5080 Coilwhine - stuttering?

[Nitefly]

I don't know why everyone over-complicates undervolting. Just increase the core incrementally to offset the whole voltage curve upwards until you find the highest stable value. Then just drop the power limit until you get your acceptable trade-off of performance loss and power reduction - or slide it upwards for an overclock. Same end result, no need to mess around bending the manufacturer curve which is super fiddly and doesn't need to change.

This is explained in the video I posted above at around 8:40.

In short, you’re more likely to encounter stuttering and blips in performance as you’re not flattening the voltage curve.

 

[Heisenberg]

I'm not saying *just* drop the power limit. Upping the core first moves the entire curve upwards, lowering the voltage value each Mhz requires. It's the exact same thing but you're not altering the shape of the curve i.e bending it and then flattening. I did a bunch of tests just to validate this and the end result is exactly the same but way easier.

Each to their own but I find it much easier using the curve editor and stops core clock fluctuating

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

This is explained in the video I posted above at around 8:40.

In short, you’re more likely to encounter stuttering and blips in performance as you’re not flattening the voltage curve.

I'll watch that later but if that were true, all GPUs from the factory would stutter as they don't ship with a flattened off curve.

 

[Nitefly]

I'll watch that later but if that were true, all GPUs from the factory would stutter as they don't ship with a flattened off curve.

They don’t stutter with their default “100% power limit”… which you’ll be deviating from when you apply an ‘undervolt’ via a crude power limit reduction.

Every card and SKU is different though. Some specific cards might be affected more than others.

If you don’t have stuttering issues by the ‘crude power limit’ method, then that’s good.

In any case, the ‘true undervolt’ approach (as per the vid I shared) should minimise the possibility of stuttering and increase the likelihood of a ‘more stable’ clock speed. It’s not hard to do so it’s worth spending a few mins to do it properly.

Edit: re-ordering.

 

[Zeebedy]

I used the curve editor in afterburner and reduced my temp’s drastically..and very little performance hit.

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

They don’t stutter with their default “100% power limit”… which you’ll be deviating from when you apply an ‘undervolt’ via a crude power limit reduction.

Every card and SKU is different though. Some specific cards might be affected more than others.

If you don’t have stuttering issues by the ‘crude power limit’ method, then that’s good.

In any case, the ‘true undervolt’ approach (as per the vid I shared) should minimise the possibility of stuttering and increase the likelihood of a ‘more stable’ clock speed. It’s not hard to do so it’s worth spending a few mins to do it properly.

Edit: re-ordering.

Ok, so to repeat again, I am *not* saying to just drop the power limit. When you click increment on the core in Afterburner, this actually moves the entire curve upwards, basically saying "you don't need as much voltage for this Mhz that you think you do". Dropping the power limit afterwards just stops the boost algorithm from walking further up the curve.

 

[Nitefly]

Ok, so to repeat again, I am *not* saying to just drop the power limit. When you click increment on the core in Afterburner, this actually moves the entire curve upwards, basically saying "you don't need as much voltage for this Mhz that you think you do". Dropping the power limit afterwards just stops the boost algorithm from walking further up the curve.

Yes, understood.

The point of the ‘flattened curve’ is to keep the voltage and clocks as static as possible, so in a state of ‘vulnerability’ from a reduced power limit, the card won’t keep pushing the voltage to boost higher… and go in cycles of boosting higher, boosts dropping and so on, which may (or may not) cause stuttering.

Put another way - there is then no scope for the card to try and ‘walk up the curve’, which it may otherwise naturally try to do to maximise performance.

This is the reason why people go for this slightly more complex approach to undervolting. Whether this makes a difference or not, or is worth it, is going to vary based on personal experience. But regardless, that’s why people do it.

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

Yes, understood.

The point of the ‘flattened curve’ is to keep the voltage and clocks as static as possible, so in a state of ‘vulnerability’ from a reduced power limit, the card won’t keep pushing the voltage to boost higher… and go in cycles of boosting higher, boosts dropping and so on, which may (or may not) cause stuttering.

Put another way - there is then no scope for the card to try and ‘walk up the curve’, which it may otherwise naturally try to do to maximise performance.

This is the reason why people go for this slightly more complex approach to undervolting. Whether this makes a difference or not, or is worth it, is going to vary based on personal experience. But regardless, that’s why people do it.

Well there's certainly some logic to that idea but I still don't agree with it as framerate caps are the correct tool for stabilising frame delivery. You should always be against a framerate cap, even on a VRR display.

 

[TheZombieMaster]

Return it for an RMA. I had nasty coil whine with my ASUS 7900XTX TUF card. Sent a video to the retailer and they said it was unacceptable and gave me a full refund.

edit: I mean I'd personally return it but you can do as people suggest @ undervolting. You'll get people saying most cards have coil whine, out of the 30yrs I've been a gamer, I've only had a few cards with very noticable and unacceptable coil whine. "Use headphones" is not a fix for the issue imo.

 

[Nitefly]

Well there's certainly some logic to that idea but I still don't agree with it as framerate caps are the correct tool for stabilising frame delivery. You should always be against a framerate cap, even on a VRR display.

A VRR cap as you mention is the correct way to guard against fluctuations at the ‘top end’ (to stop your FPS going all over the place) yes, but the flat curve under-volt is to guard against micro-stuttering and sub-optimal 1% lows (by comparison, the ‘bottom end’) which can’t really be properly addressed with a VRR frame rate cap.

 

[SeeNoWeevil]

A VRR cap as you mention is the correct way to guard against fluctuations at the ‘top end’ (to stop your FPS going all over the place) yes, but the flat curve under-volt is to guard against micro-stuttering and sub-optimal 1% lows (by comparison, the ‘bottom end’) which can’t really be properly addressed with a VRR frame rate cap.

I think I'd have to see this in action because it doesn't add up to me. The curve is the shape it is for a reason and I want to retain that. The only thing wrong with it, is it is too 'low' for my specific chip. Plus if it only, maybe has some effect for 1% of the time when you're not hitting your framerate cap, doesn't seem worth it.

Also, not a fan of videos like that guy. He just tells people "if you have a 4090, pull your curve like this". Everyone's GPU is different, you need to explain the process and what is going on so people understand and see the right values for their specific card. Teach a man to fish and all that.

 

[Nitefly]

I think I'd have to see this in action because it doesn't add up to me. The curve is the shape it is for a reason and I want to retain that. The only thing wrong with it, is it is too 'low' for my specific chip. Plus if it only, maybe has some effect for 1% of the time when you're not hitting your framerate cap, doesn't seem worth it.

Also, not a fan of videos like that guy. He just tells people "if you have a 4090, pull your curve like this". Everyone's GPU is different, you need to explain the process and what is going on so people understand and see the right values for their specific card. Teach a man to fish and all that.

A crappy 1% low can make an otherwise high FPS rate feel horrid, it’s why people try to maximise their RAM latency etc. (edit: literally speaking, it would be ‘minimise’ the latency, of course!)

I think that YouTuber is generally very good because he typically shows a quick ‘set and forget’ in real-time and then goes on to explain how you can spend more time doing things, if you want to learn. And yes there will be trial and error to find any sweet spot.

Anyway, I’ve probably done this to death now so wrapping up from my side; in summary there’s different ways of achieving an undervolt with different pros and cons. Since it doesn’t take much time to apply a ‘flattened curve’ undervolt I personally think it’s worth knowing how to do it and then people can decide what approach works best for them.