7970CF Low Usage, Low FPS.

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wadawada55

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Nov 12, 2012
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So, i used to own 2 6970's which used to run bf3 fine, but had to give them away to a friend.
So i decided to buy 2 Gigabyte 7970's thinking these would last me a few years.

ran Bf3 for a few days running perfectly over 100FPS, but now cant seem to get more than 60 unless scoped in with sniper. I ran MSI afterburner to check if CF was working properly, which it was but cards were running from 55-70% which i'm wondering if that is the issue? Running metro 2033 runs superb, averaging the performance it should be and running at 90%+usage..
Boarderlands two seems to be having the same issue as BF3.. The campaign on the other hand runs 90%+ like it should also.


Specs:
Asus Rampage Extreme III
i7 960 3.2Ghz
12gb G.skill Sniper 1600hz Ram
2x Gigabyte 7970 GV-R7970OC-3GB
TX-850
Corsair GT 120gb
12.11 Beta Drivers (I've tried others, with no change)
Samsung S27A750 120Hz

Reformatted to Windows8 hoping for Better performance but Nothing. (Reason for the two cards on 1 screen, is to get the 120fps+ on gaming to look nice at 120hz..)
 
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I have been reading and paying attention because I also have two 7970's. Honestly Dude496 has been helping you out as best as he can.

I would suggest you try to return the cards, try another brand or something.

I would only say that because my BF3 performance is simply awesome, with two cards. And if performance is getting that bad with 2 cards then I would just try a difference 2 and see where it ges from there.
 
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I know DUDE has been amazing for all his help, I tried my cards in a newer i7 3820 system (just incase of bottleneck) and made no difference, so im returning the cards and going for a pair of Asus DCUII and hopefully that will work xD
i will keep you's posted, awaiting the CARDS ETA..
 
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I honestly still don't think it is a card issue...both cards work perfect in their individual slots when operating alone...your problem only happens in crossfire mode. I have heard that the newest beta released on 12/3 has fixed several issues with the X59 and X79 CPUs...might be worth a shot to try that driver.

One other idea that I learned yesterday was a "fix" for assassins creed 3 for crossfire...might work for other games as well. Go into the install folder of your game...example c:\program files(x86)\origin games\battlefield 3\ then right click on the bf3.exe go to properties, then go to the compatibility tab and click disable display scaling on high dpi settings
 
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When you tried doing this in your friends computer, did you remember to turn all enable ulps to 0? Make sure that you did this in all folders, you should only have two folders but it is possible to have more than two.

Also after you updated the drivers to the ones released on the 3rd, did you edit the enable ulps? Make sure to restart your computer before testing the changed registry settings.

Also, double check to see if only once version of the application profile is installed...you only want the most current version, having several versions will cause low usage. To do this, go into the control panel and then click uninstall programs. Scroll down to a program called application profiles, there should only be one of this program...if you have more than one, this can cause low usage.
 
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On my friends PC all i did was plugged them in and tried to run a game. I could try more on my friends PC, but i expected in to run as you usually wouldnt have to mess around with much.

on my PC i did edit the UPS and restarted PC. also there is only 1 applicatrion profile installed..
 
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Hmm, well it seems that ULPS isn't that important afterall...I just re-enabled mine on all 3 cards and my usage stayed above 90% with a few dips down to the 70% range on BF3 (in default crossfire, no application profile used). I'm guessing that ULPS was more important to disable on the older drivers, they might have gotten it to work better with the new drivers.

I do know that if you mess up the ULPS settings, that will definitely have a negative effect. If I disabled only one of my cards, my usage goes to *** quick. That's why I wanted to stress to you to check and make sure it is set the same for all cards. Keep in mind that it might show more folders than the number of cards you are using. Anytime you change the bios, or move the slot of the GPU, it will assign a new folder. For my setup, I had to move the middle card down one slot so that all 3 would fit...I now have 4 folders for 3 cards. In the past, I tried to delete the "unused" folders...well lets just say that the registry won that battle and I had to reformat.

Do you have a friend that runs a 7970? If so, I'd recommend trying to crossfire one of your cards with his and see how it performs...then repeat this for the second card.

If I recall correctly, the crossfire bridge is a way to sync both cards timing circuits together...I don't believe that any of the other data is transferred between the cards on the bridge, but I could be wrong...I'll have to do some research on that.

Right now, this is what I don't understand...both of your cards work perfectly when only used in single card setup. Both cards don't perform optimally in a crossfire setup. You have already tried changing the one card, so I guess it is a possibility that the first card has something wrong with it but still kinda doubting that. I'll do some more digging and see if I can get you that hail mary pass lol.
 
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Still trying to research the crossfirex bridge purpose, but while googling, I did find something interesting about your board. Your board has two PCI-E power molex connecters that provide additional juice to your PCI-E lanes. Keep in mind that the 7970 draws quite a bit of power, 250 watts per card...your old cards only draw about 150 watts per card (going off memory, so dont quote me). I'd recommend connecting the extra molex connectors and see if that fixes your problem.
 
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Hmm, got another idea to try before doing the power option...though adding the molex power won't hurt, your card will only draw as much power as it needs, so adding extra wattage to the PCI-E slots won't hurt.

This is specifically for Borderlands 2....I have an idea for battlefield 3 but I would like for you to try this first...let's see if switching to diretx 11 will help utilize your cards better. To change to directx 11, you will need to edit the BaseEngie.ini file...

Steam\steamapps\common\Borderlands 2\Engine\Config\BaseEngine.ini and look for the line : AllowD3D11=False, change it to AllowD3D11=True Save and close the .ini file, then start the game. Go into a more graphically intense area such as caustic cavern or some area that has a good amount of enemies and see if your usage and FPS go up.


 
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Oh ***! didnt even realize i had that second connection. I do have 1 of those in but not the 2nd.. Ill plug it in tonight and hope for performance increase.
I will try the DirectX fix tonight also. Keep you posted in about 6 hrs
 
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Hopefully we can get this figured out soon.

Let me know if dx11 did any help for BL2.

On BF3, do the GPU's scale at all when using the different settings? On my setup, I just tried setting it to low and all three GPU's dropped to about 40% usage. Try putting your setting to Ultra (instead of custom) and see what that does.
 
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Okay added the cable along with the Config for BL2, that didn't make a difference, usage stayed at around 38%...
On Bf3 changing everything to LOW, makes no difference, ive tried with it set to ULTRA aswell, heard there might have been issues with that before, didnt change.
 
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Okay so just got hitman absolution, game ran great right at the start.
once some lighting effects came into play, GFX usage dropped once again to around 60FPS along with frames to around 30-40.. =(
 
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Did you click the "enable full useage" button?

Haha, sorry bad joke...wish it was that simple!

I'm pretty sure you already answered this, and yes it is a dumb question...but you aren't by chance trying to cross your crossfire bridge, are you? What I mean, are you trying to put your bridge from the first slot of the first card to the second slot of the second card? I doubt you did, but at this point I have to ask the silly questions.

When you say that hitman started to work great, was that only the first time it ran? Or does it run great every time but then drop useage after a few minutes of play? If it is dropping during game play, I would recommend forcing your GPU fans to run at 80% (make sure you check both cards) or higher and retest

Another option would be to try running game booster...you might have some other software that is conflicting with the GPU drivers, so game booster might shut them off during game play.
 
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hahah i dont think those bridges are physically capable of doing that? but its okay, i bet its something really silly... 😛
so any chance ur coming to AUS? hahaha.

Umm hitman run great each time, just to the extent when a lighting effect at the start came in the usage dropped with the FPS. So in reality the cards should be stressing with usage going up, but still goes down.
Ill try run the fans off auto to 80% and let you know.

what is this game boost u speak of?
also, i still only have the bare minimal of things installed.. just ati drivers and like DX11 and physX. nothing else.
 
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Depending on how much virtual memory the system is set to use, yes it can have an effect. Also, disabling windows aero can also help...but you are running 12 gigs of ram, so I would be a bit suprised if it would help...def worth a shot trying though.

Game booster will turn off any program that isn't necessary while you are playing a game. I think it does change the virtual memory settings and also turns off aero. Using this program should be a good way to test if your problem is software or hardware...if it fixes your problem, your problem is software...if it doesn't, it is most likley a hardware issue.

Regarding the crossfire cable...yes it is absolutely possible..I'm a firm believer that if there is a will, there is a way lol. Granted it isn't possible with a standard cable, but if you get a longer one, it is definitely possible.

Im guessin that you had no improvements when changing the fans to 80%? This is actually a good thing, it shows that your GPU isn't having any heat issues.

Did you still plan on trying to swap the cards with the Asus cards?
 
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I will give the Virtual memory thing a go, just to eliminate ANY possibilities.
and yeah the Fan didnt change a thing.
Are you able to link me up with one of those Game Booster programs?

The cards i will get but not sure when. Waiting for them to come back in stock at my store, its either that, or when my friend gets back swap his system with mine and try it properly.
 
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Ive tried my brothers HX1050 on these and it didn't seem to make a difference.. but when i tested that i didnt plug in the PCI-e Connectors on the PSU.
I tried the downclock just now didn't make a difference to Borderlands 2 but i will try BF3 Now.

Bf3 is still the same.. =(
 
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