EVGA GTX 780 SC + NZXT Kraken G10 Overclocking Dilemma

Faceman · July 28, 2014

     I have an EVGA GTX 780 SC w/ ACX. My ASIC Score is 63.1%(I have never seen lower) and my card cannot overclock worth a damn. It came in at 1071Mhz out of the box, but the best I can overclock is +50Mhz at stock voltage(Shows up as only 1110Mhz though). Even if I add voltage and increase power target, I cannot find anything stable above +50 on the core. I have not messed around with memory OC, and I am very hesitant to do a BIOS flash. I feel that without a BIOS flash, I should still be able to achieve something more than +50, even with added voltage and power target. My temperatures were very good when I first bought the card, maxing out at 64C during Unigine Heaven and 66C during Metro:Last Light, Idle temperatures were always below 30C, and I have a nice fan curve set up.

     When I first got my EVGA GTX 780 SC w/ ACX Cooler, I had the side panel closed on my chassis and temperatures were in ~75C range. One day I was doing some tests and I had the side panel off, and I noticed that my temperatures dropped dramatically. Unigine Heaven went from 75C to 64C. This was right when I first bought the card, in early March of 2014. After two weeks of initial use, I bought an EVGA 780 Backplate mostly for looks, but they claim that it improves temperatures, my temperatures didn't change. I have been using my computer with the side panel removed and back plate on ever since, dusting and cleaning monthly.

     I recently did a big clean where I removed everything except the motherboard and CPU in my case. I installed some new fans, and did a much better job of cable management. When I was finished, I noticed that my GPU temperature skyrocketed in all games, Metro:LL went as high as 75C, Unigine Heaven was hitting 69C, this is with the side panel off. I remounted the card, and that did help some. Metro:LL only maxes out at 70C, and Heaven is down to 67C, but this is still higher than when I first bought the card, and the slight increase in temperatures is prevalent across the board in all games that I play. Idle temperatures have always, and still remain below 30C(~27C). When I try overclocking I still encountered the same issue, anything above +50 even with added voltage and PT results in a crash.

     I have not opened the card up to view the thermal paste or anything, it hasn't even been 6 months, so its not like that could be degrading. I live in Florida, so in March I don't need the AC blowing at all times, so ambient temperature was 25C. Now that I am in the midst of a Florida summer, I have the AC going at all times, and ambient temperature is 23-24C, it is actually more cold now than when I first bought the card.

     There is currently a deal on NCIX for a Corsair H55 + NZXT Kraken G10 for $75(without mail-in-rebates!). I am thinking of making this purchase because it is such an amazing deal. The deal expires on July 30th, so I need to make up my mind fast, which is why I am kind of delving back into GPU overclocking. I am kind of worried that regardless how much cooling I add, my GPU won't OC any better, its not like my temperatures are bad, and this is the silicon lottery after all. A low ASIC score is supposed to result in better overclocking with water, but I am confused because it doesn't seem like temperatures are holding me back. Another reservation I have is that the G10 doesn't do an adequate job of cooling the VRMs on Nvidia cards. See the thermal pictures. AMD cards seem to benefit greatly from the G10, not so much for Nvidia.

     Could anyone make a recommendation as to what I should do please? Or if anyone has prior experience with a similar problem/G10 setup on a 780? Should I get the deal anyways just for the looks and added cooling? I have heard that you can use the Kraken G10 + EVGA Backplate together as long as you cut down the foam on the G10, has anyone else tried this?

Thank you!

BiG StroOnZ · July 28, 2014

Your temperatures aren't really a limiting factor. You haven't even touched the default 83C which is where the card starts to throttle. If you can't overclock higher on Air I don't really see the point in getting a Kraken G10. The Kraken G10 is mostly for when temperatures are the limiting factor in your overclocks. I would overclock and see if you can even touch 83C before you start thinking about a Kraken. If you can't then you know that the card isn't even stable at higher clocks. So the Kraken wouldn't really help you all that much.

Personally my ACX sits at about 77-80C average. Some games and benchmarks it sits at the set thermal limit of 85C. Doesn't really bother me. The card was made to run that hot. I have it set so it runs at least that hot to where it will Boost up to those temperatures before it starts to throttle. Someone like myself would probably benefit from a simple re-tim or a Kraken. But your still way under 83C and have much more room to play with.

As far as the Kraken goes regarding the VRM cooling. You can simply buy ramsinks and that takes care of the issue. But I really don't see you benefiting from a Kraken just yet.

Faceman · July 29, 2014

Your temperatures aren't really a limiting factor. You haven't even touched the default 83C which is where the card starts to throttle. If you can't overclock higher on Air I don't really see the point in getting a Kraken G10. The Kraken G10 is mostly for when temperatures are the limiting factor in your overclocks. I would overclock and see if you can even touch 83C before you start thinking about a Kraken. If you can't then you know that the card isn't even stable at higher clocks. So the Kraken wouldn't really help you all that much.

Personally my ACX sits at about 77-80C average. Some games and benchmarks it sits at the set thermal limit of 85C. Doesn't really bother me. The card was made to run that hot. I have it set so it runs at least that hot to where it will Boost up to those temperatures before it starts to throttle. Someone like myself would probably benefit from a simple re-tim or a Kraken. But your still way under 83C and have much more room to play with.

As far as the Kraken goes regarding the VRM cooling. You can simply buy ramsinks and that takes care of the issue. But I really don't see you benefiting from a Kraken just yet.

Any idea why or how I can get my card to overclock better without flashing the BIOS?

Also, at 100% Power Target, my thermal limit is 79C, when PT is turned up to 106%, it becomes 95C.

There is one other factor that plays into my desire to get the Kraken setup, and that is the EVGA 780's stock heat sink exhausts hot air out the side of the card, and even though my side panel is open, that hot air still goes into my CM Seidon 240M's radiator, and temperatures rise as a result, after a long period of gaming, say 2 hours or more, the temperatures rise because all of that hot air is just bouncing around from GPU to CPU. Could you link me a picture, retailer, video of ramsinks/mosfet heatsinks being applied or reviewed please? Do you think these ramsinks would interfere with the fan that covers the VRMs on the G10?

BiG StroOnZ · July 29, 2014

Really the only way is flashing the bios and using the voltage unlocking tools.

In EVGA Precision there is an option to unlink the Power Target and the Temp Target so they can run independently. So you can have 106% Power Target with a Thermal Limit of 83C or any other Thermal Limit you choose.

There's a whole thread on OC.net for the NZXT Kraken and people with 780's have it in that thread. Where many people recommend various ramsinks for the cards. Unfortunately I can't link you directly because for some reason I'm not able to access the website right now.