[SOLVED] Help with GPU fan noise under load

[Alpha]

Hi all, I've just build the following system with mostly new parts apart from a 2nd hand GPU.

Ryzen 5700x
16gb g.Skill Trident Z
Gigabyte RTX 2060 Super Gaming 3X OC 8GB Links: Gigabyte | TechPowerUp
1tb WD SN770 SSD

It was going well until I booted up Forza Horizon 5 and then the GPU fans ramped to 100% and stayed there, it sound like a mini jet turbine all the time when the game is running. Temps are a constant 89C with a hotspot temp of 107C. Even at 100% fan speed this does not change. I haven't even got the case closed up yet as I'm still tinkering with it. All other current games I've tried have the same end result, a hot card and me going deaf.

Ive tried following a video on Youtube from Optimum Tech and Tech Illiterate about undervolting but this has not made any difference that I can tell, I think I must be doing it wrong.

I also think I'm being a bit dim, I can't get the numbers in the spec linked above to tally with the figures I'm seeing in MSI Afterburner or in HWiNFO. Specifically the clock speeds, on the Gigabyte website it says this card should have a boost clock of 1710MHz and on the TPU site it says the base clock is 1470MHz.

In Afterburner curve editor after resetting everything the curve looks like this:

Am I getting totally mixed up? The clock speed it's showing at the top of the curve is 1995 MHz, how does that relate to the GPU clock speed?

After running the Time Spy benchmark in 3DMark HWiNFO reports this:



The trace from 3DMark looks like this and as you can see the as soon as it starts the temps shoot up and to me it looks like the pink line on the bottom chart shows that the card immediately thermal throttles? It goes from 1470MHz (Base) to 1200 MHZ and wobbles around from there until returning to 1470 MHz at the end of the test. I think throttling is also demonstrated between the demo and start of test one, as the temp briefly drops the clock speed increases for a short period before dropping again



Is this normal behaviour for the 2060 Super's? The seller I got the card from (another site) said he had cleaned the card and replaced the thermal paste and thermal pads, using Arctic pads and paste, but I'm wondering if he didn't quite get it right for it to immediately throttle.

Any help or suggestions greatly appreciated, thank you.

 

[Alpha]

Thank you for having a look at this and confirming what I thought. I've double checked the model number on the card and it is definitely the GV-N206SGAMING OC-8GD with the a boost clock of 1710MHz. I think the one with the boost of 1815MHz has the same code but ends with a C.

Edit: Found this comment on TPU discussing the D version card and it confirms what you said above about max temps expected: Link

Unfortunately I can't return the card so I'll have to have a go at replacing the thermal pads myself. Interestingly in conversation with the seller he did say he's used thicker pads than standard. I've not been able to find much info on the thickness of pads used by Gigabyte, but one video suggests these thicknesses:


Are Arctic pads and okay or are there better alternatives out there that won't break the bank!

Thanks again for your help.

 

[Alpha]

Just curious though...putting the thermal pads for memory etc aside, with the GPU itself hitting 89C and fan spinning at insanely high rpm, doesn't it point toward the GPU cooler heatsink is not making proper contact with the GPU itself (for example may be screws are not tighten down enough)?

Bingo!!

I took the card out on a hunch following the reply from Angilion and all 6 screws were loose! When I opened it up I found that the paste was not covering the full GPU die in bother top corners and judging from the impressions left in the thermal pads they were not providing good coverage on all of the chips.



I applied some Arctic MX-4 paste that I had ensuring the full gpu die was covered and after putting everything back to gether re-ran 3DMark with the following results:



Max temps according to HWiNFO are 77.6C on the GPU and 89C on the hotspot.

The card now performs as expected with only minimal throttling as far as I can see. To say I'm relieved is an understatement and I can now get back to convcentrating on putting the rest of my new machine together.

I might get some new thermal paste to see if that helps even more as the tube of MX-4 is about 8 years old from when I did my last build.

Thank you both for your help and suggestions on this.

 

[Alpha]

Age of the thermal paste shouldn't be an issue, but MX-4 isn't very well suited to direct die cooling like a GPU due to the pump out effect. After a couple of months temperatures could start to increase significantly. From what I've read Thermalright TFX is the best thermal paste for direct die cooling, but Arctic MX-6 would probably be fine too as it has a much higher viscosity than MX-4.

Brilliant thank you I'll get some ordered and make sure I just put enough on to just cover the die as per Marine-RX179.