[SOLVED] GPU Core Clock Fluctuate

[aghascepter]

Hello everyone,
So i tried go OC my GPU recently, PowerColor RX470 Red Dragon, this version only allow Powerlimit change between -5% ~+5%. And i OC using AMD Wattman.
I achieve 1330 clock and 1750 Memory, Voltage set to Auto, Powerlimit +5%.
Did multiple run on Unigine Heaven, found no crash/bsod/artifact or any other problem.
But looking at my OSD Monitoring, my Core Clock Fluctuate and barely hit 1300mhz,
It Hover between 990-1290mhz, Temps are around 56-61 degree Celcius.

I have tried to increase the voltage manually, but according to the OSD seems like the change not applied, it kept showing 0.937mv (the default Voltage) sometimes jump to like 0.950ish, but never reach 1.XXXmv even if i set the voltage above 1.000mv.

• A10 5800k
• RX470 4GB
• 2x4GB DDR3 1866mhz
• 750w PSU
  

 

[katulen]

I got no knowledge on your GPU, however, download GPU-Z.

Run Heaven with GPU-Z opened, and look at PerfCap Reason. This should be a good indicator, to show what is limiting your core clock.
Hovering your mouse over the colored bar moving next to PerfCap Reason, will give you a abbreviation. vRel, vOP etc.

Post it here afterwards.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Probably hitting the power limit, which makes increasing core clock pointless or even detrimental. If that's the case, you can look into under volting to reduce power consumption.

 

[aghascepter]

I got no knowledge on your GPU, however, download GPU-Z.

Run Heaven with GPU-Z opened, and look at PerfCap Reason. This should be a good indicator, to show what is limiting your core clock.
Hovering your mouse over the colored bar moving next to PerfCap Reason, will give you a abbreviation. vRel, vOP etc.

Post it here afterwards.

Sorry, but i can't find anything called PerfCap Reason among other Sensors on my GPU-Z.

 

[aghascepter]

Probably hitting the power limit, which makes increasing core clock pointless or even detrimental. If that's the case, you can look into under volting to reduce power consumption.

I'm new to Overclocking stuff, but what you said is exactly what happen to my GPU.
Even from the factory settings, my clock never stay @1210 default boost clock,
it keep fluctuating even at 100% GPU Load, but when i set the Voltage to manual and-
lower the value from the default 0.931 to 0.910, my clock is rock solid @1210mhz.
I mean, like what?? i dont get it, how this powerlimit and Voltage work, arent they the same?
I thought i could compensate the powerlimit value by increasing Voltage, but look like it doesnt work that way, can you please explain this to me?

 

[katulen]

Sorry, but i can't find anything called PerfCap Reason among other Sensors on my GPU-Z.

PerfCap Reason should be located as 4th from the buttom. See picture: http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/19/05/03/7jf.png

 

[aghascepter]

PerfCap Reason should be located as 4th from the buttom. See picture: http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/19/05/03/7jf.png

There is none, i've tried to delete GPU-Z registry and reinstall GPU-Z, but the PerfCap Reason still not shown.

 

[katulen]

There is none, i've tried to delete GPU-Z registry and reinstall GPU-Z, but the PerfCap Reason still not shown.

Hmm that sounds weird. Never experienced that before.

Was it this regkey you deleted? HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\techPowerUp\GPU-Z
I read on some another forum people had success doing that.

 

[aghascepter]

Hmm that sounds weird. Never experienced that before.

Was it this regkey you deleted? HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\techPowerUp\GPU-Z
I read on some another forum people had success doing that.

Exactly, they also said because its probably the standalone version, like mine.
So i deleted the regkey first, download the newest version and install it, still not shown.

 

[katulen]

Exactly, they also said because its probably the standalone version, like mine.
So i deleted the regkey first, download the newest version and install it, still not shown.

Okay that is odd.

However, i don't know if this works with Radeon cards.
But perhaps try download MSI Afterburner. Open up AB and then open up the graph within AB.
Put the GPU under load (e.g. heaven) and look for temp limit, power limit & voltage limit.

I assume your GPU is at 95-100% load when running Heaven ? It should be at least.

 

[TJ Hooker]

I'm new to Overclocking stuff, but what you said is exactly what happen to my GPU.
Even from the factory settings, my clock never stay @1210 default boost clock,
it keep fluctuating even at 100% GPU Load, but when i set the Voltage to manual and-
lower the value from the default 0.931 to 0.910, my clock is rock solid @1210mhz.
I mean, like what?? i dont get it, how this powerlimit and Voltage work, arent they the same?
I thought i could compensate the powerlimit value by increasing Voltage, but look like it doesnt work that way, can you please explain this to me?

Higher voltage = higher power draw. Increasing voltage would just make you hit the power limit faster, you want to undervolt. Ideally you want the voltage to be as low as possible while still being stable to get the most efficient operation.

Power limit is how much power the card is allowed to draw. If it hits this limit, it will start to throttle (reduce core speed) to stay within limits.

 

[aghascepter]

Okay that is odd.

However, i don't know if this works with Radeon cards.
But perhaps try download MSI Afterburner. Open up AB and then open up the graph within AB.
Put the GPU under load (e.g. heaven) and look for temp limit, power limit & voltage limit.

I assume your GPU is at 95-100% load when running Heaven ? It should be at least.

This is the result from 1 benchmark run. (@0.931v +5% powerlimit)

• GPU temperature Max 63c
• GPU power Max 89.0w
• GPU voltage Max 0.956v
• GPU usage 72~100%

 

[aghascepter]

Higher voltage = higher power draw. Increasing voltage would just make you hit the power limit faster, you want to undervolt. Ideally you want the voltage to be as low as possible while still being stable to get the most efficient operation.

Power limit is how much power the card is allowed to draw. If it hits this limit, it will start to throttle (reduce core speed) to stay within limits.

Aaaah now i get it, so basically if i need higher clock then i need more voltage,
and when i need more voltage i also need higher power limit, is that so?
Now the best i can do is find the Highest clock with the lowest voltage right?
When i did that, should i leave the power limit @0% or +5%?
I'm also thinking about flashing my GPU with one that have -50%/+50% Limit.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Aaaah now i get it, so basically if i need higher clock then i need more voltage,
and when i need more voltage i also need higher power limit, is that so?
Now the best i can do is find the Highest clock with the lowest voltage right?
When i did that, should i leave the power limit @0% or +5%?
I'm also thinking about flashing my GPU with one that have -50%/+50% Limit.

Yep, sounds like you've got it. Increasing only frequency also increases power, but increasing voltage affects power more dramatically (in theory increasing frequency increase power linearly, while power increases proportional to voltage squared).
You can leave the power limit at +5%, it'll only use the extra power allowance if it needs to.

You can mod the BIOS with a higher power limit, but if the card only allows a +5% increase by default I'm not sure if the card design could handle something like +50%, due to the VRMs and/or cooler.

 

[aghascepter]

You can mod the BIOS with a higher power limit, but if the card only allows a +5% increase by default I'm not sure if the card design could handle something like +50%, due to the VRMs and/or cooler.

I'm thinking of Flashng it with another version of RX470 but from the same brand.
From what i see so far there is several type or RX470 by Powercolor.
And i just check the Powerlimit on their bios and Powerpins requirements.

• Red Dragon (1x6 pins) 5%
• Red Dragon v2 (1x6 pins) 5%
• Red Dragon Mining (1x6 pins) 5%
• Red Dragon Mining (1x8 pins) 5%
• Red Devil (1x8 pins) 50%

mine is actually the Mining version with 1x8 pins, that means the only one with 1x8 pins other than mine,
is the Red Devil, the only difference is Red Devil has higher Powerlimit and ofcourse the cooling solution.
Looking at the powerpins shouldn't that mean my card also draw the same power as Red Devil one?
which mean, maybe, my guess my card is designed to handle that amount of power like the Red Devil one?
Is there anyway to examine the difference between the design except physically comparing both version?
because i'm currently reading the bios data and board specification from both of the cards, and so far
i dont see any difference except from the higher powerlimit on the Red Devil version.

 

[TJ Hooker]

Power pins just dictates how much power the card is allowed to draw over the power connector, doesn't necessarily say anything about how much the card will actually draw (or about the VRMs or cooler).

Where are you reading the BIOS info? And do you have a link to the specs for your card? I can't find the 8 pin mining version.

I would not flash the BIOS of a different card. There are several polaris BIOS modding tools out there (developed by/for miners, but they work fine for other things to), you're better off modding your own BIOS. Use ATIWinFlash to save the BIOS from your card, modify it (keep an unmodified backup), and then flash modified version using ATIWinFlash again.

Do so at your own risk though.