GPU MHz Question

[itscometothis]

I am using MSI Afterburner to monitor my GPU Clock Speed, Memory Clock, and GPU Usage %. The first two are running at max (550/550MHz and 800/800MHz respectivley), but the Usage % remains at 0%. Is this normal or should I be worried?

Edit: It seems to drop down to 0 when I close Chrome and then jump back up to max when Chrome is open.

 

[Shneiky]

What is your video card? Brand, model and manufacturer.

 

[itscometothis]

What is your video card? Brand, model and manufacturer.

My laptop is an Acer Aspire 7740G and my video card is ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5650. So should I be worried about this?

 

[Shneiky]

It comes from your settings. I guess you have the performance mode on, which is perfectly normal behavior.

 

[itscometothis]

It comes from your settings. I guess you have the performance mode on, which is perfectly normal behavior.

What I am hoping is that the Clock Speed and Memory Speed can run at max with no issues (i.e. nothing wrong with it) as long as the GPU Usage remains low. Would this be a correct assumption?

 

[bigpinkdragon286]

Unless you are playing a game or using graphics acceleration in an program such as a web browser, your GPU usage should be close to 0. Make and model really have nothing to do with it unless your graphics card is completely incapable of any sort of compute acceleration using graphics resources.

Clock speed should vary, based on what you're doing, or as Shneiky mentioned, may be related to power management settings in Windows. When set to High Performance, clocks tend to stay at maximum, but is usually only the case for a CPU. If you have software open performing certain tasks such as video, this can cause the graphics drivers to keep clocks high enough for smooth performance.

Your assumption about clock and memory being fine to run at 100% is correct. The only things to concern about are power consumption if running on a battery and temperature. Those are about the only reasons it would cause a problem, regardless the percentage of use.

 

[Shneiky]

I asked for brand and model specifically because nVidia and AMD and their different generations handle clocking down or up in a different way. It does have everything to do with brand and model - which leads to drivers. The moment in the moments I open Firefox or switch from tab to tab - the GPU frequency of my 650TI jumps to 928, the rest of the time it stays at 324 at idle page, or 548 while scrolling or playing youtube or something. While my GT 520 had only two modes - full clock or low clock. It did not have the medium clock. The 5650m is also an older generation and it does not have such precise control as new video cards, and it only reaches 550 Mhz. Even current GPUs can't be clocked down more than 250-300 Mhz (at least that I know off). And when you set your GPU for high performance from the drivers (nVidia or AMD control panel) it tends to be too aggressive when clocking up.

Ant to answer the other question - yes, it is perfectly fine to run GPU at full frequency. It has been designed to do so. Cheers.