PC Drivers & Software

[unklemac]

Thread can be closed.

[elstaci]

Did you install the "Driver Options" during a custom installation? The Driver Option may have Wattman.  Here is a link on how to install the "Driver Options" on a Workstation Computer using the WX9100 driver: https://www2.ati.com/relnotes/driver-options-user-guide.pdf​.

Also here is a link to Wattman Overview from AMD Support: How to Tune GPU Performance Using Radeon Wattman and Radeon Chill

[unklemac]

Yeah - no. We have investigated every aspect of the driver and found it lacking.

[elstaci]

BTW, you didn't need to open a new Thread to post your computer specs. You could have posted it on the original thread. AMD Forum doesn't allow users to open multiple threads on the same problem.

I posted a link on how to install "Driver's Option" on your Workstation. Just needs to be cleared by jive.

[unklemac]

Please only respond to this thread in case you actually have a answer:

Describe your issue:

• WATTMAN not accessible trough Adrenaline Settings like on Vega 56 etc.
• WATTMAN not accessible trough Adrenaline Settings like on Vega 56 etc.
• WATTMAN not accessible trough Adrenaline Settings like on Vega 56 etc.
• WATTMAN not accessible trough Adrenaline Settings like on Vega 56 etc.

[Ray_AMD]

While you can switch to the gaming driver on your WX9100, the Wattman feature is only available on Radeon series products. Professional graphics products are not meant to be overclocked.

[unklemac]

Come again?

We are programming for VR, and need to push the card with as much power it can muster at full blast on the fans. We don't spend weeks optimizing as 1st priority because the card simple can't even match a Vega Frontier (about 20% higher performance out of the gate compared to WX9100) or a NVIDIA 1080 TI (about 40-50% higher performance out of the box).

So our VR production is not Professional?

Can you give me one good reason we shouldn't switch back to NVIDIA?

[elstaci]

Sir, people here are trying to help you.

Ray_M (AMD employee Technical Support Engineer 2) answered your question. Wattman, which I wasn't aware of, is also disabled in Professional AMD Graphic drivers as well as in Laptop Graphic Drivers.

I don't know if a 3rd party Overclocking software like MSI Afterburner will work in a Workstation environment but you can try. MSI Afterburner is very popular Overclocking software. But a warning, it is known to have conflicts with Wattman even if Wattman is not installed. Some users have no problems using MSI Afterburner with AMD drivers and other do. Use on your own RISK

[unklemac]

Hello again.

No, we already went through Afterburner and GPU Tweaker. WATTMAN or Adrenaline is holding back.

We have concluded that AMD is just not up to the task when it comes to our demands. Not even our lead graphic designer / video editor can get anything extraordinary out of this card - its on par with a Vega 56. Do tell me which programs in the graphics department that excel to make a 1200USD GPU worth it, over say.. a 350USD one ? (WX9100 vs. Vega 56)

Look up ebay in a few days, there will be around 12 to 14 x WX9100 Cards for sale if you want to snag a good offer.

[elstaci]

I tried to find out if the WX9100 can be overclocked. It seems like the card is just not meant to be Overclocked. There are no programs or reviews that indicate Overclocking the card. It is true about the WX9100 being comparable to the Vega 56 in performance. But the Wx9100 has more memory and bandwidth. Here is link that compares the WX9100 to a VEGA56 : AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 vs PRO WX 9100 - Technical City​

This link explains the difference between a Workstation GPU and a Consumer GPU: https://graitec.co.uk/hardware/cad-workstation-guide/workstation-vs-gaming-graphics

AMD has it own specific VR program called LIQUIDVR. Here is the link if interested: Virtual Reality with LiquidVR™ Technology | AMD

I mentioned AMD LiquidVR because it was engineered to work with compatible AMD GPU Cards.

Or is your company making your own specific VR software. If you are, ignore the above information.

[waltc]

unklemac wrote:

Can you give me one good reason we shouldn't switch back to NVIDIA?

How many *dozen* reasons do you want?...;)  Since you say you switched from nVidia to AMD, what was it you didn't like that drove you to drop nVidia? 

[unklemac]

We have not dropped Nvidia. Open CL + Pro Renderer together was the trigger to make us try AMD. We have about 40 machines, and 14 of them wanted to test the card. Frontier was not available, same for vega 64 Liquid.

We might keep 1 card. But this should have been a 30+ upgrade to WX9100, which is now out of the question -reasons you can find in this thread.

[unklemac]

ray_m wrote:

While you can switch to the gaming driver on your WX9100, the Wattman feature is only available on Radeon series products. Professional graphics products are not meant to be overclocked.

The Radeon™ Pro WX 9100 is designed to simplify and accelerate game creation by providing a single GPU that is optimized for every stage of the game development workflow, from asset production, to playtesting and performance optimization.

Noted. But not really prime for VR testing when we look at how far we can actually push a single card. It's has less performance then an entry level Vege (56) card.

As a bonus, professionals who are using the Radeon™ Pro WX 9100 for product design or content creation will be able to take advantage of this feature to unwind with their favorite game on the same system they were working on. With the Radeon™ Pro Software “Driver Options” enabling the use of the latest WHQL Radeon™ Software driver and the gaming features of Radeon™ Software7, Radeon™ Pro WX 9100 will also be able to offer an incredible Radeon™ gaming experience.

How much weight should I put on "incredible", when we can't even reach stable 60fps on some VR tests/applications - before optimisations. NVIDIA 1080TI reached 90FPS.

Maybe in a few years. Competition is good.

[bitsnbytes]

i have 2 Workstations 2 x WX 7100 & 2 x WX 5100 .. latest AMD drivers do not work with MSI Afterburner.. you need to install 16.4 Crimson driver & you will be able to overclock .. https://support.amd.com/en-us/download/workstation/previous/detail?os=Windows%2010%20-%2064&rev=16.Q...

tho be aware 16.4 Crimson Radeon settings does not have the option to switch between Compute & Graphics

all Radeon Pro cards are power limited, so that is why they dont support Wattman etc.. MSI Afterburner allows a +50% power limit 

i dont know yet if all 17.1 & above drivers are all un supported.. iam going to investigate further later tonight, but in general Radeon Pro cards are a total waste of money, they are not fully unlocked & AMD has the misconception that overclocking is not useful for VR & AI creation, when it is very much..

when you buy a Radeon Pro card, instead you are only buying the software stack behind them & not there functionality  !

also multi GPU configuration is not supported in Radeon settings which really sucks.. i dont understand how i can switch between Pro/Gaming drivers  with 1 card  but not with 2, that is just so lame ! :^(   

[bitsnbytes]

ok well got as high as 17.1 ..after that there are some kind of server errors, so cant download higher drivers ..so if you want to overclock using MSI Afterburner you will need to use 17.1 Relive driver or wait until there is support for the latest Radeon Relive 17.12 / 18.1 drivers  

[unklemac]

You there Bitsnbytes? ;-)

[unklemac]

Hi again -

Okay, I am going to borrow the WX9100 for the weekend.

Please advise me the links for drivers that can get 50% boost With MSI Afterburner 4.4.2

i tried quicky at work with your suggested 17.Q4.1,  and I could not move the powerlimit - it was stuck in the middle (half way)- and writing +50 in the digit box made it go to all the way up but said +1.

no difference in clockspeed - monitored with latest GPU-Z.

Memory though did went up past 945mhz. But I need to boost CoreClock first.

I also installed the gaming driver (lowest it would allow was 17.9.1)

In my driver tab it says:

Gaming Mode 17.7

Below it:

17.9.1 (I can click this and press—> install & switch, install, release notes)

Am I on the wrong driver for Powerboost to work?

hope you can help :-)

[bitsnbytes]

sorry my friend didn't even see this post .. yeah mine always says 17.7 ..it seems Afterburner doesn't recognize drivers after 17.7 or something   

[bitsnbytes]

ok finally downloaded all previous Radeon Pro drivers .. 17.Q4.1 works with MSI Afterburner.. so we have to wait for MSI to add 17.12.2 / 18.Q1

[unklemac]

Thanks BitsnBytes for bringing your insight.

Are you getting any measurable performance gains through Afterburner with the old drivers?

Cheers!

[bitsnbytes]

yes when overclocking i get about 10 to 14 fps increase.. the problem is, you cant really compare since you cant overclock on the latest drivers, but there is a big difference.. latest drivers probably provide better optimization maybe.. but i dont think there's that much of a difference..

you have a WX 9100 with HBM2 memory, 945 MHz so you would benefit the most, its just too bad there isn't full support yet on latest drivers..

[unklemac]

That's a nice gain. So you just use powerboost 50%, and then move the core clock up, until you get graphics anomalies? Do you touch on voltage or anything else?

I am guessing you max out the fan speed, while OC'ing :-)

[bitsnbytes]

with the WX 7100 - WX 5100,  Core Voltage is the only thing that's locked, cant touch it, all Radeon Pro cards are power TDP limited.. tho i really dont see the need to increase the voltage anyways,, because you can pretty much push them to there full capability, with-out more voltage..  

from my experience Radeon Pro cards do run abit hot, but from what i understand, they like to get hot !.. overclock temp's hold stable at around 75 deg cel @ 80% fan speed..they seem happy ! LOL ..  personally that's why i buy these GPU's, because of there good guaranteed build quality.. i expect them to perform

[unklemac]

Super!

The only thing I need is the latest drivers to do this kind of performance. We need to be on stable drivers, and we ran into texture glitches with old drivers.

But its good to know, that the cards can be pushed, if AMD allow it.

[bitsnbytes]

iam pretty sure its MSI that needs to update Afterburner for latest drivers,  i would totally freak out if AMD all of a sudden locked the GPU.. but i think the actual BIOS of the cards would need to be changed for that to happen.. so hopefully MSI will update soon :^) 

[bitsnbytes]

here is a screen shot of the WX 5100's overclocked,,  rendering for about 38 - 40 min ..these babies can push out 120 fps stable all day long, WX 7100's 140 fps

  

[bitsnbytes]

with my WX 5100's & 7100's,,  both have the same base Memory clock 1250 MHz.. in Afterburner i can bump up to 1625,  core clocks are abit different between the two models but still another 400 MHz boost ..   

[unklemac]

17.Q4.1 + Afterburner 4.4.2 does not work with WX9100. Clean Windows installation.

[bitsnbytes]

try GPU Tweak II.. i tried itout, it kinda works, its abit picky..  maybe its updated for the WX 9100

[unklemac]

Since I didn't get a response from you last weekend, where I had the card (and couldn't get it "pumped up")... we had to let them go back to the dealer.

We have now ordered a few Titans and 1080 TI - to hold is until GTX 20XX'ish.

Thanks for the headsup and hope you get your moneys worth of performance.

[bitsnbytes]

yeah me too my friend .. iam just going to wait & see what new GPU Nvidia is going to release in June/July or i might just get a Titan V now .. because the functionality & performance i was hoping for is not progressing enough .. it has been about 2 years since the release of Radeon Pro GPU's & over time the problems just get worse instead of better.. so i also give up with AMD :^(