[SOLVED] Should I return the RX 6950 XT Pure ?

[TeioDra]

Just got the Sapphire Nitro+ Pure Radeon RX 6950 XT yesterday, for 1200 €, for 4K - 144Hz gaming.
It looks great, but, quality wise, not that great. The last 2 fins on the radiator came uncoupled (very disappointing; I've crimped them back - took me a while to understand how to do it); the clamps on the end of the radiator fins weren't crimped (crimped those as well) and some paint was chipped on the inside white radiator (this is visible thru my case's glass). Where was Sapphire's QC?
The box inside the marketing (printed) box, the one with the GPU, is just a plain cardboard box (so cheap!). The support bracket didn't even came within a bag and the card's bag was without a sticker/seal (very odd). Still, the exterior box had it's 2 seals in place.

Performance wise, I'm not happy with it, at all. It stutters like a heart monitor, using FidelityFX Super Resolution ( without Super Resolution, in native 4K, the frames are somewhat consistent, and slightly above my RTX 3080, the card runing at 2600-2680 Mhz ). But, I can't use FidelityFX Super Resolution on my 4K 144Hz Acer Nitro monitor, because this monitor uses 2 x DisplayPort 1.4 cables and I can't lower the resolution in the game, because Adrenalin sees my monitor as 19202160 instead of 38402160.

Still, why this stuttering ( frequency all over the place; on the OC BIOS, it fluctuates from 10 Mhz, to 2680 MHz )?
Before installing this card, I've uninstalled the Nvidia drivers, using RevoUninstaller, a program which also cleans the registry. I've reset to default, the MB's BIOS and reconfigured it ( ResizeBar included). Only thing left, is to reinstall Windows, which I would prefer not to.

I'm new to Radeon, and surely, I'm doing something very wrong, but, my RTX 3080 is so simple, out of the box, rather than Radeon. I can't believe that I have to tinker with Radeon's software, so much, just to get stable gaming, at least. In my opinion, though, I hate these artificial technologies (though they work), RTX + DLSS are just great, I'm realizing this now.

So, I want to return it, but, am i wrong to do so, I mean, comparing this to my RTX 3080 Suprim X 10 GB?

 

[Eximo]

Tough call. If you are not pleased with it, why not?

I am a little concerned with the RevoUninstaller, not heard of that before. Most people use Display Driver Uninstaller https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html which cleans up display drivers.

There are certainly some situations where the 6950XT should be superior in straight rasterization, but yes, DLSS is considered superior to FSR 2.0.

What PSU are using, might be struggling with such a high load and causing your problems?

A program like Throttlestop might give you some insight as to what is happening.

You might check for a BIOS switch on the card for different modes. Also check for BIOS updates for your card specifically. From what I have seen there is little overhead on the memory, so you might consider downclocking that a little to see if that makes a difference. If the card is constantly generating recoverable errors, it is stuttering because it is re-rendering the same frame.

 

[iTRiP]

Just got the Sapphire Nitro+ Pure Radeon RX 6950 XT yesterday, for 1200 €, for 4K - 144Hz gaming.
Only thing left, is to reinstall Windows, which I would prefer not to.

I'm new to Radeon, and surely, I'm doing something very wrong, but, my RTX 3080 is so simple, out of the box, rather than Radeon. I can't believe that I have to tinker with Radeon's software, so much, just to get stable gaming, at least. In my opinion, though, I hate these artificial technologies (though they work), RTX + DLSS are just great, I'm realizing this now.

Quite the expensive card there, but if want to enjoy it I'd recommend you start with the thing you don't want to do and that is to at the very least format and clean install your pc.

You seriously cant expect a gaming pc to run smooth if you don't start with a fresh install (especially if you changed hardware)

Then use only the driver software and leave most things on default ( would not play around with experimental tech until it actually is commonplace)
Turning off most options with Radeon is the best solution, enabling everything the driver can possibly do won't provide stable performance in the long run.

Double check compatible PSU, (I'd say a nice 1000 watt unit from a great quality brand preferably gold or platinum would have you gaming in no time)

 

[TeioDra]

Tough call. If you are not pleased with it, why not?

I am a little concerned with the RevoUninstaller, not heard of that before. Most people use Display Driver Uninstaller https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html which cleans up display drivers.

There are certainly some situations where the 6950XT should be superior in straight rasterization, but yes, DLSS is considered superior to FSR 2.0.

What PSU are using, might be struggling with such a high load and causing your problems?

A program like Throttlestop might give you some insight as to what is happening.

You might check for a BIOS switch on the card for different modes. Also check for BIOS updates for your card specifically. From what I have seen there is little overhead on the memory, so you might consider downclocking that a little to see if that makes a difference. If the card is constantly generating recoverable errors, it is stuttering because it is re-rendering the same frame.

Not pleased with it due to the stuttering. But, I guess I should have started with a cleaning my PC better. Will use DDU.

I'm using a Sea Sonic Prime 850W Titanium. All three cables connected.

The BIOS switch on the card has 3 states. I've switched to the one with the OC.

I think you made a very good point with the re-rendering frames. It's because my monitor uses 2 DisplayPort cables. And Adrenalin sees my monitor as 19202160, instead of 38402160. So, Adrenalin sees 2 monitors. Re-rendering frames, as you said. Still, I have to find a way to use both cables, to have 144 Hz.

 

[TeioDra]

Quite the expensive card there, but if want to enjoy it I'd recommend you start with the thing you don't want to do and that is to at the very least format and clean install your pc.

You seriously cant expect a gaming pc to run smooth if you don't start with a fresh install (especially if you changed hardware)

Then use only the driver software and leave most things on default ( would not play around with experimental tech until it actually is commonplace)
Turning off most options with Radeon is the best solution, enabling everything the driver can possibly do won't provide stable performance in the long run.

Double check compatible PSU, (I'd say a nice 1000 watt unit from a great quality brand preferably gold or platinum would have you gaming in no time)

Noted with thanks. Will reinstall Windows. It's what I would usually do, but, I hoped for the best, actually, and skipped this. Giving how many updates Windows takes, am sure it overwrites everything.

 

[KananX]

To me it sounds like the GPU doesn’t like your monitor because it’s a little exotic with the 2 cables needed instead of one. It’s a tough call but unless you wanna change that monitor I would return the card.

 

[KananX]

Not pleased with it due to the stuttering. But, I guess I should have started with a cleaning my PC better. Will use DDU.

I'm using a Sea Sonic Prime 850W Titanium. All three cables connected.

The BIOS switch on the card has 3 states. I've switched to the one with the OC.

I think you made a very good point with the re-rendering frames. It's because my monitor uses 2 DisplayPort cables. And Adrenalin sees my monitor as 19202160, instead of 38402160. So, Adrenalin sees 2 monitors. Re-rendering frames, as you said. Still, I have to find a way to use both cables, to have 144 Hz.

I would totally report this to AMD through the software btw, so they can fix it.

 

[TeioDra]

To me it sounds like the GPU doesn’t like your monitor because it’s a little exotic with the 2 cables needed instead of one. It’s a tough call but unless you wanna change that monitor I would return the card.

I can use the monitor thru 1 cable, though, which puts out 4K, 120 Hz, 8 bit. Enough, I guess. Adrenalin recognizes this correctly.
It's just that I can't use the extra 24 Hz, 10 bit, in gaming, thru that 2nd cable.
Odd thing, using desktop, office, media, all work in 144 Hz.
In any case, yup, it's Acer's Nitro monitor, that's not working with Sapphire's Nitro+ GPU.

 

[KananX]

I can use the monitor thru 1 cable, though, which puts out 4K, 120 Hz, 8 bit. Enough, I guess. Adrenalin recognizes this correctly.
It's just that I can't use the extra 24 Hz, 10 bit, in gaming, thru that 2nd cable.
Odd thing, using desktop, office, media, all work in 144 Hz.
In any case, yup, it's Acer's Nitro monitor, that's not working with Sapphire's Nitro+ GPU.

Well unless you do color critical work it’s enough, yes. Todays monitors use one cable for everything, that’s the price you pay for being a early adopter I guess.