GTX 580 SO (855mhz) full clock all the time and hot (GV-N580SO-15I)

[robwiel]

Hi I have purchased this card due to excellent cooling and temperature from reviews.
It is not working as advertised in my system:
-all the time full clock speed (even after boot with nothing on)
-temperatures higher than advertised (despite watercooling on everyting else in my computer and additional 24cm fan)

\I used different drivers from gb (that came with board), one from gb site, various nvidia - still the same.

I'm using 2 monitors with dvi connection (27 acer and iyama)
Win64 pro sp1
Q6600@3.2, asus maximus formula, 8gb ram, vertex 3  120gb disk, raid0 2x750 f3 samsungs.
Full tower kandalf, with additional cooling with side window - 24cm, plus slipstream 120 and noctua replacing reference coolings.
Proc is watercooled with d-tek.

Any idea how to make card downclock when idle? Or I should RMA it?

[Dark Mantis]

Hi

The only suggestion I can offer as opposed to an RMA is to downclock the card to standard settings and see if that cures the issue. If it does you can try manually overclocking it as sometimes that works.

[robwiel]

Downclocked manualy to stocks - nothing changed (i.e., temperatures not dropping/clocks don't change 2d/3d).

[Dark Mantis]

In that case I think you need to RMA the card. I know they do run hot and that is one of the prices that you pay for performance but if you feel it is over and above what it should be then get it sorted.

[robwiel]

I had to call germany support, cause Poland doesn't have one.
I got reply why it is so: dual monitor setup makes card run full clock all the time. It is nvidia specification.
When I asked what to do about it they replied: use 1 monitor.

So go AMD and scap this or do profiles? I really feel this is not what I paid for.

[robwiel]

OMG some more research

"If you run two different types of panels or have two panels running at different resolutions you can look at the numbers you will see above. If you run two different monitors at the same resolution it won't keep the video card at idle as each monitor has different internal timings and the card will run at full load. This is something we think is interesting and most people still don't know about it"
source: http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1461/19/

[tutyit]

For you might be the solution of using a different aftermarket cooler.
Same was for me.

Get an AC Accelero Extreme Plus II (or the Plus) cooler and mount it on your card.
Awesome product.
Temps went below more than 20 Degrees of C for me.

[Dark Mantis]

I must admit that was news to me. I didn't realise it made any difference to the cards speed just because you had two monitors connected. Another downside to the nvidia cards! Just glad I use AMD Radeons.

[tutyit]

I must admit that was news to me. I didn't realise it made any difference to the cards speed just because you had two monitors connected. Another downside to the nvidia cards! Just glad I use AMD Radeons.

Both NVIDIA and ATi uses same technique.
They both switch to 3D profile.

Here is the answer :

My ears are on fire.

I had someone ask a similar question back in November about the 58xx series and how they too run at a higher performance state with multiple monitors plugged in. As far as I know the GTX 480 series is affected by the same issues the 58xx series is, so the technical explanation is the same. So here's that response:

Quote:
If you recall our 5800 series article, we mentioned that AMD finally has the ability to change the clock speeds on GDDR5, using fast link retraining. In order to make FTR work without disrupting any images, FTR needs to be done during a v-blank period so that the monitor isn’t reading from the front buffer, as the front buffer will be momentarily unavailable during the FTR. This is very easy to accomplish when you only have 1 monitor, because there’s only 1 v-sync cycle to deal with.

The issue is that with multiple monitors, there’s no guarantee that the all of the monitors will be perfectly synchronized. It’s possible for the monitors to be out of sync (particularly when using different display types, i.e. a DVI and a DP), which results in flickering on any monitors not in sync with the monitor the FTR was timed off of. This is the flickering you see when you have an overclocked card, as the card is accidentally switching GDDR5 speeds when it shouldn’t be. [At the time, a card overclocked with CCC would not go in to the correct 2-monitor PP idle state]

So the reason AMD keeps cards at a higher state when multiple monitors are attached is to preventing that flickering. This means at a minimum keeping the GDDR5 at whatever it defaults to (1000mhz/1200mhz). I’m not entirely sure why the GPU is kept at a higher state too, but my best guess is that there may be performance issues with trying to draw to 2 large monitors at such low clock speeds. Or it may be that this is just easier than creating another powerplay state.
Ultimately there is no "fix" because this is not a bug. If anything it's a limitation of TDMS technology. I believe the FTR issue can be fixed with DisplayPort since it uses 1 shared clock, but I don't have a pair of DP monitors on hand to test that right now.

Solution for this issue ?
Are you using both monitors on DVI ?
If so , try to connect one of those monitors with HDMI, or Display Port , whichever u have on the GFX card.
Maybe this fixes the high temps.

[Dark Mantis]

I watercool all my system and that includes the GPUs. It is a far better solution as far as noise and tempertures go. I can run Furmark on full settings and still keep the temps under 45C. No noise either.

The later series Radeons are much quieter and cooler than the Nvidia cards even with a multi monitor setup like I run. I just bought a new 6950 for my review/test system and  it is running on air still but is pretty quiet even at full tilt.

[tutyit]

I watercool all my system and that includes the GPUs. It is a far better solution as far as noise and tempertures go. I can run Furmark on full settings and still keep the temps under 45C. No noise either.

The later series Radeons are much quieter and cooler than the Nvidia cards even with a multi monitor setup like I run. I just bought a new 6950 for my review/test system and  it is running on air still but is pretty quiet even at full tilt.

I must say one thing.
The new NVIDIA 5xx series cards are running much more cooler and quieter than any radeon out there (if we talk stock cooling solution).
The fact is NVIDIA introduced Vapor Chamber cooling in the new 5xx series. While Radeons use the old heatpipe technology only.
This means a GTX560 Ti/570/580 will run much more quiet than your radeon . This is measured with professional tools .They should go around 45dB max .

Other thing , water cooling while its really cool, there are problems , refilling , checking the pumps and a proper watercooling solution cost a fortune too.
So if You say watercooling is ok I believe you but it cost much more than anything else.
Only the watercooling block on a GFX card cost the double of a Good Air Cooling solution.

Watercooling = double the price
Air cooling with aftermarket solutions = mid range in cost

[tutyit]

Another fact :
as long as the two monitors have the same resolution & refresh rate the card should drop the clocks and voltage to IDLE state.
So no 3D mode.

Also I have found out that the new drivers should be used.
Another thing is that the cards never should run on full speed in the latest 4xx (and up) series , when in 2 monitor mode in idle.
They should run around something called "middle state" (something between IDLE and 3D mode).

Conclusion :
Use latest drivers.
Use same resolution and refresh rates on both monitors !

If nothing works from these try to connect the second monitor via HDMI,MiniHDMI or DisplayPort (whichone you have) , just not the DVI.

More Information :

As some point last year, something changed either with ATI's UVD drivers or with Microsoft's media foundation codecs/media center. I used to be able to play a game and watch tv simultaneously . Something changed, and now when trying to do those activities together my (at the time) 5850 would run at 400MHZ UVD clocks instead of 725MHz 3D clocks, making both the game and tv stutter horribly. My 5770 and 6950 exhibit this same behavior, as I assume all AMD cards do.

I have 6950 and three identical Samsung 1080p monitors with DVI/DP/VGA. Activating a second monitor (with same connection, same res/refresh) causes the clocks to jump to an intermediate state: default 450/1250 (not UVD 500/1250, or any value in the BIOS). Tweaking clocks shows the 1250 is linked to full-3D memory clock, and 450 is a function of the same value - e.g. dropping full-3D memory clock to 800 gets 300/800 multimonitor clocks, and down to 750 gets 250/750 multimonitor clocks.

Like Ive said in other threads, my GTX470 idles at 51/101/135MHz (core/shader/memory) after tinkering around with res/refresh rate. Since I use two identical monitors, it was easy to get the timings the same, and voila~ I dont need a secondary card anymore (which initially provided a bandaid solution).

So this does not work for AMD cards?

So if we speak about Radeons , they are worse in this case than NVIDIA.
NVIDIA needs to be synced on both monitors then it shoudl work correctly, but you will need two identical monitors (same resolution and refresh rate)!

[robwiel]

Ok thanks for all suggestions.
Same resolutions here but doesnt work , I added even special profiles for both monitors 1920x1080x59hz just to be sure that they are exact (instead 1920x1200 defaults@60).

I'll try hdmi but it will be hard to squeeze in - my 3x120 blackice is at back of the case.
Just tried HDMI + DVI - no changes. (newest drivers) so I guess getting exact same 2 monitors.

Clean install of drivers didnt help. Using same driver for both monitors didn't help.

P.S.
I was running water before, at the moment I dont think it will be feasible anymore, reselling of gear and so on its too bothersome.
My new setup arrives tomorrow: 800d/2600k/asus z68vpro.  I'm just adding noctua nh-d14 to it and 3x noisblocker 700 fans on top.

[Dark Mantis]

Oh I just hate fanbois!

I have been using the Sapphire Vapor Chamber Cooling since the 4xxx series and still in fact have the 4890 going strong now and quiet. I don't know what made you think that Nvidia started it as their 5xxx series came a long time after. I can assure you that the AMD Radeons are very quiet now and even under air. The Nvidia cards, well a lot of them anyway, sound like a jet taking off all the time and you don't need to take my word for it there are plenty of complaints on the forum about it.

Anyway it really doesn't matter as some people will always stick with their brand! Personally I prefer to go with the best "bang per buck" and don't care who provides it.

[robwiel]

Got limited 'solution' now, using afterburner to set card to
0.963v, 425 core, 850 shader, 1025 memory with msi afterburner.

Funny story it goes into: 405/810/162 after restart (so like 'medium' mode). That more than enough for most games I play, maybe i'll assign shortcut to afterburner profile. (thats 20c degree drop and it doesnt raise during gaming).