Gigabyte GΤΧ 980Ti Windforce - Fan Issue

[FlushaDev]

I've had this GPU for about a year now, it was doing fine in the beginning but I didn't dig too much into it, the fan stop feature wouldn't work so I gave up on it and had my fans on 20%, now that I have the AC on the card stays way cooler so I want my fans to turn off and they JUST DON'T. I've used the XTreme Engine still nothing, Afterburner still the same, it just doesn't turn off. Do I need to DDU or have we got any other solutions?

[FlushaDev]

3 minutes ago, yaboistar said:

just a thought but the card might not have a stock bios on it

Mind sharing how I could check? I kinda don't remember how, also quoting something I said above, the card used to work find for some days after I got it, it's used to maybe, this card has 2 BIOS options I have the LN2 but it makes no difference it kinda just locks the colors of the GPU so they can't be changed. Yes I have tried turning them off without the LN2 Bios

[TwilightRavens]

8 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

Mind sharing how I could check? I kinda don't remember how, also quoting something I said above, the card used to work find for some days after I got it, it's used to maybe, this card has 2 BIOS options I have the LN2 but it makes no difference it kinda just locks the colors of the GPU so they can't be changed. Yes I have tried turning them off without the LN2 Bios

I don't think you can go below 20% fanspeed on pre-Pascal cards without modding the bios with Maxwell Bios Editor, as it was a safety feature to prevent the card from overheating (supposedly). With Maxwell Bios Editor you can adjust the minimum and maximum fan speeds in percentage you want the card to run at and in theory you should be able to set it to allow you to run a 0% at a given temp like you want, but this also requires you to modify your bios and flash it to the card, with the assumed risks, that said "I am not responisible if anything happens to the card in any way shape or form, I am simply showing you the tools to which your goal can be accomplished" its relatively safe to do so but loss of power or modification of anything other than that can risk bricking the card.

[FlushaDev]

2 minutes ago, TwilightRavens said:

I don't think you can go below 20% fanspeed on pre-Pascal cards without modding the bios with Maxwell Bios Editor, as it was a safety feature to prevent the card from overheating (supposedly). With Maxwell Bios Editor you can adjust the minimum and maximum fan speeds in percentage you want the card to run at and in theory you should be able to set it to allow you to run a 0% at a given temp.

Pretty sure the card was made for it since it has the fanstop thing on it's cooler 

https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N98TXTREME-6GD

[TwilightRavens]

3 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

Pretty sure the card was made for it since it has the fanstop thing on it's cooler 

https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-N98TXTREME-6GD

As said above then you might want to look into making sure the card has the bios that came with the card when it was manufactured.

 

A way you can check is GPU-z, see if the bios version link you click matches the card you have in their database, it's almost always correct.

[Haro]

I'm going to assume you bought it used 

Try flashing it with an original bios for the card and then check.

[FlushaDev]

1 minute ago, TwilightRavens said:

As said above then you might want to look into making sure the card has the bios that came with the card when it was manufactured.

Mind sending some post explaining how to do that?

1 minute ago, TofuHaroto said:

I'm going to assume you bought it used 

Try flashing it with an original bios for the card and then check.

Yeah confirmed I have bought it used

[TwilightRavens]

Just now, FlushaDev said:

Mind sending some post explaining how to do that?

 

I edited my post, re-check it.

[FlushaDev]

1 minute ago, TwilightRavens said:

I edited my post, re-check it.

Got it, doing it after I finish my game, will report back

[TwilightRavens]

2 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

Got it, doing it after I finish my game, will report back

If its the correct bios it should pop this up (the actual GPU you should have): https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/gigabyte-gtx-980-ti-xtreme.b3515

[FlushaDev]

1 minute ago, TwilightRavens said:

If its the correct bios it should pop this up (the actual GPU you should have): https://www.techpowerup.com/gpu-specs/gigabyte-gtx-980-ti-xtreme.b3515

After I submit this is what I get -> https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/181157/181157

[TwilightRavens]

1 minute ago, FlushaDev said:

After I submit this is what I get -> https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/181157/181157

Its definitely been modded, Board power limit Target: 887.0 W Limit: 900.0 W gives it away in that dump.

 

The default bios is: Board power limit Target: 300.0 W Limit: 390.0 W

 

As seen here: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/179159/gigabyte-gtx980ti-6144-151027

[FlushaDev]

Just now, TwilightRavens said:

Its definitely been modded, Board power limit Target: 887.0 W Limit: 900.0 W gives it away in that dump.

 

The default bios is: Board power limit Target: 300.0 W Limit: 390.0 W

 

As seen here: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/179159/gigabyte-gtx980ti-6144-151027

Hold on, give me a minute or two and I'll report back, that's cause maybe I have the LN2 BIOS on which is I think meant for nitrogen cooling lol

[FlushaDev]

3 minutes ago, TwilightRavens said:

Its definitely been modded, Board power limit Target: 887.0 W Limit: 900.0 W gives it away in that dump.

 

The default bios is: Board power limit Target: 300.0 W Limit: 390.0 W

 

As seen here: https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/179159/gigabyte-gtx980ti-6144-151027

This is what I get turning off the LN2 Bios -> https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/222912/222912

There's a button you can hit to switch to LN2

[TwilightRavens]

4 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

This is what I get turning off the LN2 Bios -> https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/222912/222912

There's a button you can hit to switch to LN2

Still seems like they've been edited, compare the BIOS Internals section between the two.

[FlushaDev]

Just now, TwilightRavens said:

Still seems like they've been edited, compare the BIOS Internals section between the two.

What can I do?

[TwilightRavens]

3 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

What can I do?

You could download that BIOS file, assuming that's the exact card you have, make sure device id and sub system id matchup (which from what I see they do but double and triple check behind me) and you can use a program called nvflash to flash that one, but make sure the card is not overclocked in any way before you flash.

 

Here's a detailed guide on how to do it: https://www.overclock.net/forum/69-nvidia/1523391-easy-nvflash-guide-pictures-gtx-970-980-a.html

[FlushaDev]

4 minutes ago, TwilightRavens said:

You could download that BIOS file, assuming that's the exact card you have, make sure device id and sub system id matchup (which from what I see they do but double and triple check behind me) and you can use a program called nvflash to flash that one, but make sure the card is not overclocked in any way before you flash.

 

Here's a detailed guide on how to do it: https://www.overclock.net/forum/69-nvidia/1523391-easy-nvflash-guide-pictures-gtx-970-980-a.html

Subsystem ID here (https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/179159/gigabyte-gtx980ti-6144-151027) is 1458 36DD and mine is 1458 36DE would that be a problem

[TwilightRavens]

2 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

Subsystem ID here (https://www.techpowerup.com/vgabios/179159/gigabyte-gtx980ti-6144-151027) is 1458 36DD and mine is 1458 36DE would that be a problem

It shouldn't be a problem, but just in case make a backup of your current bios using GPU-z and save it to a safe place in case it doesn't work, that way you can easily revert back to what you had.

[FlushaDev]

1 minute ago, TwilightRavens said:

It shouldn't be a problem, but just in case make a backup of your current bios using GPU-z and save it to a safe place in case it doesn't work, that way you can easily revert back to what you had.

Done, doing the flash now

[TwilightRavens]

6 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

Done, doing the flash now

Let me know how it goes, it should be pretty straightforward, the only way to brick the card would be to cancel it in the middle of the flash or if you lost power. Other than that if the bios doesn't work it just won't correctly load the driver and in that case just revert back to the old bios and that usually fixes it. I've flashed my 1080 ti to an incompatible bios and that's basically what happened and it was fixed when flashing back. Also sometimes it may not be right away that you'll notice something is wrong so i'd hold on to that bios for as long as you feel the need to as a "just in case" it never hurts.

 

Oh and after the flash you'll need to reboot your computer. If the fan issue still isn't resolved try DDU'ing the driver and do a clean install, if that doesn't work try an older driver to see if it's still affected, also check to see if MSI afterburner is up to date. Sometimes it can be the simplest of things. Also only use one GPU overclock tool, sometimes having 2 they can conflict with each other causing issues like that, but i'm pretty sure it was a vbios issue.

[FlushaDev]

4 minutes ago, TwilightRavens said:

Let me know how it goes, it should be pretty straightforward, the only way to brick the card would be to cancel it in the middle of the flash or if you lost power. Other than that if the bios doesn't work it just won't correctly load the driver and in that case just revert back to the old bios and that usually fixes it. I've flashed my 1080 ti to an incompatible bios and that's basically what happened and it was fixed when flashing back. Also sometimes it may not be right away that you'll notice something is wrong so i'd hold on to that bios for as long as you feel the need to as a "just in case" it never hurts.

Have this error spit out 

[TwilightRavens]

7 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

Have this error spit out 

hmmm looks like its write protected, after launching nvflash use this command: NVFlash64 --protectoff press enter and then attempt to reflash.

 

Edit: If that command doesn't work use: nvflash --protectoff

[FlushaDev]

11 minutes ago, TwilightRavens said:

hmmm looks like its write protected, after launching nvflash use this command: NVFlash64 --protectoff press enter and then attempt to reflash.

 

Edit: If that command doesn't work use: nvflash --protectoff

My guy you're a life saver, my fans are OFF! Finally! I can save some dust from clogging my cooler, thank you so much for spending your time helping a stranger! I flashed the BIOS everything went well and I hope everything will still go well, if I have any issues I'll send over a DM to ask for help, thank you so much!

[TwilightRavens]

3 minutes ago, FlushaDev said:

My guy you're a life saver, my fans are OFF! Finally! I can save some dust from clogging my cooler, thank you so much for spending your time helping a stranger! I flashed the BIOS everything went well and I hope everything will still go well, if I have any issues I'll send over a DM to ask for help, thank you so much!

No problem, I'm glad it resolved your issue, I was a bit hesitant at first but once seeing what you described to me it pointed more to a vbios issue rather than something else messing with it. also if you wanna re-enable write protection just relaunch nvflash and do: nvflash --protecton or nvflash64 --protecton depending on which worked.