Radeon R9 280X stuck at 501 MHz GPU clock

[Fardringle]

I acquired a used Gigabyte R9 280X Windforce recently, that was reported in good working condition. And for about a week it has been running perfectly for me. I'm using it to run the MilkyWay@Home distributed computing project since that project makes very heavy use of double precision computing which the 280X has.

However, some time today, the card switched from it's stock 1000 MHz GPU clock speed down to 501 MHz and won't go back to full speed. Radeon Software (installed with the GPU drivers), GPU-Z, MSI Afterburner, and HWiNFO64 all show that the card has close to 100% load (as it should) and that the cooling fans are spinning properly and the card is not getting any warmer than 62-64C. It was around 78-80C when running at full speed before this happened.

HWiNFO64 says the card is running at a steady core voltage of 0.950V. From what I can tell online, it should be closer to 1.2V, but none of the software tools give the option to manually adjust the voltage, and a Google search says it can only be done with a custom firmware update. The computer has an almost new eVGA 750 watt PSU with all of the necessary GPU power connectors (and they are connected) so system power should not be an issue.

Any ideas what might have caused it to suddenly change, and what I can try to get the card running at full speed again?

I have tried rebooting, reseating the card and the power cables, and reinstalling the drivers. Not sure what else to try...

 

[Shmee]

Try MSI afterburner maybe to adjust clocks and voltage? Or that did not work?

Also could give Trixx a go.

 

[Geranium]

Did you cleaned and reapplied thermal paste on the card. R9 280X was launched in 2013, quite old.

 

[Fardringle]

Try MSI afterburner maybe to adjust clocks and voltage? Or that did not work?

Also could give Trixx a go.

As recommended on another forum, I removed the newest AMD drivers and installed an older version. That seems to have fixed whatever was locking the core at 500MHz, but the temperatures were going over 90C, which is probably what caused the problem in the first place, likely due at least in part to the much warmer outside temperatures we had this weekend.

Can't change the voltage on the 280X, unfortunately. But I did drop the core clock to 900 and it seems to have helped a little bit. Still getting warm with the higher ambient temperatures, but is staying around 85C so it should be OK for now..

Did you cleaned and reapplied thermal paste on the card. R9 280X was launched in 2013, quite old.

Yes, I cleaned everything and applied new paste when I got the card last week. But that is a good suggestion in general.

 

[Assimilator1]

Using the Radeon software, can't you increase the fan speed for it so it runs cooler? I can with my HD 7870XT, although you then loose the auto control (in performance> tuning).
(Btw, just found out that at 100% speed it's crazy loud, lol).
PS Never repasted a GPU heatsink yet!

 

[Despoiler]

I cannot tell from your troubleshooting if you've tried to use the GPU with anything, but Milkyway@Home. Does the clock stick if you play a game? Have you tried disabling ULPS in Afterburner? Have you tried without Afterburner installed?

 

[Fardringle]

Thanks for the assistance, but it really does look like a simple case of overheating.

I lowered the core clock speed to 900MHz and increased airflow over the graphics cards and the 280X has been running much better now. Still warm, but steadily at or near 900MHz and actually returning results faster than it was when it was at full speed (and getting too hot).

 

[Despoiler]

Thanks for the assistance, but it really does look like a simple case of overheating.

I lowered the core clock speed to 900MHz and increased airflow over the graphics cards and the 280X has been running much better now. Still warm, but steadily at or near 900MHz and actually returning results faster than it was when it was at full speed (and getting too hot).

Remove the heatsink and apply new thermal paste. Should clear that right up.

 

[EXCellR8]

My 290X's challenge you to a toast-off!

 

[Fardringle]

My 290X's challenge you to a toast-off!

I'm not sure that's a good idea. If they get too close together we could start a nuclear meltdown...