Overclockers.com: NVIDIA Says No to Voltage Control
This voltage control problem is kind of a strange situation. On the one hand we all want as much tools as needed for pushing the maximum out of a card, but on the other hand several community members have pointed out that these tools are taking the skill out of overclocking.
If Nvidia forcing vendors to no longer include voltage tools, then so be it. Just like with the GTX 680 Lightning, we still have the manual method!
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From this quote, it’s obvious that NVIDIA does not want their partners to supply any means of voltage control with the GK100 series of GPUs. This is a slap in the face to many of the enthusiasts and everyday overclockers who enjoy pushing hardware for that extra performance. That leaves the extreme, warranty-voiding modders that hardmod their GPUs with the ability to increase voltage for the Kepler cards and have a stress-free overclocking experience
The only fault of EVGA throughout this process of removing EVBot ports is that there wasn’t an official announcement before cards without EVBot ports were shipped or listed on their site. Also, a EVGA forums member pointed out that the picture of the GTX 680 Classified in their product section seems to have the EVBot port blacked out using something like MS Paint. So, from the outside looking in it looks like EVGA was trying to hide the fact that the GTX 680 Classified will no longer have EVBot support and hoping no one noticed.
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The questions that could not be answered were “Why is NVIDIA doing this?” and “Are they [NVIDIA] experiencing an increased level of RMAs? …as in, does real voltage control kill Kepler GPUs excessively fast?” and it would have been nice to to know the answer to these. Only NVIDIA knows exactly why they are holding back the potential of their GPUs by limiting the cards so much.
All this information makes it seem like it’s just a matter of time before NVIDIA snuffs out other voltage control features from other manufacturers. We know MSI and Galaxy have been having trouble getting NVIDIA to budge on allowing voltage control. ASUS has their GPU Hotwire feature, which can control GPU voltage when combined with their high-end motherboards (similar to EVGA’s EVBot). I haven’t heard or read anything about ASUS removing hotwire for NVIDIA cards, but it looks to be inevitable. We’ve sent an email to our contacts at ASUS asking about this and we’ll update with any information we get from them.
So, the AIB partners are not to blame here, it’s all NVIDIA.
Why restrict design and force turbo on overclockers. Look at HWBOT results database, GTX680 should have been smashing everything and flooding the servers but it's almost non-existent...................such a shame :o
Interesting questions (and answers) in the original article.
This also reminds me about the "oc skill"-discussion we had a while back in which software availability versus hardware modifications were linked to "ruining oc".
I wonder how this will impact future video card designs. Will it send the message to board partners that innovative designers are just a waste of money? or will it create a modding sub culture that offers up "gold finger" type devices that unlock board modifications.
Either way I don't see it helping the overclocking community all that much.
i told you about that restriction in June (external voltage control allowed) ... now are rules harder - no voltage control. period
http://hwbot.org/forum/showpost.php?p=183379&postcount=16
PS. MSI was first rules-breaker and Nvidia is pretty upset to MSI, MSI have experienced difficult moments, including restrictions on the allocation of chips.
I would kinda appreciate if this leads us back to the good old hardmods. Like you meantioned: I like to see skilled modding.
Will be harder to RMA the cards if they see all the soldering of new chips haha
I'd like to clarify one thing in a question I asked EVGA for the article.
This is for Vince's benefit too as I don't want to take anything away from his accomplishments. Everything he does I probably could not do. He has more clocking and modding skills in his little finger than I have in my entire body. After re-reading it, that question could easily be mis-interpreted as 'anyone can do what he can with evbot' and that was not the intent.
The point has to do with the Classified GPU itself. He is out there showing what classified GPUs can do, presumably showing off the fact that they are an amazing product out of the box. Obviously a big part of that is because of EVBot allowing easy overvoltage by using that feature. Now, EVGA has taken that away. Thus, any card with a strong enough power plane is, in theory, just as good as the Classified; because they took away the part that makes them so valuable.
So the records he keeps setting are stellar, and I certainly hope he keeps setting more. But without the voltage control, they're a function of true, modding-oriented overclocking of the GTX 680 GPU itself, not a function of the product EVGA is putting out. Considering that card costs $630.00 and they don't plan on reducing it, that's why I see a problem there.
Chil I2C controller still works XD I think nvidia needs to stfu and lets us bench....
IMO, you are miles off the point.
The best overclocks are more likely to come from the cards with the best PWM. This is gonna sound harsh.... it's not meant personally:
If you don't think the Classified '680 is a better card, go buy the reference card and see how far ya get with it. Do the same with Fermi.
The community has been spoiled with software control over the last 3 years. Mods can and will be done at hardware level. It just got less convenient to get crazy with current and voltage.
A much bigger concern is the potential loss of frequency tuning. "oh.... if there is no voltage tuning, there is no point in giving options to 2GHz core" etc
IMO, you failed to read my post: "Thus, any card with a strong enough power plane is, in theory, just as good as the Classified; because they took away the part that makes them so valuable. "
EDIT - It didn't sound harsh, nor was it taken personally, but thank you for considering that.
I interpreted that as a much smaller point you were making. :) I didn't not read it, I just focussed on a different part of your post :)
this is such a non issue XD, the freakin pads are right there solder 5 wires in and connect your damn evbot still! dont be lazzzy.
I'll do you one better - buy one of these, take a pin out, solder it on and you're back in business.
But it's the principle of the thing!
^Your link doesn't work. but this is interesting. I don't have the $ to get a 680, let alone risking that much money to hard mod it.
I remember the days when vgpu mod was just a simple vr, now its upper, lower, crapper level of vgpu depending on state, stupid mods, the HD5870 SOC vgpu nightmare.
- Hope it will be simple, then hardmod are quite ok by me :-P
Strange, it works for me. Here's a screenshot if it helps. :)
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So really if your a bencher with money to blow (or are sponsored) the get a 680 or 2,3,4 and hard mod it or wise go the 7970 as its cheaper and doesnt cost us mere mortals our souls in order to get a record? GTX 580 ftw!
or just 7970FTW lol. That is sad too b/c i like nvidia, this is just mean of them.
Please explain to me how it's "mean" to save money on RMA's.
This is no issue to a real overclocker.
while every manufacturer, even Intel, is making overclocking easier and mainstream, nvidia isn't. I am a fan of nvidia, I know there is a point where volt mods separate the men from boys, but this is just a step in the wrong direction. IMO i am all about getting new people into overclocking so that perhaps one day they can get into extreme overclocking, LLC alone has brought many people the ability to overclock at whatever skill level compared to the old days when people thought they had to void their warranties and risk killing their board to overclock.
I might be going off on a bit of a tangent to what you were saying but maybe this is one reason why software control is bad.... people can pump mental volts and MHz into their gear and because it's "clean" and so effortless they feel as though they can RMA no problem if/when things go wrong. The card is physically untampered with, the software is polished and easy to use.
I know, we've had it for CPUs for....ever :p but maybe this is some kinda teething process or adolescence for graphics cards. I'm genuinely surprised that any/every mobo has access to CPU + memory killing options out the box for anyone to use.
I think the extreme community couldn't care less about lack of software voltage regulation if only hardware mods were not protected by various NDAs on PWM components as they are now.
Hipro5 didn't care about NDA when he released all those GTX480 mods :)
not everyone is hipro5
...They just wish they were..:p
We think: having access to NDA Datasheets have nothing to do with Skill. With public voltmods the community will see that it is not just a matter of the missing tools.
This was the first thing I thought of when I heard that the connector was gone. So is it true the functionality is still there? or is it missing other key componets for a proper connection?Please log in or register to comment.