New Powerspec G434 Crashes due to ZOTAC GPU set

Greg_D4791

unfortunately I had to refund the First powerspec that had a reliable GPU in it by MSI but a bad motherboard, come to find out Powerspec mucked up their custom BIOS in the Asrock z390 phantom 4s/ac which led me to believe it was a bad motherboard because the second one had the same problem, Bios update to the non corrupted one Powerspec put in fixed the problem where the technicians were unable. Now I have this Zotac, RTX 2070 Super and it will run at 85-95 sometimes 100 underload (No OC all factory defaults), and the performance starts tanking at about 75-80 and the crashes start at 90. Any advice? MSI Afterburner corrects the problem by stepping the fan speed up but it sounds like a jet turbine, however the performance is greatly improved and I do not CTD or BSOD. Thank you

TSTDavey

Hello @Greg_D4791 and thanks for posting on the MIcrocenter Community Forum. Sorry you are having issues with the G434. Was the RTX 2070 performing without crashes prior to the BIOS update?

See if you can update the 2070 driver via Device Manager. If has most up to date driver, see if you can do a roll back.

If you are unable to do a roll back, do a uninstall of the 2070 and delete drivers. Restart computer and reinstall the drivers for the card.

Test it and see how it performs.

If it still crashes, if the powerspec g434 is still under warranty (1 year), then bring it into the store. It could be an issue with the gpu card.

Greg_D4791

It was not until after I fixed the Motherboard that I started back into modding and using load on the GPU. I have noticeable performance drop at 80c. Without 3rd Party software the fans do not audibly step as they should like they do when I use Fan curve with Afterburner. As it approaches 90 it starts to CTD and every so often BSOD. I have verified that with HWMonitor while using Super-imposition to bench. Also Using a third party to use the fan curve I Bench 300-400 points higher if I set my fan curve with third party to 100%at 80c. But it sounds like a f-16 taking off. SO one: the Performance is WAY better, 2, It does not CTD, It is just extremely loud.

Actually the correct BIOS which is available at iBUYPower vs 1.21a Corrected the very frequent BSOD I was having, Corrected post dram LED always on, corrected memory read errors, and it corrected the False positive USB detections among many other things,. I Highly recommend using the correct BIOS for the Asrock z390 4s/ac as I have helped with that one with others from here, Reddit, Tom's and Microsoft, as It is not on Asrock's Site for some unknown reason... if you would like me to link it I will be happy to. But it was probably the best thing to happen to the PC, As I warrantied it completely once and sent it in twice for repair that could not be resolved.

I have already done drivers that was my first step. I have warranty (the base warranty is about to expire) the Protection plan is this one if you could please explain how that works . https://www.microcenter.com/site/customer-support/protection-plans/assurance-plan-desktops-laptops.aspx

It is a warranty of sorts I suppose.

Thank you for any insight! and your rapid response

Greg_D4791

Hello Again TSTDavey, Thanks for the response earlier,

I'm doing more research on ZOTAC, and it appears this is a problem with Zotac in General, apparently amongst the googlers ZOTAC does not have a great cooling and or they overvolt their cards from factory. I have read reports that undervolting ZOTAC does help. I want to figure this out before having the card replaced under warranty or the Protection Plan thing I got. Like I said, adjusting the fan curve to go 100% at 80 helps the throttling. But it hits 85 on stress within 20 seconds and it is LOUD!!.

Do you suggest undervolting it. There is alot of info regarding how Hot Zotac cards run on the World Wide Web, and so far the solutions are (use Afterburner and make your PC really loud, Undervolt it, or get a different manufacturer). I do not overclock. Instead I purchase what I need to get the job done.

TS_JosephF

@Greg_D4791

The reason the BIOS version is not listed on ASRock's website is because that board is made specifically for us. You can find the Phantom 4s on their site but not the 4s/AC. We do not currently have a new BIOS version for this board as it has not been necessary .

You mentioned that you have a protection plan but dropped a link to the assurance plan. The protection plan would cover any sort of hardware failure under normal use. Which the way it works is, you would bring your PC to the service desk. We would then complete diagnostics for no charge to you since it is covered under the plan. Then we would let you know what the issue is and if any hardware needs replaced. Of course, this is only covered if the hardware failed under normal use and not any physical damage or thermal related damage due to overclocking.

This would be where you can find all the information for the protection plan: https://www.microcenter.com/site/customer-support/protection-plans/protection-plan-computers-tablets.aspx

Greg_D4791

I asked to buy the aftermarket extended warranty for parts and labor and this is what the Knowledge bar at my Microcenter sold to me.

7076792YR RPR1 2YR MC REPAIR ASSURANCE1

129.99. I am not sure which one is which. But by its out of box setting the GPU already seems to have thermal related issues.

Edit: Ok so I am not hearing any audible fan increase with ZOTAC under load "unless I use Firestorm or Afterburner in the Background. I am using 3 Tools, HWMonitor, Superposition by Unigine, Firestorm. If I do nothing the fan does not audibly scale past 50% (verified after exiting Superposition and looking at hardware monitor and the dashboard for Firestorm) My Benchmark if it does not CTD is 5900. Within Firestorm the Defaults are set to step from 10c at 10% and increase by 10% by each 10c to 100c. When My GPU hits about 80 it starts dropping, when it hits 95 it starts to CTD. I am not hearing audible fan ramping. When I apply and run Firestorm in the background the only change I made to the Firestorm default was when the GPU hits 80c I turn the fan to 100% (85 is too hot for my comfort with any GPU. 85c is what I would expect a Highly OC GPU to run). With the Firestorm Applied with my Fan curve setting I can actually hear the fan ramping as it should, my temp does not exceed 80c and my Bench is now 6300 no CTD. Sorry this edit is so long. But this troubleshoot is leading me to believe It needs Firmware update.

So my concern is the GPU is running too hot by default. Once it hits 85+ upwards and into the 90's are when i start having a bit of a problem. So does my Assurance plan cover this GPU in the event it fails completely. Without the use of any fan curve software, It does not seem like the proprietary ZOTAC firmware is able to cool it well enough with its own fan curve as I do not hear the fans nearly as audibly as I do to make the system stable without performance issues. Hi thanks for all your help.

Greg_D4791

Ok so I am assuming the consensus is to replace the card at Microcenter?

Ian

https://community.microcenter.com/discussion/comment/29533#Comment_29533

Sorry for the delay in response, I would say that the best thing we can suggest at this time is to bring the PC back in to your local Micro Center so we can take a further look at it, no appointment needed.