HD 7870 dual monitor high temps, can anything be done to fix it? Nvidia doesn't have the same problem from what I've read.

WhiteSnake91

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I just typed a big post and somehow it got erased by accidentally clicking the back button :(

to make it short and sweet, from everything I've read scouring the internet, Nvidia doesn't have this problem with the high clock speeds when using dual monitors, so what's up with AMD cranking them up for no reason?

http://www.legitreviews.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-750-ti-2gb-video-card-review_135752/15

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_780_Ti_SC_ACX_Cooler/images/power_idle.gif

http://tpucdn.com/reviews/EVGA/GTX_780_Ti_SC_ACX_Cooler/images/power_multimon.gif

I imagine the temp difference is pretty big too.

this topic is a good read on it, along with others, http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2354457

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/threads/amd-multi-monitor-idle-power-question.203701/

http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/72077-7970-dual-monitor-high-idle-temps/

One guy said in the anandtech one "This was actually one of the reasons why I replaced a HD5770 back in the days. Its obviously not impossible to fix, since nVidia can do it. Perhaps there is hope for a driver fix in a future revision?"

I'm on the Omega drivers, but this has apparently been an issue for years now.......if it can't be fixed than I'll probably sell it and get a 750ti. I don't need to crank every little detail up, but the 750ti is no slouch at all from everything I've ever read, being able to play most games at 1080p ultra (no msaa) or at the worst high (no msaa)


it's annoying tbh that nvidia can run on low clocks and temps on dual monitors but yet the AMD gpu's can't.

I tried one guy's solution but it didn't work, from page 3 in the anandtech post.

"I know this is an old thread, but this whole discussion begs for someone to provide the answer:

I've run dual monitors for years with AMD. The fix is incredibly simple.

My R9 290 powering two 1080p monitors @ 60hz each runs at 350/150 and draws 14W of power at idle @ 39C and 27% fan speeds...

My previous card - a 7870XT ran at the exact same clocks, but pulled two watts less at idle and ran a degree cooler.

You don't need special software, you just edit the profile for the catalyst driver:

1. Set "Show hidden files, folders, and drives" in Explorer "Folder Options"
2. Open folder: Cusers\[your username]\AppData\Local\ATI\ACE
3. Edit "Profiles.xml"
4. Find "want_"
You should find something like this for EACH card you've had installed:

<Feature name="CoreClockTarget ... ">
<Property name="Want_0" value="30000" />
<Property name="Want_1" value="97500" />
</Feature>

Set your values to match mine (at least for Want_0, which is 2d core clock).

In this same area you'll find more Want_0 entries, corresponding to core voltage and memory speed.

The MemoryClockTarget should never be below 15000. You can set, with the newer drivers and the R9 series at least, a CoreClockTarget of 0, and it will self regulate, trying for the floor (which is, also, 300MHz).

However, one important matter: if you have mismatched refresh rates at the desktop, you're doing it wrong. I set my refresh rates to 60hz for both monitors on the desktop and have my game profiles use my max refresh (which exclusive full screen games will usually do anyway, in my experience).

Good luck!"



eh but to no avail, my values were already set low like he said to and my temps on idle and gaming are way higher than I'd like, and since I'm not gaming 95% of the time, that added power consumption goes into factoring, as well as the high temps over long periods not being good for it.

even if somebody did have problems on an nvidia, from reading (I've only ever owned AMD gpu's so far) it said "Nvidia users can use nvidia inspector to force their cards into a lower power state when using multimonitor setups. "

etc etc, if anybody has the time to read through it, that 3 page anandtech forum post I linked is a good read, people basically have said the AMD gpu's have had this problems for years now.
 

WhiteSnake91

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I went into Catalyst Control Center and made a preset with only 1 monitor plugged in, core clock is 300 and memory clock is 150, then I saved that preset. I plugged in the 2nd monitor and watched the temps go high and memory clock go sky high as usual.....I tried applying the preset but it refuses to. Don't know why.....the person on the Linus forum said it worked for them doing presets but it refuses for me. Then I made a 2nd preset with the sky high temps and memory speed and from there manually went into overdrive and dropped the core to 300 and memory down to 150 and with a Twitch video playing on the 2nd monitor and many Chrome tabs open on my main monitor there's no flickering or glitches that AMD apparently thought was the reason they had to send the memory speed sky high to compensate for.


Sucks that I'm going to have to go into there and manually set the speed every time..........but I guess at least I got something working. Extremely annoying that it won't just stay at low clocks automatically like Nvidia is known for doing well from articles I've been reading, and even more annoying that the Catalyst Control Center Presets do nothing at all.


One guy with an r9 290 idled at almost 90c I think >_>

I'll get an nvidia later...........it wouldn't be so bad if the presets would work but they don't at all (although the user should't even have to go in and make presets....but I digress)