GPU meltdown?

Not sure whats happened but virtually overnight DCS has become un-playable. As soon as I start a mission it begins to stutter, FPS drops to 10-15 and , and monitor goes to blackscreen. Ive opened task manager when this occurs and noticed GPU usage pegged at 100%.This is happening in single player on missions Ive played many times before without issue. I tested on Cacasus and Persian Gulf maps with different modules and a few different missions and fast mission generator.

Specs are I7 6700 (4 ghz), 16 gig ram, gtx970 (4 gb).Is this what happens when gpu is fried? This happening with no explanation leads me to think gpu hardware problem but I dont know.

Desktop ok ? DCS opening screen ? I would try deleting fxo and metashaders files , and running repair & see what happens . Another possibility is an automatic (windows ? ) update .

Desktop ok, dcs menu screen ok. (noted it showed 50% gpu usage on menu screen). Tried deleting files and repair. Then tried loading Battlefield V and it crashed as well so not DCS only.

Im guessing my thread title may be prophetic after taking a look at gpu. One of the fans is very loose and both of them seem to be working erratically. Ive been hearing all kinds of chirping and fluttering noises for a while and thought it was fan on motherboard when i looked at it a while back but now im sure its the gpu fan. So is a lack of cooling enough to cause this? I was able to play one mission in dcs then it happened on 2nd mission which could point to heat as the issue as well.

Could be the gpu is throttling down due to overheating, or it's already dying. Can you fix the fans?

Yep , sounds like throttling .

measure it with MSI Afterburner and some stresstest, then you clearly see what's going on.

Installed MSI afterburner and kombuster stress test and ran it. Took me a while to realize stress test wasnt going to end and give me results and it crashed in about half hour. Restarted and tried again and found all the graphs on the afterburner panel and wrote down as many ad I could before next crash.

It did reach 88deg.C and msi panel showed 81deg as max. What other parameters can help point to a problem? I did notice fans did shut off right before crash.

Installed MSI afterburner and kombuster stress test and ran it. Took me a while to realize stress test wasnt going to end and give me results and it crashed in about half hour. Restarted and tried again and found all the graphs on the afterburner panel and wrote down as many ad I could before next crash.

It did reach 88deg.C and msi panel showed 81deg as max. What other parameters can help point to a problem? I did notice fans did shut off right before crash.

Sounds like your GPU is running extremely hot.

Use MSI Afterburner to set a custom fan curve. Set the curve so that the fans reach 100% speed at about 75 to 80 degrees C. It's easy to do.

Then, try it again :) DCS World places an absolutely enormous load on the GPU. It's just like Furmark, Kombustor or other stress test. Gotta have those fans working. Default GPU fan curves are designed to be extremely quiet--but they're generally unsuitable for heavy gaming, and DCS is the heaviest of heavy gaming as far as GPU load goes.

AD

Desktop ok, dcs menu screen ok. (noted it showed 50% gpu usage on menu screen). Tried deleting files and repair. Then tried loading Battlefield V and it crashed as well so not DCS only.

Im guessing my thread title may be prophetic after taking a look at gpu. One of the fans is very loose and both of them seem to be working erratically. Ive been hearing all kinds of chirping and fluttering noises for a while and thought it was fan on motherboard when i looked at it a while back but now im sure its the gpu fan. So is a lack of cooling enough to cause this? I was able to play one mission in dcs then it happened on 2nd mission which could point to heat as the issue as well.

Your graphics card fans are getting ready to let go, or already have.

It doesn't mean there's anything wrong with the card itself--but if the fans are shot, it'll overheat and may crash.

You can still save the card--remove and replace fans. Card itself may be just fine, but no/inadequate cooling=constant crashing. Continuing to run with no cooling may destroy the card.

AD

This may be obvious but, have you cleaned your GPU cooler? Most of the time it doesn't make much difference but might be worth a shot.

Looks like fan replacement will be the plan. Hopefully thats it because thats about all I can afford.

Thanks for all of the advice. Certainly see the value in afterburner now.

I am not convinced from what I could read that your fans are dead.

As long as they spin up to max rpm they should be fine.

Q: When you fly DCS, how hot does the GPU get over time ( screenshot welcome ) AND how does the GPU clock graph look like. It should be more or less a flat line, steady, no real ups & downs in clockspeed. If you see a zig-zag clock graph, that is your symptom. Then lets determine what is the root cause for that.

If it is zigzag:

- make way for better airflow, clean the fans, all of them, make way for hot air to get out.

- either LOWER your clocks a tiny bit and see if it can hold that value....or increase the powertarget AS LONG AS the card stays cool enough. Sometimes cooling is rather not the issue but a Power demand that the driver wont allow...and thus downclock to stay in limits.

Again, if your fans do sping, dont take the card apart, those fans are HARD to get, next to impossible in some cases, so you would have to send the card for repair ( I did that with my 980GTX, fan controller fried ).

I would not take the card apart as of now.

...as an alternative IF the fans or their controller chip fried.

For the cost of repair, you can almost watercool that beast.

write back if that was an option for you.

Block + Radiator + Pump/Res and some tubing,,,and all of your HOT GPU problems vanish.

My GPU never goes above 50ish °C. DCS usually is below 50°C while flying.

Couldnt figure out on screen display but wrote down a few values at pc start up, 3 minutes later, 6 minutes later and then a couple minutes later aftet starting DCS loading a mission and taxi to runway. Saw fps dropping from 50-60 to low 20's so i knew it was overheating.

gpu temp. 35, 54, 68, got up to 90 and didnt drop after quitting dcs because fans were shutting down.

core clock. steady at 1075 at all times. One blip to 1275 possibly when dcs started

fan speed. 46%, 60%, 73%, 100% had it set to hit 100% at 75 deg like aluminum donkey suggested

fan tach. fluctuating constantly 130-1972(min.max.) typically 250-500

Not sure if fan rpm bouncing around is normal or if the one wobbling fan is doing that. Surprised 1 wobbling fan could be enough to make it overheat but the cooler is probably caked with dust too. Maybe cleaning that like Strong05 said and cleaning all fans is worth trying next.

If liquid coiling isnt to much more than fans and fairly easy to rig it up id consider it.

ehhhhh OH MAN !!!!

C L E A N I N G the GPU card should have been on your list at the VERY TOP !!!!!

Fan blades that are covered in dust are the #1 thing that causes a fan to fail due to unbalanced conditions, wearing out the bearing in rather short time.

Now, I agree, with those values, the heat is the symptom and something is odd with your fans and/or fan-controller/driver chip.

Any chance of a warranty case ?

DIY WC is not that complicated and you can start with the GPU only and later add the CPU and maybe the VRM too, add radiators and add Quick Disconnectors etc... step by step, as the wallet allows.

GPU block ca. 100-150€, Radiator 60-150€, pump + reservoir 100€, tubing 15€, connectors, 10€ for standard in total, for Quick Disconns its a hefty price tag but really worth it, like 40€ per male-female combo and you usually need at least 2 pairs, maybe more if you expand.

Shoot a PM if you need more info

So I decided on just replacing fans and finally got them today. My war machine seems to be humming along nicely again. Temp didn't get above 72deg flying DCS and stays at 50deg on desktop. The one thing that's obvious now is difference in fan rpm. With the bad fan/fans it would start at 2000rpm at low fan speed but as that increased rpm would go way down and be very erratic. New fans steady 2000rpm on desktop and stepped up a few times and stayed at 2500rpm while flying. Thanks again for the help guys!

Hi, Glad your snag is sorted, to help the GPU, make your case fans work harder as well...case fans are cheap..so push as much cool air in as possible, you will benefit your entire rig...happy flying

I guess you're lucky to have a GPU card with a heatsink where the fans are easily replaceable.