nVidia GTX 295 Question

Ex_Brit

Super Moderator
Staff member
I've posed this question in the nVidia forums but experience tells me it wont get an answer and I wonder if anyone here has a clue.

I have a single nVidia GTX 295 graphics card which actually has twin GPU's. Although the nVidia Control Panel does not indicate any problems I'm a little concerned at what Everest Ultimate says about it. According to it GPU # 1 is underclocked or underperforming (see pics below). Now I realise that software can make mistakes so am wondering if anyone can recommend a good test I should do to double-check these findings.
I have all the latest drivers installed, and it should be noted that my main CPU is overclocked to 3.86ghz from its normal 3.33ghz.

gpu1.jpg
gpu2.jpg
 
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It hasn't been updated since 2006 Mahmoud + not Vista compatible. Not sure it would be wise to even attempt using it in a Vista x64 enviroment.
 
I used it on Vista x64 back in the day it worked OK (with some BSODs :tongueout:)

You can use it just to see the clocks, don't need to OC with it.
 
Well I installed it with a few warnings being given in the process. Mainly this one attached.

Now what do I do?
 

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Had to uninstall.it was causing too many issues. Have posted on the Lavalys forum re: Everest possible being faulty...(I hope)...??!!


Addendum:


..and I got a very quick answer which I hope is the real explanation:

Fortunately it has a simple explanation - One of the GPUs has been switched to low-power mode (also known as 2D mode), and so it lowered all its clocks to cool itself down. As soon as you start a 3D application or a game, both GPUs will switch to high-performance mode (also known as 3D mode) of 576/1242 MHz.
 
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I guess the only way to know for sure is to try it and find out.

Why wouldn't both GPUs switch to low-power mode though?

Start a game and alt-tab to Everest, I guess.
 
alt-tab...?


Addendum:


I got around the issue of getting Everest to log at the right time. I remembered that when I had Seti@home set to use GPU ("CUDA")as well as CPU the fans were roaring. So I reset it to that and sure enough after a whole bunch of work units came in...Everest then reported the same figures for GPU1 as it did above for GPU2 - in other words, the GPU was running (relatively) flat out.

Good question, why not throttle back both GPUs...a question that only the maker could answer I suppose and the post I put on nVidia's forum remains unanswered, just as I thought. I guess not many people have GTX295's to compare notes.

Not sure if I can contact nVidia directly, I'll have to do some checking on that.
 
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So it does...never thought of that...LOL. What I forget about Windows could fill a book I'm afraid. Goes with the age I guess.

In other news I went looking for ways to ask Nvidia about this "why not GPU2" question and was redirected to Alienware. I posted the question on their private forums, which I happened to notice is often answered by Nvidia staff anyway.

I just want to be sure that I don't have a lemon for a Graphics card - they are expensive enough!
 
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Just a follow up to this FYI if anyone is reading this in future...the latest WHQL drivers from nVidia have cured the situation. Now both GPU's throttle back when not in use.
 
That's good for your PC's health and your wallet when the electricity bill comes in esp. with that monster PC of yours :lol:
 
Hydro (which we call our power) is included in my rent, so needless to say I have every electrical appliance known to mankind...LOL.

But I do conserve as much as I can to help save the planet. For instance I spent over $400 replacing every single light bulb with CFL's.
 
Good lord Peter !
I just bought 5 11W low energy bulbs (60W incandescent equivalent) for 0.50p in Sainsbury's.
I could get a couple of thousand for $400 !

(It was a special promotion, but even so they're normally only 0.49p each)
 
Nearly all my light fixures are on dimmers unfortunately which increases the cost of CFL bulbs considerably. That figure by the way does included some spares.
 
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