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Can high VRM temps on ASUS STRIX GTX 980 affect OC?

4K views 39 replies 7 participants last post by  neoroy 
#1 ·
Just as the title says, could temps of 95-107°C on the VRMs be affecting overclocking potential? The GPU core itself never exceeds 80°C.

My personal experience with the card stated has been that it is rock-solid stable at 1455/7810 with stock voltage in everything I've thrown at it over the 3 months I've owned it - watch dogs, GTA V, modded skyrim, Tomb Raider etc. VRM temps at stock voltage never exceeds 95°C.

If I try to go past this overclock by adding additional voltage, I am unable to go further than 1468 MHz on the core without artifacting, tested in 3DMark (Firestrike), even with +100mv, monitored by HWINFO. The VRM temp also increases to up to 107°C at the highest voltage setting.

The various forums online suggest that the VRM circuitry should be fine up to 105°C, as in not break, but I wonder if such high temperatures might be hindering the ability to supply ample power to the core. I have seen no obvious fluctuations in power or voltage, so it does not seem the case through the monitoring software.

I am using this modded bios to remove power limitations.

GM204.zip 138k .zip file


It seems to me that there are three possible answers for why I can't go past 1468 mhz: High temps on the VRM, some sort of issue with my modded bios (I did the modifications myself after following guides), or a core clock wall (I am not even sure if that is a thing with GPUs, I know it is with CPUs).

If you think that lowering VRM temps is a good idea, then suggestions on what form of cooling for them, where to get it and the best places/way to apply it would be greatly appreciated, I am located in the UK
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Also info on ASUS' policy for removing the cooler would be helpful, things like whether getting an email confirmation to allow removal of the cooler without voiding warranty is a good idea or not, I know it was for MSI.

Any opinions, ideas or feedback would be greatly appreciated
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#3 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Zonda View Post

My strix 970 has the same issue. The vrm temps reach as high as 98 degrees.
The core frequency can't go further than 1438 MHz.

I increased the fan speed to cool down the vrm temps but the OC ability did not improve.
Interesting, so you hit a wall similar to me.. I seem to remember reading that there are parts of the VRM circuitry actually left bare, so even with the fans going at high speeds, such a small surface area might be causing high temperatures in small parts not registered by the monitoring software.

I think what would really be helpful to know is if someone went from stock cooling on an ASUS STRIX card or any card with high temperatures on the VRMs to either liquid cooling or some other form of improved cooling, particularly for the VRMs, and if that improved their overclocking potential in a significant way.
 
#7 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathAngel74 View Post

Isn't the 900W TDP and Power Limit a little excessive?
Hey, don't worry about the extra posts, thank you for taking the time to read my thread and look at my bios
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I hope whatever was wrong with your pc isn't too hard to fix..!

I would agree with you, 900w is far in excess, I copied it from a guide with only the knowledge that it would increase my power limit, so thank you for this info, if you could show me what a bios power table looks like with, say, a 300w or 250w power limit and TDP, perhaps that would be better suited to my needs.

The reason I have not looked into getting a more reasonable power limit is that to my understanding raising the limit to such high levels simply allows the GPU to use as much power as it requires, and since I never go over 1.27v (roughly 1.3v actual) when testing higher clocks, I am probably still using significantly less power than, say, a Titan x. Still, trying everything is on my agenda
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#8 ·
The VRM can take the heat... the issue I think with the strix is low binning chips...which might keep internal costs down for ASUS, but gips the end consumer out of overclocking...

My 970strix can do 1525mhz with 1.250v and bios mod, but I think my limit is due to the power delivery method of 1 6 pin 12v pci power...
 
#9 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakewalk_S View Post

The VRM can take the heat... the issue I think with the strix is low binning chips...which might keep internal costs down for ASUS, but gips the end consumer out of overclocking...

My 970strix can do 1525mhz with 1.250v and bios mod, but I think my limit is due to the power delivery method of 1 6 pin 12v pci power...
Well, if that is the case, then there is very little to be done, and I have a relatively poor clocker that has almost no scaling with voltage increase, compared to other 980s on this site, I'm hoping that isn't the case, but I can definitely live with that answer
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#10 ·
Im at 1.2750V and 225W tdp and power limit(125%), 1544/8002mhz, Oh, I forgot, that bios is locked down @ 1433Mhz boost. can you post the original and the modded one, maybe i'll try to mod it. its late bedtime at 4 am, lol.
 
#11 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathAngel74 View Post

Im at 1.2750V and 225W tdp and power limit(125%), 1544/8002mhz, Oh, I forgot, that bios is locked down @ 1433Mhz boost. can you post the original and the modded one, maybe i'll try to mod it. its late bedtime at 4 am, lol.
Ah, okay, that sounds very intruiging! I can't post the original unmodded bios just now, but I will as soon as I can, if you could mod it that would be great
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goodnight!
 
#12 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by d0mini View Post

Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakewalk_S View Post

The VRM can take the heat... the issue I think with the strix is low binning chips...which might keep internal costs down for ASUS, but gips the end consumer out of overclocking...

My 970strix can do 1525mhz with 1.250v and bios mod, but I think my limit is due to the power delivery method of 1 6 pin 12v pci power...
Well, if that is the case, then there is very little to be done, and I have a relatively poor clocker that has almost no scaling with voltage increase, compared to other 980s on this site, I'm hoping that isn't the case, but I can definitely live with that answer
rolleyes.gif
Alot of strix users feel left out in the overclocking Rhelm...
 
#13 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakewalk_S View Post

Alot of strix users feel left out in the overclocking Rhelm...
Yes.. I was hoping that there might be some evidence for this being down to high VRM temps, or in fact anything rather than low binning... What DeathAngel74 has been saying sounds interesting, but it will be a while before that can be followed up, any additional info or personal experiences with these cards or similar ones would be very welcome
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#14 ·
Well for starters, the other strix 970 users can only achieve around 1450mhz I'd say. My asic score is like 69% which is way low... I can get 1475mhz on stock volts and 1525mhz using gputweak @ the max voltage which supposedly is 1.265v on the slider, but really is ~1.230v.

The biggest issue with the 970 strix is the low power limit. It was so low even mild overclocking would hit the upper 120%. Bios molding fixed that.
Even with the 44c max temp that I get on the core, my vrm will be around 80-82c after I modded the heatsink for them. I don't think that has any bearing on my max overclock like I said earlier. I think asus just got it wrong with this generation of cards...
 
#15 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Cakewalk_S View Post

Well for starters, the other strix 970 users can only achieve around 1450mhz I'd say. My asic score is like 69% which is way low... I can get 1475mhz on stock volts and 1525mhz using gputweak @ the max voltage which supposedly is 1.265v on the slider, but really is ~1.230v.

The biggest issue with the 970 strix is the low power limit. It was so low even mild overclocking would hit the upper 120%. Bios molding fixed that.
Even with the 44c max temp that I get on the core, my vrm will be around 80-82c after I modded the heatsink for them. I don't think that has any bearing on my max overclock like I said earlier. I think asus just got it wrong with this generation of cards...
It seems like you are probably right with the VRMs not affecting much, especially if yours isn't even past 85c, but my 980 won't scale at all with voltage increase, and is at least 10c higher in temps for the VRM than your 970, so I'm going to hold onto the idea that it might be an issue with my bios at least, maybe my VRM, over just a poor clocking card.
 
#17 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathAngel74 View Post

I think a bios mod is the only way to get you guys to 1506.5mhz.
Well, as requested, here is my stock bios, I would be very happy if you could mod it for me to try.
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Stock_GM204.zip 138k .zip file
 

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#20 ·
I wonder, if any bios mod could help the overclock get futher. I mean... I can imagine that the ram timings are can be somewhat relaxed, witch in turn allow higher clock for rams, but that is it. The slower ram access times might not be speed-wise even worth it. As for the GPU, I see a little chance to improve with software, what is IMHO a hardware problem.

Either the chip is not good overclocker at all, or the VRM is simply not ready for more, despite raising all the limits to absurdity.

But I would like to hear from DeathAngel74, what he have in mind
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...and also why his poor PC crashes, lol...
 
#21 ·
not anymore, lol. No crashes since almost 2 weeks. After I got rid of my 750Ti. If my 960 can reach 1544/8000 @1.275V and 125%, I don't get it. Some cards are locked at 1433 max boost. No matter what you do it won't do any good until you unlock the boost table in the bios.
 
#22 ·
d0mini,

Bios is unlocked to 1.2750V, 1506.5Mhz. set +0mV and +0 core, power limit to max and apply your mem oc.

GM204Mod.zip 137k .zip file
 

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#23 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathAngel74 View Post

I could be wrong but it looks like the power table and voltage table have been changed.
Nope, that was the original bios, unchanged. To make sure I re-flashed my card and checked NVInspector to see if it had the '[MODIFIED]' stamp in the BIOS name - here it is, you'll have to take my word that it is the same bios:

 
#24 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathAngel74 View Post

d0mini,

Bios is unlocked to 1.2750V, 1506.5Mhz. set +0mV and +0 core, power limit to max and apply your mem oc.

GM204Mod.zip 137k .zip file
Ah, thank you very much! I shall take a look at it and then try it out
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What is the power limit that you set?
 
#26 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by DeathAngel74 View Post

250 TDP and 250 Power Limit.
Hmm.. I don't think you edited the power tables, I am being throttled by power on your stock settings, even with 125 power target. Everything else seems fine

Comparing your edited one to mine, the power tables have slight differences, but nothing major... Sorry if I am being a noob, but a power limit is a power limit.
 
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