What am i missing here?
I purchased a 970, oc'd to 1485 core/3920mhz memory. Stable.
Currently using Evga Precision 5.3.6.

Power Target: 109%
Gpu Temp Target: 82 degrees
Gpu Offset: +120
Memory Clock Offset: +420
+6mV Over voltage

Under load temps never going above 65 degrees. Mostly in the 40-50's under load.

Playing 95% games including Arkham Knight, Shadow of Mordor, Skyforge, Swtor, WoW, and many older games.
The card not only does not maintain boost, but runs at a measily 749-1114mhz in many games, meanwhile these games will be running at less than 60fps(many times in the 28-30fps) where the card should be achieving that target easily @1080p.

What is going on? Is this my own user error?

Is there anything that can be done about this Nvidia boost manually without resorting to k-boost?

Thanks for any helpful advice.
 

j2345912
Make sure Vsync isn't enabled in the games you mentioned. Saying many times that you're in the 30FPS range or less than 60 seems like it could be possible. If your cards are only allowed to achieve a max frame-rate of say 30FPS, then your card is smart enough to know it doesn't need to boostJust trying to cover the easy stuff for now.

I appreciate the response, but i'm not sure i understand?..
Vsync is indeed enabled. For instance, i'm playing Swtor or Skyforge and running 60fps, but the clock is hovering around the 749-1114mhz mark. I then run into a heavily populated area and frames go down to 35-45fps, clock does nothing.. It sits there being useless while the game runs worse. Again temps seem fine around the 45 degree area.
 
I never play with Vsync disabled due to tearing obviously, but i can and will disable it if this will help find out why Boost clock is not working as intended. 

dsquires

j2345912
Make sure Vsync isn't enabled in the games you mentioned. Saying many times that you're in the 30FPS range or less than 60 seems like it could be possible. If your cards are only allowed to achieve a max frame-rate of say 30FPS, then your card is smart enough to know it doesn't need to boostJust trying to cover the easy stuff for now.

I appreciate the response, but i'm not sure i understand?..
Vsync is indeed enabled. For instance, i'm playing Swtor or Skyforge and running 60fps, but the clock is hovering around the 749-1114mhz mark. I then run into a heavily populated area and frames go down to 35-45fps, clock does nothing.. It sits there being useless while the game runs worse. Again temps seem fine around the 45 degree area.
 
I never play with Vsync disabled due to tearing obviously, but i can and will disable it if this will help find out why Boost clock is not working as intended. 

Have you tried using adaptive Vsync?

You may be cornfused*. You state "it is stable at 1485" yet you say it bounces everywhere sometimes. This may be a driver or game issue and it also may be other stability issues.

Gpu boost 2.0 ONLY boosts when it can. If the card is never making it to stock clocks, how is it supposed to boost past them? What settings are you running. I see 1080p@60hz, but not game settings. Please don't say you are using GeForce Experience to set your settings in game... I will cry as I tell you to remove it. If you are, use DDU (display driver uninstaller) and get it off your pc immediately as it may be contributing to the issue.

Next, set everything to max settings and see what it does. Don't hold back, it's only 1080p and should be fine. Right click and go into Nvidia control panel, and set performance to maximum instead of adaptive in the global setting. If that helps, go game by game and set it to performance but change global settings back to adaptive, or your card will stay boosted at the desktop as well.

Updating the driver 353.38 hot fix (linked on the forums, search it to find it easiest) and then install "custom" not express. Express is for the people that buy the cheapest pc and refuse to try understanding it. You want custom, then only install the driver and PhysX. Do NOT install GFE or any of that other garbage. You aren't using 3d, so why would you need 3d drivers?

See if any of that helps. Report back later. :-D

P.S. Turn VSYNC off and see if it boosts all the way. You can easily turn it back on later. I just wanted to say something about VSync also ;-)


*lol, too funny to not type it wrong as well :-)

dsquires
 Or am i cornfused? 

Unplug a monitor and see if the issue goes away. I have a 970 and it only works properly with two monitors and the third makes it all funny like what you describe. I got approved for an RMA and that didn't help as the replacment just had the same issue and coil whine. So I was lead believe it was just an issue with the card.

If you want the card to stay at high boost, disable vsync. If you have vsync enabled, the card won't boost high when it doesn't need to due to framerate caps. Standard vsync will lock at 60 FPS, 45 FPS, 30 FPS, and 15 FPS on a 60 hz monitor. That would be why you are seeing framerate jump around between 30, 45, and 60 FPS (and slight variations between those values as it shifts from one divider to another divider. FPS changing all over the place will lower load. Lower load will lower the boost clock. Lower boost clock increases the load. Framerate, load, and boost clock will bounce around everywhere.

Disable vsync or use adaptive vsync. See the difference. Google adaptive vsync and see the description for why it was invented. ;)