Undervolting GPU

[seban]

Whenever i play anything i get like min. 73c and max. 80c and the game micro-stutters alot. I have 3 fans and the airflow is positive (2x 1200rpm, 1x 1500rpm). I have a mix of thoughts between the thermal paste being dry for some reason or the card just has a mediocre cooler. I've read and seen some reviews on my very specific card model and theirs never passed 70c.

 

The card is about 4 months (almost 24/7; turned off overnight for about 8 hours) in use now. 

1660S Gainward GHOST OC

I have watched many videos about undervolting today and paid full attention to it. No one spoke about factory overclocks.

 

So my main question is:

Will the factory overclock on my card interfere with the voltage tweaking? (it's a pretty small overclock)

 

 

I ran Heaven for about 3-5 minutes and i have an agressive custom fan curve in MSI Afterburner that was applied.

[tishous]

6 minutes ago, Seban said:

Will the factory overclock on my card interfere with the voltage tweaking? (it's a pretty small overclock)

No you'd undervolt it in the same way.

[seban]

1 minute ago, tishous said:

No you'd undervolt it in the same way.

Aight thanks

[jones177]

Your temps are normal for an overclocked card.

If you want it to run stock use this in the Nvidia Control Panel.  Anytime I got micro stutter it was the motherboard that caused it.

[seban]

2 minutes ago, jones177 said:

Your temps are normal for an overclocked card.

If you want it to run stock use this in the Nvidia Control Panel.  Anytime I got micro stutter it was the motherboard that caused it.

Very useful info. Never knew that this option was available. Thank you very much.

[Mark Kaine]

6 hours ago, Seban said:

Will the factory overclock on my card interfere with the voltage tweaking? (it's a pretty small overclock)

No, it will however determine the initial voltage curve which you have to tweak for proper undervolt, but generally it doesn't really influence anything in regards of undervolting. 

 

5 hours ago, jones177 said:

Your temps are normal for an overclocked card

Maybe.... but they're also really high,  probably the reason op wants to undervolt which makes a lot of sense and can improve performance dramatically. 

 

Spoiler

 

^Card basically never exceeds 60/61C, and doesn't really downclock either therefore (rtx 3070)

 

[seban]

8 hours ago, Mark Kaine said:

No, it will however determine the initial voltage curve which you have to tweak for proper undervolt, but generally it doesn't really influence anything in regards of undervolting. 

 

Maybe.... but they're also really high,  probably the reason op wants to undervolt which makes a lot of sense and can improve performance dramatically. 

 

  Reveal hidden contents

 

^Card basically never exceeds 60/61C, and doesn't really downclock either therefore (rtx 3070)

 

I did notice yesterday that i get frequent stutters when playing RDR2 and that was because of the clock jumping down every few seconds. Is it also possible that my card is getting more voltage than it really needs?

 

Thank you btw.

[Mark Kaine]

1 hour ago, Seban said:

I did notice yesterday that i get frequent stutters when playing RDR2 and that was because of the clock jumping down every few seconds. Is it also possible that my card is getting more voltage than it really needs?

 

Thank you btw.

More than likely it gets more than it needs,  that's the whole theory behind undervolting,  the card will not function if it doesn't get enough power, so manufacturer rather put a little more,  but not every card is the same hence most cards can be undervolted,  it's just a matter of finding that sweet spot. (Which varies depending on target frequency, hence a voltage frequency editor is being used)

 

Now if too much voltage influences how smooth something runs that's entirely possible but only a part of the equation,  in short that's just how gpu "boost" works and it can be noticeable in demanding applications especially. 

 

Well there are tons of tutorials out there,  it's not too difficult,  but getting used to how the voltage frequency editor works is definitely helpful as it does require some trial and error. 

 

It also helps to know how a card behaves at stock,  so benchmarks are ideal to determine that.

 

 

[seban]

1 minute ago, Mark Kaine said:

We'll there are tons of tutorials out there,  it's not too difficult,  but getting used to how the voltage frequency editor works is definitely helpful as it does require some trial and error. 

 

It also helps to know how a card behaves at stock,  so benchmarks are ideal to determine that.

 

 

Already did all of that. Thank you for the info, really useful. Really.