I still think the card is throttling back.

The CPU time/ Run Time is consistant with the use of swan_sync=0 - this is fine.

Although your second task was faster 16ms per step, this is still wellshort of what it should be; a similar task on one of my GTX470's takes about 14ms per step at ref speeds, and I have seen 12ms per step for a GTX580 on Win7 (which is slower).

Okay. Solution? And why only on this project?

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

What monitoring/tuning software tools are you using? I have a generic GTX570 and use

MSI Afterburner for overclocking and fan speed control

TechPowerUp GPU-Z for all data: clocks, V,W,A loads, temp, bios/driver version, etc.

nVidia control panel - to set max. performance, multi-monitors, etc.

Using GPU-Z all looks well for my GTX570, everything ID'd properly, GPU chip GF110, Rev. A1, Release date Dec 07, 2010, Bios ver. 70.10.17.00.03, Shaders 480 unified, bandwidth 152Gb, driver version 8.17.12.6309 (Forceware 263.09) Win7 64, etc... How about you, any evidence of problems? Primitive Bios, broken memory/shaders/ROP's recognized, half-speed core/memory/shader clocks? PCIE 2.0x16 @x16 2.0? Proper voltages (maybe the card/external 6+2 12V power plugs only LOOKS like they are making proper contact and the rated current/Amp from the PSU just isn't getting there for full operation? total guesswork here) FWIW, my 570 is pulling about 33A and 31W @57C temp with the fan near 3,000rpm at 70%.

Looking at your last two tasks, it seems the time dropped by more than half... 62,000 to 27,000 ... is it fixed, what was the issue/solution? But those timesteps look more like my GTX460 than the GTX570 at 13-16,000

Keep on this, your card should do way better than 27,000 timestep, that is like 1/2 of what it should be, and I am curious the issue. I know in my case it would be something careless like forgetting to plug in the necessary PCIE power cables.

Try the latest Beta driver; GPUZ might be misreporting the actual clocks.

I now suspect the PSU. I have a new one on order, and will give it another shot when it arrives. Stay tuned.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Did you check the GPU temps, as kts suggested? You may need to up the fan speed.
These GPUs throttle back if they are running too hot or if they are overclocked too much, but still report the clock speed as configured (rather than actual speed). If the PSU was insufficient the card might do something similar, reduce speed or disable some shaders.

Did you check the GPU temps, as kts suggested? You may need to up the fan speed.
These GPUs throttle back if they are running too hot or if they are overclocked too much, but still report the clock speed as configured (rather than actual speed). If the PSU was insufficient the card might do something similar, reduce speed or disable some shaders.

I run all my GTX Box's on AUTO Fan and haven't noticed any of them Throttle Back yet ...

Manually raising the fan speed increases noise, but reduces temperatures in the card and the system. This increases longevity and may reduce power consumption – hot cards leak more energy so they need more Amps.
Having good airflow in the case also helps. A card in a case with poor airflow would be more likely to overheat/throttle back.
If the card is throttling back due to a PSU problem this is a good thing; before these Fermi's systems just crashed if the PSU was not up to the job.

The speeds are stock and the fans on auto. Temps are 68-70c.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

We've discussed PSU, overheating, throttling, optimizing driver, RAM, CPU usage, etc. You say the card works fine(like a working GTX580 should) on other projects but not here... total speculation, but could the access pattern of GPUGRID be finding bad video RAM causing Error Correction that just doesn't happen with other projects? What benchmark/testing tools are there to verify whether a video card is operating properly in hardware? If not hardware, then software? What is the proper troubleshooting sequence for a video card?

We've discussed PSU, overheating, throttling, optimizing driver, RAM, CPU usage, etc. You say the card works fine(like a working GTX580 should) on other projects but not here... total speculation, but could the access pattern of GPUGRID be finding bad video RAM causing Error Correction that just doesn't happen with other projects? What benchmark/testing tools are there to verify whether a video card is operating properly in hardware? If not hardware, then software? What is the proper troubleshooting sequence for a video card?

Correction. It ran the other project at top speed for a few test tasks. Running over night and the same slow down became obvious. That is why I am suspecting the PSU...even though GPUZ says it is running full out. I am suspecting not.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Ah! Looks like I was on the right track with the PSU.

http://www.gpugrid.net/result.php?resultid=3534780

Normal for a GTX 580, right?

My old 750w PSU has 3x 6pin pcie connectors. The 580 needs a 6pin and an 8pin. So I had to use a Y connector which takes 2 6pins and makes an 8pin. I tried switching the three of them around with no change. I had a new thought tonight. With all my 5870s, they each included a Y connector to convert two old IDE plugs to a 6pin PCI plug. So a double Y from several IDE cables into the Y 8pin connector seems to be working! The PCI rails in my PSU are dead. Looking forward to my new PSU to make this cable mess clean. The point is, it's the PSU, and the PCI rails FAIL.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Ah! Looks like I was on the right track with the PSU.

http://www.gpugrid.net/result.php?resultid=3534780

Normal for a GTX 580, right

It's nearly normal. I think your CPU limits the performance of your GTX 580, or it still may be the PSU. See this task (processed on my overcklocked GTX 580) for speed reference :) Or this same type task processed on my overclocked GTX 480. You can find other GTX 580s for reference on the 'top hosts' list.

My old 750w PSU has 3x 6pin pcie connectors. The 580 needs a 6pin and an 8pin. So I had to use a Y connector which takes 2 6pins and makes an 8pin.

This could be a dangerous way, if your PSU has separate 12V rails and you connect them together with this Y cable connector converter.

I tried switching the three of them around with no change. I had a new thought tonight. With all my 5870s, they each included a Y connector to convert two old IDE plugs to a 6pin PCI plug. So a double Y from several IDE cables into the Y 8pin connector seems to be working!

This is the same dangerous method as the previous one with different 12V rails. It's not recommended to use cable converters for power connectors (especially for high current power connectors like the PCI-E or CPU), those add an unnecessary contact resistance in a way of high currents causing voltage loss and hot (even burning) connectors.

The PCI rails in my PSU are dead. Looking forward to my new PSU to make this cable mess clean. The point is, it's the PSU, and the PCI rails FAIL.

That's right. By the way 750W should be enough for a GTX 580.

Right. My point was to demonstrate that the PCI rails were the problem, by using different rails. Proof of concept. I agree that the various Y methods are wrong.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Hi zombie67, good to hear all the details and that the PSU replacement resolved the problem. Your times are spot on now.
Perhaps your GPU was only getting 225W or less due to the connectors. Whatever, I'm impressed with how the GPU handled/survived this.

Good luck,

Glad to hear you tracked down the issue for your card and all is well now.

My old 750w PSU has 3x 6pin pcie connectors. The 580 needs a 6pin and an 8pin. So I had to use a Y connector which takes 2 6pins and makes an 8pin.

This could be a dangerous way, if your PSU has separate 12V rails and you connect them together with this Y cable connector converter.
<~~~snip~~~>
It's not recommended to use cable converters for power connectors (especially for high current power connectors like the PCI-E or CPU), those add an unnecessary contact resistance in a way of high currents causing voltage loss and hot (even burning) connectors.
<~~~snip~~~>
By the way 750W should be enough for a GTX 580.

This information added to the recent Selecting a PSU for dual GTX570 / 580 use thread fills in more important details for system building. Your problem has now been Y-converted to a useful solution for others.
(Still looking for recipes ;) )

I had to put a new power supply in my system when I got the GTX570. That thing will take a LOT of amps just by itself when you load it up. I dont remember the numbers but I think mine was asking for 190 Watts from 0 to full processor loading on the card. If I am not mistaken the card recommends a 550 watt supply at the very minimum. Now don't forget any other stuff you have in your system, RAMdisk, multiple HDD's, a lot of ram, a 6 core processor??? all that stuff EATS power quickly.

I put a 1KW supply in my computer and it keeps everything running fine, AFTER I burnt my earlier 600 watt supply up.

Don't be cheap with your PS, if the thing cooks off, you could get a shot of your mains power straight up your cards backside before the fuse blows. Although it would look awesome, a GTX is a fairly expensive paperweight. Power supply manufacturers may claim that can never happen but I have a hard drive with chips blown off the board to prove otherwise.

Aaron

It looks like my hunch was wrong. New 1000w PSU, and still no joy. I am down to thinking that the card is throttling itself. According to anandtech:

Much like GDDR5 EDC complicated memory overclocking, power throttling would complicate overall video card overclocking, particularly since there’s currently no way to tell when throttling kicks in. On AMD cards the clock drop is immediate, but on NVIDIA’s cards the drivers continue to report the card operating at full voltage and clocks. We suspect NVIDIA is using a NOP or HLT-like instruction here to keep the card from doing real work, but the result is that it’s completely invisible even to enthusiasts. At the moment it’s only possible to tell if it’s kicking in if an application’s performance is too low. It goes without saying that we’d like to have some way to tell if throttling is kicking in if NVIDIA fully utilizes this hardware.

Maybe that is what's happening here.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

Forgot to finish my thought in the previous post. I have RMA'd the card. Let's see if I have better luck with the replacement.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA

It looks like my hunch was wrong. New 1000w PSU, and still no joy. I am down to thinking that the card is throttling itself. According to anandtech:

Much like GDDR5 EDC complicated memory overclocking, power throttling would complicate overall video card overclocking, particularly since there’s currently no way to tell when throttling kicks in. On AMD cards the clock drop is immediate, but on NVIDIA’s cards the drivers continue to report the card operating at full voltage and clocks. We suspect NVIDIA is using a NOP or HLT-like instruction here to keep the card from doing real work, but the result is that it’s completely invisible even to enthusiasts. At the moment it’s only possible to tell if it’s kicking in if an application’s performance is too low. It goes without saying that we’d like to have some way to tell if throttling is kicking in if NVIDIA fully utilizes this hardware.

Maybe that is what's happening here.

It would be much easier to give you more useful advice if you would be more specific on your component types. I am using a 1000W PSU (LC-Power Legion X2) for a dual GPU configuration (GTX 480 + GTX 580), and I have no such problems, even when I'm overclocked my GTX 580 to 900MHz. Now it's running at 850MHz at factory voltage (1.050V). So if the cause of the slowness is the protective throttling, it's too sensitive on your GPU only, therefore a replacement should work fine. It's designed to protect GPUs from overloads caused by GPU stress test utilities such as furmark - 'real' GPU applications (including GPUgrid) cannot cause that much power draw, and should not trigger this throttling. But if the new one is also slow, it must be some other (hardware or software) component we can't think of. Maybe a screensaver. BOINC CPU tasks running at low priority level, while GPU tasks at below normal priority level (it's higher than 'low'), so if you run other CPU demanding applications those will run at normal priority (it's higher than both CPU and GPU tasks) and will hold up BOINC CPU and GPU tasks (or slow them down a bit). There are tools for changing priority levels (I'm using eFMer priority). Raising priority levels however can make your computer less responsive, or even unresponsive.
You can monitor your GPU with MSI Afterburner 2.1 beta 5. KASHIF_HIVPR type tasks should produce 90-95% GPU usage.

I was not clear. I RMA'd the GPU, not the PSU. The new PSU is a 1000w coolermaster. And no, no screensaver is being used. Also, this is a dedicated cruncher. No other tasks are runing.

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Reno, NV
Team: SETI.USA