High GPU clock even idle with 30w power consumption?

[jacky35h15bf02e8]

Has anyone encountered similar situation like this 3070 ti laptop GPU clock speed running at 1410 MHz and consuming more than 30w even in idle mode. I don't have optimal or adaptive mode in Nvidia Control Panel. Online resource suggest that it should be lower in idle.

Laptop model: Katana GF66 12UGSZOK
GPU model: 3070ti laptop gpu

One more discovery is that GPUz perfcap reason doesn't include 'Idle', it has 'power' and 'thermal'. I think it should one reason.

 

[___MRDAK___]

What laptop you have? Do you install MSI Center? Or Dragon Center?

 

[jacky35h15bf02e8]

It's actually in the attachment called system_info.Png
Laptop model: Katana GF66 12UGSZOK
GPU model: 3070ti laptop gpu
Changing power plan in MSI center doesn't make any changes.

 

[Downey Rob]

You can check if GPU is activated. If the power LED is glowing white, do you still see the same behavior?

 

[jacky35h15bf02e8]

Does white light means GPU is idling? But it turns amber immediately after any Gpu monitoring software is activated. If so I have no way to know whether it's using excessive power during idling or to know if the power reading is normal. At least I know that 1660 ti laptop is using about 30w during light game play, which means 3070ti laptop is at the same level of power consumption during idling as 1660ti laptop during light gaming? Sounds really weird.

 

[Downey Rob]

You can use HWinfo to observe changes in GPU power. On my computer, if no program is running on the GPU, the power LED is mostly white, regardless of whether HWinfo is open or not. Keeping HWinfo open does not force the GPU to run continuously. Additionally, you can use the Nvidia Control Panel to open the "Display GPU Activity Icon in Notification Area" and observe which programs are using the GPU. However, it may not be possible to solely rely on this method to determine whether the GPU is currently in use because there may be other data on the computer that requires GPU computation but is not displayed in "Nvidia GPU Activity".

 

[jacky35h15bf02e8]

(confused HW info with HW monitor, but the result is the same)

When I am running HW monitor, GPUz or MSI afterburner, the power led always turns amber and remains amber until I close all of these program, the power led then turns white. If any program wants to read any information from the GPU, the led turns amber again. Even though I know the GPU isn't running any 3D program or gaming program, the clock speed of the GPU core shown in any monitoring program is always the full clock speed, and the power consumption is maintained at around 30w.

So the only way I can determine if the GPU is in idle is when the led turns white, and by observing the first temperature reading from MSI center. When the temperature of GPU turns N/A, it's in idle. If other tools like HWmonitor is running, the temperature in MSI center shows the actual number, which will be the first temperature reading. I only realize that N/A temperature in MSI center means idle after I observed first temperature value was a low value when the led turns amber. Have to guess.

I guess I should stop now, the only thing I can do is to wait until it changes to white led. Reinstalling just gives the same result.

 

[Downey Rob]

You can indeed identify whether the GPU is active through the power LED indicator or the real-time information provided by MSI Center. However, merely running HWinfo should not cause the GPU to operate at full clock speed and consume 30W of power.
It is unclear if there is an issue with the GPU's power-saving mechanism. It is recommended to perform a clean installation of the Nvidia driver and install the driver provided on the MSI website.
- [How To] NVIDIA graphics driver Clean Install & Update

 

[jacky35h15bf02e8]

I have clean installed the NV driver a number of times, and finally got it to run into real idle mode no matter charger is plugged or unplugged. The first reading of GPU temperature after it is woken up is about 40c, which seems reasonable. However, as I said whenever I am able to get any reading from the Rtx 3070 ti gpu at 0% utilization, it's always running at full clock speed and consuming 30w. I remember the reading was the same number as the the one I saw when I first installed and ran MSI afterburner. Also, if the driver is totally uninstalled, the power led will turn and remain amber color forever until the driver is installed. I can't use any tools to check the reading if driver is not installed, because it can't be detected by the tools, so I have no way to see if the power and the clocks are low or high after driver is fully uninstalled for GPU.

I already feel installing and reinstalling very exhausting.

 

[jacky35h15bf02e8]

Just found that it's not the graphic card driver causing the issue, it's the Nvidia high definition audio that is causing the incorrect idle issue. I need to either disable the NV high definition audio device or install the NV high definition audio driver from the driver package to help the GPU enter the idle mode, yet the full clock speed in HWMonitor is not solved.

I hope people from NV could see this, and finally work out a solution.

 

[Downey Rob]

The GPU's activation status can be determined by the color of the Power LED. If I activate Afterburner, it does indeed activate GPU. If this value is not causing any issues for your daily use, why do you want to observe the GPU's frequency and wattage? Is it because the battery is draining too quickly or for some other reason?

 

[jacky35h15bf02e8]

I don't think it's a problem to know more about the laptop I just bought. Don't you want to make sure you have the right product? It was hot and draining battery too quickly, plus the traditional way to know if it's performing normally is to check the values, why do we want to guess like this?

Theis topic is here to discuss about the product and its related issue, not my preference.

 

[Edric]

I don't think it's a problem to know more about the laptop I just bought. Don't you want to make sure you have the right product? It was hot and draining battery too quickly, plus the traditional way to know if it's performing normally is to check the values, why do we want to guess like this?

Theis topic is here to discuss about the product and its related issue, not my preference.

I own a Crosshair 15 B12UGSZO and coincidentally, I also use MSI Afterburner and HWinfo regularly, which I can share with you as a reference for GPU usage behavior. I have also installed Nvidia high definition audio (1.3.38.92). Once MSI Afterburner is opened, the GPU behaves as you described. However, as long as it is closed, the GPU returns to an idle state. It seems that when it is opened, the GPU needs to perform computations. If you want to detect the power or frequency of the GPU in an idle state, you can simply record it through HWinfo. Closing Afterburner also helps reducing power comsumption. As for the issue you mentioned about "full clock speed in HWMonitor," I am not quite sure what you mean. Are you expecting the GPU frequency to not reach its maximum when both Afterburner and HWinfo are open? If you notice any behavior that is inconsistent with what we have observed, I suggest you explain it clearly. If it is hard to understand for us, you can just record the video and share the link here.