PC Drivers & Software

[ar3s]

Got myself a Sapphire 7900XT reference card

But it's been giving me some extraordinarily low performance. In order to rectify I've done a BIOS update, chipset driver update for x570. Re-enabled XMP after BIOS update. DDU and new driver install 2x

I ran a stress test through Adrenalin and it ramped to about 245-250w at 65degrees reaching 2200MHz. And immediately it backed itself down to 400MHz at 50w or so. It is doing this in about every game I try to play.

When I ran userbenchmark it stayed running pretty solid but still scored low as heck but for some reason in games it just will not.

Any ideas?

Setup:

R7 3700x

X570 Phantom Gaming 4

G.Skill Aegis 16gb 3000MHz

7900xt Reference

ASUS ROG Thor 850W

[MikeySCT]

Was the GPU an upgrade from a previous GPU? IF so, did you simply uninstall the previous driver before/after swapping out the cards? One thing that I never fail to do is to 1. download DDU (if you don't already have it), disable WiFi or unplug ethernet/LAN cable (to prevent Windows from auto downloading a driver) then, 2. run DDU to remove all traces of previous driver before shutting off PC. Then, I'd unplug my PC from the wall socket, wait a minute or two (playing it safe I guess, can't be too careful), I'd then swap out the cards. 

After swapping out the cards, connect plug to wall socket, power up your PC, and run the Adrenalin installer. I've always done this when swapping out my cards, especially critical when swapping an nVidia card with an AMD card. When I get home in February, I'd do this when I swap out my RX 6900 XT with an XFX MERC 310 RX 7900 XTX, I'm pretty sure I'd have no problem.

Also, even IF done right, do bear in mind that you won't achieve optimum performance because your CPU is most likely a bottleneck to that powerful GPU. Even with my 5900X + RX 7900 XTX combo, I'd most likely have a CPU bottleneck, unless I push res and ingame settings up to stress the GPU more.

[MADZyren]

I agree with removing old drivers thoroughly. Might even consider reinstalling latest chipset driver just in case. 

I would also avoid using 3rd party software like MSI Afterburner along with Radeon software. 

How are your GPU temps?

Also realize that 3700X lowers your FPS in games especially below 4K ultra.

[ar3s]

GPU is an upgrade from a 1070 ti. as stated in the op "In order to rectify I've done a BIOS update, chipset driver update for x570. Re-enabled XMP after BIOS update. DDU and new driver install 2x"

My gpu temps never hit above 65 degrees. I am getting significantly worse FPS than i was with th 1070ti in many games.

[MADZyren]

Don't know what would cause it, but you sound power limited. Jayz2Cents made a video about 7900-series overclocking, where they noticed that whenever GPU is overclocked, there is not enough power for VRAM and its speed drops fast.

Do you have two separate power cables coming from PSU to GPU? (separate from PSU to GPU, not just one cable split in to two connectors at the end)

Also any chance you have Eco-mode enabled or if you have dual-bios in GPU, make sure you don't have some power-limit/ECO-mode VBIOS switch On.

EDIT: And you have connected GPU straight to motherboard, not through extension cable or what are those PCIe things called.

[ar3s]

Have done DDU 2x, have done a BIOS update, have done a chipset update

I am getting worse FPS than I was on my previous 1070ti in many games. 

[MikeySCT]

What resolution do you game at?

[ar3s]

1080p. in csgo and valorant i was getting FPS average around 130

[Sam_AMD]

Hello @ar3s 

What is the name of the manufacturer of your GPU? 

Oops, I just realized you'd mentioned Sapphire.

Meanwhile, give me some time to research this for you. I'll get back to you as soon as possible. Thank you for your patience. (And welcome to the Red Team Community).

[ar3s]

Sam! 

It is a Sapphire reference card.

Thank you for the help sir

[ar3s]

So Sam,

Quick update. I now have a fresh windows install, fresh driver install post DDU and updated BIOS and Chipset. When I run an adrenalin stress test the GPU will run up to 250-275W for the first 15 seconds, then it will throttle to idle.

[MikeySCT]

Then perhaps it's your CPU that's holding you back.....CS GO isn't hard on the GPU at all, what is your CPU usage like?

[ar3s]

CPU not holding me back in CSGO right now. when i had the 1070ti i was getting 240-250fps average.

[MikeySCT]

Didcha try the RX 7900 only driver (22.12.1)?

[ar3s]

Not sure, just installed the driver off the AMD site.

[Sam_AMD]

Hello, @ar3s (Everyone) 

Doing the fresh Windows installation, updating your BIOS, and Chipset drivers are steps I would have taken too. I haven't used DDU in the past. I've always used our uninstaller for the GPU called "AMD Cleanup Utility". Give this a try if you haven't yet. Also, no need to do any more fresh Windows installations or BIOS / Chipset updates. (By the way, your CPU shouldn't be bottlenecking your GPU). 

The driver you want to install should be "AMD Software: Adrenalin Edition 22.12.1 for Radeon RX 7900 Series". 

Now, do not install the full software package (AMD Software Adrenalin), just the driver. You'll have this option during the installation process. Meaning, start the installation process by clicking on the ".exe" file you've just downloaded on your C: driver (this will extract the files, and launch the installer) then click on the "Accept and Custom Install" button (not Express).  Click on the "Install - Radeon Software Adrenalin" button, and uncheck all the boxes except "AMD Display Driver". Reboot your system and see how it goes. 

If the above doesn't help, please file a bug report: AMD Bug Report Tool

Please let me and everyone else here know whether this has helped you or if you filed a bug report. 

 

[mvanwie]

I upgraded to XFX Merc310 7900XT Ultra (RX-79TMERCU9) from a PowerColor Red Devil 6950XT, and I am having an identical problem as the original post above.   

After installing the 7900XT and the appropriate Adrenalin software/drivers, I loaded Fortnite.  As an aside, the game seemed to boot faster than normal, but even before I started a game, I noticed a lag between my controller and display.  Both the game and the Adrenalin monitor report normal/expected FPS (Epic settings, 1080p, no RTX); I usually cap at 120fps, but when I turn the cap off both were (normally) fluctuating in excess of 200fps; however, went I got into the game, it was noticeably choppy - not "lag-choppy" that drops and spikes... it was a steady, consistent choppiness... like watching an silent film on a projector)  not putting anywhere close to 120 fps on-screen.  When I turned on V-Sync, both the game and Adrenalin monitor showed a steady 24 fps.  In other words - what I believe was happening here - was that the game was reporting 200+ fps, but only 24 fps was being rendered / sent to my display.  Mind you, I have a display with maximum refresh of 240MHz (even though I have it set to 120MHz); nevertheless, whether V-Sync was enabled or not, my display (on-screen) was reporting 1080p / 120MHz... I think what this means is that even though my display was refreshing at 120 fps, it was only receiving 24 fps (i.e. it was refreshing each frame 5 times before the next one arrived).

I shut down the game and went into the Adrenalin software to confirm settings were what they had been previously (I generally use the e-Sports preset).  On the tuning page, I noticed it was still auto-overclocking my CPU (previously set before the 7900XT was installed, i.e., I did not set it that way after the new Adrenalin software was installed), so I turned that off in Ryzen Master and restarted.  Back on the tuning page, I ran the (60 second) Adrenalin stress test... everything started to ramp up normally (I often ran stress tests with the 6950 XT, so I'm familiar with what the graphs should look like), but at about 10-12 seconds in - while everything was still ramping up - I got a "V-shaped" drop (& corresponding spike) in both the clock and power graphs, and then a couple seconds later, the clock speed flatlined & the GPU throttled down below 50W and held at that level until the test concluded.  In other words, the left side of the graph has a normal, rising slope to it, then a little "V," and concluded with an "L" (with a very long tail).  It's hard to tell exactly where (using a 1-second interval), but in looking at my GPU-Z logs, the "V" starts right around when the GPU first hits 315-320W where it drops off to somewhere in the 260-280W range, then immediately spikes back up towards 320W where it then throttles to below 50W.  Repeating the test, I would consistently get 12-14 seconds of normal stress test before it would throttle.  There was nothing remarkable about the temp graphs... they posted normal results up until the GPU started throttling (which would be expected if power dropped to <50W), and the fan speed never had time to spin-up over 500-600 RPM (again, not unexpected since temps were barely hitting 70C).

Incidentally, when I set the stress test to a longer period, I can get more time out of the stress test before it throttles down; e.g., a 120-second test goes for about 20 seconds before throttling down, and I can get about 30-40 seconds of normal stress operation as I go up to a 600-second test.

Temperature does not appear to be an issue or a factor; whether I start the stress test from ambient temps, I shut down the case fans, and/or run several successive tests in a row (i.e., without a cooldown period).  In fact, if I stop the test immediately after it throttles down and then restart a new test, it has no effect on the duration of the normal stress test ramp-up (i.e., the time between test start and throttle-down), no matter how many times I restart the test.  Further, when I look at my GPU-Z logs, the throttle-down are happening at a range of different temps between 50-70C, however, each throttle down always occurs not long after it hits 320W.  Additionally, once the GPU throttles down during a test, it will not ramp back up; even a 600-second test will ramp up for 40 seconds, and then it will throttle for the remaining 560 seconds; however, again, even if I terminate immediately and restart the test right away, it will ramp-up normally again for said 40 seconds and then throttle until the test ends.

In other words, temperatures does not appear to be the culprit.  However, I'm not implying that it's being triggered by the wattage (though not eliminating that potential either).  Using the Adrenalin tuning (in custom mode), if I move the "Power" slider left (decrease%) - with no change to any other tuning settings - the stress test will throttle down at a lower wattage; likewise, when I move the slider right (increase%), it will go past 320W to a higher wattage before throttling down.  But again, the ramp-up time doesn't seem to be effective, i.e., on a 60-second stress test, it always throttles down between 12-14 seconds.

I didn't notice on the original install, but upon further examination. the BIOS switch was set to "quiet" mode (towards display connectors); however, even when I switched and rebooted in "performance" mode (towards the power connectors), it made no difference.

I ran both the AMD Cleanup Utility and DDU, twice each, in safe mode (restart, restart, repeat).  Installed Adrenalin 22.12.2 (for 7900XT), went through setup, set global graphics to e-Sports, and replicated results on stress test each time. 

I then ran both AMD Clean Up and DDU (in safe mode), shut down, reinstalled 6950XT and Adrenalin 22.11.2 (WHQL).  Put all my settings back to where they were, ran a new stress test and everything was back to normal.  And bringing everything full-circle, I ran a game of Fortnite, and got a victory crown (so that's also back to normal).

Any advice/recommendations?  I'm not a pro (though this is far from my first rodeo with scratch PC-builds) and I can say I've never spent this much time on a GPU, new or upgrade.  So I'm ready to RMA the 7900 XT.

Specs:
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X with Cooler Master ML240L liquid cooler
Gigabyte B450 DS3H v1.0*  BIOS version: f63b; Chipset v3.10.22.706
XFX MERC 7900 XT Ultra [RX-79TMERCU9]
Adrenalin 22.11.2; e-Sports preset; SAM-enabled; default tuning
Crucial/Micron 2x8GB 2666MHz [CT2K8G4DFS8266]
Optoma UHD35 (via HDMI)
Cooler Master MWE Gold 850W PSU
Cooler Master TD500 Case tri-120mm fans (front)

* only because the dang X570 board I wanted is still on backorder