PC Graphics

[alseu]

My RX 5700 XT memory clocks are stuck at 875 mhz (according to wattman) and 1750 mhz (according to gpu-z) at all times - when gaming and when idle in windows with nothing running on the background. Problem persists on a fresh adrenalin driver install without any changes made after installation. Memory being stuck on it's max state causes higher power consumption than intended when system is idle and it leads to 58-68 celcius temperatures even when nothing is running on a system (not even a movie or youtube). Gpu fan is running at 600-700 rmp at that time on a well ventilated system (2* 140mm fans intake +2* 140 mm exhaust), ambient temperature is 24 celcius. I tried clean driver installation, used DDU (display driver uninstaller) and AMD cleanup utility the other time, another displayport cable, tried to disable all windows fancy effects - all that to no avail. Manually changing refresh rate on the monitor to 120 hz from 144hz fixes the issue and gddr6 memory get's unstuck and becomes able to clock down when idle - from 875 mhz to 100 mhz (according to wattman). The monitor is 2560*1440 144hz connected via displayport 1.2. Manually changing refresh rate to 100hz or to 75hz using 2560*1440 resolution still leads to gddr6 memory clocks being stuck at their max state.

Steps to reproduce:

1) download windows 10 install files from Microsoft official site, create bootable usb drive and perform fresh system installation.

2) download radeon software adrenalin edition 19.7.2 and install the driver
3) install the monitor driver from the official site

4) restart computer after driver installation get's completed

5) open wattman in radeon settings

6) make sure there are no background processes that could be demanding on graphical side

7) check memory clock and temperatures of the card in wattman - gddr6 memory clock is at 875 mhz and temperatures are at nearly 60 degrees celcius mark

8) open windows settings - display - additional display properties and set monitor refresh rate down to 75 hz or 100 hz (2560*1440 resolution)

9) check memory clocks and temperatures in wattman - there are no changes, memory is still at 875 mhz

10) open windows settings - display - additional display properties and set monitor refresh rate to 120hz 2560*1440 resolution

11) check memory clocks and temperatures in wattman - memory is now able to clock down to 100 mhz , power consumption in idle state has significantly dropped too, temperatures are slowly going lower, gpu fan remains 600-700 rpm speed.

Turning freesync, gpu scale on/off, changing colour depth leads to no avail. 
I reported about the issue directly to AMD but would like to know if anyone with a similar problem has found better solution than turning down native monitor refresh rate.

[hawkeye]

So what do you say to amdmatt that said in this thread "Driver engineering have looked into this and confirmed that it is expected behaviour for the memory clock of the 5700 XT to run at 875Mhz when using 144HZ refresh rate."

You must be having a bug because your monitor works at 200mhz on 144hz LOL. You must report this bug asap so that they fix it ! *sarcasm intensifies hahaha

[crusi]

mine is also from 2019 --> Acer Nitro VG0 VG240YUbmiipx

here the specifications if it helps:

[crusi]

but to let buy everyone a new monitor can't be the solution!

[koszalek]

I know that, but as you can see there is a problem with the monitor drivers and it shouldn't be like this, you can try to change the monitor settings via CRU

[koszalek]

you're right, it shouldn't be a solution, and I hope that this problem can be solved quickly, but NVIDIA had the same problem for a few months

[hardreset]

Does this problem also occur on nvidia cards? I do not think so

[koszalek]

NVIDIA had such problems two years ago

[hardreset]

Two years ago, some nvidia engineers switched to amd and introduced these "improvements" on radeon cards LOL XD 

[koszalek]

I currently have on the new AOC monitor

[bigcat22]

same problem with GIGABYTE RX 5700 XT GAMING OC 8G and aorus fi27q-p 165 Hz monitor. memory clocks are stuck at 875 mhz with native refresh rate, but 144 Hz, 120 Hz, 60 Hz works correct.

[ves]

Funny, they say in idle it should be at 875 but it remain stuck at 1750 on on 144Hz. This is really something they need to look into. As it's happening on popular monitors such as the LG UltraGear 27GL850

[xcoool]

Was browsing techpowerup's forum...true story bro.

2018-09-18: W1zz identifies high idle/multi-monitor clocks and hence power draw on RTX 2080/2080 Ti
2018-09-27: NVIDIA issues a driver update that fixes the high idle clocks, but not in multi-monitor
2018-11-08: NVIDIA issues a driver update that fixes the multi-monitor clocks too

NVIDIA: under 2 months to completely fix a high multi-monitor power consumption issue on 2 SKUs.

Meanwhile, in the red camp...

Shortly after the Big Bang: people complain about high idle/multi-monitor power draw with AMD GPUs
After the heat death of the universe: AMD actually acknowledges, but does not fix, the issue. Explanation given is "drivers r hard mkay?"

[bobalazs]

I had this same issue as OP.

I managed to solve it here:

https://community.amd.com/thread/248956 

[crusi]

"Blanking: 80" works :)

Can AMD fix this settings with a driver update (without CRU)?

Would be better than Third-party software.

[shinkojiro]

I think these settings are pretty monitor dependent.

[crusi]

But Nvidia had the same problem and they could fix it with an update

[shinkojiro]

Last time someone mentioned nvidia they said they were doing the same thing with multi-monitor setups. Having more than one plugged in ramps up memory to this day.

[bobalazs]

Yes they do. On 5700 XT i heard of report of   2x 144 hz being idle.

[luna]

I'm going to return this video card. I highly advice anyone who has the chance to do the same.

[shinkojiro]

You do that. I bet your Nvidia card is going to do the same thing until you change monitor settings.

[luna]

Don't turn this thread into a discussion of which company is better, I love AMD, but this card gave me only headaches. You do what you have to do and I'll do the same.

I already tried everything and the only thing that works is CRU. If the problem still exists with Nvidia nothing will change, I will be using CRU like I am now.

Have a good day sir.

[shinkojiro]

You're trying to do that yourself. You can return the card but every card you try with multi-monitor is going to elevate the memory clocks at certain frequencies unless you alter monitor settings. Your comment was utterly pointless here, and filled with ulterior motive by "suggesting others do the same".

[nordvargr]

I don't have a multi-monitor setup and my 5700XT still elevates the memory clocks @75Hz refresh rate in idle.

I haven't noticed similar issue with my previous GPU (RTX 2060 Super).

[shinkojiro]

144hz single monitor has memory downclocking for me. An earlier post shows that it is very likely the settings that are being set for the specific monitor. Using CRU to change them may help.

[hardreset]

I made a quick video of the temporary fix of this problem

YouTube 

[stegcon]

I have also been having this issue but i'm capped at 200 Mhz with a single 60hz monitor I have changed the Hz and tried overclocking too but it hasn't helped.

[Matt_AMD · Accepted solution]

I checked with the product team and their feedback is that depending on specific display configurations (resolution and refresh rate combinations) and background tasks, RX 5000 Series GPUs may maintain memory frequency to ensure an optimal user experience. This behavior is expected and does not impact the RX 5000 GPU in any way.