GTX 770M utilization issues

[ApolloX75]

So I'm banging my head against a laptop GPU issue. I upgraded my MSI GT780DXR from a 570M to a 770M with no issues, transplant went off without a hitch, temperatures are great (max of 67C under heavy load) and the system recognized the card with no modifications.

 

Now the odd part. When running any game the GPU utilization goes from 99% to 45-50% and drops the framerate by a huge amount (from 60fps to 20 or less in Destiny 2 for instance) for thirty seconds or more and then back up to 99%. It then bounces back and forth continuously every minute or so. 

 

Temperatures are fine for both CPU and GPU, CPU hits 77C, and maxing out the fans takes it down to 65C under load while the GPU as I said never goes above 67-68C. 

 

I should also add that the clock speeds do not change when the usage drops, the card remains clocked up at 820MHz Core and 2000MHz Mem, it's just the utilization that changes. And if I run Furmark the card doesn't drop off at all, utilization remains at 99% for the entire test which was over an hour with no dips at all.

 

I've tried reinstalling drivers, unparking CPU cores, running throttlestop, using Afterburner to set the temp limit at 95C, everything I can think of so far.

 

Any ideas?

[Karl Sven]

Hi there Apollo  

Does your laptop has a secondary integrated graphic card?

[Swealteek]

Didt you do a clean instal of the Drivers ?

try whit this software

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

[ApolloX75]

Just now, Karl Sven said:

Hi there Apollo  

Does your laptop has a secondary integrated graphic card?

Nope, she's an old Sandy Bridge model with no integrated GPU.

[ApolloX75]

1 minute ago, Swealteek said:

Didt you do a clean instal of the Drivers ?

try whit this software

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

I used DDU each time.

[Karl Sven]

Just now, ApolloX75 said:

Nope, she's an old Sandy Bridge model with no integrated GPU.

My only guess is that is having compatibilitie issues with some other hardware part.

As you said, is an old machine.

Anyways, try to open the laptop again and see if the connections are in order. 

Then reinstall everything again from the beginning.  

[Karl Sven]

Nvm, you already have the desktop PC, that would be just your secondary computer  don't mind this post. 

[Theguywhobea]

Maybe you're running into power limitation? I don't know but maybe the 770m takes more power than the 570m? 

[ApolloX75]

2 minutes ago, Theguywhobea said:

Maybe you're running into power limitation? I don't know but maybe the 770m takes more power than the 570m? 

I definitely considered that as a possibility, but when running Furmark it doesn't happen so I don't think power is the issue. I might try a bunch of different drivers and see what happens.

[Anjelllo]

1 minute ago, ApolloX75 said:

I definitely considered that as a possibility, but when running Furmark it doesn't happen so I don't think power is the issue. I might try a bunch of different drivers and see what happens.

Check if you are running out vram and then try undervolting.

[ApolloX75]

1 minute ago, Anjelllo said:

Check if you are running out vram and then try undervolting.

VRAM usage is around 2GB in Destiny 2, so no issue. And it's a mobile gpu so no voltage tweaking without some help from Svet on the MSI forums unfortunately.

[ApolloX75]

So I've tried all the way up to the newest 388 drivers and all they do is make the issue worse. In fact my overall framerate with the 388 drivers overall is about 10-15% lower than with the older 385 drivers.

 

I'm at a loss at this point and seriously considering a fresh install of 10 to see if it's a software issue.

[ApolloX75]

Alright so I solved my issue, and I'm a dunce for not figuring it out earlier. So if anyone should have this issue in the future they hopefully stumble on this thread and maybe it'll help.

 

The key is BD PROCHOT.  Apparently I was so focused on the GPU side of things I didn't think to check the combination of the CPU and GPU together and my CPU was erroneously throttling itself because it saw the system getting too hot, even with the fans full bore. It's not. 71C is perfectly acceptable and damn cool for this model of laptop. Disabling BD PROCHOT in Throttlestop; something I didn't think to do before, immediately solved the issue completely. I can now achieve 40-50 FPS in Destiny 2 and Mass Effect Andromeda, which both hopped between 12 and 30 before. And no, I did not see any temperature spikes everything is running the same as before.

 

I'm going to dig through my modded BIOS and see if I can kill the command without having to use third party software.

 

So TLDR; don't be a dunce like me, look at the whole picture and the answer will throw itself at you. Throttlestop and disable BD PROCHOT.