8600m gt problem - randomly downclocking itself?

Hi -

In WoW I run on mid-high settings normally 60 fps everywhere except for super crowded areas - however i had the 175.70 drivers (the 174.74 before) and reverted back. Most all my settings are the same. Hwoever I'll have 60 fps and ill IMMEDIATELY DIP to 30 FPS and it happens randomly? What happened, and how can i get rid of this problem? Thanks

 

Did you check your GPU temperatures while gaming?

 

Sounds like you have VSync on.

Ding Ding Ding! Do I win something?

 

I do have vsync on but ive never had this problem before-

natt - my GPU temps are at 68C

 

Um, you had to have had this problem before (sorry no offense). Because this is what VSync does. It locks you at either 60 or will drop you to 30fps and then back.

And WoW is about the worst FPS test you can do. Any minor change can make a huge difference in FPS. Have any others games that you can compare?

 

It think it has nothing to do with VSync, because i have the same problem. I haven't played games for a while, but last week i bought quake wars, and i notice that it runs veeeery smoothly @ the start, but after a while the FPS halve.

I think it is downclocking itself when it gets too hot (76ºC+)... anyone has experienced it too?

 

Seriously go google Vsync. Now if you are seeing random drops (not 60fps and 30fps). Then it might be another issue. But if you are like the OP, then it IS Vsync. Because that is what Vsync does....

Download GPU-Z, look at the second tab. It will tell you clock and temp. Now play WoW in a window. Oh make sure you check the checkbox at the bottem of GPU-Z. While you are playing WoW in windowed mode, look over at GPU-Z and see if it is downclocking.

And not knowing your video card Jaimefe I cannot answer that. But I know for mine 8600M GT GDDR3, 76C is more then fine.

 

I have had similar expieriences like that only not in WoW but Assasins Creed. I know its not Vsync because i have it turnd off in the settings. It seem that at the beginning of the game when the system is cool i get around 18 fps which later drops to an avrage of around 12. Only changing the graphix quality too one or turning down shadows increases the frame rate a bit.

 

Good god... Tusin, stop spreading misinformation. V-sync will only force instantaneous, not sustained FPS that are factors of the screen refresh rate. Go find the thread where I explained this. The issue the OP is having is not being caused exclusively, or likely at all, by v-synch. From what people are saying here, it sounds a hell of a lot more like heat-related GPU throttling.

 

I got it for you. Stop spreading misinformation.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=3336429#post3336429

 

hahah, I do not even need to read the thread to know what Vsync does and does not do. It is in no way misinformation. If his clocks are specific to 60 and 30 I can promise it is V-Sync and not his video card downclocking.

 

Fine, don't read it. You are wrong though. It is actually extremely unlikely that v-sync will cause your reported framerate in any program to be a factor of your screen refresh rate. Programs generally measure FPS over some timescale for a sample set, in other words, the average FPS over the last 5 seconds, the last 30 seconds, the last minute, etc. Over such time scales, it is highly unlikely that v-sync will result in a sustained framerate that is a factor of your refresh rate. A downclocked video card is a lot more likely to give you sustained lower framerates that sit at a given level.

 

Here read this a great way to understand how VSync works and what it really is. And why on a LCD you would see frames of 60/30/15 etc....

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=928593

Also the time at which a game reports the FPS has nothing to do with the problem. The fact that he is seeing is frames drop does, period.

To get back on topic. You can try this. Of course it could be powermizer, but I assume the OP has turned that off for at least testing reasons. But play WoW (or whatever game) in Windowed mode. Open up GPU-Z and click on the second tab, where it does clocks and temps. Also make sure you check the check box in there that says "keep refereshed even when window is not active" something along those lines.

Play WoW for awhile, run around to different areas. And keep an eye on the clocks. I would not suggest Riva Tuner to keep track, at least on my 1530 it's clocks reports are very wrong.

 

Too bad I already read that, Tusin. That thread misses a key point, which I point out in my post. Of course, you are too proud or whatever to read mine, so you will continue to be wrong.

 

You are missing a very important factor in your post. Regardless of what vsync is actually doing, if your frames are being REPORTED as a static number, then that is the cause of the OP's problem. Pretty much what you are trying to imply, that everyone over the internets that turns on Vsync and all of a sudden sees frams in either 60 (or very close to it, like with WoW with Vsync on the highest it gets I believe is 64.1, or is it 61.1?) or 30's, it is not Vsync?

Regardless, our going back and forth does not help the OP with his problem. The test I suggested would and could.

So if you wan't to try a game of wit with me Just PM me, we can do it there

 

It will cap at 60 (or your screen's refresh rate), but it won't force stepping so stringently.

In any case, to the OP, have you got any new information?

 

Powermizer cannot be turned off in Vista. Or can it? Do you know where to turn it off?

 

Ok here is what I have. I thought Powermizer didn't exist in Vista. For my Powerplan, its set to High Performance.

Also I'll have a smooth 60fps but whenever there is something on the screen that includes fogish type graphics, I notice that I'll drop immediately to 30, but if I look away I'll have 60fps. This didnt happen a week ago and nothing has changed. This is very frustrating

Are we SURE there is no powermizer in Vista, because I have everything maxxed out from a performance/CPU standpoint..

 

Powermizer does exist in Vista. You just can't alter it other than through your power profile. You can only set it to "Increase Performance (NVIDIA GPU)" or "Performance". There is no "OFF". Which is a shame as there are times when you want it set permanently off (Fault finding etc).

 

Where do you see the options for "Increase Performance (NVIDIA GPU)" or "Performance"? I dont see that option anywhere

 

Control Panel, Hardware and Sound, Power Options, Click on "Change Plan Settings" under "Performance" in the list should be "Graphics Hardware" click o the + and you will see "Graphics Mode" this is where it lives in Vista.

 

Nice of nVidia to make it easy to get at eh? I wish they would of just left the setting in the nVidia Control panel. Would of made EVERYONES life easier.

 

Thats odd. I dont have a node for "Graphics Hardware" under the High performance option. How can I get that back?

 

What drivers are you using? I have found that some drivers do not have a working powermizer in them. I am using 174.12. These seem to stop any sort of stupid downclocking for my card.
When you clicked on "Change Plan Settings" a new window should of opened. It's in there.

 

I am using 175.70 laptopvideo2go drivers. I'll give 174.12 a shot.

 

The 175.70 should have it. But they seem to be disabled in the inf file. "HKR,, PowerMizerEnable, %REG_DWORD%, 0" where it should be 1.

 

Oh ok, thanks.

 

According to the registry editor the value of that key is set to 1

 

Strange, but in what part of the registry. HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE-SYSTEM-CurrentControlSet-Control-Class-{4D36E968-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}-000 is where mine is. There maybe others that are there for backup purposes (system restore).

 

Anyway, give the 174.12's a try and see if you get the downclocking there. I cannot use any driver past 174.31 as these give me horrendous problems with them downclocking to 2D performance when gaming. (core goes to 275 memory 200)

 

Yep, same part as yours.

Powermizer enable = 1
PowermizerLevel = 3
PowermizerLevelAC = 1

 

I have the same settings. Might be worth trying to un-install the drivers, run driver cleaner, then reinstall the drivers. Do you use the installer or "have disk" method? I've never used the "have disk" method so don't know if this has anything to do with it.

 

I use the installer. I'm about to install the new drivers so ill let ya know

 

Andy you rock!

175.12 LV2G drivers work like a charm, and I see the option!

 

Thanks. Nice to see someone benefitting from my experience.

 

Is the 8600m GT weaker than the desktop version of 8600 GT?

 

only from the perspective of its a mobile card and mobile cards seem to be slightly inferior to desktops. They can't be clocked as high as heat is a major factor. Effectively it is the same card but with slightly lower clocks. You will see many 8600GT cards advertised as having 500MHz core and 700MHz memory. There is no mobile card (8600mGT) with the default speed of the core set to 500MHz.

 

I have experienced this problem in the past, where the 8600 GT in my Vostro 1500 would randomly "downclock" itself, resulting in very poor 3d performance in games. It turns out that the problem lies with the laptop "thinking" that it is not plugged into AC, thus the video card is automatically downclocked itself to "extend battery life". Here was my solution to the problem (WinXp).

Nvidia Control Panel --> Mobile --> Change PowerMizer Settings ---> Select "Not manage my power consumption" and uncheck "extend battery charge..."

Hopefully this helps...