GPU fan during rendering
marktourigny
Posts: 16
The last couple of days I'm finding that my GPU fan fires up to 5600 RPM's every few minutes. It normally runs around 3400. I've been rendering everyday for a few months with this card and never experienced this before. It is a 2080ti blower. Just to be clear it is the GPU blower fan not the case fans. A lot of extra hot air comes out the back when this occurs. The GPU still runs at the 81-83 degrees that it has always run at while rendering. I have a very good airflow case with 5 fans blowing over the GPU. I'm not great technically with computers so keep that in mind with your suggestions (ELI5) :)
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Comments
The temps are too high but if they aren't getting worse then it isn't causing it to get worse. More than likely the crappy motor on the blower fan is failing. You should start researching replacing the fan, if the card is still in warranty you'll prabably need to RMA it. If it's out of warranty then DIY fan replacement is sort of PITA but is doable.
The problem with attempting the RMA (return manufacturer authorisation code) route for repair is if they send it back as 'no-fault-found' and charge you significantly for their time and postage. If going down that route you are going to have to run some tests on other software and make sure its a repeatable issue.
I would suggest setting some better fan curves in whatever sofware that came with the card, or something like MSI afterburner. 80 deg isnt abnormal for a blower but I didnt think Daz was that agressive? I dont know how hard Daz hits the RTX cards but it only tends to hit my 3 pascal based cards at 60-70 of max power draw, so less demanding than most games. And even on a blower cooler I wouldnt necessarily expect it to have reached 80 degress, but maybe Iray goes at the RTX cards harder?
Could try blowing out the dust with compressed air.
You would have to have a fair menagerie of pets running about a dusty house to cause that level of dust build up in a 2080ti in less than 2 years surely!
But yeah, worth a shot!
Edit: When selling my 4yr 1070 recently I took about 10 secs cleaning dust before ebay pictures. Spotless. But I ran out of puff in my lungs trying to blow the dust off the 2nd hand 1080ti replacement, it was awful. So I guess it will vary :D
Thanks for the suggestions.
I do not have the warranty for it. I also do not have a fan curve set or software for it. I will download MSI afterburner and see if that helps. Any suggestions on how to set up the curve given my issue?
If I get a compressed air blower do I need to open the card up? These blower cards are pretty tightly wrapped so I'm not sure how to effectively blow the dust out. Assuming that's an issue. As pointed out the card isn't that old.
Is it safe to continue to use the card like this or should I use it sparingly?
Would underclocking do any good? I'd of course have to figure out how to do that, but just wondering.
+1
5 fans on the GPU doesn't mean you have good air flow. You have 81 degrees, which also suggests poor airflow
I will say again; fans do not equal good airflow - or even any real airflow.
EDIT: an excellent if also rediculously funny example of how it isn't about fans, but planning the airflow.
No need to open the covers on the card, but those cans are not that effective, try spraying first against the normal airflow.
Do not RMA something that has not really failed. You will get it returned as not broken and get a hefty bill.
Whatever the manufacturer of the card in question is has software to control the card. Get it. Blower cards usually have awful curves. Set a much more aggressive curve, which will be a lot louder. You should aim for a twemp for 75C max if at all possible.
The fans are very effective in collecting the dust, and 2 years build-up can be significant.
20 years ago I was involved in testing systems that required data transfer to and from the HD at rates that were not normally possible, but using several Seagate 7200rpm in Raid got you the speed, but you had to cool down the stack with the equivalent of a wind tunnel... Worked until the dust buildup short circuited one of the drives in under 2 years.
What an incredible change this had. Downloaded Afterburner and upped the curve aggressively as suggested. Just ran two 30+ minute renders and the temp never got above 74 and mostly 72-73. A 10 degree improvement over where I've been running. And no sign of the up and down fan issue. Just consistently louder as you advised. Seems to be the perfect solution and probably increase the life of the card significantly. Thanks to all for their suggestions!!
The fan ramping up and down probably does indicate some problem with the fans motor but you could get months more out of it.
Is there anything preventative I can do? Or just run it as long as I can? I'm considering adding a second 2080ti via NVlink now that the price is so much lower but not sure if that will take the pressure off the existing card or just make things hotter for it.
Also the fan now runs consistently in the 4000's instead of 3400 ramping to 5600 occasionally. Do you think this is better for the fan if it is indeed dying?
Compressed "air" is not air but gas (usually flammable), it's expensive, polluting, and not very effective. Get an air pump for inflatable pools instead, they're very cheap, much more powerful airflow, and last for many years.
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=air+pump&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
There are cans that are nothing but air. Get ones that are labeled as being for cleaning electronics.
How long is it staying at the higher speed? If it ramps up and then ramps back down that's usually a sign the motor has a problem. If it ramps up, stays there for a bit, 10 to 15 seconds and then comes down, that could be the fan dealing with the card boosting or some sensor issue. Monitor the reported heat of the card when the fan ramps up as best you can.
But worst case you really can replace the fan if it dies. It's fiddly but doable.