Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

[marttimat]

Hey guys! Need some help on what I should do!


I just built a new gaming system and found a good deal on a EVGA GTX 980 Ti Kingpin and figured I would see what I could get out of it.


Here are my system specs:
Motherboard: MSI XPOWER GAMING TITANIUM LGA 1151 Intel Z170
Motherboard BIOS version: 1.60
Processor: Intel Core i5-6600K 6M Skylake Quad-core 3.5 GHz LGA 1151 Intel Z170 (Overclocked to 4.6 GHz)
Memory: G. SKILL TridentZ Series 32GB (2 X 16GB) 288 Pin DDR4 SDRAM F4-3000C15D-32GTZ
GPU: EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti Kingpin
SSD #1: Samsung 950 Pro M.2 512GB
SSD #2: Crucial MX200 1TB SATA SSD
Case: Fractal Design Define R5
Cooler: Corsair H80i V2
Mouse: Logitech G502 Proteus
Keyboard: Corsair Gaming Striker RGB
Power Supply: SeaSonic Platinum SS-860XP2 860W
Monitor
OS: Windows 10 Home 64 bit


After I got everything all setup I opened Precision X and ran 3D Mark and got ~15,600 (which is definitely a solid out of the box score for me)


Since this card is designed to be overclocked, I switch the BIOS switch to OC and attempted a mild 100 clock bump on both speed and memory. When I run 3D Mark now it freezes and crashes which I can see the board is not happy with. So back to stock speeds and card runs fine.


So clearly the silicon lottery bit me in the butt and I am wondering should I RMA the card back to EVGA to potentially get more speed out of a new card or live with the factory clock?


I also am pondering retrofitting a liquid cooler to help with the temps but the they seem to be stable even with the extra large copper cooler and ATX fans.


What would you do??

[profJim]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

I would read reviews of your video card to see what settings were used when the best review sites overclocked your card.

A web search using: evga geforce gtx 980 ti kingpin review should provide some useful ballpark guidelines.

Is there a newer video card bios version for your card?

Check out EVGA GTX 980 Ti Kingpin at the TechPowerUp database.

Their database does not include a bios listing for the Kingpin model.

[marttimat]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

I would read reviews of your video card to see what settings were used when the best review sites overclocked your card.

A web search using: evga geforce gtx 980 ti kingpin review should provide some useful ballpark guidelines.

Is there a newer video card bios version for your card?

Check out EVGA GTX 980 Ti Kingpin at the TechPowerUp database.

Their database does not include a bios listing for the Kingpin model.

Thanks for the ideas.

I searched and searched and looks like I am stuck with the advertised speeds as any combination I do will not work. I feel I might just RMA due to the cost of this card should give me as much performance as possible even though it is small overhead when on air/liquid.

Thanks again!

[profJim]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

You're welcome.

I checked the EVGA forum and found your post where they provided a link to [Uncork] EVGA GeForce GTX 980 Ti K|NGP|N : Full OC Guide where they say that with the stock air cooler your card is pretty much maxed out and you need an even higher end gpu cooling setup for overclocking higher.

Have you seen JayzTwoCentz video review of your Kingpin card?
His experience with two different Kingpin cards was similar to your results, but his cards had ASIC ratings of 77 and 78 and the best he could do was in the 1520 - 1525 range. It sounds like RMA'ing your card might work a little bit better or it might be a bit worse. You will probably need to install a very high end water cooling setup for your card to hopefully get a decent overclock. Jayz review is just over 29 minutes long and his best thoughts start at the 21 minute mark and the information at the 25 minute mark is excellent.

My preference would be to go with an MSI GTX 980 Ti Lightning (or similar) card and save about $200, but.... the Kingpin is an amazing looking card.

You should closely monitor your system's voltages and temperatures to make sure that there aren't any issues or problems with your video card, psu or motherboard.
My preference is to use HWiNFO's sensor logging option where you can look over its CSV log file after you're done monitoring.

[marttimat]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

Thanks again for the additional help!

I did see that particular video as well as another where some have gotten to that 1500 speed mark. I do get that it just might not happen without further mods on cooling but just wanted to make sure I was not doing something wrong in the process.

One other thing came to mind this morning... Maybe my power supply does not have enough juice?

I have a 860W Seasonic Platinum running the system which I assumed would be enough since I am only running one card? When I increased the voltage and very small (75) speed increase card runs the Benchmark fine until blackout. Of course it could just not be able to handle the OC but maybe it needs more power?

Just thinking out loud here.

[profJim]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

I assume that you are using the motherboard's 1 x 6-pin ATX 12V power connector to provide additional power to the PCIe x16 slots.

I originally thought that 860 watts from the power supply might not have enough capacity to adequately power an overclocked high end video card, especially when the psu output should not exceed 80% of its rated capacity for extended periods of time. When reviewing power supplies, the HardOCP psu torture test runs continuously for eight hours where the psu output is set to 80% of the power supply's capacity.

EVGA says that your GTX 980 Ti Kingpin video card requires a 500 watt (minimum) power supply. I find this hard to believe based on my overclocked MSI GTX 460 Hawk power supply loads when running video card stress tests and benchmarks.

The dreaded silicon lottery applies to all hardware, not just video cards.

FWIW in HardOCP's recent ASUS GeForce GTX 980 Ti MATRIX Platinum Review they include results for several current high end GTX 980 Ti cards. In the introduction they say:

The ASUS GTX 980 Ti MATRIX Platinum joins a list of custom video cards we have evaluated based on the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti GPU. Also from ASUS is the ASUS GTX 980 Ti STRIX DCIII, however the Matrix Platinum is a higher-end and more expensive model than the STRIX DCIII model. In addition to this video card we have also evaluated the GIGABYTE GTX 980 Ti G1 GAMING. From MSI we have seen the MSI GTX 980 Ti GOLDEN Edition and the MSI GTX 980 Ti LIGHTNING which has LN2 or liquid nitrogen cooling capabilities similar to the MATRIX Platinum, however both video cards are primarily air cooled.

We also evaluated a liquid cooled MSI GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK which sustained extremely cool temperatures with virtually no noise. We also evaluated this video card at 4K here. The MSI GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK is a little too expensive to use in comparison with the ASUS GTX 980 Ti MATRIX Platinum, and the unfair advantage of liquid cooling would produce cooler temperatures, less noise, and a much faster overclock. As the SEA HAWK is more expensive and better equipped, it would not be a fair comparison to the MATRIX Platinum.

The single video card that makes the most sense to compare the ASUS GTX 980 Ti MATRIX Platinum to is the MSI GTX 980 TI LIGHTNING as both are air cooled. Both video cards are air cooled and have built in support for LN2 and additional fail safe BIOS profiles to ensure safety while overclocking. Each of these two video cards have great potential for overclocking to extreme frequencies. The ASUS GTX 980 Ti MATRIX Platinum can be yours for $709 which is currently below the MSRP of $719.99, while the MSI GTX 980 Ti LIGHTNING has a base price of $699, however since writing this review supply has diminished causing a large price inflation at the moment to $804.

I'd like to see a review that compares the MSI GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK results with a water cooled GTX 980 Ti Kingpin.

HardOCP's MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK Video Card Review (November 16, 2015)

[marttimat]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

I assume that you are using the motherboard's 1 x 6-pin ATX 12V power connector to provide additional power to the PCIe x16 slots.

I'd like to see a review that compares the MSI GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK results with a water cooled GTX 980 Ti Kingpin.

HardOCP's MSI GeForce GTX 980 Ti SEA HAWK Video Card Review (November 16, 2015)

Not sure where my reply post went but looks like it did not post this morning...

Anyway, yes I have all my power connections hooked up to my MSI MB. I know the PCI molex is mainly for SLI setup but wanted to make sure that was not an issue with the card so have it connected as the manual states to have all the power connections connected for proper operation.

I worked with EVGA and they are going to RMA my card. Long shot I thought but maybe I will have better odds with the new card than the out of the box speeds I am getting currently.

In the future though I am hoping to modify this card to be water cooled for better temps. It's no LN2 but I think you could squeeze out some more speed that way.

I will update once I get the new card up and running.

Cheers!

[marttimat]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

I got the replacement card and out of curiosity ran the ASIC test and verified the RMA card is rated at 76.3... Not a bad jump from 72 which I originally got. Also the build is later via the SN.

Anyway, that does not matter as much as my results... I am happy to say I am already at 1514 MHz at stock voltages (Vs 1403 on last card).

A minor increase in speed but still counts.

Next project will really let the card shine in terms of cooling. Thanks again for the help and hope this helps others!

[profJim]

Re: Can't overclock GTX 980 Ti KingPin

I'm glad to hear that the replacement video card has better performance.

Thanks for the update.