ASUS STRIX-GTX970-DC2-4GD5 weak overclocking potential

[Augy]

Hi everyone,

 

recently bought a new STRIX-GTX970-DC2-4GD5 performed by asus. But I found out, that this card has a very weak overclocking potential. Tried googling this topic, but all results stand for OC version (STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5). Mine is not OC.

 

These are results I managed to achieve with this card and not to lose stability(attachment). If I raise frequency any higher, system will start crashing. This card has an extremely good cooling, it never goes above 67 degrees Celcius and 40% fan speed, so overheating is basically excluded. I of course tried different voltages, no luck.

 

Does anyone else have exactly this strix non-OC model? If so, what are you overclocking results?

 

There are lots of articles on the internet telling gtx 970 chip is capable of reaching 1500 MHz frequencies and even above. So I am wondering what is wrong with my card(or perhaps my OC knowledge)

 

 

[Lays]

I've seen real mixed results on 970s, some people hit 1600, some can't do 1500.  Doesn't seem to be brand dependent, although I've seen A LOT of G1 Gaming hitting dam near 1600, or above 1600.

A lot of people end up right around 1500-1520 range.

 

I have seen a few Strix cards do really well, and a few that are severly limited without a custom BIOS.

Best thing to do is open up a GPU-Z sensor window while you stress test your OC, and see if it's being held back by TDP.  This is an easy fix, flashing a BIOS takes about 2 minutes tops, and you'll be golden.

 

One thing maxwell likes, is being very cold.  If you can reduce temps a little bit, you'll gain MHz.

[tbroadwater2010]

Well the most obvious thing to start with is Silicon Lottery. Im not saying that you got the short end of the stick but not everyone will get their OC to the same amount. Some more, some less.

 

That out of the way, i dont personally own the Strix model of the 970 but i do own the OC version of the Gigabyte Windforce model. I haven't tried to OC it much over the stock OC. I think i personally have a bad PSU as i cant even get my i7-6700k at 4.5 stable.

 

Have you tried bumping you voltages a little and seeing if it becomes stable. Remember not to go out of a safe voltage range!

[LNW]

Not an expert on overclocking GPU's. But from what I've heard, and experienced, Asus cards don't overclock well. I've had the best luck so far with EVGA cards. I've never had any good experience with an Asus card, nor have any of my friends.

[ShiroArikawa]

Suck it up, I have one, high boost clock, low oc idk why tho, boost is 1358 oc won't hit +100mhz....

[Lays]

Not an expert on overclocking GPU's. But from what I've heard, and experienced, Asus cards don't overclock well. I've had the best luck so far with EVGA cards. I've never had any good experience with an Asus card, nor have any of my friends.

 

90% of it all comes down to luck, "a few friends" isn't a very large sample size.  Maxwell chips are almost all hitting the same clocks, brand isn't going to matter when they all come from the same source realistically. 

[LNW]

90% of it all comes down to luck, "a few friends" isn't a very large sample size.  Maxwell chips are almost all hitting the same clocks, brand isn't going to matter when they all come from the same source realistically. 

Touche. All of my work was either on amd 200 cards, or nvidia 700 series cards.

[Caine]

use my gpu overclocking guide. link in my signature below

 

check your ASIC score in gpu z

[Augy]

90% of it all comes down to luck, "a few friends" isn't a very large sample size.  Maxwell chips are almost all hitting the same clocks, brand isn't going to matter when they all come from the same source realistically. 

 

Well, one thing which makes ASUS different, is a single 8 pin power connector, as far as I know other 970s have 2 6-pins. Unfortunately I don't have any way to measure voltages physically to tell if this really matters.

BTW people with asus strix 970 OC model report really good overclocking results, so I wonder what is the difference between OC and non-OC model except its factory clock speed.

[don_svetlio]

90% of it all comes down to luck, "a few friends" isn't a very large sample size.  Maxwell chips are almost all hitting the same clocks, brand isn't going to matter when they all come from the same source realistically. 

Silicon lottery. A small number of 970s failed stock clocks

[Lays]

Well, one thing which makes ASUS different, is a single 8 pin power connector, as far as I know other 970s have 2 6-pins. Unfortunately I don't have any way to measure voltages physically to tell if this really matters.

BTW people with asus strix 970 OC model report really good overclocking results, so I wonder what is the difference between OC and non-OC model except its factory clock speed.

 

The difference between OC and non OC model is pretty simple, the good chips are being put on the OC model, and the leftovers are going to the non OC model.

 

A single 8 pin is enough, it may hold back the card on the stock BIOS, but on a custom one it'll be fine.  ( Monitor with GPU-Z, it is quite easy to see if it's being held back, your PERFCAP reason will be "PWR")

[Augy]

The difference between OC and non OC model is pretty simple, the good chips are being put on the OC model, and the leftovers are going to the non OC model.

 

A single 8 pin is enough, it may hold back the card on the stock BIOS, but on a custom one it'll be fine.  ( Monitor with GPU-Z, it is quite easy to see if it's being held back, your PERFCAP reason will be "PWR")

 

I ran unigine heaven at preset Extreme with OC settings like on my screenshot, almost all of the time my gpu-z tells perfcap reason Pwr with green color, sometimes it changes to gray Utl, but most of the time it is green Pwr. Other sensor values: Clock speed is at 1379, temp sits at 67 degrees celcius, fan at 39%, TDP jumps 100-111%, VDDC jumps 1.1250-1.1370 V.

 

Am I held back by some power set up?

[Lays]

I ran unigine heaven at preset Extreme with OC settings like on my screenshot, almost all of the time my gpu-z tells perfcap reason Pwr with green color, sometimes it changes to gray Utl, but most of the time it is green Pwr. Other sensor values: Clock speed is at 1379, temp sits at 67 degrees celcius, fan at 39%, TDP jumps 100-111%, VDDC jumps 1.1250-1.1370 V.

 

Am I held back by some power set up?

 

Yep, power is holding you back then.

 

The card wants more, but the BIOS won't let it.   Your BIOS is only good for %106 as shown in the picture you posted above.  You'll most likely want ~120% or so.

[Augy]

Yep, power is holding you back then.

 

The card wants more, but the BIOS won't let it.   Your BIOS is only good for %106 as shown in the picture you posted above.  You'll most likely want ~120% or so.

Ok, So here I see the main difference between OC and non OC card. This a screenshot of OC version card. Its BIOS allows TDP up to 120%.

 

But I probably shouldn't rush with flashing my card. First of all to really make sure, the OC and non OC cards are identical in terms of hardware.

 

Thanks for the tips Lays and the others! Appreciate it!

[dchurchw]

Hi everyone,

recently bought a new STRIX-GTX970-DC2-4GD5 performed by asus. But I found out, that this card has a very weak overclocking potential. Tried googling this topic, but all results stand for OC version (STRIX-GTX970-DC2OC-4GD5). Mine is not OC.

These are results I managed to achieve with this card and not to lose stability(attachment). If I raise frequency any higher, system will start crashing. This card has an extremely good cooling, it never goes above 67 degrees Celcius and 40% fan speed, so overheating is basically excluded. I of course tried different voltages, no luck.

Does anyone else have exactly this strix non-OC model? If so, what are you overclocking results?

There are lots of articles on the internet telling gtx 970 chip is capable of reaching 1500 MHz frequencies and even above. So I am wondering what is wrong with my card(or perhaps my OC knowledge)

I have the same card. I suppose your card has only one 8pin connector for power? That is very limiting. Plus the voltage is set so you cant up the voltage more than 37mV on a hardware level. So doing custom bios wont help on this card. I would reccomend a G1/MSI card for the highest OC possible