GTX 580 fan help
 

I purchased a used GTX 580. It produces good double-check results unless it starts running hot.

The problem is that I can't get the MSI afterburner fan settings to "stick". I've tried setting up a user-defined curve and running at a fixed 90%. The fan settings work as long as afterburner is running. If I close afterburner, the fan goes back to "auto" settings which are inadequate. I'm not sure, but if CUDALucas stops and restarts the fan may also revert to "auto" settings.

Has anyone else seen this? Better yet, anyone with a possible solution?

[URL="http://www.evga.com/precision/"]EVGA Precision X[/URL] can apply clocking and fan speeds at start-up and when it is closed (or appears to be, at least). It's what I use with my ASUS GTX 560.

As far as I know, Afterburner has to be running full time for its effects to be sustained. I have always run it set to start with Windows, with "Apply overclocking at system startup" ticked on the front panel.

EDIT: I just verified that this is the case for me. Stopping Afterburner caused the GPU temp to rise as the fan speed decreased from 2800 to 1800 RPM in the minute or so before I restarted Afterburner.

It seems that, if the EVGA software continues to control fans and frequency after it is shut down, then it must have some persistent background task to do this.

[QUOTE=Mini-Geek;379875][URL="http://www.evga.com/precision/"]EVGA Precision X[/URL] can apply clocking and fan speeds at start-up and when it is closed (or appears to be, at least). It's what I use with my ASUS GTX 560.[/QUOTE]

EVGA won't allow download of that utility anymore. I did find another site to download from, but it is the same thing as MSI afterburner with a different skin. It has the same problems.

I'll try running MSI afterburner all the time --- seems like a waste.

My experience with EVGA Precision X and MSI Afterburner is that settings stuck. Overclocks always do. Fan settings VERY occasionally do not. Voltages rarely do.

:loco:

You could try the BIOS for fan control settings. That's what I had to do for my pump since Speedfan couldn't control it.

Actually, now that I think about it, you could actually try Speedfan.

[QUOTE=TheMawn;379882]My experience with EVGA Precision X and MSI Afterburner is that settings stuck. Overclocks always do. Fan settings VERY occasionally do not. Voltages rarely do.

:loco:

You could try the BIOS for fan control settings. That's what I had to do for my pump since Speedfan couldn't control it.

Actually, now that I think about it, you could actually try Speedfan.[/QUOTE]

I use [URL="http://www.palit.biz/palit/thundermaster.php?lang=en"]Pailt Thundermaster[/URL]

Looking a little further, I find that over and under clocks (GPU and VRAM respectively) are maintained when Afterburner shuts down. I can't say right now about voltage changes, as I'm running at stock with that part of Afterburner disabled. Unfortunately, the fans went into an immediate decline.

The inadequate fan issue first came up with a particular nvidia driver release a year or so back. However, I think it must be BIOS related as well. I have an Asus 580 and a Gigabyte 570. The Asus card has a real problem with running slow fans and hot GPU (as in hitting the throttling temp.) The Gigabyte does not do this.

As an aside, I think the Gigabyte cooling solution is superior to the Asus. The Gig. has 3 75mm fans, while the Asus has 2 95mm fans. The Asus fans run faster, even though both cards have about the same top fan speed. They are also much louder than the Gig. fans. In addition, running on the custom fan curve in Afterburner, the Asus hits top RPM at about 70% PWM. While the 580 [I]may[/I] put out more heat than the 570, I can't be sure, especially since the 570 has a much higher factory OC.

Of course, its hard to say definitively which card is cooling better when both are in the same case and feeding heat to each other.

[QUOTE=Prime95;379873]I purchased a used GTX 580[/QUOTE]
Brand/Part Number of the card will be very useful here. Some Asus DC2 cards could not care less about afterburner, etc, and you would need to use their (Asus') tools. So, what exactly the card is?

(edit: Asus's "doctor whatever" asks you, when you close it, "do you want the fan settings to be kept, or revert to default", or something like this, and it works well for Asus cards)

[QUOTE=LaurV;379900]Brand/Part Number of the card will be very useful here.[/QUOTE]

It is a non-overclocked EVGA 1.5GB memory. I can get the exact part number if you need it.

[QUOTE=Prime95;379903]I can get the exact part number if you need it.[/QUOTE]
I don't need it, I only was afraid it can be an Asus card, from which I have few and know they are not so responsive to third party tools. Sorry I can't be of any help for EVGA. I have a Titan, which works well with PrecisionX, and I (most probably) have the tool downloaded somewhere at home, I can pack it for you in case you can't find it.
What is the problem with letting the Afterburner (or the tool you use) run in background? If this solves your problem, just minimize it, and don't close it.

[QUOTE=LaurV;379906]What is the problem with letting the Afterburner (or the tool you use) run in background? If this solves your problem, just minimize it, and don't close it.[/QUOTE]

I'm trying it now. An inelegant solution, but tolerable I guess.

Crap. Just looked in on the box. GPU temps in the upper 80s, fan on low.

Afterburner was running minimized the whole time. Looks like the "leave afterburner running" solution is not going to work.

You can try Nvidia System Tools:

[url]http://www.nvidia.com/object/nvidia-system-tools-6.08-driver.html[/url]

I used that with by GTX 460. It adds "Profile policies" menu item in Nvidia Control panel where you can setup profiles with fan settings in them and then add rules like "When windows starts load fans 60% profile", "When GPU temperature > 70 degrees (celcius) load 80% profile" and so on.

[QUOTE=Prime95;379980]Crap. Just looked in on the box. GPU temps in the upper 80s, fan on low.[/QUOTE]
Hm... it may need some oil then? :blush: The engine oil you use for your car is quite good, I explained here in a post some time ago, how the "oiling" procedure goes :razz:

[QUOTE=Prime95;379980]Crap. Just looked in on the box. GPU temps in the upper 80s, fan on low.

Afterburner was running minimized the whole time. Looks like the "leave afterburner running" solution is not going to work.[/QUOTE]

Do you have the colored "User define" box around the fan slider? "Auto" is checked in the fan box? "Apply overclocking at system startup", just below?

[QUOTE=kladner;379986]Do you have the colored "User define" box around the fan slider? "Auto" is checked in the fan box? "Apply overclocking at system startup", just below?[/QUOTE]

Yeah, did all that. Trying ATH's NVidia tools. Looks promising thusfar.

Just be a bit careful with the rules you setup. I had 3 temperature ranges with 3 fans speed setup, but I managed to hit a spot where it warmed up to the high fan setting and then cooled down to the lower one quickly, so it changed the fan speed every 5-10min which is probably not good for the fan.

But my GTX 460 fan was crappy anyway. I tried to have the fan high at 80% to 100% 24/7 but it did not like that.

[QUOTE]
The inadequate fan issue first came up with a particular nvidia driver release a year or so back. However, I think it must be BIOS related as well. I have an Asus 580 and a Gigabyte 570. The Asus card has a real problem with running slow fans and hot GPU (as in hitting the throttling temp.) The Gigabyte does not do this.[/quote]

With Fermi cards (4xx and 5xx) it can be a bit of a lottery, since each chip is tested for leakage and gets assigned a stock voltage. 925mV being low (low leakage chips), all the way up to 1087mV on some factory OC cards. The 5xx series tend to have lower leakage/voltage and as a result run a little cooler than the 4xx series. Nvidia went quite aggressive with the memory clocks on both series, I've seen numerous posts with people complaining their cards don't produce reliable results at stock settings.

[QUOTE]]
Of course, its hard to say definitively which card is cooling better when both are in the same case and feeding heat to each other.[/QUOTE]
This makes a HUGE difference, it is not unusual for the top card to be 10-15C hotter.