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[The Cowboy]

Why specifically sli users?

I'd say because of all the users likely to get past the 3.6gb usage to have the issue, it would be SLI users.

 

[Naked Snake]

Why specifically sli users?

I guess because they're more likely to use higher graphics settings and resolutions, which in turn result in higher memory usage, so more likely to hit the 4GB ceiling.

 

[Kevyt]

I remember reading that only certain brands were affected. Otherwise, does this affect each and every single 970 regardless of brand (Zotac, EVGA, Gigabyte)? Then, that sucks...

 

[cheezcake]

We got any GAF 970 owners with Wolfenstein TNO on their computer? Game is openGL so would be nice if you could check the VRAM management in that game to test if its a driver bug related to DirectX games as a couple of sources have theorised it could be.

 

[Naked Snake]

We got any GAF 970 owners with Wolfenstein TNO on their computer? Game is openGL so would be nice if you could check the VRAM management in that game to test if its a driver bug related to DirectX games as a couple of sources have theorised it could be?

What's the best way to test it? Can GPU-Z log VRAM bandwidth?

 

[Dictator93]

What's the best way to test it? Can GPU-Z log VRAM bandwidth?

MSI afterburner is the best

 

[Naked Snake]

So do we know if this is a chipset wide problem or isolated to a manufacturer?

I remember reading that only certain brands were affected. Otherwise, does this affect each and every single 970 regardless of brand (Zotac, EVGA, Gigabyte)? Then, that sucks...

I don't know, but from someone on the geforce forums:

yes it affects all GTX970 cards:


https://www.reddit.com/r/pcgaming/comments/2s2968/gtx970_memoryvram_allocation_bug/


http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=4991040


http://www.overclock.net/t/1535502/gtx-970s-can-only-use-3-5gb-of-4gb-vram-issue


http://www.computerbase.de/forum/showthread.php?t=1435408


(just google the problem, you'll find more sources and discussions)

 

[cheezcake]

What's the best way to test it? Can GPU-Z log VRAM bandwidth?

I second afterburner

 

[ussjtrunks]

It effects my evga sc model anyway, but i was able to force it in unity by ramping up AA however unity then ran at 20 fps

 

[Daingurse]

Christ, I know what I'll be doing this evening. Staring at an OSD.

 

[iceatcs]

Why specifically sli users?

Well single 970 would be fine for 1080p/some 1440p not heavy memory as 4K.

For 4K better need SLi 970 on depend game that might be close to the limit. What I meant that I see SLI users want go for top of everything, resolution, setting and framerate. Those cost of memory.

 

[Mononoke]

Just pretend you don't know about it and you'll feel better. The cards obviously still run well despite this since it's taken this long for anyone to notice (they came out in what, September 2014?)

Pretty much. I mean, if you didn't know the issues existed, you might not have noticed. Still, sucks to drop any amount of money on something like this, and then find out it has issues.

Also I agree, as long as they fix it quickly, that's reasonable. But I would still be irked dropping that kind of cash though and finding out it has those kind of issues.

 

[Twenty7KVN]

I will accept a free upgrade from my 970 to a 980.

I like the way you think.

 

[Serandur]

I've been noticing this issue with my SLI 970 setup for a few weeks now and it is annoying me. I originally upgraded from my old 780 to my first 970 specifically for VRAM and the VRAM was the same reason I thought I had enough headroom for SLI to be viable, but my 970s are always slamming into that 3.5 GB VRAM wall and then stuttering/hitching as cards usually do when lacking a large enough framebuffer.

It's disgusting and with everything else Nvidia have been doing with overpricing their chips, limiting VRAM in general, doing a piss-poor job truly supporting their SLI tech (where's my MFAA?), and now this... so help me I'm done with Nvidia products if they don't fix this one way or another and relatively soon. I am absolutely livid with Nvidia and wish I had just gone with a 290 way back when instead of wading through this mess of regret and lost money.

 

[jfoul]

Just pretend you don't know about it and you'll feel better. The cards obviously still run well despite this since it's taken this long for anyone to notice (they came out in what, September 2014?)

The Way It's Meant to be Played.

 

[SpotAnime]

Why specifically sli users?

Probably because they got screwed twice instead of just the price of one card like us non-SLI users.

 

[Nethaniah]

Hope for all owners that this is just a software issue.

Nvidia better get on fixing this one way or another.

 

[Allnamestakenlol]

Wow, wt-actual-f??

 

[Metalstrike]

Well this sucks!

My Gigabyte 970 runs fine without any issues but I only run a single card at 1080p max, so no frame buffer pushing here. Still, hope this issue can get fixed.

 

[Bornstellar]

970 owner reporting.

I want answers.

 

[Coldsun]

Hrmm, this might actually explain the issues I've had with my 3way

 

[zXe]

Where have Nvidia said that they are looking into the problem?

 

[timetokill]

970 owner here. This better get fixed. Loving the card otherwise though.

 

[Lain]

This explains why Mordor would stutter out of the blue at times when playing with Ultra textures. Hopefully it's fixable and Nvidia fixes it quickly, because it majorly sucks.

 

[TheChewyWaffles]

That guru3d thread seemed to indicate this could be a non-issue.

 

[Yoda]

You guys realize the irony of someone having to do a very discrete test to find this out as opposed to finding out via not hitting the consumer's perceived performance targets?

 

[Naked Snake]

We got any GAF 970 owners with Wolfenstein TNO on their computer? Game is openGL so would be nice if you could check the VRAM management in that game to test if its a driver bug related to DirectX games as a couple of sources have theorised it could be.

What's the name of the data field that I need to select in MSI Afterburner? With everything logged the file is hard to read. I tried doing one for "Memory usage" and "Framerate" enabled but it didn't show memory speeds.

I ran Wofl:TNO at 3840x2400 (4.00x DSR) and everything maxed out in the game. Set "Override application setting" for anti-aliasing in Nvidia control panel, at 4x and 2x supersampling for transparency, because the game doesn't offer AA options in the menu.

Memory usage peaked at around 3790MB and framerate was all over the place.

02, 23-01-2015 04:29:01, Memory usage        ,Framerate  
 
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:36, 3071.168            ,115.600             
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:37, 3615.418            ,113.500             
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:38, 3615.418            ,166.500             
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:39, 3615.418            ,166.600             
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:40, 3615.418            ,166.500             
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:41, 3615.418            ,166.400             
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:42, 3534.043            ,50.800              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:43, 3790.043            ,12.700              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:44, 3790.043            ,22.700              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:45, 3790.043            ,22.900              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:46, 3790.043            ,20.400              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:47, 3790.043            ,23.000              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:48, 3790.043            ,22.400              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:49, 3790.043            ,22.400              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:50, 3790.043            ,22.900              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:51, 3790.043            ,23.100              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:52, 3790.043            ,34.800              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:53, 3790.043            ,38.200              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:54, 3790.043            ,48.300              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:55, 3790.043            ,40.400              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:56, 3790.043            ,38.400              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:57, 3790.043            ,33.200              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:58, 3790.043            ,17.800              
80, 23-01-2015 04:31:59, 3534.043            ,17.000              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:00, 3788.043            ,10.900              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:01, 3788.043            ,21.800              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:02, 3788.043            ,21.700              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:03, 3788.043            ,18.800              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:04, 3788.043            ,28.400              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:05, 3788.043            ,21.900              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:06, 3788.043            ,14.700              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:07, 3788.043            ,20.100              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:08, 3788.043            ,22.900              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:09, 3788.043            ,19.600              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:10, 3788.043            ,19.100              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:11, 3788.043            ,15.700              
80, 23-01-2015 04:32:12, 3788.043            ,16.000

It's from this area in the game Edit: sorry gigantic and compressed screenshot.

I kept walking back and forth through this tunnel. No enemies or anything happening. Don't know if you can interpret anything from the data without seeing the vram speed.

Where have Nvidia said that they are looking into the problem?

It's linked and quoted in the OP.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Gonna be real fucked up if it's a permanent issue that they can't fix. Curious to see how they respond if that turns out to be the case.

 

[nextgeneration]

Man, this has the potential to really blow up if this is indeed a hardware issue. Hopefully, that's not the case here, and this can be fixed ASAP in a driver/hotfix update. Nvidia really needs to act on this quickly.

 

[Brandon F]

I JUST bought one.

damn bruh

Same. Thought it would pull me back into PC gaming...fuck.

 

[Hero_of_the_Day]

Same. Thought it would pull me back into PC gaming...fuck.

It's still as good of a card as it was before you found out about this (which is to say it's a great card). Just an odd situation in that the question becomes "how much better could it be?"

 

[Mononoke]

Same. Thought it would pull me back into PC gaming...fuck.

Sorry to hear that :/

 

[mugurumakensei]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW3GdR4Gnzc&x-yt-ts=1421914688&x-yt-cl=84503534#t=222

It might be game dependent. Assassin's Creed Unity seems to handle 3.9 Gigs VRAM allocated fine.

 

[Rogue_Ledr]

Does the 980 have this issue with its VRAM?

I was considering a new system with one of those.

 

[Naked Snake]

Does the 980 have this issue with its VRAM?

I was considering a new system with one of those.

No it doesn't. Says in the OP.

 

[Huge Succeeded]

i got one of these.

is this pressing enough of an issue that i should have it replaced with something else? i really don't like the idea that there's some magic cutoff point where my games could start inexplicably running like shit because of faulty hardware.

 

[Daingurse]

Totally have this issue, Gigabyte card. Tried out Crysis 3 and Watch Dogs, FPS does completely tank past 3.7GB, damn. I don't think I've really experienced problems personally up unto this point, outside of maybe Mordor in retrospect . . .

I'm definitely not happy. Hopefully something that can be fixed via a driver or an RMA. Paid too much money for this of shit.

 

[Bastables]

Good to know, I was thinking of grabbing a 970. I'll probably go AMD when I do grab a new card.

 

[Dryk]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW3GdR4Gnzc&x-yt-ts=1421914688&x-yt-cl=84503534#t=222

It might be game dependent. Assassin's Creed Unity seems to handle 3.9 Gigs VRAM allocated fine.

It probably depends on what the game is trying to load into that part of the memory

 

[TAJ]

Hmmm... I've got a 970, too, and I don't recall experiencing this in Mordor. I actually went from a AMD 7970 (3GB) to a 970 midway through the game and it obviously ran a lot better on the 970 even after turning on Ultra textures. I didn't get any weird stuttering, but I definitely experienced some tearing.

Then again, I wasn't monitoring VRAM usage, so I can't be sure if I ever went to 3.6GB or higher.

You might not be playing with Ultra textures. Just turning on the setting does nothing unless you also download with HD texture pack, which has to be done manually.

the posts before that where the guy seemingly made up some fake dialog box to prove his point........ I died

There are some real situations like that where the game can't believe you have as much VRAM as you do and thinks it has to be a mistake. GTAIV is like that. If you have too much VRAM (over 2GB, I think) it thinks you have a tiny amount and locks you to lowest settings across the board, including resolution.

 

[codhand]

Fix before Witcher 3, and I forgive you.

 

[Kuro]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PW3GdR4Gnzc&x-yt-ts=1421914688&x-yt-cl=84503534#t=222

It might be game dependent. Assassin's Creed Unity seems to handle 3.9 Gigs VRAM allocated fine.

If its game dependent than this is probably a software issue. I haven't tested this on my 970 yet but I will definitely want some compensation if its something they can't fix because I was planning on going SLI in the future.

 

[Renekton]

I'm not an expert, but this doesn't sound like a HW issue so it should be fixable.

(yay Nvidia gets more driver issues than AMD recently)

 

[Spineker]

For fuck sake, I bought a 970 1 week ago without knowing a thing about this. Nvidia better be able to fix it otherwise this is class action territory.

 

[RurouniZel]

I just got this about a month ago. How do I run a test to see if mine is acting this way, or is it across the board?

 

[Vamphuntr]

I just got this about a month ago. How do I run a test to see if mine is acting this way, or is it across the board?

It's across the board.

 

[RurouniZel]

It's across the board.

Damn, feel jibbed.

 

[Naked Snake]

Damn, feel jibbed.

Hold your horses. If you haven't ran into the issue during your gaming so far AND if it's fixed in software soon then you don't really have a reason to feel jibbed. Yet.

 

[Serandur]

I posted this elsewhere, but I think it actually seems more likely that the issue is hardware-related and cannot be fixed. Here's an illustration of GM204 (the chip inside the 970 and the 980)

Three of those sixteen SMMs are cut/disabled to make a 970 whereas the 980 gets all sixteen fully enabled. It seems that each of the four 64-bit memory controllers corresponds with each of the four raster engines and in the same way that the 970's effective pixel fillrate has been demonstrated to be lower than the 980's even though SMM cutting leaves the ROPs fully intact (http://techreport.com/blog/27143/here-another-reason-the-geforce-gtx-970-is-slower-than-the-gtx-980), the same situation may apply to bandwidth with Maxwell causing the 970s to have this VRAM issue while the 980s don't. However, the issue may be completely independent of which SMMs are cut and may simply relate to how many.

GM206's block diagram demonstrates the same raster engine to memory controller ratio/physical proximity:

I expect a cut-down GM206 part and even a GM200 part will exhibit the same issue as a result, it might be intrinsically tied to how Maxwell as an architecture operates. Cut down SMMs -> effectively mess up ROP and memory controller behavior as well as shaders and TMUs. I also don't think there's a chance in hell Nvidia were unaware of this, but I could be wrong.

 

[RurouniZel]

Hold your horses. If you haven't ran into the issue during your gaming so far AND if it's fixed in software soon then you don't really have a reason to feel jibbed. Yet.

Can't help but wonder if a memory issue is why I'm currently having this issue with the Monster Hunter Online Benchmark.