In GPU-Z, what does "Power Consumption" refer to? Can it be displayed in Watts rather than %?

[defred34]

Hi everyone,

I have two questions:

1) What does Power Consumption reading in GPU-Z refer to? The GPU chip, or the entire board power?

2) How can I get this displayed in terms of Watts rather than %?

Also, additional question: Is it dangerous that when benchmarking especially, there is a tendency of the Power Consumption reading to go above 100%, usually spiking to about 110%?

The card in question is an EVGA GTX 960 SC 4GB, with a rated TDP of 128W.

Thanks!

 

[RejZoR]

That's power limit. When graphic card reaches it, it will downclock core to meet power restrictions. Spikes above 100% just mean card wanted to use more but soon compensated that by decreasing clock which then kinda fluctuates around 100% under heavy load.

 

[defred34]

That's power limit. When graphic card reaches it, it will downclock core to meet power restrictions. Spikes above 100% just mean card wanted to use more but soon compensated that by decreasing clock which then kinda fluctuates around 100% under heavy load.

Ok I understand. I figured as much. Anytime it goes above 100%, in the next instance it goes below 100%. So it's definitely seemingly "correcting" itself. It never sustains itself above 100%, that much is certain.

I would appreciate if you could also respond to my two other questions.

 

[W1zzard]

On NVIDIA it refers to the board power limit. Unfortunately I have no way of knowing the board power limit for each card, so it's provided as percent (the NVIDIA driver gives GPU-Z percent only, Watt is reserved for Tesla).

 

[RejZoR]

@W1zzard

How does TDP/PWR limit in Maxwell2 BIOS transfers into actual consumption? For example, I've limited my GTX 980 from 250W down to 150W (both, TDP and PWR limit) for testing and it does start engaging PWR limit way sooner, but on wall socket, power consumption only decreased 40-50W and not 100W.

 

[defred34]

On NVIDIA it refers to the board power limit. Unfortunately I have no way of knowing the board power limit for each card, so it's provided as percent (the NVIDIA driver gives GPU-Z percent only, Watt is reserved for Tesla).

I have a GTX 960. Nvidia states the TDP at 120W, but mine is an aftermarket EVGA which states the TDP at 128W.

Assuming the numbers above are accurate, will it be fair to say that when the GPU-Z reading is 100% in my case, then the power usage is 128W? So whatever reading GPU-Z shows, I just take the percentage in decimals and multiply by the TDP value for that particular card? Or is this the wrong way to go about doing things?

 

[defred34]

@W1zzard

How does TDP/PWR limit in Maxwell2 BIOS transfers into actual consumption? For example, I've limited my GTX 980 from 250W down to 150W for testing and it does start engaging PWR limit way sooner, but on wall socket, power consumption only decreased 40-50W and not 100W.

Isn't that because the actual reference TDP of a GTX 980 is about 165W? I doubt you were actually using all 250W, and I assume you have an aftermarket version with extra power allocation of up to 250W. So when you limit it to 150W, it decreases from ~200W to 150W. Sounds reasonable, no?

Now the question is, how can I see these values for my card? The program is called Maxwell II BIOS?

 

[RejZoR]

That's why I'm asking as well and it would explain it for both of us actually. Considering PWR is kicking in with 150W, it seems to be reaching those levels, question is, how accurate are the limits and how are they calculated.

 

[W1zzard]

afaik all these NVIDIA cards have physical power sensors on the board which provide near-realtime measurements.

 

[RejZoR]

afaik all these NVIDIA cards have physical power sensors on the board which provide near-realtime measurements.

So, if I set my GTX 980 TDP and PWR limit in BIOS to 150W, that should result in graphic card actually being limited to real 150W? And if GPU-Z is showing PWR with green graph, it's hitting this limit, right?

Which means defred34 is also hitting the 128W limit then.

How does this reflect the actual consumption? I've tested my GTX 980 with 250W and 150W limit and I didn't gain 100W at wall socket. It was just 50W How come?

 

[defred34]

afaik all these NVIDIA cards have physical power sensors on the board which provide near-realtime measurements.

So for a card with a TDP of 128W, can 100% value on GPU-Z be translated to 128W being drawn by the GPU?

 

[defred34]

So, if I set my GTX 980 TDP and PWR limit in BIOS to 150W, that should result in graphic card actually being limited to real 150W? And if GPU-Z is showing PWR with green graph, it's hitting this limit, right?

Which means defred34 is also hitting the 128W limit then.

How does this reflect the actual consumption? I've tested my GTX 980 with 250W and 150W limit and I didn't gain 100W at wall socket. It was just 50W How come?

Dude I have a hard time believing your card is actually hitting the 250W limit. How much have you overclocked it? 250W is far greater than the 165W reference design limit. I've check multiple aftermarket GTX 980 reviews and none go that high in the first place.

Is 250W the factory limit or your custom limit? What model of GTX 980? I will download the BIOS and check the actual limit for you.

 

[RejZoR]

250W was the upper limit (TDP and PWR), the lower one was around 200W I think, already forgot since I'm fiddling with it at higher limits for so long. I'm running it at 1443 MHz core and 8 GHz memory. And at 250W limits, it does sometimes drop clock to 1405 here and there with PWR indicator in GPU-Z. If I set it to 275W or 300W it stops doing that and runs at 1443 MHz all day long. But that also shows at noise levels because fans do spin a bit higher, meaning it is generating quite more heat.

 

[defred34]

What card? I'm interested to know for myself. The above 200/250W limits are at stock settings right?