GPU massively Overheating in Witcher 3 (GTX980)

[RoShamPoe]

Greetings,

I am having a strange problem. I just purchased an Asus GTX 980 Strix 4GB three days ago in preparation for the Witcher 3. The card was tested before launch of the game and performed pretty well. I'd say it runs a tad hot (39-42 idle, 55-60 load), but otherwise have had no problems in games. GTA 5 performs admirably and doesn't put the card over high 50s. Metro Last Light benchmark has it around 58. Furmark doesn't seem to go over 47 with burn in selected.

Then there's the Witcher 3. It goes to 92! degrees almost immediately and pretty much sits there. Here's the kicker: it does so on ultra 1080p-1440p all the way down to everything low 1440p. Also, it drops 35-40 degrees as soon as I exit the game.

I know the tendency is to probably tell me the cooling isn't adequate and the airflow in my case is the issue, but I don't think that's it based on the outlined tests. The cooling isn't ideal, but I upgraded from a AMD 7950, which I believe ran hot, and never had any issues.

Help me, ROG, you're my only hope. Actually, to be honest, I'm probably just returning the card. But I thought I might get some advice first! Thanks in advance!

[RoShamPoe]

Greetings,

I am having a strange problem. I just purchased an Asus GTX 980 Strix 4GB three days ago in preparation for the Witcher 3. The card was tested before launch of the game and performed pretty well. I'd say it runs a tad hot (39-42 idle, 55-60 load), but otherwise have had no problems in games. GTA 5 performs admirably and doesn't put the card over high 50s. Metro Last Light benchmark has it around 58. Furmark doesn't seem to go over 47 with burn in selected.

Then there's the Witcher 3. It goes to 92! degrees almost immediately and pretty much sits there. Here's the kicker: it does so on ultra 1080p-1440p all the way down to everything low 1440p. Also, it drops 35-40 degrees as soon as I exit the game.

I know the tendency is to probably tell me the cooling isn't adequate and the airflow in my case is the issue, but I don't think that's it based on the outlined tests. The cooling isn't ideal, but I upgraded from a AMD 7950, which I believe ran hot, and never had any issues.

Help me, ROG, you're my only hope. Actually, to be honest, I'm probably just returning the card. But I thought I might get some advice first! Thanks in advance!

[Praz]

Threads merged.

[BurdeDog]

This happened to me as well. 980 SLI x2 using the GeForce optimal settings (ultra 1920x1080) and "Game-Ready" nVidia driver. After five (5) minutes of gameplay, the primary GPU temperature ran up past 70 degrees Celsius and the LEDs lit up followed by a shutdown of the GPU.

Since then, without the game running I have received numerous event logs: "Display driver nvlddmkm stopped responding and has successfully recovered."

Interesting that numerous articles online, prior to launch, stated that a single 980 could run Witcher 3 with ultra settings.

[RoShamPoe]

Well, I've decided to return the card. I put in my older 7950 and actually run the game pretty well. Turning a little bit more down, I get a solid and smooth 30 FPS, which honestly felt ok to me. And it looks great.

I think it's probably just a defective card. They released some benchmarks and the Asus gtx 980 is right behind the Titan with no problems in cooling. Also, it could be weird system config. I will say I'm running an Asus Sabertooth 990FX for whatever that's worth. My 7950 hasn't gone above 73 degrees. Still hot, but those cards also run a bit hot.

Interesting sidenote: While the game is benchmarked almost exclusively on I7s, I think it's performing better on my FX-8150. (OC'd) I'm well ahead of the benchmarks posted for most GPUs, so I'm wondering if the processor is having a positive effect.

[regret]

It's the game, not your GPU. My 970s run ~70 in any other game, including games that look better and should stress the GPU more, but the Witcher 3 hits 85 degrees very quickly (and driver then resets). I've had to manually set them to 100% fan speed and set my case fans to full speed. This brings temps down to about 75. 😕

[BurdeDog]

The latest round of updates to GeForce Experience and new Witcher 3 "Optimal Settings" stabilized my GPUs. They are now running at a more appropriate 60 degrees plus or minus. Guess something wasn't right with the initial push on 5/18.

[sectionate]

BurdeDog wrote:
The latest round of updates to GeForce Experience and new Witcher 3 "Optimal Settings" stabilized my GPUs. They are now running at a more appropriate 60 degrees plus or minus. Guess something wasn't right with the initial push on.

if you disable/block geforce experience from using its "Optimal" settings and select use global settings in the control panel it will run better

[Hooride]

Thats hot

[Chino]

I've been testing Witcher 3 on both a GTX 980 Matrix and Strix GTX 980 on 1080p at Ultra settings. The temperatures are well under 80C. Make sure your case has adequate airflow.