Nvidia Multiple Display Power Saver Causing Crashes

[PasitimusD]

Hi! I've been using two monitors for almost two years now, both 1080p and 144hz with a GTX 970 and I've been using Nvidia Multiple Display Power Saver (MDPS) to save power and electricity bills when Idle. It's been perfect so far until today, I upgraded my monitor to a 1440p 144hz and kept one of the old 1080p 144hz one as a secondary and this happened (see pic). At first I thought I got a defective monitor but through several troubleshooting, I found out that it was indeed MDPS causing the problem. Is there any workaround this issue? I want to keep my MDPS mode as much as possible to keep my idle clocks, temps and wattage low, in the end saving a bit of electricity bills. Thanks in advance!

P.S. Tried all combination of cables (HDMI 1.4/2.0 and DP 1.2/1.4) on both monitors 

       Tried adjusting the clocks on MDPS but it crashes automatically as soon as I launch it with both the monitors

       Specs: GPU: GTX 970 Galax Exoc Black Edition
                   Monitors: LG Ultra Gear 27GL850-B (1440p 144hz)

                                   Asus TUF VG259Q (1080p 144hz)

       

       

 

[Levent]

You cant. I am running 2x1080p 60hz and a 1080p 144hz with a GTX970 and it draws around 50w during my regular work while powering all that, chrome and mpchc. I am not how low you want to go but it sounds like a dead end.

[PasitimusD]

6 minutes ago, Levent said:

You cant. I am running 2x1080p 60hz and a 1080p 144hz with a GTX970 and it draws around 50w during my regular work while powering all that, chrome and mpchc. I am not how low you want to go but it sounds like a dead end.

I see, so i could be that it's too much pixel to power-up? never knew you can run three 1080 monitors with a single 970. Thanks for the input btw

[Levent]

2 minutes ago, PasitimusD said:

I see, so i could be that it's too much pixel to power-up?

No. It is the MDPS that you use. You installed it and it is causing this problem.

[PasitimusD]

1 minute ago, Levent said:

No. It is the MDPS that you use. You installed it and it is causing this problem.

I mean it's too much pixel to power up that it requires the 970 to run at full all the time

 

[Levent]

9 minutes ago, PasitimusD said:

I mean it's too much pixel to power up that it requires the 970 to run at full all the time

 

It is starting to sound like you are expecting miracles.

• You can run your monitors at a lower refresh rate,
• You can disconnect one when you want to "save power",
• or just keep experiencing this issue because your use of MDPS.

My 970 doesnt even hit its advertised 3d clocks when its doing the things I said above. Having multiple monitors and saving power are two thoughts that dont go together. Its one or the other.

[PasitimusD]

1 minute ago, Levent said:

It is starting to sound like you are expecting miracles.

• You can run your monitors at a lower refresh rate,
• You can disconnect one when you want to "save power",
• or just keep experiencing this issue because your use of MDPS.

My 970 doesnt even hit its advertised 3d clocks when its doing the things I said above. Having multiple monitors and saving power are two thought that dont go together. Its one or the other.

I'm not asking for miracles. I'm just trying to learn, with your inputs, indeed I am. So thanks for that. 

"Having multiple monitors and saving power are two thought that dont go together. Its one or the other." I was able to do it before as you might have read. Two 1080p's both at 144hz no problem. I was just wondering if it's also possible with a one 1440 and 1080. But with your advise and experience, I might just op to remove one when not in use.

 

But still I'm hoping there's a work around. So again thank you so much for your input. Much appreciated

[Levent]

2 minutes ago, PasitimusD said:

I'm not asking for miracles. I'm just trying to learn, with your inputs, indeed I am. So thanks for that. 

"Having multiple monitors and saving power are two thought that dont go together. Its one or the other." I was able to do it before as you might have read. Two 1080p's both at 144hz no problem. I was just wondering if it's also possible with a one 1440 and 1080. But with your advise and experience, I might just op to remove one when not in use.

 

But still I'm hoping there's a work around. So again thank you so much for your input. Much appreciated

Only thing left to suggest is to make sure you havent changed this in Nvidia Control Panel.

 

[PasitimusD]

22 minutes ago, Levent said:

Only thing left to suggest is to make sure you havent changed this in Nvidia Control Panel.

 

Oh it's already set to Optimal Power. Guess I'm really on a dead end

[PasitimusD]

I've found one work around. That is to set the secondary monitor to a 120 hz. It idles properly now albeit it still spikes to 60w more frequently vs my old setup with Multi Display Power Saver (it's more consistent at 22-24w even when browsing the web/playing yotube). By setting the secondary 1080p monitor, the wattage fluctuates at 25-60 rage depending on what's going on with chrome. It's better than staying at 60w (3500mhz mem clock) all the time but still I'm hoping there's a chance MDPS will work. Will leave this post unanswered just in case someone has a better solution. I'm happy with it now though so thanks for the inputs.