How accurate is the GPU-z clock ? GPU Clock too high !

[Solved] - Run GPU-z with NVIDIA graphics processor.

I was wondering if anyone knows how accurate the GPU - z GPU core clock reading is ?

I was running GPU -z to in the background to keep an eye on temps, and i noticed that my GPU - z says i am doing 718 Mhz on the GPU clock. even as i idle.

If i run Nvidia inspector i see that it thinks my clock is at 718 and after 20 odd seconds the clock drops to 135 Mhz. This clock drop is then reflected in GPU-z.

As soon as i close the inspector, and if i keep my GPU - z running the clock jumps back up to 718 MHz.

This does sound absurd to me. Thoughts ?

 

It's usually accurate. What do they show while gaming?

 

Edit : i just noticed when i am gaming my GPU clock is stuck at 324 Mhz. I read this could be a driver issue, re installing drivers.

Edit 2 : i reinstalled drivers and that at least fixes the clock while in game, but i still idle at 718 Mhz, this is freaking me out. Any help Appreciated.

What puzzles me is why i get 718 Mhz clock while i idle according to GPU-z.

See this image for instance, i am idling my GPU is 0% usage, and i get 718 Mhz clock.

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Then i start Nvidia inspector and i let it run for 5-8 seconds the clock drops and both apps say 135, point to note is i get 718 on both when i start out.

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Then i close nvidia inspector and the clock goes back up to 718. Here's the image, you can see in the clock tab that graph depicts that there was a drop and then it picked up again.

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I am using the latest version of GPU-z and Nvidia inspector. This is really puzzling me. Any thoughts ??

 

By chance, did you have IE, Chrome or FireFox open when measuring your GPU clocks? If so, that might be causing it.

Had you ever used EVGA Precision X and enabled K-Boost? If so, that can cause them to go into 3D mode (by intent and design, K-Boost does this).

My assumption is that having NVDIA Inspector open it is enforcing default behavior that something else is altering. I believe what you are experiencing is totally software driven, but you need to find out what 3D process is causing it. Is SoftThinks Agent running in your services? If so, change it to manual or disabled. That might help.

 

I have never used EVGA Precision X, so i can rule that possibility out, i could have been running chrome while i did this. Will verify this and get back to you. Thank you !

 

I was not sure if i had a browser window open, so i tried this without anything non essential running, and it still jumped my GPU clock to 718.

I noticed one thing it only happens when my Laptop is plugged in, i usually leave it plugged in all the time. I can't think of any particular setting that is making the GPU go crazy.

 

I was not sure what was happening, i have a spare HDD so i reinstalled windows from Scratch on that drive, took out the existing setup, And my GPU while plugged in always runs at 718MHz.

Is this really bad ? what are the consequences ?

 

check if in the global settings tab under Nvidia CP, power management is set to Adaptative (i hope the translation is correct, my CP is in italian)

 

Power management is set to adaptive !

 

Use some other monitoring program like HWinfo or HWmonitor to make sure the clocks reported by GPU-Z are accurate before you start freaking out
I've seen numerous bugs when using new GPU's with GPU-Z.

 

GPU-Z used to do that for me. Might be worth trying MSI afterburner if you can. It blips up to 718 and then drops after a few seconds, might be GPU-Z unintentially keeping the clocks high.

 

That is what i tried to do, as soon as i bring up HWINFO or MSI afterburner or NVIDIA inspector the GPU clock starts up at 718 and then in 5-8 seconds drops down.

I use PC meter to report the GPU clock to a gadget, PC meter also seems to report the same reading as GPU-z.

 

That is the exact same symptom i notice. But GPU-z did work well for me, when i was on Windows 7

 

So, if you close GPU-Z then your GPU is behaving properly? Is that correct?

If so, what it may be is something has been recently added to GPU-Z to wake up the GPU on a system that uses Optimus. It may be implemented on purpose to ensure the discrete GPU is being read accurately without any interference from the integrated graphics.

 

I run pc meter in the background to monitor GPU clock, if i close GPU-z the clocks stay high. When i start any app like MSI afterburner or Nvidia inspector it starts out at 718 and then drops down.

 

That's exactly how it is suppose to function any program which monitors the gpu EXCEPT hwinfo will cause weird clocks on almost all discrete GPU's.

 

I think i have figured this out, I opened a ticket with GPU-z to see what changed in their new minor version. They still have not gotten back to me, but they say that they do not poll the GPU to wake it up and make it goto 3D mode.

In the mean while, i was wondering what actually makes the Nvidia inspector work better. I was just messing around and i ran GPU-z and forced it to run on Nvidia GPU. I had never had to do this before, it always worked fine.

As soon as i did that, i see that the clocks come down. Surprisingly if i do the same to MSI afterburner it messes up the clock display in MSI, letting it run normally makes it work better.

So to confirm this i run HWINFO64 and tried to see that when nothing is running, it seems to clock down. This is true for my case.

 

I just posted what i think is the solution , can you tell me what you use to monitor the GPU, i always see a screenshot of your desktop with a gadget. What is it ? and what does it use ?

 

I'm using my AW17 in dGPU mode only, I don't have that issue.

 

What windows are you running ? and graphic drivers ?

 

Open Hardware Monitor gadget is the simplest of all. I think that is the one you have seen in my screen shots. It works with Windows 8.1.



I notice that my GPU clock speeds are staying maxed out now, too. I have no idea what is causing it, but it may be some of my performance tweaks... maybe the latest drivers. The temps are fine, so I don't really care. At this point I am not planning to look for a solution to correct it. I actually kind of like it that way. The above screen shot is running from battery and it's still maxed out, LOL.

 

Thank you Mr. Fox, that is what i was looking for on a side note, i think the high clock issue is Driver related, i can't prove it but from my limited research i think its the drivers causing something amiss.

 

I think you are probably correct... most likely is a driver issue.

 

Win7 64bit, 331.65, no issues with 331.82 either.

 

I am running Win 8.1, and Nvidia 331.82. Do i think its Windows 8.1 or the drivers i do not have substantial evidence to prove that !