I think my GTX 1080's temperature target malfunctioned

[Dave3000]

Today I was running Unigen Heaven benchmark and my GTX 1080 FE hit 87c and stayed at 86c for the rest of the benchmark. This has never happened before with my 1080. I also got a higher score than usual with my 1080 those times it hit 87c and the fan was running louder than usual during the benchmark and that's why I think that the 83c temperature target was being ignored on my card during the benchmark those times. It always up to 83c, ran quieter, and got a lower score in this benchmark before today. Only thing different is that I'm using my monitor instead of my TV and I moved my PC to a different spot. I then ran Valley and it went up to 83c and stayed at 82-83 for the rest of the benchmark. and was quieter which I assume the temperature throttling was then working properly while running Valley. I then installed MSI Afterburner and it showed that the temperature target is set to 83c and then I ran Heaven benchmark again while running Afterburner in the background and temperature throttling was now working properly it seems as the card now was now reaching 83c and staying at 82-83c, was running quieter, and I got a lower score. My score in Heaven benchmark when the target temperature seemed to be ignored was 109 fps and 109 fps when I ran it again. When thermal throttling is working like it should, I get 106 fps in this benchmark. Now thermal throttling is working properly again in Heaven benchmark, even after I uninstalled Afterburner, as now the average frame rate is now lower at 106 fps instead of 109 fps and the GPU did not go past 83c. Does this sound like a driver or firmware issue with my card? A defective card?

 

[Dave3000]

Ok today it happened again. A clean install of Windows and installing the latest graphics drivers didn't not fix this issue. The GPU once again is hitting 87C and staying there not only in Heaven benchmark, but in Valley, and 3DMark. Also my score reflects that the temperature throttling was not as aggressive as usual those times it hit 87C. I then installed the Zotac Firestorm software and while I had Firestorm running in the background, my card does not go past 83C, which means the temperature throttling is working propery at it's stock 83C limit when MSI Afterburner or Zotac Firestorm run in the background. Does this sound like a corrupt bios on my graphics card or a driver issue?

 

[Dave3000]

I quit the Firestorm software and ran the Heaven benchmark without Firestorm running in the background and the 83c temperature threshold is working normal, not going over 83c during the benchmark. Also the score is lower now. I was getting 110 fps average at the time it stayed at 86-87c (by stock behavior it should only hit 83c and then throttle to keep from going over 83c) and 106.5 fps average when it stayed at 82-83c (stock behavior). This is with my 4930k overclocked at 4 GHz.

 

[Dave3000]

I put my PC in sleep mode for 10 seconds, woke it up, ran the Heaven benchmark with Afterburner running in the background and once again my GPU hit 87c and stays between 86-87c until I quit the benchmark. Does anyone here with a GTX 1060 to a Titan X (Pascal) have an issue with their GPU performing better but running hotter and louder after waking up their PC up from sleep mode until they run Afterburner or Firestorm and then it does not go over 83c and scores a little lower in Heaven benchmark?

 

[wingman04]

I have a EVGA GTX 1070 and the temperature does not go over 75c.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Like Chuck Norris, My PC never sleeps -- it waits.

At least now you know that your Windows does not wake properly from sleep. The easiest fix is to shut down instead.

 

[Dave3000]

The only workarounds for my issue is to restart my PC if that happens (must run a GPU intensive benchmark with GPU temperature monitoring to find out) or just having Afterburner or Firestorm running at Windows startup automatically and remember not to put my PC in sleep mode. It also happened when my PC was not in sleep mode but I could recreate the issue by putting my PC in sleep mode once. I am not completely sure if having Afterburner running at Windows startup will be a workaround because I have not tested it long enough that way but when the issue happens, opening up Afterburner and letting it run in the background fixes the issue or restarting my PC fixes the issues for the next Windows session.

 

[bystander36]

It sounds like the times it his 87C, the GPU is hitting higher clocks. When you got 87C, the score was higher, and the fan ran louder, both of which is consistent with higher clocks and score.

Pay attention to the clocks of your GPU when this happens.

 

[Dave3000]

That's what I'm saying. It seems like it's not throttling when it hits 83c and so the temperature keeps climbing until it hits 87c. I set up Afterburner to show the OSD for the GPU clock while running in the background and this way I know what the GPU clocks are at those time it goes past 83c.

 

[bystander36]

I haven't seen you post anything about what the clocks are like when it hits 87C or 83C with a lower score.

 

[Dave3000]

2 days ago I setup Afterburner to show the OSD for the GPU clock. I can tell you that when it hits 83c, my GPU clocks drop to the low to upper 1600's according to the OSD from Afterburner while running Heaven benchmark. I'm still trying to get the issue to crop up again, this time with the OSD displaying the GPU clock on the screen, to where I assume it's not throttling to maintain 83c.

 

[Dave3000]

Well this 86c-87c GPU temperature issue while benchmarking happened again today. I did have the OSD in MSI Afterburner setup to show the GPU temperatures. Just as I suspected, my GPU is throttling very little. The GPU clock starts out at 1873 MHz then drops to 1810 MHz after a few scenes and is stays at mostly 1810 MHz with a drops down to 1797 MHz a few times in the Heaven benchmark while GPU temperatures stay between 86-87c. I also got a little higher score than usual, and by usual I mean the score I get when it throttles to maintain 83c during the benchmark. Usually when the GPU temperature on my card hit 83c, and sticks between 82-83c for the rest of the bechmark, the GPU clock is in the low 1600's to low 1700's. I can now say that the default GPU throttling temperature of 83c on my card is being ignored sometimes, resulting in GPU temperatures reaching 87c. Does this sound like a driver issue, video bios issue, or do I have a defective video card?

 

[wingman04]

Who is the GTX 1080 FE made by? I would call them and ask. Did you take the case cover off and see if your temps go down?

 

[Dave3000]

My card is made by Zotac. Is your 1070 a Founder's edition card or an aftermarket card?

 

[wingman04]

My card is made by Zotac. Is your 1070 a Founder's edition card or an aftermarket card?

My EVGA SC GTX 1070 is aftermarket and has two cooling fans. Stock temperature with full load is 70c boost 1896MHz .

I would call Zotac after you try running with the case cover off. I use a open case on my rig.

 

[Dave3000]

A reboot fixes the issue temporarily.

 

[wingman04]

If a reboot is fixing the card temperately I would contact Zotac for a RMA.

 

[Dave3000]

I just arranged an RMA with the store for replacement since I was still in the return period.

 

[Dave3000]

I thought about downloading a vbios file from techpowerup.com and flashing the vbios on my GTX 1080 as that website has one specifically for the Zotac GTX 1080 FE card to see if it fixes the issue but I decided not to flash the vbios on my card. I thought that maybe something in the programming in the vbios is screwed up or corrupted specifically on my card. If that were the case it would still be considered a defective card in my opinion and I should not have to download a vbios off a 3rd party website and risk bricking my card flashing it to see if it fixes the issue. I will be shipping the card on Monday.

 

[wingman04]

Post back how the new card works.

 

[Dave3000]

I decided to give the card one more try before I decide to RMA it to the store, and see if the issue crops up with older graphics drivers. It tried the first official drivers the version 372.54 (first official drivers for this card) and the version 375.95 drivers. I still get the issue with the card barely throttling the boost clock when it hits 83c and goes to 87c with barely throttling the boost clock as checked with Afterburner through the rest of the benchmark. I just don't want to end up RMA'ing if it's actually not a defective video card and the replacement having the same issue and possibly another issue, If the card is not in stock, does Newegg give a refund on the card minus the retail value of the free game that came bundled (if I redeemed the game) with it or does Newegg wait until one becomes in stock and then send the replacment? Newegg shows non in stock right now.

 

[wingman04]

Newegg will only replace the card with the same item.

 

[Dave3000]

Well I shipped my card today to Newegg and reinstalled my 780Ti while I wait for the replacement to arrive.

 

[wingman04]

Post back how it all works out.

 

[NeweggSupport]

I decided to give the card one more try before I decide to RMA it to the store, and see if the issue crops up with older graphics drivers. It tried the first official drivers the version 372.54 (first official drivers for this card) and the version 375.95 drivers. I still get the issue with the card barely throttling the boost clock when it hits 83c and goes to 87c with barely throttling the boost clock as checked with Afterburner through the rest of the benchmark. I just don't want to end up RMA'ing if it's actually not a defective video card and the replacement having the same issue and possibly another issue, If the card is not in stock, does Newegg give a refund on the card minus the retail value of the free game that came bundled (if I redeemed the game) with it or does Newegg wait until one becomes in stock and then send the replacment? Newegg shows non in stock right now.

We're sorry to hear about your defective item. If an item is out of stock during the time of processing, a refund will be issued back to the original form of payment including the deduction from the free game. . If you have any questions about your refund, we encourage you to call our customer service line at 800-390-1119.
Thank you,

Roxie
(Newegg Support)