AMD HD3870 low core clock

[KieranDevvs]

Ok so my HD3870 (yes its old but my new pc doesn't get built util December) is clocked at 855mhz on the AMD catalyst and MSI afterburner but when increasing this and clicking apply the core clock just sits at about 297mhz and is causing some real bad frame rate issues for me.

I used to be able to play Call of Duty: World at war fine at 60 fps but now I can barley get 25.

Does anyone know why my card is doing this? i'm assuming its some kind of driver update that makes it so the card when idling lowers its clock speed and GPU isn't re-applying its power when a game is run.

Even if the solution voids my warranty and will probably kill my card after 2 months i'm fine with it. Thanks in advance.

 

[i7Baby]

Try stressing it eg Prime 95 and see if the clock rate gets back to normal.

Make sure you've got the latest whql driver.

If they fail, RMA the card.

 

[drkatz42]

Ok so my HD3870 (yes its old but my new pc doesn't get built util December) is clocked at 855mhz on the AMD catalyst and MSI afterburner but when increasing this and clicking apply the core clock just sits at about 297mhz and is causing some real bad frame rate issues for me.

I used to be able to play Call of Duty: World at war fine at 60 fps but now I can barley get 25.

Does anyone know why my card is doing this? i'm assuming its some kind of driver update that makes it so the card when idling lowers its clock speed and GPU isn't re-applying its power when a game is run.

Even if the solution voids my warranty and will probably kill my card after 2 months i'm fine with it. Thanks in advance.

Try a complete uninstall of catalyst and the drivers. Locate an older version of the drivers(your GPU likely hasn't received any appreciable updates in a long while)

http://www.guru3d.com/files-categories/videocard-drivers.html

 

[KieranDevvs]

Try stressing it eg Prime 95 and see if the clock rate gets back to normal.

Make sure you've got the latest whql driver.

If they fail, RMA the card.

Ok so i just ran FurMark 3D and the core clock shot straight up to 851mhz which is pretty much the OC i set. Ive already tried un-installing AMD catalyst and installing a previous version but that doesn't seem to help (unless im doing it wrong).

What i do is:
Goto programs & features
look for AMD catalyst
un-install it
Download an older version
re-install it

Any suggestions?

 

[photonboy]

What happens if you set it back to the default frequency?

You implied it worked at 855Mhz but when you overclocked you had problems.

 

[KieranDevvs]

What happens if you set it back to the default frequency?

You implied it worked at 855Mhz but when you overclocked you had problems.

No the default core clock is 777mhz and i OCed it to 855 (AMD's recommended max).
No matter what the clock speed is the drivers downlock it to roughly 300mhz idle until it detects GPU usage to which it re clocks it self back to the full potential (what ever the clock speed is set to e.g 777 or 855).

I just dont know how to remove the idling issue because the clock speed isnt being put to its original clock.

UPDATE:
Turns out some GPU's have performance states. Mine currently has 3. As you can see from the Pstates below, the clocks are at 300,300 and 855. The drivers just arent putting it in the performance state that has the 855 clock on it.

GPU Shark v0.9.2
(C)2013 Geeks3D - www.geeks3d.com
----------------------------------------
- Elapsed time: 01:02:27
- Windows 8.1 64-bit build 9600
- OpenGL info:
 - GL_VERSION: 3.3.11672 Compatibility Profile Context (# ext: 215)
 - GL_RENDERER: ATI Radeon HD 3870
 - GL memory - total:512MB, usage:31MB
  GPU 1 - ATI Radeon HD 3870
- GPU: RV670
- Bus ID: 2
- Device  ID: 1002-9501
- Subvendor: AMD/ATI (1002-2542)
- Driver version: 8.970.100.0 atig6pxx.dll
-- Catalyst ver: 13.4
-- Catalyst rel. ver.: 8.97.100-130424a-156445E-ATI
-- Catalyst rel date: 4-24-2013
- Bios version: 113-B33904-103
- GPU memory size: 512MB
- GPU memory type: DDR4
- GPU temp: 45.0°C (min:45.0°C - max:87.0°C)
- GPU cores: 320
- TDP: 105 Watts
- # Pstates: 3
- Pstate
  - GPU: 300.0MHz
  - Mem: 1126.0MHz
  - VDDC: 1.241V
- Pstate
  - GPU: 300.0MHz
  - Mem: 1126.0MHz
  - VDDC: 1.241V
- Pstate
  - GPU: 855.0MHz
  - Mem: 1153.0MHz
  - VDDC: 1.327V
- Current Pstate
  - GPU: 300.0MHz
  - Mem: 1126.0MHz
  - VDDC: 1.241V
- GPU usage:
  - GPU: 0.0%, max: 93.0%

 

[i7Baby]

The HD3870's aren't worth much - http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_kw=Radeon+HD+3870+512MB

Maybe time to update.

Post your complete and detailed build.

 

[drkatz42]

Uninstall the MSI Afterburner and use Catalyst to revert everything back to default. Do the frequencies return to normal? I'm using Sapphire Trixx OC software which is working well on my HD 6970.

 

[photonboy]

Here are some PASSMARK scores for rough comparison of performance (not counting other features like Video memory etc):

HD3870: 738

R9-250: 1398

GTX770: 6168

*As said we'd need more info about your system if interested in a DIFFERENT CARD, however you can get a card for about $125 that is a lot better which also comes with TWO FREE GAMES (chosen from a list):

R9-260X 2GB (two free games) for $125: http://pcpartpicker.com/part/asus-video-card-r7260xdc2oc2gd5

(You have 64-bit Windows so want at least 2GB of Video memory with a reasonable quality card)

**If interested in a new card, we need to also know which CPU you have and the amount of System RAM (DDR2 or DDR3). The program "CPU-Z" can help you.

We should also know the Power Supply model and motherboard model if possible. CPU-Z should tell you everything except the power supply; for that you'd need to open up the case.

Other:
It's POSSIBLE that you have an iGPU (graphics processor) that is built into the CPU that is even better than your current graphics card. We can tell based on the model of CPU.

If you did then the easy way to tell relative performance is run any GPU benchmark like 3DMark2001 or whatever and compare scores. You'd also need to allocate some of your System memory as video memory (512MB might be ideal but it depends on total system memory and GPU).

IDLING of GPU:
All graphics cards (and CPU's) can have multiple frequency/voltage states to save power when it's applicable. Your GPU drops to about 300MHz as you've observed. Thus, you must observe the GPU frequency under LOAD which I believe you have but I want to be certain.

You did say CoD WOW performance has changed so if you are getting a low GPU frequency frequency while gaming then the card is stuck in idle. I'm really unsure if that's a DRIVER issue or HARDWARE issue of the card. Other than removing drivers and reinstalling them I'm unsure what to suggest aside from a different card.

**Warranties on video cards rarely exceed 3-years and that's from MANUFACTURER DATE not sell date. I highly doubt you have a Warranty.