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Increase power limit: GTX780 SC

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Silver_Pharaoh

Likes the big ones n00b Member
Joined
Sep 7, 2013
I've found an overclock that maintains the clock speeds while folding. It's great, I've seen 20K+ PPD improvements but I know this card can do more.

While tinkering recently I discovered that the fan can affect the core clocks by means of the stupid power limits. The max I can set is 106%.
What I want to know is: Is there ANY BIOS I can flash that WILL allow me to set a higher power limits and overclock higher? (Skyn3t BIOS?)
Or do I have to do THIS mod? (Which I'd rather not)

Here's where I'm at. Temps are low, around 70C tops. (I just ran the render test from GPU-z to get this screen shot)

It's the EVGA GTX 780 SC w/ACX from Matt's review. (Some might remember my thread on ocing this GPU from a while back.)
1215Core.PNG
 
IIRC the SKYN3T BIOS should work for that card.
I'm guessing the 3A version as he says the v4 only works on cards with the 80.80 BIOS?

Also, is there a guide for flashing nvidia cards? Never flashed Nvidias before.
 
You should just need nvflash. It's a fairly simple program, tons of guides out there.
 
Thanks for the KBT walkthrough Johan. I did look at KBT but i had no clue what to change. I did fiddle around with the rail's power settings but i didn't have the heart to flash it.

I did have the heart to flash the skyn3t bios and it went well. Nvflash complained about some PCI mismatch but i just told it to flash it and it came out fine.
Currently redoing my OC. So far up to +225 core at only 1162mV :thup:
 
Sweet SP and if you get the card colder you can try the Rbby tool to overvolt it.

Now i want to watercool it :D
Dont know if its my higher ambients temps or what but im now up to 1200 mV for +275 which is 1215 Mhz core. Sitting at 71C fan at 50%.

I've seen that rbby tool before. I tried the afterburner mod and got the 1.3v unlock but i didnt see and improvement. I thought it just tricked gpuz into seeing 1.3 volts but that was with the stock bios so i'll be trying rbby and the AB mod again :)

Aaaaand it crashed in heaven again. Guess i get to try out the newly unlocked 1.21 volts now.
 
I've had my card over 1.4 on DICe with the Rbby tool reading the volts with a DMM on my 780 Lightning.
http://hwbot.org/submission/2900253
http://hwbot.org/submission/2900252

Okay where do you read the voltage with a DMM? I can't seem to find that answer.
Though, the backplate is probably in the way :-/


I was able to maintain 1254Core using EVGA's Overboost voltage of 1300mV. Looped Heaven maxed out DX11 for 2 hours.
I'd like to actually measure that voltage with a DMM though.

I'm going to run FAHbench now to see if it's truly stable. FAH had some hiccups last night on Core21 WU's. So I dropped the OC to 1188 and it was fine all night.
 
I don't know how you people manage to get your cards overclocked with the heatsinks being what they are*without watercooling/phase cooling*

Whats the maximum safe temperature for an EVGA GTX 770 2gb ACX cooler? I've seen max clocks for it around 1280 core and 8k memory...no idea how people do that with the ACX cooler, because even at 1170, 4k, i hit 83c or so. Would a new Bios improve temps? I will say this. I HATE the new GPU overclocking interface. I miss the days where we just had the GPU Clock, Voltage clock, and Memory clock in simple, easy to understand numbers, not this offset crap lol.

Edit:

Precision X, 100 to GPU clock, 300 to Memory, semi-stable*30 mins* at stock voltage on Valley.

But temps scream into the 80s quickly.

I know more voltage will fix the stability thing, but I don't know the max safe temp. :p
 
Last edited:
I don't know how you people manage to get your cards overclocked with the heatsinks being what they are*without watercooling/phase cooling*

Whats the maximum safe temperature for an EVGA GTX 770 2gb ACX cooler? I've seen max clocks for it around 1280 core and 8k memory...no idea how people do that with the ACX cooler, because even at 1170, 4k, i hit 83c or so. Would a new Bios improve temps? I will say this. I HATE the new GPU overclocking interface. I miss the days where we just had the GPU Clock, Voltage clock, and Memory clock in simple, easy to understand numbers, not this offset crap lol.

Edit:

Precision X, 100 to GPU clock, 300 to Memory, semi-stable*30 mins* at stock voltage on Valley.

But temps scream into the 80s quickly.

I know more voltage will fix the stability thing, but I don't know the max safe temp. :p

I closed my room's door so ambients are about ~27C I'd say now.
Running Heaven, DX11 max AA all that stuff I reached 78C during the 2 hour run.

1254Mhz core (No boost now that I flashed the Skyn3t BIOS) and memory at stock. Voltages was 1300mV according to PrecisionX. (GPU-Z read 1150mV though) fan at 55%. (2300RPM)


Max is 95C but I wouldn't go that high. I have run my AMD GPU's at 85C for days on end back in the mining craze so I would have no issues running this 780 at the same temps.

1280 core is damn high for the ACX, from what I'm reading the 1254Mhz I'm getting is better than average. :shrug:
What are your ambient temps? 30C?? And yes there is a point where you need more voltage but that creates more heat which causes more instability requiring more volts which makes more heat... After a while you just cant do it even if you have the headroom.
 
I don't know how you people manage to get your cards overclocked with the heatsinks being what they are*without watercooling/phase cooling*

Whats the maximum safe temperature for an EVGA GTX 770 2gb ACX cooler? I've seen max clocks for it around 1280 core and 8k memory...no idea how people do that with the ACX cooler, because even at 1170, 4k, i hit 83c or so. Would a new Bios improve temps? I will say this. I HATE the new GPU overclocking interface. I miss the days where we just had the GPU Clock, Voltage clock, and Memory clock in simple, easy to understand numbers, not this offset crap lol.

Edit:

Precision X, 100 to GPU clock, 300 to Memory, semi-stable*30 mins* at stock voltage on Valley.

But temps scream into the 80s quickly.

I know more voltage will fix the stability thing, but I don't know the max safe temp. :p

Sounds like you need more case airflow...
 
Okay where do you read the voltage with a DMM? I can't seem to find that answer.
Though, the backplate is probably in the way :-/


I was able to maintain 1254Core using EVGA's Overboost voltage of 1300mV. Looped Heaven maxed out DX11 for 2 hours.
I'd like to actually measure that voltage with a DMM though.

I'm going to run FAHbench now to see if it's truly stable. FAH had some hiccups last night on Core21 WU's. So I dropped the OC to 1188 and it was fine all night.
Don't know on your card, my Lightning has voltage check points built on to it.
Capture.PNG
 
Sounds like you need more case airflow...

Yeah, I mean, I could slot in some 120mm deltas in my Air 540 with 212 CFM each...

Plenty of airflow, I don't think that is the issue here. The 120mm intakes are 65 CFM fans at full RPM. I run them around 60% power.


I also have two 140 mm Exhaust fans on top running 85.5 CFM, and a rear 140mm fan. Those are full speed, because they are quieter than the 120s at their current setting at max o_O.


No wire obstructions, I'm just thinking the heatsink may not be mounted 100% perfectly,

I feel warm air from the exhaust fans, so they are blowing out the heat.

Ambient room temps are ~ 15-17C.



No artifacting from the card, simply crashes. OFC, this is with stock bios, and no increases of voltages.

Source for info on Overclocking results from one guy

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7392/the-geforce-gtx-770-roundup-evga-gigabyte-and-msi-compared/7

I have never broken 85C, probably because my temp prioroty is set to 79C


Could someone explain what "Power Target" is exactly? 100-107% is a bit vague, especially when there is a voltage slider on the right.

My exact card is EVGA GTX 770SC ACX 2GB Edition.


EDIT: This could probably be its own thread, its derailing the OP topic a bit. Sorry!
 
Yeah, I mean, I could slot in some 120mm deltas in my Air 540 with 212 CFM each...

Plenty of airflow, I don't think that is the issue here. The 120mm intakes are 65 CFM fans at full RPM. I run them around 60% power.


I also have two 140 mm Exhaust fans on top running 85.5 CFM, and a rear 140mm fan. Those are full speed, because they are quieter than the 120s at their current setting at max o_O.


No wire obstructions, I'm just thinking the heatsink may not be mounted 100% perfectly,

I feel warm air from the exhaust fans, so they are blowing out the heat.

Ambient room temps are ~ 15-17C.



No artifacting from the card, simply crashes. OFC, this is with stock bios, and no increases of voltages.

Source for info on Overclocking results from one guy

http://www.anandtech.com/show/7392/the-geforce-gtx-770-roundup-evga-gigabyte-and-msi-compared/7

I have never broken 85C, probably because my temp prioroty is set to 79C


Could someone explain what "Power Target" is exactly? 100-107% is a bit vague, especially when there is a voltage slider on the right.

My exact card is EVGA GTX 770SC ACX 2GB Edition.


EDIT: This could probably be its own thread, its derailing the OP topic a bit. Sorry!
It does sound like you have enough case flow.

You might be right on the bad heatsink mount. Wouldn't hurt to take it off and reapply some TIM. :)
Power target is basically TDP. So anything over 100% increases the power the card is allowed to draw.
I think it's 250 watts on the 780? :shrug:
The skyn3t BIOS I flashed raises the default TDP to 300 watts which is already like setting 115% on a stock card.

You are right on the new thread idea, you'd get more help in a fresh thread.
I don't mind a bit off topic discussion in my thread so no worries there. :cheers:
 
Yep, my second thought was that you should try replacing the TIM on the GPU.
 
None here. I don't even have those fan headers in that spot :(
I guess the lightning isn't a reference PCB?
No it's definitely not a reference PCB, I can say the Elpida memory doesn't Oc worth a damn on it though, I'm just glad the core clock will.
Yep, my second thought was that you should try replacing the TIM on the GPU.
This is a valid point, I can't recall the last Gpu I pulled apart that had a good TIM application on it. Every card I own looks like they took a turkey baster of TIM and just poured it on.
 
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