Power limit GPU for best performance per watt

[mi7chy]

Use command-line 'nvidia-smi' tool built into Nvidia driver to tune the power limit of GPU for best performance per watt resulting in less wasted energy, lower heat output, quieter fan speed and possibly avoid having to spend money on a power supply upgrade. Equivalent AMD tool TBD.

Free Steam Wukong benchmark will be used at 1080p, framerate cap off, v-sync off, motion blur strong, DLSS super resolution 100%, frame generation off, ray tracing off, cinematic graphics settings:

Black Myth: Wukong Benchmark Tool on Steam

The "Black Myth: Wukong Benchmark Tool" is a PC benchmark application specifically developed for "Black Myth: Wukong". It evaluates your hardware performance and system compatibility through the real-time rendering of an in-game sequence.

store.steampowered.com

'nvidia-smi' syntax to query GPU for default, min, max and configured power limit from Windows command prompt or Linux terminal:

nvidia-smi -q -d POWER

Example, to query 4080 Super:

nvidia-smi -q -d POWER

==============NVSMI LOG==============

Timestamp                                 : Tue Sep  3 01:02:12 2024
Driver Version                            : 560.94
CUDA Version                              : 12.6

Attached GPUs                             : 1
GPU 00000000:01:00.0
    GPU Power Readings
        Power Draw                        : 11.76 W
        Current Power Limit               : 150.00 W
        Requested Power Limit             : 150.00 W
        Default Power Limit               : 320.00 W
        Min Power Limit                   : 150.00 W
        Max Power Limit                   : 352.00 W
    Power Samples
        Duration                          : 9.15 sec
        Number of Samples                 : 119
        Max                               : 51.26 W
        Min                               : 10.72 W
        Avg                               : 13.84 W
    GPU Memory Power Readings
        Power Draw                        : N/A
    Module Power Readings
        Power Draw                        : N/A
        Current Power Limit               : N/A
        Requested Power Limit             : N/A
        Default Power Limit               : N/A
        Min Power Limit                   : N/A
        Max Power Limit                   : N/A

'nvidia-smi' syntax for setting GPU power limit from Windows command prompt (run as administrator) or sudo Linux:
X = power limit in watts

nvidia-smi -pl X

To set power limit to 150W:

nvidia-smi -pl 150
Power limit for GPU 00000000:01:00.0 was set to 150.00 W from 320.00 W.
All done.

For this particular 4080 Super and silicon lottery, the best efficiency range is <225W 70% power limit and the sweet spot is near 54.7% 175W for best performance per watt with peak total system power consumption from wall at 250W.

150W 46.9% power limit, 54fps, 0.360 frame/watt, 2.78 watt/frame
163W 50.9% power limit, 59fps, 0.362 frame/watt, 2.76 watt/frame
175W 54.7% power limit, 64fps, 0.366 frame/watt, 2.73 watt/frame
188W 58.8% power limit, 68fps, 0.362 frame/watt, 2.76 watt/frame
200W 62.5% power limit, 70fps, 0.350 frame/watt, 2.86 watt/frame
225W 70.3% power limit, 72fps, 0.320 frame/watt, 3.13 watt/frame
250W 78.1% power limit, 73fps, 0.292 frame/watt, 3.42 watt/frame
320W 100% power limit, 76fps, 0.238 frame/watt, 4.21 watt/frame

Optionally, you can create a batch file then use Task Scheduler to set the power limit on Windows startup (remember to set the task to 'run with highest privileges').

 

[Macalicious2011]

Nice to see figures evidence. Both my 4070ti super and 5800x3d are slightly undervolted. They run cooler and gaming performance is unaffected.

 

[komuh]

Yea this is kinda classic especially with older GPUs, I have my 3090 power limited to 85% with like 3% performance loss in most games.