Sapphire VEGA 64 Nitro Clock Problem (Bottleneck?)

[Ravenas]

I'm experiencing an issue with my graphics card. Listed in system specs.

In game I am getting low frames in multiple games I have tried. Actually worse than my old 290x. Example, Cities Skylines... My clock ranges around 450-550 and power draw is low. Utilization never gets above 50%. Frames are stuck at 25 fps.

Furmark… Way different story and great frames. See clocks that I am supposed to see.

 

[MrGenius]

Try disabling P states to prevent downclocking. Disable everything but P7 for the core and P3 for the memory. You can do this with WattMan or OverdriveNTool.

For example. With OverdriveNTool left clicking on the P#(P0, P1, etc.) for each state disables/enables it(faded yellow indicates disabled).

 

[Ravenas]

I'm not very familiar with wattman. Can't find instructions for doing so.

 

[MrGenius]

It's very similar to with OverdriveNTool. Just left click Custom Performance/Watt Profile. Then left click on the STATE #(STATE 0, STATE 1, etc.) you want to set as Min/Max and select Set as minimum state or Set as maximum state. If you want to use just STATE 7 for the core, and STATE 3 for the memory, just left click on them and select Set as minimum state. Since they're already the Max state by default, they'll then be both the Min and Max state. Leaving the rest of the states disabled.

Like so.

 

[Ravenas]

I see. That had little effect on bringing the frames per second up.

I'm feeling like my CPU is bottlenecking performance. I'm averaging 55 FPS. Same settings.

 

[MrGenius]

Yeah...that's why I said "try". It doesn't always solve performance problems. You might also try changing some settings. In game and in Radeon Settings. A lot of times having something like Supersampling AA enabled in Radeon Settings will totally kill your FPS.

 

[eidairaman1]

Chipset drivers installed, did you remove and reinstall the GPU driver?
What model of Vega64 you have specifically-SKU#?

@INSTG8R @FordGT90Concept

Latest 990FX chipset driver is from September.

https://www.amd.com/en/support/chipsets/amd-9-series-chipsets/990fx

 

[Ravenas]

Yes used DDU removed and then installed.

100410NT+SR

I OCed CPU from 4.7 to 5.0 and saw about a 6-7 FPS gain. Really not sure if it is bottle necking or not. Feels that way though.

 

[eidairaman1]

Yes used DDU removed and then installed.

100410NT+SR

I OCed CPU from 4.7 to 5.0 and saw about a 6-7 FPS gain. Really not sure if it is bottle necking or not. Feels that way though.

Theres something else wrong if your clocks arent boosting up.

Win10 updates can cause problems.

 

[Ravenas]

Theres something else wrong if your clocks arent boosting up.

Win10 updates can cause problems.

That's exactly what has me concerned. In games my clocks aren't boosting, but in a benchmark program, they are.

 

[Caring1]

Try windowed mode in game, it may be game drivers themselves limiting FPS, or AMD drivers.

 

[kastriot]

What happens if you lower resolution to 640*480 for example? do you get same fps? then it's cpu bottleneck.

 

[eidairaman1]

What happens if you lower resolution to 640*480 for example? do you get same fps? then it's cpu bottleneck.

 

[Ravenas]

Nice find. the video you found basically shows what I'm seeing. Cities is different because it's very CPU driven.

Difference I'm playing at 2K because I don't think that 4K gaming is ready for primetime.

I'm trying to hold out for the Ryzen 3850X. I think his Threadripper example is bad because the 2950X has poor single core/gaming performance.

 

[eidairaman1]

Nice find. the video you found basically shows what I'm seeing. Cities is different because it's very CPU driven.

Difference I'm playing at 2K because I don't think that 4K gaming is ready for primetime.

I'm trying to hold out for the Ryzen 3850X. I think his Threadripper example is bad because the 2950X has poor single core/gaming performance.

Actually TR is pretty good but it is a Work Station CPU so its tasks are different, HEDTs from Both Intel and AMD game about the same as MSDT.

I posted that video to prove that you can get away with running a V2 on a 8350, but truthfully it's not your cpu causing the card to not ramp.

@Bones @Mr.Scott

Pay attention to clock speeds of the 8350 and Vega64 here.

 

[Bones]

Good stuff!
Means all my FX chips, AM3+ boards and such are still good for something and that's great!

Wish I had a Ryzen setup to compare with but I don't, having to make do with an 1151 based system here.

 

[eidairaman1]

Good stuff!
Means all my FX chips, AM3+ boards and such are still good for something and that's great!

Wish I had a Ryzen setup to compare with but I don't, having to make do with an 1151 based system here.

Whats your take on this guys rig acting up with clock speeds?

 

[INSTG8R]

Whats your take on this guys rig acting up with clock speeds?

Hot spot causing throttling is my first guess cards fans don’t kick until 56C core Hot Spot can easily be 20C over that. Disable Zero Fan in Wattman and set a custom curve. Be aware the fans will get audible over 50%.

 

[Ravenas]

Whats your take on this guys rig acting up with clock speeds?

What I don't get is that it ramps up in Furmark. However, I've never seen it use full utilization in any of my games.

Going back to the Cities example... No matter what resolution I am at, I can't get above 25 fps. I can go in Wattman and max everything out on the card, still FPS is capped.

 

[eidairaman1]

What I don't get is that it ramps up in Furmark. However, I've never seen it use full utilization in any of my games.

Going back to the Cities example... No matter what resolution I am at, I can't get above 25 fps. I can go in Wattman and max everything out on the card, still FPS is capped.

Check ingame settings

 

[Ravenas]

Check ingame settings

I am testing other games as well; example Resident Evil 2, although my GPU still isn't scaling max, I am showing 65-80 FPS in 2K with settings maxed out.

 

[INSTG8R]

I am testing other games as well; example Resident Evil 2, although my GPU still isn't scaling max, I am showing 65-80 FPS in 2K with settings maxed out.

Vega is very dynamic it’s not always gonna be maxed out at all times.

 

[Vayra86]

What I don't get is that it ramps up in Furmark. However, I've never seen it use full utilization in any of my games.

Going back to the Cities example... No matter what resolution I am at, I can't get above 25 fps. I can go in Wattman and max everything out on the card, still FPS is capped.

Furmark = unrealistic load = lower voltage = lower temp of hotspot = more headroom for high clocks.

Once more, it shows that Furmark does more harm than good, also for analysis. As for the CPU bottleneck... when you see 15-20% already in a relatively light game like BFV singleplayer on a Vega 64, you have a bottleneck and its huge. Basically that's the performance between Radeon VII and Vega to begin with; and not a worst case scenario. But that is not the issue at hand with lacking boost; just saying, once you fix that, its onto the next hurdle People misrepresent the power of the FX with those videos, especially when you consider that 90% of the time you're looking at silly shooters. The reality is: you're wasting tons of GPU grunt with even a midrange card like the RX580 at 1080p. If your take away from those vids is that 'the FX is still doing fine' then you're missing the point. And going up to 4K doesn't fix that either... it just hides it better. Its the same as with most other DDR3 based rigs, games have changed a bit and a platform upgrade is a night and day difference on most GPUs these days.

As for Cities... I'm getting > 100 FPS on a slower GPU. Go figure...

 

[Vya Domus]

The game is notorious for running badly no matter what , it's always CPU limited. Low 20s are a common sight even for the fastest CPUs out there.

 

[Vayra86]

The game is notorious for running badly no matter what , it's always CPU limited. Low 20s are a common sight even for the fastest CPUs out there.

Not with lower population and a few areas unlocked like we see in OP's example though. Every game's FPS tanks in the late game when it comes to these simulations / 4X / large scale tactical games, what matters though is the road to it. And Cities has some pretty decent threading too.