Throttling with even a modest overclock? (GTX 780M)

Temps are under control, they never break the 92°C thermal limit where throttling starts. They reached a maximum of 89°C when I tested for an hour and 5 minutes with +135/+500. 86°C when using stock clocks. I try bumping up the core clock but experience throttling nomatter how small of an overclock it is (and nomatter the memory clock too).

GPU-Z tells me that it is a 'PWR' limitation - i.e. the total power limit is capping the performance of the GPU. How can I get around this issue? Is there a way around this or is overvolting the only option? I'm not keen on the idea of overvolting and besides it'd probably send temps beyond the thermal threshold even if I were to carry it out safely.

I'm using Unigine Valley benchmark on a continuous loop for an hour and 5 minutes. GTX 780M in my Clevo P170SM with a 230W PSU. Fans are on maximum speed and power settings all set to high performance mode.

Is this normal for a GTX 780M? Or is there something amiss here?

 

You probably need to do a vBIOS flash and do a slightovervolt, if not, then dial down the memory to 350-400 and try it again.

 

How would I go about doing this? What is the safest way?

Already tried lowering memory clocks to no avail.

 

You need a bigger PSU.

This beast swallows power like it was letter biscuits.
180W PSUs isn`t enough

 

He said he's using a 230w, would think at that clock it would be enough. My 180w runs those clocks just fine with a bit of NOS hybrid power on my MSI. I've tinkered up around +170/+500 with a bit of an overvolt without issue so far... would think his bigger 230w would more than offset my MSI setup.

Curious, with the TechInferno vbios I'm using it will let you change pwr and temp thresholds/targets using NvidiaInspector. Since you say it throttles at 99% pwr, try raising the threshold... with this vbios you can go up to around 142% I believe. Worth a shot I'd say.

 

Oh, sorry, just me who cant read.
230W is probably enough yes.

I'd try a vbios without GPU Boost 2.0 if I were you. It kinda gets in the way when you OC a bit high

 

Those temps for new machine are mindboggling...
I get shiver down my spine when i hear 90C+ temps..

 

Yeah, I agree.
I dont think GTX 580M on overclock was much better. Temperature wise the first cards of a new architecture is always the best. The next cards on the same architecture is pushing the systems just to milk the cow even further.

Ideally its best to upgrade once every 2nd year. Then you get the newest architecture and dont have to worry about things like 90C.

Too bad I dont have that patience inside me

 

my upgrades have come in 2011 and 2013, meaning i've gotten the revisions of the original fermi and kepler chips... maybe one of these years ill actually get the first versions of the newer architecture .

 

Recently tested with Crysis 3 (not actually playing but staring at one corner with 99% load continuously) and temps reached 91C overclocked :S but still not at thermal throttle threshold. With stock factory paste job it was reaching 93°C overclocked on Unigine Heaven so at least some improvement there.

How does one go about flashing VBIOS safely? Last thing I want to do is brick my machine. What are the risks and for do I avoid them? Is there a guide that I can follow? Cheers

 

Here's a great guide with step by step directions, works great:
[GUIDE] NVIDIA VBIOS flashing

And the vBIOS that's worked great for me is here:
NVIDIA Kepler VBIOS mods - Overclocking Editions, modified clocks, voltage tweaks

 

Thanks! But unfortunately that website is blocking me from downloading anything. Says I need a minimum of 5 posts. I've posted over 5 (non spam) posts but so far only one has been approved by the moderators... and that it's been a few days now...

 

Each of the first 5 posts need to be approved by the moderators before they are displayed. They usually go up a few hours after you post them. I'd say be patient.

 

I was unaware you could optionally pay to download the items sooner, which I have now done! I will try it out tonight - nervous, yet excited!