HD 7750 GPU usage fluctuation

JRAtk94

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May 26, 2013
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Hey guys,

As of late, I've had problems with my HD 7750, in that it's GPU usage % in games fluctuates erratically from 100% down to as low as 20%. I've never had this problem before, and first found it when I started having FPS spikes in Skyrim. I opened up GPU-Z and ran it in background whilst playing, and found that the usage was doing this. I've never had this problem before, and I've never has FPS spikes before. It occurs in all games, including Skyrim, Bioshock Infinite and Far Cry 3.

I've overclocked it using MSI Afterburner from 800mhz Core and 1125mhz mem to 960mhz core and 1350mhz mem. Although this may be the root of the issue, I overclocked it months ago, yet the problem has only just turned up.

Any ideas as to how to solve this, or what is causing it would be greatly appreciated.

My PC:-
CPU - AMD Athlon II X4 640
GPU - XFX HD 7750 Core Edition
8gb Kingston Hyper-X Genesis RAM @ 1600mhz
ASRock N68-GS3 UCC (bios P1.40)

I'm running 13.6 Beta catalyst drivers.

Thanks for your time :)
 

JRAtk94

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May 26, 2013
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Found out what it was - nothing to do with hardware.
After flashing my bios to a newer version, a program was installed called "ASRock IES" - "Intelligent Energy Saver". It switched my power plan from "High Performance" to "IES", which had more restricted settings than Windows' own "Power Saver" plan.

God damn it, ASRock.