Are you affected by gpu usage dropout? Here is how to test for it...
 
#1 Download & install unigine heaven 4.0. Get it here
 
#2 Download & install msi afterburner. Get it here
 
#3 Open nvidia control panel and set power management mode to prefer maximum performance. Reboot PC.
 
#4 Open Heaven 4.0 and adjust your settings to the following. For single screen users select a resolution that will allow yourself to view/run Heaven 4.0 & the MSI Afterburner hardware monitor on the screen at the same time.

 
#5 Screen should look exactly like this while testing...

NOTE: Freeze heaven 4.0 at this exact spot by selecting "Camera" inside heaven and selecting "Free" when the scene comes into view.
 
#6 Right click inside the MSI Afterburner hardware monitor and select clear history, this will reset min/max GPU1 Usage % back into the 90's.
 
#7 Monitor afterburner for an hour and watch to see if your GPU1 usage drops down to 0%.
NOTE: It's important that you not interrupt the process by looking/moving around inside heaven as this will make your GPU usage go up and down. Do not surf the web while testing also. You want the GPU1 usage % line inside the msi afterburner hardware monitor to stay solid the entire hour. Drops from 93-94% to 83-84% from time to time is normal. Drops over 10% are not normal.
 
#8 Report back if you're affected or not. State if you're running a single card, SLI, Tri-SLI, etc.
 
 
 
 
Here are my results. Right click on the images and open them to get a bigger picture.
 
347.09 SLI Enabled: Notice the drops to 0%.

331.82 SLI Enabled: No drops.

 
Each test was ran for one hour.
 
 
 
For 700/900 series users looks like you can use 344.11 to prevent the stutter/drop...
 

AthilarSo I've read that all drivers up to and including the 344.11 release will also stop the stuttering, but you have to put your computer to sleep and wake it up again in order for this to work.  You have to do this every time you reboot, too, or if you change any options in the nvidia control panel.

 
Some users have reported not having the stutter/dropout during benchmarks but instead have the stutter/dropout during gaming, so just because you don't have it in valley doesn't mean you're clear from the issue.
 
Driver 347.25 fixes this issue. 

un4givn85
ill test this when i get my 3975 970 ssc from step-up
 
what does this test serve exactly
why that scene i guess

The scene puts a good amount of load onto your GPU. Nvidia has a severe issue with their drivers. The GPU usage drop doesn't just happen in heaven 4.0, it happens in games & 3dmark as well. Drivers 344.67 through 347.09 have this issue. 331.82 & 331.93 do not.

The purpose of this thread is to help nvidia get off their lazy butt's and fix the issue. Paying high dollar for hardware that doesn't work properly due to crappy software is a bit irritating, so irritating some may return their GPU's because of it.

700 series users can go back to 331.82 & 331.93 to correct the drops. 900 series have no solution to the issue.

bcavnaugh
344.75 is what I have installed on my Titan Rig, so I should see this same problem correct?

Correct.

Sajin

bcavnaugh
344.75 is what I have installed on my Titan Rig, so I should see this same problem correct?
 
Now Testing will post when completed
 
Is the block in Yellow what your are testing?
 
 
I have a HardwareMonitoring.hml file as well if you want it?

Was that recorded just sitting still looking at the scene? Mine shows a flat line in GPU1 usage % and then every 20 mins or so my GPU1 usage % goes to 0 for second then shoots back up to the 90's. 

Yes, I did not touch the computer while it was running.
Log file  zip version
 From my log file:

I can test my 3-Way 980 cards later tomorrow.
 
 
 
Having problems with images on the site:

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Error

Reference ID:  20150106UXXYIF

I will run but without SLI.
 
Log File 
 Their log files suck
My FPS dropped from 150-160 down to the 50's with SLI Off.
New Log time dropped at 80, 06-01-2015 22:16:44
I do see it drop down to Zero, are you sure it is not just heaven?
 
I did this running Furry Donut Log File and did not see any drop downs at all.
 
I changed what was running and this is was you will see in the log file.
 
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:28, 99.000              ,70.000             
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:29, 99.000              ,69.000             
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:30, 3.000               ,0.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:31, 0.000               ,0.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:32, 0.000               ,0.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:33, 0.000               ,0.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:34, 0.000               ,0.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:35, 0.000               ,0.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:36, 31.000              ,3.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:37, 15.000              ,4.000              
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:38, 99.000              ,58.000             
80, 06-01-2015 22:36:39, 99.000              ,59.000   
 

Here are my results...
 
347.09 SLI Enabled: Notice the drops to 0%.

331.82 SLI Enabled: No drops.

 
Each test was ran for one hour.

Thank you for being so diligent with the community Sajin. A paragon for computer lovers.

Running this as we speak. Thank you for your concern and research Sajin. Could this be related to the "crashing to black screen" issue? I ran GPUz while playing Batman AO and just before crashing I have a GPU drop to 0%.

This is a problem that nVidia hasn't acknowledged yet as they claim to be 'unable to replicate' on their end. The thread on geforce forums almost stretches to 100 pages, but nVidia has not owned up to it yet. Their forum mods are gathering info from posters on forums.geforce.com>Geforce drivers>NVidia GeForce GTX 900 series feedback gathering (low GPU load and other issues), so if you have logs you can share, we hope that speeds up the process in having nvidia reproduce the issue.
 

LOLmach1ne
This is a problem that nVidia hasn't acknowledged yet as they claim to be 'unable to replicate' on their end. The thread on geforce forums almost stretches to 100 pages, but nVidia has not owned up to it yet. Their forum mods are gathering info from posters on forums.geforce.com>Geforce drivers>NVidia GeForce GTX 900 series feedback gathering (low GPU load and other issues), so if you have logs you can share, we hope that speeds up the process in having nvidia reproduce the issue.

I've reported this to nvidia directly months ago. Nvidia has done nothing to resolve the issue thus far.
 

ubbb69
Sajin my card does the same. I had hopes it was the gpu leaking enough voltage due to low asic #. I was thinking the vrm could not supply enough power on cards that leaked badly. I have a new card showing up monday. Maybe i rma a product that just has software issues. On lord of the rings and acu i have to downclock the card to play it without being booted out. Every time it drops framerate on gpuz shows voltage as per res.

It has nothing to do with ASIC %. All three of my cards range from 70% ASIC to 84%. All three drop to 0% usage when GPU1 drops to 0%.

I'll post back results when I get off work this evening! kind of interesting to be honest. I haven't noticed any major issues as far as gaming goes I want to say I had a brief split second lock-up in Battlefield 4 on 64-man Shanghai a week or so ago, but BF4 has always been quirky on that map lol.
 
P.S. +1 for Sajin being the man! he is the most helpful person you will find on these forums(no offense to others)

Has either nVidia or EVGA acknowledged this issue yet?

Sajin
I have not tried with k-boost enabled. I stopped using precision a while back due to all the issues it has.

We could try it on 4.2.1 which hasn't given me any issues at all -- still like it and I always game with k-boost enabled.
If we find it doesn't do it with K-Boost than we found a fix until Nvidia does something about it.
 

j2345912
 
 P.S. +1 for Sajin being the man! he is the most helpful person you will find on these forums(no offense to others)

Yes... he always tries to help anyone he can -- proposing a toast to Sajin (sound of clinking glasses all around)