Why is there no throttling on my GTX 590 when idle?

[imported_AllenL]

I bought an Asus gtx 590 video card yesterday. There is one thing sticks out like sore thumb: very noticable fan noise and heat output even when the card is nearly idle in 2D desktop environment. My card is not overclocked, nor have I made any adjustment to the voltage.

I downloaded the latest GPU-Z, which shows that the GPU, Mem, shader are all running at full default speed even when idle. The idle GPU temp is a whopping 83C, fan speed at 50%, when GPU load, mem load, and video engine load are all nearly 0%. I noticed that the idle temp reported in Anand's GTX 590 review was only 45C. http://www.anandtech.com/show/4239/nvidias-geforce-gtx-590-duking-it-out-for-the-single-card-king/16

My driver is the latest geforce 270.51 which just came on this morning. Is my card defective?

 

[Vesku]

Running 2 or more monitors?

 

[Arkadrel]

@Imported AllenL

You know how the internet is, unless you post pictures, no one will beleive you <.<
sad fact, some would claim that its 83C at idle is a lie and call you a troll.

So snap some pics, and avoid people doing just so.

That said, 83C idle does sound pretty crazy....
You can adjust those so they spin abit faster, even at idle, and your temps should go down.

 

[imported_AllenL]

Yes. I have a dual monitor setup with 2 Samsung LED PX2370s.

 

[imported_AllenL]

Arkadrel:

You know how easy it is to doctor a pix with photoshop nowadays. I gain nothing by spreading false info that can be easily refuted.

I'm not familiar with forum postings, don't know how to upload my screen capture. If the the community demands some kind of photographic evidence, let me know how to attach the pic.

 

[insurgent]

By idle do you mean it has no GPU load according to GPUz, or that you're not playing any games/using 3d apps?

There were problems with cards not going to idle with dual monitors, but I think that was years ago, not familiar with Nvidia haven't owned one for years

to attach a pic just use

 

[imported_AllenL]

By idle I mean have no active apps running under win7, other than the anti-virus software and GPU-Z in the background.

 

[imported_AllenL]

Holy Cow! I unplugged one monitor just to see if there's any effect on throttling. The effect is huge: GPU speed went from 612mhz (default) to 50mhz, Mem from 855 mhz to 67mhz, shader from 1255mhz to 101mhz. GPU temp is still declining as I type, I think it might just reach the level as reported in Anand's review.

Amazement aside, is this a hardware problem or software related? If it's rooted in hardware, I'll have to return the product ASAP.

Thanks for the headsup.

 

[insurgent]

It has been an issue for a couple of years I think, not sure if AMD cards experience the same, I would wait for someone with a similar setup to explain what's happening.

 

[Cookie Monster]

If you run both of the monitors at the same refresh rate and resolution, they should idle at those clocks. Go to the nvidia control panel and try to make those settings the same, even if you have to resort into custom profiles.

Ive done it with my dual Dell 2209WA. My card drops down to 51/101/135 MHz at idle now using dual monitors.

 

[ViRGE]

Holy Cow! I unplugged one monitor just to see if there's any effect on throttling. The effect is huge: GPU speed went from 612mhz (default) to 50mhz, Mem from 855 mhz to 67mhz, shader from 1255mhz to 101mhz. GPU temp is still declining as I type, I think it might just reach the level as reported in Anand's review.

Amazement aside, is this a hardware problem or software related? If it's rooted in hardware, I'll have to return the product ASAP.

Thanks for the headsup.

It's a hardware "problem", but it's not a defect per-se. With multiple monitors running at different resolutions/timings it's necessary to run the GPU at a higher power state; this is true for both current AMD and NVIDIA cards. If both monitors are running at the same resolution and timings, then the card can run at its lowest idle power state.

The fact that you have two identical monitors means that both should be running at the same resolution/timing unless you specifically set them not to. If it's the former case, you may want to double-check your settings to be sure they're both running at the same settings. If they're both at the same settings and you still can't get to the lowest power state, then something is definitely wrong (I'd suspect the drivers). You may also want to futz with the DVI ports you use since the 590 has 2 GPUs; one combination will have both monitors on the same GPU, the other will have 1 on each GPU.

 

[Vesku]

This, http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2140877 , thread addresses a similar issue. Cookie Monster's suggestion might work but it's not a 100&#37; fix. Drivers for multi-monitor support are quite buggy.

 

[3DVagabond]

Cards run faster with multiple monitors for stability reasons. From memory, I don't think they typically run at full speed though. nVidia's been pushing out a new driver everyday for the 590 since it's been released trying to work on power settings. They might have messed up the settings for multi monitor idle clocks?

 

[insurgent]

You can also try updating your monitor drivers if it still says "generic plug and play" or something, I think someone here fixed a problem with resolutions just by doing that.

 

[imported_AllenL]

Some good news to impart, finally.

GTX 590 comes with 3 dvi outputs. It appears that it makes a lot of difference as far as throttling is concerned, when it comes to plugging which monitor into which dvi. After a little trial and error, it appears using one dvi on the upperlevel and one on the lower-level solves the problem. Presivouly, I wasing using both dvi's on the upper level.

Now GPU-Z shows gpu at 50mhz, mem at 67mhz and shader at 101mhz. GPU temp is still somewhat high in comparison with Anand's review, but at 60C, it's 24 degrees cooler than before.

Thank you all for your input. Much appreciated.

 

[betasub]

GTX 590 comes with 3 dvi outputs. It appears that it makes a lot of difference as far as throttling is concerned, when it comes to plugging which monitor into which dvi. After a little trial and error, it appears using one dvi on the upperlevel and one on the lower-level solves the problem. Presivouly, I wasing using both dvi's on the upper level.

Important info for any GTX590 owners going multi-monitor (& I'd expect most can if they want ). Thanks for the feedback AllenL!

 

[BTRY B 529th FA BN]

Try MSI Afterburner

 

[JRW]

If you run both of the monitors at the same refresh rate and resolution, they should idle at those clocks. Go to the nvidia control panel and try to make those settings the same, even if you have to resort into custom profiles.

Ive done it with my dual Dell 2209WA. My card drops down to 51/101/135 MHz at idle now using dual monitors.

I can confirm this as well, currently running a 2333T & PX2370 both @ 1920x1080 and my GTX 480 is idling 51/101/135 Mhz.