finalfugue
04-28-14, 12:45 AM
So I bought a 280X from a kid in a rainy parking lot... and the good news is, miracle of miracles it works! The bad news is, not terribly well. It's a Rev. 1 Gigabyte 280X Windforce model and here's the problem I'm having with it:
GPU programs such as MSI Afterburner or CCC show it as having an 1100/1500 GPU/Mem clock, which is standard on this model. It will run at this clock, or any clock you set it too, for about 3-5 minutes. Then GPU monitoring utilities, like GPU-Z or HWINFO64 show its clock as cycling from anywhere between 775-~1050, fairly close to the standard range of a reference card. The power consumption from a Kill-A-Watt on the machine also reflects it is using less power. Monitoring utilities show 99% GPU usage. The weird thing is I can use Overdrive in CCC and it will stay in the 1025-1100 range, but the GPU usage will drop to ~75% averaged out. It's like no matter what I do I can't seem to get more than about 80% of its theoretical capacity out of it. Queried temps are always very reasonable (doesn't mean something without a sensor isn't out of range, though). All testing done with Collatz. These cycles occur in the middle of a task constantly. Full CPU thread devoted to it. System memory usage low.
I've tried switching the BIOS (it's dual, both same file) to the other, no change. I've updated my drivers to the new 14.4 release (previously tried official 13.12 and 14.3 beta, curiously another HIS 280X with CCC 13.9 runs topped 24/7, but whole different machine). Used a driver sweeper between installs. I can't seem to update the BIOS as the Gigabyte utility gives a "version doesn't match" error, even though it's an F1 and F3 replacement is within the proper range. I've read this is a voltage-locked card, but I don't think just throwing more power at it would help. It will hold whatever clock you want for a few minutes after setting it, but you can't seem to keep it going full-bore no matter what. The Kill-A-Watt reading is at about 405W with the clock pegged high (another GPU, GTX 750Ti in the box [running great] with a 3570K, 4GB RAM, and Win 8.1), ~360-370W when it starts cycling low. The PSU is a 520W Seasonic 80+ bronze, so it shouldn't be starving it. I think if it were a power issue it would poop itself when it hit the higher draw, not keep chugging.
It's stable 24/7, so for what I paid and considering the source I'll live with a power-efficient eccentric 280X, but does anyone have any ideas?
GPU programs such as MSI Afterburner or CCC show it as having an 1100/1500 GPU/Mem clock, which is standard on this model. It will run at this clock, or any clock you set it too, for about 3-5 minutes. Then GPU monitoring utilities, like GPU-Z or HWINFO64 show its clock as cycling from anywhere between 775-~1050, fairly close to the standard range of a reference card. The power consumption from a Kill-A-Watt on the machine also reflects it is using less power. Monitoring utilities show 99% GPU usage. The weird thing is I can use Overdrive in CCC and it will stay in the 1025-1100 range, but the GPU usage will drop to ~75% averaged out. It's like no matter what I do I can't seem to get more than about 80% of its theoretical capacity out of it. Queried temps are always very reasonable (doesn't mean something without a sensor isn't out of range, though). All testing done with Collatz. These cycles occur in the middle of a task constantly. Full CPU thread devoted to it. System memory usage low.
I've tried switching the BIOS (it's dual, both same file) to the other, no change. I've updated my drivers to the new 14.4 release (previously tried official 13.12 and 14.3 beta, curiously another HIS 280X with CCC 13.9 runs topped 24/7, but whole different machine). Used a driver sweeper between installs. I can't seem to update the BIOS as the Gigabyte utility gives a "version doesn't match" error, even though it's an F1 and F3 replacement is within the proper range. I've read this is a voltage-locked card, but I don't think just throwing more power at it would help. It will hold whatever clock you want for a few minutes after setting it, but you can't seem to keep it going full-bore no matter what. The Kill-A-Watt reading is at about 405W with the clock pegged high (another GPU, GTX 750Ti in the box [running great] with a 3570K, 4GB RAM, and Win 8.1), ~360-370W when it starts cycling low. The PSU is a 520W Seasonic 80+ bronze, so it shouldn't be starving it. I think if it were a power issue it would poop itself when it hit the higher draw, not keep chugging.
It's stable 24/7, so for what I paid and considering the source I'll live with a power-efficient eccentric 280X, but does anyone have any ideas?