GTX 765M GPU/driver "throttling"

[YesNoYes-]

Just a few notes out of the way- Yes, I tried both the latest ASUS drivers and latest international NVIDIA betas. Yes, I have set power management in NVIDIA control panel to "performance". And yes, I have tried complete restoration of laptop to ASUS factory settings.

I have a problem that once the GPU reachs 65-66C there's a sudden drop of around -20fps while gaming.
I have overclocked (135/800/no voltage change) and tried switching apps between EVGA, ASUS tweak, MSI afterburner etc. and get the same result- once the GPU reaches 65C there's a sudden drop in fps and GPU temp goes down following that. Using monitor tools I can't see any change in MHz or other values except FPS and what's called "fb usage %" (in MSI afterburner) at moment of fps drop. This leads me to believe ASUS (from bios) or NVIDIA (from drivers) set the GPU to "throttle" (it's not really considered throttling to my understanding). I'm positive that even not overclocked once I'll reach 65C the fps will drop from whatever it was to that point. Overclocking just makes it reach 65C faster.
65C is a stupid temp to "throttle" and completely too low and so I'd be happy to know if:
a) Any other people experience this effect?
b) How can I stop this from happening?

Thanks.

[iweber95]

What games are you playing that this happens on? Is your windows up to date? I have a 770m and I've never had any sort of problems like this at all even while overclocked at 75C

[YesNoYes-]

I have tested only 'Crysis 3' (graphics set to HIGH) and 'Saints Row: The Third' (graphics set to ULTA). So happens both in newer and older games. I think that in any condition or game, once my GPU reaches 65-66C there will be an fps drop. Not sure why I'm not seeing changes in GPU values with monitor apps either once this happens.. Very strange.

[TekNiko]

Check the GPU clock speed in MSI Afterburner to see if it goes down along with the drop in FPS when it hits 65C. I used to have this issue with my Alienware M14x R2. It was hardcoded into the BIOS that the GPU would throttle once it hit 68C. I don't think it's the same case with Asus systems though. I've been able to game on my JX overclocked and with temps reaching 76C with smooth performance.

[YesNoYes-]

Like I said, nothing including GPU clock drops once the fps drop appears, except FPS and "FB usage %"- only these 2 appear to drop with the FPS along with the temp back to 64C and below. This is why I suspect some built-in software with the driver screwing with the GPU. Of course I have installed nothing since restoring to ASUS default win8.

[YesNoYes-]

OK so I switched to latest NVIDIA drivers v9.18.13.1193 from ASUS, which are not published under G750 support pages for some reason. Once I stayed overclocked under ~1480MHz in Memory Clock, I can finally surpass 65-66C without FPS drop. If I raise above ~1480MHz as long as I am under 65-66C performance is definitely the best, but once I reach 65-66C there's an instant FPS drop with no warning what so ever. No driver glitches pop-up, no underclocking announced in monitors- NOTHING but an FPS drop. I have no idea why and how this is happening specifically when I raise Memory Clock above ~1480MHz and specifically once it reaches 65-66C, but I have a feeling it's a useless safety feature embedded into the driver by NVIDIA and the GPU should be able to handle this level of overclocking stably.
I am still waiting on some people who know o/c'ing better than me to voice their opinions please.

[YesNoYes-]

So the problem has returned! While I am now able to push past 66C in Crysis 3, while reaching 65-66C in Saint Row The Third I get instant fps drops that only go away after rebooting.
There are still no changes in GPU-Z or other monitor apps values! So this means no throttoling occurs. Something hidden in the system just drops my FPS at 65-66C for no reason.
Can anyone help or is this a useless thread in this forum?
I can't possibly be the only one this happens to... Maybe other JW users don't push their gaming as far as I do. I am 100% percent sure this is not an issue only with my laptop and it will happen to all of you who o/c sooner or later running on higher range graphics game.

[unclewebb]

Have you tried ThrottleStop yet and used it to log your CPU's performance when this GPU throttling is happening? Include GPU temperature monitoring in the log file.

Sometimes the BD PROCHOT function can be used to trigger throttling based on the GPU temperature. Disable BD PROCHOT and see if that makes any difference.

ThrottleStop 6.00 beta 1
http://www.mediafire.com/download/6m1i5ege91o7ib2/ThrottleStop_600b1.zip

[abeepak1]

Sounds like your overclock is failing. Sometimes when overclocks do fail, the driver or game may not crash, but the fps will dip dramatically. Happened to me before, running unstable clocks, despite it seeming to be stable in OCCT, but keep in mind, OCCT and stability test programs push the gpu far too fast, makibg it throttle down. Therefore not testing its true boost clock. Cut down on the oc and troubleshoot again, preferably turning oc off altogether for the time being.

[YesNoYes-]

Well this is what I thought at first until I realized the fps drops come exactly once the GPU reaches 66C.
I would expect o/c failing to appear at random points, why is it so temp dependent then?
If I do manage to surpass 66C, which can happen if I reinstall certain drivers (and pray long enough(, from that point no fps drops will appear during that run. Once I close the game or reboot or whatever the drops will reappear out of no where (again- at 66C). The 66C mark is quite strangely organized to be considered o/c failing- that's what my logic tells me (but what do I know...), am I wrong?

By the way: I tired ThrottleStop- didn't help as not actual throttling is observed. This is either a silent driver fail or a pre-set temp limit.