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R9 290X throttles after +50mv


ljreyl

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Hey everyone,

 

Just finished building my watercooled rig last week and I found some interesting results that raised a few questions for me...

First off, my parts and my loop:
Crosshair V formula (Non-Z)
AMD 8350, 4.7GHz @ 1.48125V
R9 290X, 1115 Core and 1450 Mem @ +50mv
CoolerMaster Silent Pro Gold 1200W
240GB & 256GB SSD
2x 500GB HDD

EK 140mm Res > D5 @ Setting 5 > 360MM EK PE Series Rad > EK Supremacy > 120MM EK PE Series Rad > EK 290X Block w/Backplate > Res

I've been testing for the past couple days using games and benches (Heaven, Valley and 3DMark) while using MSI AB to monitor Core/Mem fluctuations.

After thorough testing, I've found that the core will throttle after 50mv. Temps are NEVER A PROBLEM (45c Core, 50c VRM1 and 42c VRM2) so I have no idea why it would throttle.
I double checked the seating on my card, made sure that the VRM's had contact with the thermal pads to the block... basically the install was perfect. 

 

I tested by using the same clocks above, power limit maxed at +50 and running extra voltage at 50mv and 56mv. While playing games and running benches, the core didn't stay rock solid @ 1115Mhz on +56mv. I dipped as low as 25MHz sometimes. I know its a rather small number but its just weird that adding +6 mv would cause it to throttle.

Maybe I got unlucky with the silicon lottery or maybe I'm missing something?

Thoughts?

 

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Much like one of mine. Even maxing out the fans does not help. Try keeping the voltage down around +12 to 15MV over and it should pick up. Are you also boosting the power limits at the same time?  I have a couple of cards coming so I can verify that theory.

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Much like one of mine. Even maxing out the fans does not help. Try keeping the voltage down around +12 to 15MV over and it should pick up. Are you also boosting the power limits at the same time?  I have a couple of cards coming so I can verify that theory.

Actually, adding up to +50mv in AB  doesn't make me throttle at all. But once I hit +56 mv, I throttle at the same clocks which doesn't make sense since I'm under water with really good temperatures.

And yes, I maxed out my power limit and I still throttle.

I was reading  about power supplies and I found that my particular power supply (Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200w) doesn't have a very stable 12V rail. I'm gonna buy a new power supply tomorrow (Corsair AX 1200i) and see if that does anything. I'll report back tomorrow.

 

 

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Spending a lot of money in an effort to eek out 06mv.........

 

Do you really need to push the card balls to the wall anyway?  I mean the 290X will blow through almost everything anyway right?

The cards are supposed to take up to +150-200mv extra "safely" on water. For me, I'm trying to figure out why I'm not able to do it at a stable level and why I lose FPS by adding more voltage to the same clocks.

In my OP, I stated that adding more than +50 mv causes throttling. 50mv and below causes no throttling.

I do see your point though in spending a lot of money to push my card balls to the wall lol. I did find a local store that will take returns on power supplies with no restocking fee so i'm taking advantage of that. =)

I guess it's also a learning experience for me at the same time to understand whats going on with my components, etc.

 

I'll be testing a Corsair AX860 (specifically because it has the low 12V ripple) vs my Cooler Master Silent Pro Gold 1200W. Ripple @ 75% load is 22mv Corsair vs 80mv Cooler Master (Based on averages between reviewers)

 

I'll post back tonight with results.

 

 

Edited by ljreyl

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I use an AX1200 in my test system and the ends do not justify the means really. I find that I run higher clocks with a much lower application of voltage than a higher application regardless of thermals. You gain thermal load but if the card cannot handle it then it goes to pot as just added heat and lower performance. 

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I use an AX1200 in my test system and the ends do not justify the means really. I find that I run higher clocks with a much lower application of voltage than a higher application regardless of thermals. You gain thermal load but if the card cannot handle it then it goes to pot as just added heat and lower performance. 

What voltage are you running and what clock speeds?

 

I installed an AX860 since I couldn't find a 1200i. Maybe it was my current power supply about to take a dump but just plugging in made my benchmark scores go up 75 points overall in 3DMark Firestrike extreme. Same clocks and voltage.

I can't go above +50mv without throttling. I guess that's just the nature of my card =(. But from what I read today after researching, this is the max you should ever go anyway.

 

But since I got better performance just my plugging in a new power supply, I wonder if I can overclock my cpu more knowing this power supply is more consistent in power delivery...

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I use an AX1200 in my test system and the ends do not justify the means really. I find that I run higher clocks with a much lower application of voltage than a higher application regardless of thermals. You gain thermal load but if the card cannot handle it then it goes to pot as just added heat and lower performance. 

What voltage are you running and what clock speeds?

 

I installed an AX860 since I couldn't find a 1200i. Maybe it was my current power supply about to take a dump but just plugging in made my benchmark scores go up 75 points overall in 3DMark Firestrike extreme. Same clocks and voltage.

I can't go above +50mv without throttling. I guess that's just the nature of my card =(. But from what I read today after researching, this is the max you should ever go anyway.

 

But since I got better performance just my plugging in a new power supply, I wonder if I can overclock my cpu more knowing this power supply is more consistent in power delivery...

 

 

I use +12mv and +20 on the power limit. to run 1125Mhz on the core. This is what I can get with the fan on 100% running in  Uber mode. 1400Mhz is the max on the memory on this card.. 

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Sadly, my chip isn't good enough to do that.

I'm gonna return the power supply too. Even though I do get a slight performance boost, it isn't worth the money and it's not the one I wanted lol.

Gonna wait for the AX1500i LULZ. Then I'll go crossfire with my loop!

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