Hey all, not sure if anyone else is seeing this issue but I wanted to post it and see if there’s any fix for it.
ISSUE: While playing, PC fans will randomly go SILENT from it’s usual jet engine speeds. I’ll also notice my mic turns off and on, and it always prompts the Windows noise notification, like you know when you plug in a new device or unplug a device (Driver sound notification). That sound will go off. Nothing negative typically happens - game or PC has never shut off - but its weird. My Corsair h100i RGB also will shut off so it’s spooky.
Simply because a game (any game) have no control over your fan speeds. It is hardware (and software in a form of drivers) which controls it, end of story. And if fan speeds are irrational, then it’s hardware which you must turn into when investigating this issue. Game has nothing to do with your fan speeds.
Not sure your reading comprehension is in tact. The drivers shut off, mic shuts off, audio drivers go wonky - all only when Diablo is in use for extended periods of time.
The fans shutting off and restarting are one of the many effects.
Hardware issue. PSU could be dying. Motherboard could be dying. Overclock may be wrong if any. So many hardware causes. None of the is the game. Game has nothing to do with your audio drivers, GPU drivers, GPU stability, CPU stability. It’s all on you to make sure the hardware is 100% operational before you attempt to launch very demanding game.
I’m able to play Cyberpunk 2077 in 2k for hours (objectively more taxing game hardware-wise) and I’ll have none of these issues. Surely isn’t a coincidence for Diablo right?
How did you determine Cyberpunk is more taxing game hardware-wise? Can you elaborate? Did you measure power usage at the wall?
Besides, hard to argue with someone who doesn’t understand how to open Windows Event Viewer to check for driver errors and blame a game instead. Easiest path to blame, right?
Not to mention this could be power issue, PSU, GPU, overclock and so on.
The entire 3080/3090 series are known and notorious for having issues, especially the Gigabyte brands for starters.
What piorunz is trying to get at is that the game is stressing the card hard enough to show you that there are problems.
Now.
Those problems could be ANY of the following:
Defect in the card itself. Meaning issues with the card physically (some cards have even been found to crack), issues with the power management VRM on the card.
Then you have issues with the cooling, especially regarding the VRAM chips, dust or buildup in the cooler/fans, or fan curves from the factory that stop because they are incorrectly programed from the factory, leading to shut downs.
Issues with the power supply, IE, insufficient power, incorrectly cabled, or not able to handle transient spikes of power usage, or actually going bad/defective, overheating.
These problems do not mean there is a problem with the game itself. In fact some cards have been found to have bad fan curve profiles installed, that do random weird things with fan speeds under certain conditions. Which sounds a lot like what you are dealing with. You may want to download and use MSI Afterburner and custom set a fan curve. I did this for my 3070Ti, not because I had to, but as a precaution, knowing the 30 series have some quirks in general.
However my suggestions are this:
Clean out all fans and heatsinks for everything, and the PSU.
Make sure you have correctly cabled the GPU. It should have a dedicated 8 wire cable from the PSU for EACH 8 pin connector. Do not piggy back any cables or use a 6 wire cable to support an 8 pin connection.
Make sure you are running a MINIMUM of 850W. I recommend a 1000W or better PSU for a 3080 to be safe. Its always better to have more than have just enough, as this will lower the threshold for a power spike that may cause the system to shut down as a safety measure.
Run a temperature monitor tool. HWMonitor is a good choice. You should be able to see the VRAM temps with this, and they will be the hottest part on your card, not the GPU. As a result, since the fan speeds are relative to the GPU temp, and not the VRAM temps, the card can actually overheat, since the fans don’t ramp up enough. Hence the suggestion for MSI Afterburner to set your own custom fan curve to ward off that issue.