Graphics Erratic frame rate with a GTX570 [ UPDATE IN FIRST POST ]

APRIL 26TH UPDATE:

Things I have tried so far:
(I'm typing this list as I remember what I tried. This list isn't in a chronological order)
-270.61
-270.51 (beta)
-266.58
-260.99
-60hz instead of 120hz. It actually worked once but not twice so it was just random
-disabling tons of processes
-disabling Fraps / EVGA Precision
-2 PCI-e 16X slots
-with or without CPU overclock (i7 950@ 3.6 , only a slight overclock)
-second monitor (TV) disabled/enabled
-updated BIOS of motherboard
-updated every driver (although I have an unknown device I can't seem to find the driver for)
-windows power management profile to "high performance"
-nvidia power management set to "prefer maximum performance"
-windows 7 64bits reinstall
-also tried windows 7 32bits
-windows vista 32bits
-two 570s (cross shipment RMA of the first 570)
-driver sweeper + reinstall -- it worked until the next reboot so it was just another random 'event'
-ran the whole rig outside the case
-ran the two cards in SLI and I get the exact same performance. No more, no less


What I have yet to try:
-flash the bios of the card. I was going to do it but wanted to try to RMA it first. I'm still not sure about this since nibitor is crap and says the integrity of all the bios I found isn't good. I don't trust this thing
-try the card in another PC for an extended period of time -- I'd need another PC to do that


Here's demonstration





/update

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Original post

hey

I bought a GTX570 this week and I have had performance problems ever since I installed it. Actually, it went perfectly fine for a few hours and the frame rates I was getting were about twice what I got with my GTX260.

However it didn't take too long before I had a massive drop in performance and it came out of nowhere. I now have 50fps in black ops, whereas my 260 was running at a capped 115fps at all time. Bad company 2 runs like crap and can drop in the 30s, just cause 2 is also running terribly bad and tf2 is as well.

I don't understand why it has done that. I decided to reinstall windows but it didn't change anything. I then tried nvidia beta drivers as well as an older version but that didn't fix it. Theblackswordsman then ran Driver Sweeper and reinstalled the latest official drivers as I was playing NHL11 and, for some reason, it worked fine. This morning I tested again and the performance were astounding, running bad company 2 with max settings (minus AA/AF) @ 120fps.

Then tonight I wanted to play something and the problem is back. I'm currently trying to see if a process or a service is the problem. Then I guess I'll try another PCI-e slot even though I know it's useless...


so yeah hum... wtf is going on ?

thx

edit: oh and btw... The whole time when it's struggling, gpu usage is at 99% regardless of the resolution or display settings. However, when it works well, the gpu usage is more representative of reality (cpu bottleneck, easy to render scene + frame rate cap, etc). Very weird


I've been watching a lot of Fringe lately... looks like I need to call Agent Dunham

edit #2 : okay I rebooted and now it's fine. The same just cause 2 scene in which I had between 30 and 40rps now runs at 140-160 and my 3dmark11 is 5500 instead of 2400. I know it's going to come back though so... if you have any idea what might cause this, I would appreciate

 

Is it an Asus card by any chance? If it is try removing the software called Gamer OSD.

 

nope it's an MSI


oh and also, there's a "hissing sound", sort of like an interference sound that I can hear in my earphones. It's driving me insane and it appeared right after I installed the card. The sound is only in games, never in windows. Actually, it kinda does when I move the mouse or when I use the scroll click

I don't get it i'm PISSED

 

Sounds like your card is dropping back into idle mode and lowering clocks.
Is the card overclocked? Getting enough power from psu?

 

PSU is a TX850 that is working wonderfully so I doubt it's the problem. The card is not overheating either. I'd check if it's underclocking but it's currently working normally so I can't test

 

Have you overclocked the card at all?
My drivers would crash when I overclocked the card to far. Would need a comp restart to get working again. I've found the latest nvidia drivers to be really unstable even at default clocks. Think I've reinstalled the drivers about 50 times in the last 2 weeks just because the drivers wouldnt let me set sli mode or change multi screen setup.
To monitor my gpu usage and clock speeds I use evga precision tool. Has an osd that can show all sorts of info while gaming or benchmarking.

 

The "hissing sound" your describing is normal. It most likely the capacitors. My Asus does that too.

 

hissing sound on your speakers or headphones is common problem for onBoard sound card.
It's called interference. To reduce it you can mute your any source you don't use, like Digital in/out, microphone, Line in, MIDI in/out, CD player and Aux in/out.

To eliminate it, you need a dedicated sound card.

Now back to your problem.
Do you have the latest GPU BIOS?
As you said, try another PCI-E slot.

If no progress, then probably the GPU is busted, and needs to be RMA'ed
If you do so, please provide me your experience with MSI warranty service.

 

I did not overclock the card, although it is overclocked from factory. I've been using evga precision for a while now and that's how I can tell something is definitely wrong. I just checked the gpu's frequency and it's stable and doesn't go down under load. The card tops at 60°C, which is fairly cool for a gpu.

It's not the card itself, it's only in my headphones

I know that but that's not my case. My sig doesn't say but I have an Auzentech Bravura 7.1 (based on an X-Fi chip). The sound problem also comes and goes, just like the frame rate problem.

I haven't checked the gpu BIOS yet but I was going there at some point. I could try another pci-e slot but that wouldn't make any difference and if it did... then I'd be puzzled

There's no way I'm RMAing it to MSI. I bought the express RMA service from ncix in case there is a problem so I'll take a few more days to test it and if I can't find wtf is wrong, I'll just ask for a new one and will get it within 2 days.

When the card performs well, it performs really well. That's why I doubt it's physically damaged and believe it's a driver or compatibility issue.

 

If your replacement card doesn't have the problem solved, then it is clear that it's the motherboard issue. No one else has this issue. This is SERIOUS issue and would not be missed by reviewers and users.
BTW are you SURE you are not using any ASUS software, and using component manufacture website drivers everywhere in your computer?

BTW, I don't like that hissing issue you have. It should not happen, something is not being grounded.
Is the onborad sound card disabled? Can you also mute the things I mentioned on your dedicated sound card.

 

yeah I can't wait to change my case, it feels like all the parts are dieing in there.

Okay I just uninstalled every nvidia drivers and ran driver sweeper and I then installed the beta drivers (270.51).

The hissing sound is now gone but the frame rate problem is back. Current 3dmark score; 2400. I just ran it again and monitored the videocard and the clocks are stable.

 

I let the PC on over night. It's now 1:30pm and I just ran 3dmark ===> 5500 points

 

You have tried everything I would have thought to try. That is a real head scratcher.

 

Now that you have the problem, can you try the GTX 260 again? Or your problem happened as soon as your got the GTX 570?
My vote is still on getting a replacement.

 

When I ask for help I usually don't get much answers because I always tried everything before

no, as of this morning, it's gone. It was there at 3am. I let the pc on the whole night and when I tried again at 1pm, it was fine. When I get back home, though, the problem may be back. I could go back to the 260 but that wouldn't tell me much tbh.


I'll get hardcore tonight and take the whole PC apart to run some out-of-the-case tests. I should get my new case during the week anyway

 

You know, if this was the cpu doing this, i'd say you have some sort of virus. Can you get gpu viruses?

Sorry, not really a helpful post. Just wondering aloud.

 

Next time it misbehaves maybe open the task manager and then bring up the resource monitor to see if anything strange is going on in there.

 

You say when your performance takes a dive, the gpu usage is @ 99%? Is that only when in 3D?

Is it doing something it shouldn't in the background perhaps?

 

already checked and nothing seems wrong although it is tough to estimate if the cpu is working at 100% of its capacity since games don't make use of all cores equally

That's right. 99% gpu when something is wrong. It's only during gaming and not in windows. I also see it drop to a very use % when it's loading scenes in 3dmark so the 99% thing is only while rendering

It might be doing something in the background but... what? And why intermittently ?

 

Every GPU from nVidia since the 4xx series has had three states, to my knowledge, 2d desktop, 3D low-power, then 3D gaming, swapping between the three and their massive clock-differences on the fly (At least the GTS 450 in a friends rig does that), it could be that it's incorrectly jumping between, because a system reboot resets all hardware (Obviously), it solves the problem.

Perhaps it would require new Bios on the card itself, I'm not entirely sure what controls the frequency changes, however, as this is just prior knowledge and a touch of guesswork.

Alternately you could use something like MSI Afterburner to Force the clocks to the needed speeds, it would ruin the efficiency of the card, but wouldn't have impact on the lifespan, as it wouldn't be running at anything over default speeds, I suspect that, even if it did shorten the lifespan, it wouldn't shorten it to the point that it could fail in the next three-five years or so.