Sapphire AMD 6950 Toxic

[jk47]

Hi everyone,

This is my first post, but I've been coming to this site frequently and really appreciate the community.


I have several questions relating to my GPU as stated in the thread title, would appreciate your inputs.



1) Playing the new BF3 on max settings, 1650x1050, I have high FPS never dipping below 40 - however, I have issues with occasional micro-stuttering.
Hardware temperatures are in normal ranges. As per the known issue with this card, I have boosted power output using ATI catalyst to +20.
Any ideas on why I'm having this issue?


2) I've seen others able to boost power output up to +50 using catalyst, which I'd prefer to do, to be on the safe side given the power throttling issues this card is known for. I am limited to +20, I read in a thread that having installed PhysX causes this - is there a known way to get full power control?


3) In relation to the above question, I am planning on buying a duplicate card in the near future for a crossfire. Will I have power throttling issues given there will be TWO of these cards? Or will there be an option in ATI catalyst control to give additional power to BOTH cards, or is it done automatically?



Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[jk47]

Whoops, looks like I need to add a sig with my system.

My specs are as follows:

i7-2600 3.4 Ghz
Sapphire AMD 6950 2gb Toxic
8 GB RAM
P8P67 Mobo
750w Corsair PSU
1 SSD, 1 HD

 

[neonneophyte]

micro stutter results from crossfire or sli, single cards dont do it.

likely your problem is bf3 utilizing your hyperthreading. try disabling hyperthreading

 

[jk47]

Thank you for your response.

My understanding is I can disable HT in bios. I will try that later today. Do you find most games should be run with or without HT?

 

[gmcizzle]

Pretty much every game prefers HT off. HT is only useful in apps that can fully use more than 4 threads, such as 3ds max renders, encoding video, etc.

 

[jk47]

What about general multitasking. And so HT causes minor slow-down in all games?

 

[gmcizzle]

For general multitasking no you won't notice HT being on vs. off. HT can cause a few fps decrease in games but not much. Some people say HT causes lag or stuttering of some sort in games but I have not tested it myself.

 

[jk47]

Thanks for the info - I'll def have to see if it makes a difference and post back.


BUMP to my previous questions - I'd like to do the crossfire configuration for my card, but need to confirm I can have power settings boosted on BOTH cards to prevent power throttling slowdowns. Can someone confirm ATI CCC gives overdrive controls to BOTH cards?

 

[ilysaml]

Thanks for the info - I'll def have to see if it makes a difference and post back.


BUMP to my previous questions - I'd like to do the crossfire configuration for my card, but need to confirm I can have power settings boosted on BOTH cards to prevent power throttling slowdowns. Can someone confirm ATI CCC gives overdrive controls to BOTH cards?

Yes you'll be to control both cards via Overdrive.

But, I'm totally surprised because HD 6950 is an overkill for such resolution 1650x as you stated in the first post, you should be able to totally max out the game with a constant of 60 FPS @ Ultra quality.

There's a difference between Stuttering & Microstuttering, and if you have a Toxic HD 6950 you can easily unlock it to HD 6970.

So, the idea of CF HD 6950 @ such a resolution is totally worthless.

 

[jk47]

I've found demanding games to not be able to average as high as 60 FPS. Metro 2033, Stalker COP, Crysis, for example; on max settings they'll be between 40-50 FPS at a 1680 x 1050 resolution. From what I've seen in review benchmarks, a single 6950 can't quite max out all games and keep a constant FPS above 50. Anyways I want to CF so I can play everything on max, no problems.

I think micro-stuttering was the wrong term to use. I would say every 5-10 seconds I would have a quarter-second of lag - which got to be annoying. When I had my OC app open, it showed all my CPU cores were working really hard, seemingly at full capacity... which is why I'm thinking maybe the above poster was right that I need to turn off HT as it could be a CPU issue...

 

[ilysaml]

Well you're right about Crysis 2 and Metro 2033m they are only the only exception and they do need to be run on SLI/CF setup. 40-50 FPS make the game more than playable, and you won't benefit from above 60+ FPS unless you upgrade to 3D Monitor.

I don't know too much about HT, but i guess the Tom's article reviewed BF3 with HT On and Off and there was not much difference. But give it a try.

 

[jk47]

Thanks for the tip made a huge difference, posted my findings here:

http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/114711-13-battlefield-hyperthreading-experience

 

[jk47]

Best answer selected by jk47.