NVIDIA GTX 970 Drivers - Performance issues - Huge thread in NV Forums

[MrFox]

Hello All,

I'm having personal issues with GTX 9XX series Forceware drivers that have been creating gaming issues with terrible performance and inconsistent performance with Skyrim TESV specifically.
Upgraded from EVGA GTX 570 to EVGA GTX 970 SC 04G-2974-KR on Oct 15 2014 have been suffering with crappy performance was acting like the VRAM was not error correcting properly per the JEDEC specification.

Was having polygon tearing and crashes, but the GPU never exceeded 60c finally it would crash.Thought that the poor design of the cooler was causing this issue.

Have arranged for an RMA, but have discovered this thread over at GeForce forums :
NVidia GeForce GTX 900 series feedback gathering (low GPU load and other issues)

Was trying to get feedback about others with similar stories, and looking for advice about how to Elevate this concern over the upcoming week.

I'm not trolling and want this to remain professional. I'm just pissed over the $350.00 boat anchor. That is clearly a ForceWare issue firmly in the realm of NVidia and their driver development.

TESV is a DX9c game that is three years old that should be getting blown away by this card. And the game is making the opposite of the card..

Are there others out there similar issue ?

A 124 page thread tells me that there clearly is an issue.

My hardware :

Asus P6 DLX i7 920@ 4 Ghz
EVGA GTX 970 SC 04G-2974-KR
12 GB DDR3 1600
256 GB Crucial SSD 3x 1TB WD Black
650 watt Seasonic PSU

Thank you !

 

[96Firebird]

was acting like the VRAM was not error correcting properly per the JEDEC specification.

How did you come to this conclusion?

I haven't had problems with my 970 FTW, nor my 970 SC ACX1.0 that I stepped up from. But I don't play Skyrim either...

 

[MrFox]

How did you come to this conclusion?

I haven't had problems with my 970 FTW, nor my 970 SC ACX1.0 that I stepped up from. But I don't play Skyrim either...

Simple reading the JEDEC technical spec.

All VRAM has a technical sheet that has a compliance statement.

It has a built in temp sensor, as long as the sensor works correctlyit should error correct by increasing latency..

i'm not experiencing that just a gut wrenching slow video card


I'm a Noob here ... But not a NubCake !


hehehe

 

[96Firebird]

Simple reading the JEDEC technical spec.

All VRAM has a technical sheet that has a compliance statement.

It has a built in temp sensor, as long as the sensor works correctlyit should error correct by increasing latency..

i'm not experiencing that just a gut wrenching slow video card


I'm a Noob here ... But not a NubCake !


hehehe

Your link isn't loading anything for me, seems google is getting stuck on the redirect. From what I can tell, it is linking to the datasheet for Hynix memory (H5GQ1H24AFR-T0C). Looking up those specs, that is for 4GHz memory, not the standard 7GHz that comes on the 970s.

And now I'm lost.

 

[MrFox]

Your link isn't loading anything for me, seems google is getting stuck on the redirect. From what I can tell, it is linking to the datasheet for Hynix memory (H5GQ1H24AFR-T0C). Looking up those specs, that is for 4GHz memory, not the standard 7GHz that comes on the 970s.

And now I'm lost.

VRAM has interoperability specifications that are laid out by JEDEC the data sheet link was to show a typical GDDR5 data sheet, not the specific one because that will vary BOM to BOM.

This (VRAM) is a commodity and there are two or three tiers of product.

The cards are all made at Foxconn TW to 'partner specifications'.

EVGA is a re brander they build nothing.

 

[Carfax83]

I haven't had any of those issues with my GTX 970s, but I don't play TESV..

What drivers are you using? The early launch drivers for the Maxwell weren't very good and I noticed several issues, but subsequent releases have improved dramatically.

The 347.09 WHQL drivers are really good and perform very well with no stability issues that I can tell..

I looked at that Geforce link you posted, and it seems that most of the people in that thread with performance issues were using AMD CPUs, and playing games like BL2 which uses a single threaded renderer.

AMD CPU plus single threaded renderer is a recipe for low performance.

 

[96Firebird]

VRAM has interoperability specifications that are laid out by JEDEC the data sheet link was to show a typical GDDR5 data sheet, not the specific one because that will vary BOM to BOM.

This (VRAM) is a commodity and there are two or three tiers of product.

The cards are all made at Foxconn TW to 'partner specifications'.

EVGA is a re brander they build nothing.

Ok, do you have a link to the JEDEC specs or can you post them here?

Since you think your memory is out of spec, you must know the JEDEC specs...

 

[MrFox]

I haven't had any of those issues with my GTX 970s, but I don't play TESV..

What drivers are you using? The early launch drivers for the Maxwell weren't very good and I noticed several issues, but subsequent releases have improved dramatically.

The 347.09 WHQL drivers are really good and perform very well with no stability issues that I can tell..

I looked at that Geforce link you posted, and it seems that most of the people in that thread with performance issues were using AMD CPUs, and playing games like BL2 which uses a single threaded renderer.

AMD CPU plus single threaded renderer is a recipe for low performance.

There was also many folks with new i7 4770 i5 4690 etc.
Various games that are effected.

I'm using 344.75 but have tried all eight of them with varying results the current one is the worst. Also tried 344.80 hotfix.

I'll get the RMA tomorrow but it wont change anything.

 

[MrFox]

Ok, do you have a link to the JEDEC specs or can you post them here?

Since you think your memory is out of spec, you must know the JEDEC specs...

This was what I thought was the issue.. It is not....

It is the drivers.


The JEDEC specs are in the various GDDR5 amd DDR3/4 product manuals they mirror the interoperability specs requirements that JEDEC is the unifying body for the semiconductor channel commodity.

The manual mirrors section by section the engineering specs.

 

[ocre]

I have a 970 and an x58 motherboard.

I have had no issues in skyrim or anything else. I haven't had my card as long as the OP it i can say for sure that there has been no issues in skyrim at all.

Playing ultra plus DSR. Looks great.

Also been running overclocked with boost clocks over 1500mhz, rock solid. 100% for hours on end.

I have had stability issues as soon as I got the 970, but turned out to be defective ram. See, I upgraded to 12gb 1600mhz cas 8 when I upgraded my CPU to an x5670 off eBay. Thought all was good and went on with a GPU upgrade to the 970 reference. I found stability issues afterwards. Wasnt even stable at stock. Stuck in my old ram and ran several days of non stop stressing. All good. Overclocked 4.2-4.4ghz turbo, stressed for days. All good.

Everything has been fine for the last month, and my pc is always running. When I am not playing dragon age, my son is playing skyrim and several other games. Absolutely no issues.

So I guess my point is, any piece of HW can go out at any time. Even after a GPU change. I would bet you have a HW issue, not a driver issue.

Try reseating your GPU. When u take out the GPU, make sure the pice slot is clean of dirt and no damage. If u have another pice slot, try your GPU in it.

You might have a defective graphics card, the 970 is very popular and when there are that many sold, it will not take too long to fill up a forum with issues.

So check and reseat your GPU and or try another slot. Make sure u didn't knock anything loose installing your GPU, such as system ram or power plugs to your GPU or motherboard. Make sure your system/ram is stable. And if u know your PsU and everything is up to snuff, RMA the card.

Or u could RMA first and if u have the same issues with your new card, start trying to investigate your other system components last. What ever u want to do. But I can verify, 109% that skyrim is working fine. Great frame rates at ultra with DSR. My son plays it for hours and hours. He will leave it running, just sitting there while he goes off and does whatever. Comes back 2 or 3 hrs later and starts playing it again

 

[BFG10K]

A 124 page thread tells me that there clearly is an issue.

My hardware :

Asus P6 DLX i7 920@ 4 Ghz

That thread doesn't mean anything if everyone is overclocking like you are. Have you tried running everything at stock speeds?

 

[amenx]

No issues whatsoever so far on my 970. Main game been on lately is Far Cry 4 (others Metro redux, BL3, Grid 2, COD-AW). Most complaints I've heard were of stutter or other issues in FC4 but running like a charm with me. TESV has been running well on a 2gb 770 so see no need to re-test it on the 970.

You must keep in mind the 970 is a popular card with thousands sold. And with many different hardware/software configurations, game settings, etc, there is bound to be some issues cropping up. Most I suspect are probably happy with their card and no issues. A 124 page thread at Nvidia forum on driver issues is relatively small. Theres another one with 1900+ pages re the 900 series. Most issues I've seen or heard about are game specific. Just funny how it affects some but not others even in same game.

 

[MrFox]

That thread doesn't mean anything if everyone is overclocking like you are. Have you tried running everything at stock speeds?

The machine was stable and could game for days. Swap card and driver same is true...

Overclocking is insignificant in the equation.

 

[Insert_Nickname]

There was also many folks with new i7 4770 i5 4690 etc.
Various games that are effected.

3770non-K + ASUS Strix GTX970 here. Just installed Skyrim to check. No issues with that or any other game I've been playing. Been running that 970 almost since launch.

I'm using 344.75 but have tried all eight of them with varying results the current one is the worst. Also tried 344.80 hotfix.

I'll get the RMA tomorrow but it wont change anything.

At least try the newest (347.09) drivers. The launch drivers had a few issues, but they're pretty much ironed out with those.

 

[ShintaiDK]

The machine was stable and could game for days. Swap card and driver same is true...

Overclocking is insignificant in the equation.

Your newer card puts a higher load on CPU etc than the previous. Until you try stock settings its kinda pointless to even try and help you.

 

[guskline]

I've had my GTX 970 Gigabyte G1 Gamer for @ a week with absolutely no problems. I would suggest a RMA.

 

[NickelPlate]

Haven't played Skyrim in a long time but I just checked my old save and no issues.

 

[MiRai]

A week and a half ago there was a forum member trying to claim that the GTX 970 wasn't a 256-bit card, and now there is someone else claiming the RAM of the GTX 970 is out of JEDEC specification.

 

[MrFox]

A week and a half ago there was a forum member trying to claim that the GTX 970 wasn't a 256-bit card, and now there is someone else claiming the RAM of the GTX 970 is out of JEDEC specification.

That was not what was suggested The Issue was ruled out entirely, what was said is if the error correcting feature was not working, or the driver not reading the feedback loop correctly it would act the same way.

 

[BFG10K]

The machine was stable and could game for days. Swap card and driver same is true...

Overclocking is insignificant in the equation.

Running hardware outside its operating spec is "insignificant"? How fascinating. :awe:

I didn't see a straight answer to my question: yes or no?

 

[Vesku]

If it's specifically Skyrim you may want to try changing AA settings and such. There was an AMD driver revision where my 7950 and many other GCN cards created a snow like artifacting effect with AA on in Skyrim, disabling AA or rolling back the driver fixed the issue. Different GPU makers but they may have made a similar error while optimizing. Worth checking out if your replacement card gives you the same problem.

 

[MrFox]

Running hardware outside its operating spec is "insignificant"? How fascinating. :awe:

I didn't see a straight answer to my question: yes or no?

When you can plug the GTX 570 back in place and the issue vanishes ... Yes
And can game for days streaming to YouTube and Twitch.. with no crashes no instability at all ever. Guess again..PCI -E is locked at 100 hz.

Support your supposition, and stay on subject. No crapping Lifer

Thank you.


The RMA solved nothing... 20-30 FPS and less.

 

[Phynaz]

Guess the op needs to take his PC in to professional since none of our advice is good enough for him.

Op, what's the point of this thread?

 

[guskline]

Mrfox: What BIOS is your mb running on? Is it possible that it needs to be updated for the 970?

 

[Gikaseixas]

Try installing Windows on a separate SSD and see if you get the same problem. Sometimes a fresh install does wonders