Unstable GPU Load HD7950 Sapphire Vapor-x

CirdyGu · Jun 25, 2013

Hi, i have recently purchased a Radeon HD7950 Vapor-x and when i run certain applications (such as Guild Wars 2 or a video on Windows Media Player) GPU jumps up to 99% load and keeps going up and down.

For example while i play GW2 load stays between 60% (which i suppose to be the normal load it should work around) and 99%. My FPS sometimes "drops" from 60 (cap) to 40-45 and i think, giving a look to benchmarks, it should not happen.

What i would like to know is: is that normal? Is that normal to happen with programs like Windows Media Player?

I tried also with League of Legends and it does not happen (btw it is a really light game).

I don't think is does affect Temp (max Load temp 65/66°C).

My comp is:

Ram: Corsair 8GB 1600Mhz
Proc: i5-3570
PSU: Antec Bronze Modular 620W
Graphic: Sapphire HD7950 Vapor-x
MoBo: AsRock z77

Thanks for your attention.

Djentleman · Jun 25, 2013

CirdyGu :

Hi, i have recently purchased a Radeon HD7950 Vapor-x and when i run certain applications (such as Guild Wars 2 or a video on Windows Media Player) GPU jumps up to 99% load and keeps going up and down.

For example while i play GW2 load stays between 60% (which i suppose to be the normal load it should work around) and 99%. My FPS sometimes "drops" from 60 (cap) to 40-45 and i think, giving a look to benchmarks, it should not happen.

What i would like to know is: is that normal? Is that normal to happen with programs like Windows Media Player?

I tried also with League of Legends and it does not happen (btw it is a really light game).

I don't think is does affect Temp (max Load temp 65/66°C).

My comp is:

Ram: Corsair 8GB 1600Mhz
Proc: i5-3570
PSU: Antec Bronze Modular 620W
Graphic: Sapphire HD7950 Vapor-x
MoBo: AsRock z77

Thanks for your attention.

99% gpu usage is really nothing to worry about. In fact, i would debate that it's optimal. But it depends on the application.

CirdyGu · Jun 25, 2013

Is it ok even if it fluctuates? I mean, it keeps going from 60% to 90% and then back to 60% a lot of times in one second.

Thank you.

Djentleman · Jun 25, 2013

CirdyGu :

Sometimes that can be because of the game engine; it can also be caused by a bottleneck or drivers.
Have you put the power limiter to 20+? The way to do this is to - go into catalyst; go to the performance tab. Click "overdrive", and once you agree to the terms you will be able to scroll down and see "Power control setting". Set that to max and see if it helps.

CirdyGu · Jun 25, 2013

Nope, i haven't tried it yet. I'm gonna try it as soon as i am home.

ps: does this violate warranty?

trolling troll · Jun 25, 2013

If there are terms of service then most likely it does, your cpu wouldnt cause a bottleneck it's a paradigm for medium high class cpu's, I usually have 90-99 % load on everything I do includiong media player, even playing minecraft

, as djengentleman said, it's probably because of the game engine or related cause. Nothing to worry about, and if you are pressed about it, I would OC it, but all in all it might be just a false report on the sensor end

Djentleman · Jun 25, 2013

CirdyGu :

Wow, then that is most likely what is causing it.
What it does is keep the card from throttling by letting you choose how much power the card can withdraw.

Edit: No it will not void your warranty! Just don't change the VDDC if you're worried about that.

CirdyGu · Jun 25, 2013

Ok, thank you.
I haven't tried yet.
Just a curiosity: what does this overdrive actually do? Is it more like "unlock stronger features" or a "force more features"? Does it mean more heat?

I'm just curious, i trust you XD I'm gonna try this evening XD

Djentleman · Jun 25, 2013

CirdyGu :

It allows you to overclock your graphics card and make tweeks to the clock speeds. Just put the power slider at 20+ for now though. I'm almost 100% sure that will fix your problem.

CirdyGu · Jun 25, 2013

Djentleman :

I tried, nothing happened. I had the results as default settings |:

Djentleman · Jun 25, 2013

CirdyGu :

So you had the card at default settings? Are you sure you turned the power slider to the max?

CirdyGu · Jun 26, 2013

Djentleman :

CirdyGu :

So you had the card at default settings? Are you sure you turned the power slider to the max?

If you mean the bar that goes from -20 to 20, yes |:

CirdyGu · Jun 30, 2013

Is it possible that my i5-3570 bottlenecks the 7950?

Djentleman · Jun 30, 2013

CirdyGu :

Sorry that i haven't been on to help you.
Not a single 7950 no.
Although i would overclock the cpu a bit, which doesn't hurt.
Are you still having an issue? Have you tried something like MSI afterburner or sapphire trixx? They're both overclocking softwares which can control board power LI

CirdyGu · Jul 1, 2013

Don't worry! Thank you for your attention!

At the moment i'm using MSI as realtime monitor but i haven't tried to overclock yet. In my mind i wasn't intentioned to do OC since i bought this PC to play with high setting in most games without doing it.

I'm saying this because my brother has got an HD6950 + i5-2500 and does not experience this problem (obviously he has lower FPS with the same settings, but GPU load is 30-40%).

May it be caused by some power saving settings somewhere?

CirdyGu · Jul 1, 2013

I just thought, i installed the graphic card by myself. So i thought about 2 thing.
Maybe that's caused by a wrong physical installation.
May i have plugged the card in the wrong slot? If yes, may it be the cause?
Or, may i have inserted wrong the PSU cable? Or something :|?

Djentleman · Jul 1, 2013

Just making sure, you are increasing this?
Pic:

It may be a loose pcie power cable. Make sure it's firm in the slot and it is getting proper power.

CirdyGu · Jul 2, 2013

My MSI menu looks different o,o

When you told me to change the power settings i tried to move to (20) the last bar in this menu

Djentleman · Jul 2, 2013

CirdyGu :

You need to update you MSI afterburner to the latest version.
When was the last time you downloaded it? Was it off of their website?

CirdyGu · Jul 3, 2013

Djentleman :

I had some settings changed, now i have your same interface.
I tried changing che power to 20 from MSI and CCC, nothing happened.

Others told me is 99% a bottleneck effect but i can't understand how it can be possibile since my CPU and GPU are at the real same level and bottleneck mostly happen with a high-end graphic card and an ultra-old CPU.

I also noticed that GPU load lowers FPS only when a stronger computation is required.
In GW2 while outdoor (farming, leveling or simply alone) fps are most of time 60 (cap) but when in big cities they they drop to 30-45 and if a turn my camera a bit fast they go down to 20 and then back to 30-45 whch may be a consequence of bottleneck (as someone suggested to me).
As i said before, my brother also plays this game and runs almost always at 25-30 (everywhere) with a decent GPU load (30-40%) with an HD6950 and i5-2500.
Those components, compared one to each other, are like the HD7950 and i5-3570. These does not really explain why this happens to me.

Djentleman · Jul 3, 2013

CirdyGu :

Djentleman :

I had some settings changed, now i have your same interface.
I tried changing che power to 20 from MSI and CCC, nothing happened.

Others told me is 99% a bottleneck effect but i can't understand how it can be possibile since my CPU and GPU are at the real same level and bottleneck mostly happen with a high-end graphic card and an ultra-old CPU.

I also noticed that GPU load lowers FPS only when a stronger computation is required.
In GW2 while outdoor (farming, leveling or simply alone) fps are most of time 60 (cap) but when in big cities they they drop to 30-45 and if a turn my camera a bit fast they go down to 20 and then back to 30-45 whch may be a consequence of bottleneck (as someone suggested to me).
As i said before, my brother also plays this game and runs almost always at 25-30 (everywhere) with a decent GPU load (30-40%) with an HD6950 and i5-2500.
Those components, compared one to each other, are like the HD7950 and i5-3570. These does not really explain why this happens to me.

Considering i have two 7950's and the same cpu just overclocked. I can assure you your 3570k is not a bottleneck for a single 7950.
With a single 7950 i generally always stay around 80 to 100% load. So i would now suggest that you uninstall and re-install your drivers.

CirdyGu · Jul 3, 2013

Djentleman :

I checked with GPU-Z and I noticed this (also clock keeps to change)

.

As you can see GPU load fluctuates and so does the core clock. From a minimum of 700MHz (lesser than stock clock) to 950MHz (stock boost mode).

BTW i'll try to re-install the driver.

Djentleman · Jul 3, 2013

CirdyGu :

Djentleman :

I checked with GPU-Z and I noticed this (also clock keeps to change)

.

As you can see GPU load fluctuates and so does the core clock. From a minimum of 700MHz (lesser than stock clock) to 950MHz (stock boost mode).

BTW i'll try to re-install the driver.

Do you have a boost version graphics card?

CirdyGu · Jul 3, 2013

Djentleman :

Yes, it's the Vapor-x with boost to 950MHz/1250MHz.

By the way i just realized that the 950Mhz is a Cap, not a parameter that needs to be constant.

Unstable GPU Load HD7950 Sapphire Vapor-x

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