980TI Overclock not worth the extra heat?

[CC268]

So running at +100 Core Clock (1450MHz) and +500 Memory Clock (8000MHz) I am getting HOT - like 80*C after one loop of Heaven. Seems like your adding a lot of heat for very little real world benefit. What are your guys' thoughts?

[Enderman]

did you increase voltage at all?

maybe try improving your case airflow

[RyanMacRocks]

Well there will maybe be a 1-8 FPS increase depending on the game...but it all depends on whether you would rather have the best possible performance or a quiet cool PC. Or do the best of both and make a custom loop (definitely overkill though).

[CC268]

STOCK voltage - I am not increasing voltage. Case airflow is actually really good...could make a few improvements, but doubt that will give me much cooler temps. Idk I think I am being OCD...overclocking my 980TI for a 1-5FPS increase is probably stupid.

[Curufinwe_wins]

STOCK voltage - I am not increasing voltage. Case airflow is actually really good...could make a few improvements, but doubt that will give me much cooler temps. Idk I think I am being OCD...overclocking my 980TI for a 1-5FPS increase is probably stupid.

stock voltage on your card (i have the same) is 1.19V, regardless of the + value you select, the max voltage nvidia standard bios for that and MOST other cards is 1.224V.

 

So increasing voltage won't actually increase temps that much.

 

What are your case fans, since we have very VERY similar builds? My tmax with constantly looping fire strike ultra combined test is 76C (one test maxes out at about 70 as do most games.)

 

I have 3 front HF-14 fans and one back HF-14 fan (venturi from fractal design), with two HP-14 fans on my x61 kraken.

 

I also have a thermistor under my gpu's back plate (which I would NOT expect you to have) so all of my non radiator fan speeds are based on gpu temps. This was an issue for me before because putting my fans based on cpu temps didn't do much as cpu temps never ramped up during gaming with the x61 being soo good.

 

 

I would never NOT overclock a card. The fps gain is HUGE, and if you are a person that uses v-sync it can actually sometimes lower temps because the overclocking can get you over the 60 fps hump (this is the case with my particular settings on Witcher 3 @ 1440p btw). 

[SirSquid]

STOCK voltage - I am not increasing voltage. Case airflow is actually really good...could make a few improvements, but doubt that will give me much cooler temps. Idk I think I am being OCD...overclocking my 980TI for a 1-5FPS increase is probably stupid.

The heat shouldn't increase unless you add more voltage.  also your graphics card is fine until 85C and even if you pass that point it should thermal throttle to a safe temperature (usually 83C on nvidia cards).  if you need more thermal head room try replacing the thermal paste with something better.

[CC268]

Right now I just have the Kraken X61 mounted to the front, but I have thought about putting it up top with case fans in front - but I would rather not do that unless absolutely necessary. I know you are very knowledgeable Curufinewe. Based on my testing I am stable on the above settings. I can actually bump up to +550 Memory, but the extra 50MHz doesn't help much so I just keep it at +500MHz.

 

What settings are you running on your card?

 

Wondering if I should just keep it on +100 Core Clock, +500 Memory Clock, 109 Power and run it and see how it does in real gaming?

[Curufinwe_wins]

The heat shouldn't increase unless you add more voltage.  also your graphics card is fine until 85C and even if you pass that point it should thermal throttle to a safe temperature (usually 83C on nvidia cards).  if you need more thermal head room try replacing the thermal paste with something better.

Sigh... None of your statements whatsoever are true. (except that throttling on maxwell is 83C)

 

Gpu's generally have Tmax in the 95-105C range (just like intel cpu's), but obviously the lower you can keep them, the better you feel about yourself. Replacing the thermal compound on the particular model he has (and most good custom cards these days) is not likely to help whatsoever unless they literally just fucked up on application the first time, which TRUST me you would already know if they did.

 

Increasing clock speeds on Maxwell does throw off quite a bit more heat and a bit more power. Increasing voltage to Vmax doesn't actually increase temps that much at the moment because you can only go up .034 V.

[CC268]

So what are your suggestions Curufinwe? Just trying to figure out my best performance while balancing GPU life...I DON'T want to do anything that will decrease the GPU life by a lot.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Right now I just have the Kraken X61 mounted to the front, but I have thought about putting it up top with case fans in front - but I would rather not do that unless absolutely necessary. I know you are very knowledgeable Curufinewe. Based on my testing I am stable on the above settings. I can actually bump up to +550 Memory, but the extra 50MHz doesn't help much so I just keep it at +500MHz.

 

What settings are you running on your card?

 

Wondering if I should just keep it on +100 Core Clock, +500 Memory Clock, 109 Power and run it and see how it does in real gaming?

I would never ever ever recommend front mounting of a radiator, because either you are pulling heated air through your case (which is really bad) or pushing air out preventing proper airflow designs (almost worse unless everything in the case is watercooled), and either way the airflow of static pressure fans through that radiator isn't going to be very high, so putting real fans in front will give much more airflow.

 

Note that if you move them to the top, however, that you can do what I do which basically leaves the x61 fans on min until about 55C, which literally means the cooler is dead silent.

 

If you are worried about dust, I am using this dust filter I bought for the case which covers the space of two moduvents (I have the back two off at the moment). http://www.demcifilter.com/p0568/Fractal-Design-R5-2-Vent-Top-Dust-Filter.aspx The filter itself isn't a bad price but shipping is like 10-20 dollars so it's not a super cheap edition but it is very high quality.

 

Yea moving the rad up top and putting three air flow fans up front would MASSIVELY improve temps. The only issue becomes making sure they ramp up and down with your gpu load OR setting them at a speed that is neither too loud or too slow.

 

 

I am currently sitting at +279 core (I have an LE version that comes with a paltry 1003 stock base clock. My max boost clock after overclocking is 1519), +499 memory, +87mV (but again anything over +35mV literally is the same voltage), 109% Power (I am constantly hitting power limit under benchmarks, sadface...)

[Curufinwe_wins]

So what are your suggestions Curufinwe? Just trying to figure out my best performance while balancing GPU life...I DON'T want to do anything that will decrease the GPU life by a lot.

Sorry was writing it out.

 

Don't worry about gpu life here honestly. Maxwell will max your temps out at 83C which is perfectly safe for the card basically forever, but it just isn't the coolest temp ever.

 

The big thing is that if you don't have enough airflow to allow your card to keep going at the clock speeds, then overclocking has less of a point anyways.

[App4that]

You are going to have a hard time decreasing the lifespan of your GPU through the software you're using. You lose stability before you do damage. Your GPU is kind of like a car engine, it's meant to get hot. Like 80c hot. But what I do is run a map for light gaming, and crank up the heat when I want to play a game that's a bit more challenging. Just run multiple profiles.

[CC268]

Alrighty well maybe I will order that filter - does it fit well? Do you have it in a push or pull config with the radiator on top? Guess I will need to get 3 fans for the front.

 

Not sure how to ramp up fans based on GPU load....

 

Anyways...it seems like my OC is headed in the right direction.

[App4that]

I run a fan controller, cost me 30 bucks but it takes care of my case temps and looks reaaaaaaaly cooooool. I've got 8 fans in my C70 and rarely go past 40% fan sped. Even at full system load it's almost silent. Worth the cash.

 

OH! and place your temperature pick-ups for the fan controller next to the GPU, that has the controller ramp up with the GPU. If you go that route.

[CC268]

Are the Corsair fans any good? What is the best way to hook up three fans to the motherboard (without using three ports?)

[App4that]

The silent AF and SP are good, even the LEDs. Not the best, just good. I run the two fans for my radiator off of the CPU OPT, and the pump off the CPU fan. The controller takes care of the case fans. Probably not a problem but I'd rather hook a shit ton of fans to a 30 controller, than a 160 dollar MOBO. If I overwork the controller big deal. An added bonus is I get a constant readout of my case temp while gaming without having to run extra software.

[CC268]

Problem with a fan controller is that there is no removable bays in my case so it would have to sit on my desk...not sure how well that would work or look?

I literally know nothing about fan controllers.

[Lays]

I would never ever ever recommend front mounting of a radiator, because either you are pulling heated air through your case (which is really bad) or pushing air out preventing proper airflow designs (almost worse unless everything in the case is watercooled), and either way the airflow of static pressure fans through that radiator isn't going to be very high, so putting real fans in front will give much more airflow.

 

Note that if you move them to the top, however, that you can do what I do which basically leaves the x61 fans on min until about 55C, which literally means the cooler is dead silent.

 

If you are worried about dust, I am using this dust filter I bought for the case which covers the space of two moduvents (I have the back two off at the moment). http://www.demcifilter.com/p0568/Fractal-Design-R5-2-Vent-Top-Dust-Filter.aspx The filter itself isn't a bad price but shipping is like 10-20 dollars so it's not a super cheap edition but it is very high quality.

 

Yea moving the rad up top and putting three air flow fans up front would MASSIVELY improve temps. The only issue becomes making sure they ramp up and down with your gpu load OR setting them at a speed that is neither too loud or too slow.

 

 

I am currently sitting at +279 core (I have an LE version that comes with a paltry 1003 stock base clock. My max boost clock after overclocking is 1519), +499 memory, +87mV (but again anything over +35mV literally is the same voltage), 109% Power (I am constantly hitting power limit under benchmarks, sadface...)

 

 

Have you tested with a multimeter to see if it actually is changing voltage?

 

Sometimes GPU-Z and software will stop reading past a certain point.

[App4that]

Problem with a fan controller is that there is no removable bays in my case so it would have to sit on my desk...not sure how well that would work or look?

I literally know nothing about fan controllers.

Yeah, without a removable bay most of the fan controllers won't fit. There are some that attach to the top of the case but that's a lot of work, not really worth the trouble. You can get splitters to run more than one fan off a post, but they're half the cost of a 120SP fan depending on where you find them.

[Curufinwe_wins]

Have you tested with a multimeter to see if it actually is changing voltage?

Sometimes GPU-Z and software will stop reading past a certain point.

No I haven't personally, but numerous tech reviews mentioned it being a part of the stock gm200 voltage regulation. Plus I have very very momentarily seen voltages above it so it's not like it just isn't reading it anymore.