3090FE - Fan-stop - issues

[xPETEZx]

Since I had my 3090FE replacement from RMA, the fan-stop function is really inconsistent.

Wondering if anybody else has had, or currently has issues with fan-stop?

Basically it seems my card barely ever stops its fans. The most reliable way to trigger it is to let the display go to sleep.
If I wake it up after that, the fan will stay stopped till the next time the GPU is loaded. Then again, it wont stop.
Sometimes it stops when I connect to my work Virtual Desktop (which is a near full screen window) and other times it wont.

I thought it was software related at first, and went and re-installed just about everything I could think of, from drivers to Afterburner to MSI centre and HWInfo. It would sometimes be the case where after I re-installed some one of these applications or drivers that fan-stop would work right after. But then after a gaming session it wouldn't kick in again.

I just tested with a clean Windows 11 install, with nothing installed but the drivers and steam, and same issue :/

Using latest 511.23 drivers.

I run a single monitor at 3840x1600@144hz. I have found topics where people with multiple monitors had this issue.


So I am curious if anybody else has had this?

 

[Vinno]

I don't know if it's the same thing but I had a similar-sounding problem with my 2080 which I solved by using an app called Nvidia Inspector.

 

[montymint]

Do you use nvidia broadcast?

 

[Disco_P]

Nvidia inspector will show the power state of the card. It could be something innocuous is using GPU acceleration which isn't allowing it to clock down, generating enough heat to keep the fan on.

 

[xPETEZx]

I don't know if it's the same thing but I had a similar-sounding problem with my 2080 which I solved by using an app called Nvidia Inspector.

I just downloaded nv-inspector, I can see the power state of the GPU is "P8"? Cant see anywhere what that means?

Do you use nvidia broadcast?

I do, but its not running. I had that issue before in an older version where broadcast would prevent the GPU from idling. (Mine would stick to like 110W power... that seems fixed now though, even if I leave broadcast open, it settles to idle)

Nvidia inspector will show the power state of the card. It could be something innocuous is using GPU acceleration which isn't allowing it to clock down, generating enough heat to keep the fan on.

So as above, nV inspector is showing the cards P-state as "P8"
Power is at 12.5% apparently. GPU Load is at 5%~ and MCU is at 23%? Im not sure what MCU is...

The GPU clocks are at idle, so 210Mhz.

What I find so odd with this, firstly is that my previous card didnt do this despite the same usage pattern and programs installed / running. About all that changed is updating drivers.
Secondly is that it happens on a bare-bones clean Windows 11 install. Just sat at desktop...fans wont stop even after 20 minutes...
Yet connect to my work Virtual desktop or let the screen sleep... and it stops right away :/

Yet if I let the screen go to sleep, which stops the fans, the fan wont kick back in till a game or heavy load is put on the GPU...

I am convinced the FE cards dont base the fan-stop on GPU temp either. As with the fan not stopping, it gets the temp down to like 25 and still its on.
Yet if I get the fan to stop by letting monitor go to sleep, then watch a bunch of youtube videos or other 'light desktop loads' the GPU temp can hit 50-52, and still the fan wont start...

I tried enabling the various options within Afterburner to control fans, but that didnt seem to make any difference :/

Just brain dumping here almost. Thanks for suggestions !

 

[alec]

Power is at 12.5% apparently. GPU Load is at 5%

This is quite high I would think.
12.5% of 350 is over 40w. GPU thinks it is being used so won't stop the fans

GPU load goes to 0% for me. Thats on a 1440p@60Hz power usage goes as low as 5% / 12w.
Try lowering refresh rate, see if it changes the behaviour.
Else look for what is using the gpu.

MCU is memory controller usage. 23% is fine for just refreshing the screen at lowest memory clocks.

 

[xPETEZx]

This is quite high I would think.
12.5% of 350 is over 40w. GPU thinks it is being used so won't stop the fans

GPU load goes to 0% for me. Thats on a 1440p@60Hz power usage goes as low as 5% / 12w.
Try lowering refresh rate, see if it changes the behaviour.
Else look for what is using the gpu.

MCU is memory controller usage. 23% is fine for just refreshing the screen at lowest memory clocks.

40w~ seems to be where mine always idles. The previous one did too. Never really goes below 30W.

Ill play with refresh rate. Not that Id actually stick to anything lower, but just to see what that does to power.

 

[philo-sofa]

I haven't had this issue myself. Both cards have gone to idle a few minutes after load ends.

 

[xPETEZx]

I haven't had this issue myself. Both cards have gone to idle a few minutes after load ends.

Thanks, was curious if it was something on 'newer' cards or not. You not having it kinda rules that out...

Curious what your card idles at power-draw wise? Lower than mine at 30-40?

 

[philo-sofa]

Thanks, was curious if it was something on 'newer' cards or not. You not having it kinda rules that out...

Curious what your card idles at power-draw wise? Lower than mine at 30-40?

According to GPU-Z, total board power draw idle at desktop is 19-22w, with +90 core and +250 memory applied by afterburner.

I did some playing around to try and get to 40w and 4k video (displayed at 1440p) pulls about 32-38w, however the fans don't seem to spin up for it.

 

[xPETEZx]

So I just tested this, and put refresh rate down to 60hz.
GPU power immediately dropped from 38w~ to 21w~ and the fans stopped literally seconds later....

I then put it back to 144hz, power went back to 35-38w, but fans havent restarted.

Ill test some more... just odd my previous card did not do this :| shut the fans off even at 144hz and 38w~ idle.

 

[Purgatory]

So I just tested this, and put refresh rate down to 60hz.
GPU power immediately dropped from 38w~ to 21w~ and the fans stopped literally seconds later....

I then put it back to 144hz, power went back to 35-38w, but fans havent restarted.

Ill test some more... just odd my previous card did not do this :| shut the fans off even at 144hz and 38w~ idle.

Try 100hz and 120hz , see if that helps it maybe down to the 144hz causing this, at desktop maybe set it to a lower refresh rate and in games set to 144hz.


Maybe with your last card you didn't realise you had a lower refresh rate set at desktop.

 

[xPETEZx]

Try 100hz and 120hz , see if that helps it maybe down to the 144hz causing this, at desktop maybe set it to a lower refresh rate and in games set to 144hz.


Maybe with your last card you didn't realise you had a lower refresh rate set at desktop.

So I tried:

144hz - 35W
120hz - 33W
100Hz - 32W
85Hz - 30W
60Hz - 24W

The fans didn't stop till I hit 60hz. Makes me think the cut-off is either 30W or 25W...

Anybody else running a 144hz / 3860x1600 or 4K screen that might have this issue?

Or perhaps if you run enough monitors, idle draw might be high enough?

 

[ODuffer]

What is your power management set to?

 

[xPETEZx]

What is your power management set to?

I only have the options of "Normal" and "prefer maximum power"
Mine is set to "Normal"

I cant quiet work this out... but when I have my work Virtual Desktop connection window open, which is a near-full-screen window, power draw drops to 23w...
Which makes me think the idle fan triggers only if power draw is below 25w?
Perhaps the latest driver has moved that threshold down, otherwise I cant explain why it use to work perfectly fine with the old card...

 

[ODuffer]

Mine is on Normal. Of interest here is my Nvidia Inspector output. My PC has been at the desktop for a bit, with the fans stopped.

 

[Vinno]

I just downloaded nv-inspector, I can see the power state of the GPU is "P8"? Cant see anywhere what that means?

You need to launch a module within NV Inspector called Multi Display Power Saver, I know you said you only have the one display but I think it will work anyway. I think you just right click the tray icon to bring it up and then it's pretty self explanatory.

It fixed my problem instantly when I opened it.

 

[xPETEZx]

Mine is on Normal. Of interest here is my Nvidia Inspector output. My PC has been at the desktop for a bit, with the fans stopped.

That looks near identical to mine. Just my power use is slightly higher at 11.8%, and MCU is at 23%.
Whats your resolution & refresh rate? Also, what's the GPU power in W? The power % doesnt seem to add up for me. SAys 11.8%, which of 350 would be 40W, yet HWinfo shows 34W.

You need to launch a module within NV Inspector called Multi Display Power Saver, I know you said you only have the one display but I think it will work anyway. I think you just right click the tray icon to bring it up and then it's pretty self explanatory.

It fixed my problem instantly when I opened it.

I am not seeing any modules ? My nv-inspector looks the same as ODuffer's, so the only buttons I have are on the top left.

 

[alec]

I am not seeing any modules ?

for some reason they hide it
Right click on random parts of that window, maybe the show overclocking button?

And it is not going to help your case. Multi Display Power Saver would force the card to P8 state with low clocks when card thinks it should be running faster.
Yours is already in P8, only the usage is high. And usage comes from 4k@144hz.

 

[philo-sofa]

In case it's of any help here's mine. Inspector seem to pick up the core or mem O/C fully, but the rest seems good.