkey]

What kind of PSU are you running? Do me a favor and run 3dmark11 at stock settings then post a link to your results

Seasonic X750

Stock speeds:
P8616
9052
7805
7150

I mean that's not my problem, I think the card operates normally in games, the problem is when multitasking. I can only do one thing or the other, which is quite stupid really, it's not 1990, I should be able to minimize something and not have my machine feel as it were hamster powered.

 

[Don Karnage]

Seasonic X750

Stock speeds:
P8616
9052
7805
7150

I mean that's not my problem, I think the card operates normally in games, the problem is when multitasking. I can only do one thing or the other, which is quite stupid really, it's not 1990, I should be able to minimize something and not have my machine feel as it were hamster powered.

Now that we found that the card isn't the problem lets look at the Hard Drive. What kind?

 

[WildMonkey]

Some games just behave weirdly if u alt-tab.Download and run 3dmark11,unigine heaven 3.0 and report back.

3dmark11:
P8616
9052
7805
7150

Heaven 3.0:
1900x1200, 16xAF, 8xAA, extreme tessellation.
21.2 avg fps
552 score

 

[WildMonkey]

Now that we found that the card isn't the problem lets look at the Hard Drive. What kind?

OS drive is 160GB SSD Intel 320

Gaming/video storage five drives all 7200RPM ranging from 640GB to 2TB, WD, Hitachi, Samsung. Apps and games vary from location.

 

[Jaydip]

3dmark11:
P8616
9052
7805
7150

Heaven 3.0:
1900x1200, 16xAF, 8xAA, extreme tessellation.
21.2 avg fps
552 score

The scores look fine to me.Just don't alt-tab while playing games ()

 

[Borealis7]

why are you alt+tabbing out of games anyway? are you ADHD and can't look at one game for long?? instead of alt+tabbing, get another monitor!

you know i luvs ya, right?

 

[Termie]

What's your ram setup? You have 16GB - I assume that's 4 sticks. What's your frequency/timing? You might want to try this all with just 2 sticks installed to rule out a memory problem.

You're 3dMark11 score is spot-on, so there's nothing wrong with the card performance-wise.

 

[WildMonkey]

What's your ram setup? You have 16GB - I assume that's 4 sticks. What's your frequency/timing? You might want to try this all with just 2 sticks installed to rule out a memory problem.

You're 3dMark11 score is spot-on, so there's nothing wrong with the card performance-wise.

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (4x4)

I doubt that it is hardware problem (conflict maybe) as I mentioned that everything was running great until I swapped out the video cards.

 

[MrWizzard]

Have you tried returning EVERYTHING to stock speeds and voltages yet?

 

[WildMonkey]

Have you tried returning EVERYTHING to stock speeds and voltages yet?

Yup. Same.

 

[RAJOD]

Seasonic X750

Stock speeds:
P8616
9052
7805
7150

I mean that's not my problem, I think the card operates normally in games, the problem is when multitasking. I can only do one thing or the other, which is quite stupid really, it's not 1990, I should be able to minimize something and not have my machine feel as it were hamster powered.

Many people don't know what you are talking about because they don't alt tab out of games. I know what you are talking about and that would be very annoying.

Also you did say that you just upgraded the video card and not the entire computer right? Makes no sense for people to be asking you about hard drive brands etc. May as ask you what brand of car you have as they have nothing to do with each other.

Could be a driver background app issue.

I would try to run the system as clean as possible, meaning shut down all services and apps you do not need. Run something like game booster then play the games that did not give you alt-tab issues with the AMD card and see if its still an issue with the nvidia.

I hope you find a fix, 400.00 for a downgrade in multitasking would give me buyers remorse on that card.

I saw someone replied to you in another forum, he said he has the same issues with the 670 with two LCDs. It can't play a video on one and have a web page up on the other without lagging.

Even a 5770 can do this with ease. I'm holding out on that card till they get that issue fixed.

 

[DigitalWolf]

Many people don't know what you are talking about because they don't alt tab out of games. I know what you are talking about and that would be very annoying.

Also you did say that you just upgraded the video card and not the entire computer right? Makes no sense for people to be asking you about hard drive brands etc. May as ask you what brand of car you have as they have nothing to do with each other.

Could be a driver background app issue.

I would try to run the system as clean as possible, meaning shut down all services and apps you do not need. Run something like game booster then play the games that did not give you alt-tab issues with the AMD card and see if its still an issue with the nvidia.

I hope you find a fix, 400.00 for a downgrade in multitasking would give me buyers remorse on that card.

I saw someone replied to you in another forum, he said he has the same issues with the 670 with two LCDs. It can't play a video on one and have a web page up on the other without lagging.

Even a 5770 can do this with ease. I'm holding out on that card till they get that issue fixed.

Well to be honest outside of people running SLI or CF ... many people probably don't play in full screen mode... so they never have to "alt tab" out of a game. Most people that *I* know use vent in the MMO's they play and just like the ease of switching back and forth from windowed mode.


That said... alt tabbing shouldn't create the issues the OP is having. Yet as you noted they say all this started the day they switched video cards. So.... either there is an issue with their video card (and it may need to be rma'd) OR they have some kind of conflict going on that causes this to happen.


That's just my opinion of course.... For reference I have two 7970's in my work box that I sometimes game on so I do alt tab on that. My game box has a Galaxy GTX 680 and I only play a few games in fullscreen (that I do alt tab out of) and I've never had this issue.


*edit to add...*


Was it on the other forum they mentioned using more than one monitor? because I went back up through the thread and couldn't find mention of it. I actually use two Samsung 120Hz monitors with my game box because I'm normally running two game clients and each one is set to use a different monitor... but didn't mention that because I didn't notice the OP mention using two monitors.

 

[blackened23]

Instead of getting stupid responses such as "deal with it", "use driver sweeper", "don't alt tab " and other waste of time stuff, report the problem here:

http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showforum=256

There's a 99.9% chance you'll get a much more useful response there. Chances are people there have already encountered the same issue (as they have with the 600 series vsync bug) and they will likely have a better solution. Talking about this stuff here is usuallly a complete waste of time and will usually degenerate into worthless posts about how you shouldn't alt tab and/or how much AMD sucks. Anyway, I have never had alt tab issues with nvidia drivers, and you shouldn't have to deal with it. Try to get it corrected at the proper outlet, IE NOT HERE. Bottom line is this shouldn't be happening to you.

 

[Ketchup]

I haven't played the games you mentioned, but I have noticed your issue to some extent with different games. With some games, I hit the windows button and do other things like surfing the web normally. Other games slow my system noticeably. I wonder if the system not releasing the resources being used.

Do you pause the game before doing an alt-tab?

 

[WildMonkey]

blackened23, RAJOD, DigitalWolf

Thanks for your advice, I did post at the Nvidia forum, actually it was less help than here.

And I have been noticing it might be a vsync issue. It seems to get worst/better depending on what global vsync settings I'm using in conjunction with the multi, single, or compatibility modes in monitor settings under global settings.

I failed to mention that I have the card hooked up to a monitor and a TV, but the TV is almost always off, just on those rare occasions that I want to watch something on it from the computer.

Didn't think something as stupid as this would be the problem but I'm starting to think it's a vsync issue.

I'm starting to think that a problem arises when you have two devices with different refresh rates or when two programs request different vsync settings.