RTX 3080 Crash to Desktop Problems Likely Connected to

Igor’s Lab has posted an attention-grabbing investigative article the place he advances a potential cause for the current crash to desktop issues for RTX 3080 homeowners. For one, Igor mentions how the launch timings have been a lot tighter than standard, with NVIDIA AIB companions having a lot much less time than can be ample to organize and completely take a look at their designs. One of the explanations this apparently occurred was that NVIDIA launched the suitable driver stack a lot later than standard for AIB companions; this meant that their precise testing and QA for produced RTX 3080 graphics playing cards was principally restricted to energy on and voltage stability testing, aside from precise gaming/graphics workload testing, which could have allowed for some less-than-stellar chip samples to be employed on among the corporations’ OC merchandise (which, with increased working frequencies and consequent broadband frequency mixtures, hit the obvious 2 GHz frequency wall that produces the crash to desktop).

Another cause for this, in accordance with Igor, is the precise “reference board” PG132 design, which is used as a reference, “Base Design” for companions to structure their customized playing cards round. The factor right here is that apparently NVIDIA’s BOM left open decisions by way of energy cleanup and regulation within the mounted capacitors. The Base Design options six necessary capacitors for filtering excessive frequencies on the voltage rails (NVVDD and MSVDD). There are quite a lot of decisions for capacitors to be put in right here, with various ranges of functionality. POSCAPs (Conductive Polymer Tantalum Solid Capacitors) are typically worse than SP-CAPs (Conductive Polymer-Aluminium-Electrolytic-Capacitors) that are outdated in high quality by MLCCs (Multilayer Ceramic Chip Capacitor, which should be deployed in teams). Below is the circuitry association employed under the BGA array the place NVIDIA’s GA-102 chip is seated, which corresponds to the central space on the again of the PCB.

In the pictures under, you possibly can see how NVIDIA and it is AIBs designed this regulator circuitry (NVIDIA Founders’ Edition, MSI Gaming X, ZOTAC Trinity, and ASUS TUF Gaming OC so as, from our opinions’ excessive decision teardowns). NVIDIA of their Founders’ Edition designs makes use of a hybrid capacitor deployment, with 4 SP-CAPs and two MLCC teams of 10 particular person capacitors every within the heart. MSI makes use of a single MLCC group within the central association, with 5 SP-CAPs guaranteeing the remainder of the cleanup duties. ZOTAC went the most affordable approach (which can be one of many causes their playing cards are additionally among the many least expensive), with a six POSCAP design (that are worse than MLCCs, keep in mind). ASUS, nonetheless, designed their TUF with six MLCC preparations – there have been no financial savings executed on this energy circuitry space.It’s doubtless that the crash to desktop issues are associated to each these points – and this may additionally justify why some playing cards stop crashing when underclocked by 50-100 MHz, since at decrease frequencies (and it will typically lead enhance frequencies to remain under the two GHz mark) there’s lesser broadband frequency combination occurring, which implies POSCAP options can do their job – even when simply barely.