9500m GS Downclocking Issue

Hey, I was wondering if anyone else had this issue happen with the 9500m GS:

When I am playing a graphically intensive game (has happened with Vegas 2 and World in Conflict) sometimes the screen will suddenly freeze or go black. When it returns my FPS is cut in half and sometimes strange effects such as a color saturation or loss of color occurs. I notice that the GPU temperatures also return to idle-like temperatures when this occurs. This usually happens after over an hour of play has been logged, but also (although seldom) can occur quickly after I start playing. A quick restart fixes this problem.

This happens whether or not the GPU is OC'd or not. The maximum temperatures I am seeing are 76C. I've tried several different drivers, and some seem more stable than others but haven't found one that completely negates the problem. Does this have anything to do with the 8600m GT stutter issue?

 

I dont get that problem, not sure try driver 175.15 works well.

 

Hey I'm using 175.16 and I couldn't find 175.15 on the laptopvideo2go site.

 

No this is classic case of overheating. After a certain point your gpu is reaching its critical temperature for heat so it clocks itself down. Thats why your fps goes down. Are you sure max temp is 76? Are you monitoring temperatures with a graph? When it does crash make sure to use a monitoring program with a time graph so you can see that max temp from that time period.

 

I use Rivatuner to monitor my temps in game and I try to keep them under 75C. What program would you suggest I use? And before each OC setting I run 3DMark06 and record the highest temperatures. Always keep it under 75C.

 

Weird. Has it done this from the beginning? Yeah rivatuner is fine as long as your keeping track of the temperature right away, even a few sec out of the game the temperature can drop quite a bit. That black screen your experiencing is essentially it crashing and clocking itself down.

This is without overclocking?

 

I know it has happened without overclocking. And I always check my temperatures constantly in game, and the maximum it has ever hit (only for a few seconds) is 77C, it usually stays about 74C (with OC) and 72C without. I only use a modest OC when I do at all. The issue is very random and still uncommon (maybe one in every 4-5 gaming sessions) and usually happens after a couple hours. However, yesterday it happened within the first 5 minutes whereas this morning I was gaming for 3 hours straight (same game) with an OC'd GPU and nothing happened.

Is there anything I can do to give you a better guess on what's going on? I really appreciate your help.

 

Well in experience that clocking down is always that either the card is getting too hot or is clocked too high. In your case its not temp but the latter. Now if this is happening at stock, we can just chalk it up to a bad gpu. I remember I had a bad gpu with my first c90 and it crashed alot on stock settings.

Is there any artifacting, flashing screens or right before the black screen?

 

I don't notice any artifacts, but accompanying the black screen is usually a flash that occurs right before.

The clocks I generally use when gaming are (550/1100/460). I can try to run at stock speeds for a while to see if anything happens (but because its random chance the number of trials has to be fairly high). When I played the Crysis demo I had my clocks at (575/1200/475) and I don't recall this issue happening. I don't think these clocks are especially high compared to other OC'd clocks I've seen on these forums. And the temperatures are fairly low.

Is there any other reason that the GPU would downclock? (e.g. modded drivers, incorrect temperature readings, etc) I recall hearing someone say that the performance increase of modded drivers was worth a few crashes. Is he referring to problems like this?

 

Yeah run at stock for a while and see if it does this.

Also what method did you use for overclocking? Did you bump both up or what? I recommend finding the max on each while leaving the other at stock. What I do to find the general bounds is have a demanding game like cod4 alt tabbed then keep increasig either the memory or core, by 10 mhz or so. At one point especially with the core you might notice artifacting if not it will crash liek it does. Reduce that number by at least 10-20 mhz and thats the max for the core. Then do the same for the memory. Usually the memory is more heat sensitive while the core just craps out due to voltage and stability.

Also laptops vary as well as gpus, they all can't overclock the same even among the same model. Some get some that overclock more.

GPU downclocks because either the core crashes due to the clock being too high or the card gets too hot (most like memory). Drivers really don't have to do with it really unless its game compaitbility but thats usually the game just crashing or some error. Some people believe drivers affect temps, but I don't believe it does.

 

I'm using the 167.49 from laptopvideo2go and so far there are no problems. I run Call of duty 4 and Assassin's Creed so far and it's been great.

 

I've been gaming constantly today, and it has been stable. Thanks so much for your help!

 

Glad it worked out. Good luck. I would try upping the memory first and downclocking the core a bit. After certain amounts one of them becomes the bottleneck so you want to overclock them reasonably in line with each other. Not 1:1 necessarily but by tinkering it you'll figure it out for your card.

 

pls see into my issue.. i just got an acer 6920G which has a geforce 9500m GS with it.. im am currently using nvidia driver 174.31. ( downloaded from laptop2go site) i do not have empowering technology installed (not sure whether it controls fan speeds, core clocks... etc... and i recently went back to vista from xp because there werent enough drivers for xp for this model* just for your info.. i have been playing around with different driver versions 17*.** etc.. still the same problems. sudden downclocking during gameplay to probably 10-15 fps (estimated) which is ridiculous! to my knowledge.. default core speed is 475.. i used rivatuner to log gpu changes.. During Gameplay Clocks are auto clocked at 513/1026/399. i have tested with some gpu testing software.. max temp i can go is 71-72 on 513 core clock. I would be really thankfull if u cld help me out..

Thank you and god bless
DiL

 

Please don't double post. I have deleted one of the messages. If you want to bump up your post, do so by a simple "bump" message, but not within 24 hours of your previous message.

Thank you.

PS: Ignore this if your double-post was unintentional.

 

What I did was the following (I don't know what step actually fixed my problem):

1) Run CCleaner

2) Download the 177.26 Driver (I'll try 177.35 later) from laptopvideo2go.com

3) Use the Add/Remove programs function under control panel to remove 'NVidia Driver'

4) Reboot into safe mode, run Driver Cleaner Pro

5) Reboot and install 177.26 Drivers

6) Reboot again

I think the problem was that I did not do a thorough cleaning of my drivers before I installed the new ones. Hope this helps.

If this doesn't work, this site has more suggestions: link

 

Nvidia Setup error: "The nvidia setup program could not locate any drivers that are compatible with your current hardware. Setup will now exit."

I have done all your steps except the nvidia driver "177.26" installation.

dunno wad else to do..

 

You have to download the modded .inf file and replace it with the the original.

 

Actually, replace the original with the modded inf

 

Thnk you emporiumboutique im installing the drivers in right now and i am using the "have disk" method to install. just for your info*

Im going to do a stress test on the gpu again to see if the same problem occurs.
Thx for your help too Dire NTropy

 

Lol.... yea.. that's what I meant to say

 

I actually have that same exact downclocking issue with M50Sv-A1 after playing Rainbow Six Vegas 2 for a few hours. It happens the exact same way as described.

I'll try the suggestions posted here and we'll report back later.

 

Ok heres the deal.. after numerous testing.. after the driver change as suggested by Dire NTropy.. i had a downclock at the 1st minute of the game.

Windows key immediately to check rivatuner log. States core has dropped to 18* etc... in otherwords it went into the 2d mode sorta..

So i tried restarting the game.. windows key again... and saw the core clocks went up again to 500+.. previous driver did not do this... Gameplay went smoothly for the next 1.5 hours (Lan gameplay Vegas 2)

btw welcome aboard hybr1dz yes its vegas 2 im currently doing tests on mainly... Graw 2 too. Didnt really test this drivers i am currrently using on Graw 2 yet.

well.. i hope someone out there has solved this issue.. sigh..

 

System is still downclocking automatically. It seems like the system does not recognize vegas 2 as a 3d performance application and thus it does not lock the clocks at 3d performance mode throughout gameplay.

When i was running "real-time HDR IBL" Gpu test software* The clocks went up to where there were supposed to be.

Is there any way where clocking can be manually set? I have checked though other methods where "powermizer" is being turned off. I Do not have that option on the vista i'm running. ( acer Laptop )

 

Nope. There is no access to PowerMizer in Vista... even in XP, later driver versions offer very limited control.

 

I followed these steps more or less and they seem to work (I used 177.35 drivers instead). I was able to play R6V2 for about 3.5 hours with no down clocking.

 

Have been waiting for new posts!

Thnks Hybr1d. I'm currently using 177.26
Im going to try 177.35 right now. Btw if u do encounter any problems with that driver after a few runs, pls do post.

Thx

 

Ok i have just installed the drivers. got a BSOD
Restarted and went for "start windows normally"
Everything went fine. Wierd

The gpu core does not upclock when power supply is not plugged in. Is it supposed to work this way?

Power plan is (Balanced)

Going to do another test with vegas2

Thx

 

I can prove it is not down to temperature. I can play all day long on 174.16 drivers with no downclocking and reach a maximum temp of 96C. If I use any driver between that (174.16) and the newer ones (177.35) I get serious downclocking after a couple of seconds where the GPU temp doesn't even go above 76C. I am currently using 176.35 and have no problems what so ever. I was starting to beleive that my GPU had died as I couldn't run any driver past 174.16 due to this really annoying downclocking issue. Drivers do indeed affect my notebook's stability, but heh of course they will. Drivers released by nvidia are not necessarily tested on notebooks. It is up to the notebook manufacturer to test them which seldom happens, so is really left to us-the notebook community- to test and find out what works and what doesn't. Find me two identical notebooks that work exactly the same on the same driver. As soon as you start to introduce software you change what is hapenning with the hardware. This will result in changes in the way a driver performs as a driver is just a software layer that interacts with the hardware and other software.

 

I fixed this issue by a simple BIOS update and I haven't stumbled upon it for 2 months now.

 

Still getting crashes.. sigh. 177.35 driver. Im going for andygb40's advice. (174.16) Will post back for any updates.. zzz

 

Ok i just realised this driver im presently using has powermizer included in the registry. previous driver i had did not have it. So i am going to stick with the 177.35 driver and put the powermizer setup to the test. both value data 3322 and 2222.

 

Ok i had enough. Im down to xp without 1 driver which is the dial up modem. which is fine cause i dont use it. ill probably find drivers for it the next time. Have tested 175.61 9500m gs on xp. stable and running very well.
No dumb downclocking anymore. Btw i get more fps here in xp.. So...... im sorry vista users.. but screw vista.

 

Fair comment. I like Vista too much to go back to XP. But as most people are finding Vista isn't all its cracked up to be performance wise-especially when it comes to nVidia and their drivers.

 

I habe the exact problem... and as far as I remember I didnt have it previously. It happens, as the topic creator describes, randomly. Yesterday I was playing command and conquer 3 for a long while and nothing happened. As soon as I changed to Call of Duty 4, the screen froze for a couple of seconds, sound kept going, computer was still stable, and then my frames per second were greatly diminished. I have seen my temps go up as high as 85 C, but sometimes this problem simply occurs immediatly.

So far it has happened to me twice, in gears of war and CoD 4. I was thinking maybe it is the drivers, im using 175.70 drivers so I will try the suggested method here.

It is important to notice I did not experiece any of this before, until recently (probably last week).

I really hope its not a bad GPU...

 

I'm almost positive this is a GPU problem. Since I've switched to 177.26 (almost 2 weeks), it has happened one time, but I was experimenting with new OC clocks, so it may not have been the same problem. It seems that different computers have different drivers that work best with them. Let me know how it works for you!

 

hey guys, i have the this asus notebook from newegg

Asus m51 series


and i am concerned about the temperature of my graphics card when playing games and just during idle. i have not done any driver changes as others have mentioned above, mainly because i dont know how and dont have much knowledge in the area, but anyway i have not had any crashing issues but using PC WIzard 2008, I have seen my GFX temp hit 93 C or 199 F after alt tabbing out of a game. my idle temp is around 140 - 145 F or 60 - 63 C. From what I can tell that is hotter than the norm. I already have a cooling pad that I use when I play games Belkin Laptop Cooler


Just concerned about the temp readings I am getting. I tried download RivaTuner (v 2.09) but it says that it is not updated enough for my Graphics Card and that the results could be off.

Any other suggestions or hints to keep my laptop cooler because I have a feeling these temps are outside the norm.... (games include COD 4 and BF 2)

 

The reason \rivatuner says that is because you haven't updated your gfx drivers...I had the same problem...I'm using 177.41's but you could download the 175.80's without doing the modded inf thing. They worked great for me but I found 177.41's give better cooling while gaming...i get a max temp reading of 87c with my current simple OC (see sig) and it idles from 50-60c depends on whats displayed on my screen...idk if this helps any

 

One monitor pgm that does a great job is CPUID Hardware Monitor. There are two versions available...32 & 64 bit. It uses little resources & gives important max temp over time info. It's updated on a regular basis to support new chips as needed.

http://www.cpuid.com/hwmonitor.php

 

also everest is really good too..it does your gpu,cpu, and hdd...its not free though....

 

Hello everyone.

After looking everywhere about this downclocking issue, I found out we were not the only ones experimenting this. Several nVidia GPUs, with different notebook makers are experimenting the exact same problem.

It turns out that powermizer is the one to blame. This feature of the card downclocks the CPU to conserve battery life and reduce heat. The problem is that it cripples our games.

Now, I found a "fix" for this, which is to simply turn off powermizer. This can be done by altering the drivers, using riva tuner etc etc, but several users don't know how to do this.

So! while fooling around at the graphics board, I found this thread, in which the Topic creator made a program that easily turns off/on powermizer for AC/battery modes. After using this fix, I havent had the problem of downclocking yet. So im positive this can fix the issue. I hope

Here is the thread!
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=273276

Enjoy

 

ok juicebox i downloaded 177.41 and did all the steps, but when i start of riva tuner i get message saying unsupported driver detected.... i can still get into rivatuner but from what it sounds like you do not get that message.

also i have no idea how to overclock, are there any forums here or can someone give me a run down on how to do it?

 

Here ya go dancran.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3000755