Core Clock Crops on my GPU, Potential CPU issue ?

[CBiz__]

Hello all,

For starters this is my first Build and i am rather new to PC Building/tweaking so please excuse my lack of knowledge but ill try to lay out everything currently going on.

So the base of the issue (from what I can tell) is Core Clock drops leading to Frame Drops while playing which can range from minor screen glitching to complete freezes for up to 45 seconds.

This issue is mainly occurring while using a program called SoftXpand
to get dual PC's running for my Girlfriend and I to play. i know this is clearly more taxing on my system but still should be well with in my capabilities especially for simple MMO's.

The issue occurs almost in a pattern when both systems are running and usually results in one or both of us lagging.

Here are my Build Specs:

CPU: AMD-FX 8350 Running at 4.0 W/ CoolerMaster Liquid Cooler

GPU: XFX R9 200 Running at 933/1250 (Stock) but i have seen the same issue overclocked up to and every where between Max settings.

MOBO: ASRock 970 Extreme4

RAM: 3x 8GB Kingston HyperX DDR3 1600

Storage: 120GB SSD Internal

PSU: Rosewill 1000W Bronze Edition

Case is a RaidMax with pretty solid flow from what i can see and ive had most of these issue with case open as well

Pic shows something I have recently noticed which is a correspondence between some CPU cores being at 0% Usage while the clock is dropped, could that relate ?

upload foto






So given all this my basic questions are:

1) is there a bottleneck or other apparent issue here that i am just to inexperinced to see.

2) is the CPU usage normal ? This picture was with a window open playing an MMO but simply sitting in one spot for 15 mins while i was walking my dog.

3) is there a way to force constant clock on my GPU ?

4) is something malfunctioning that needs to be replaced ? its all about 25-30 days old

Thank you for reading through and i would like to thank any one in advance for your help.

 

[Erenhardt]

My vote goes for RAM issue.
Asymmetrical memory config may be the cause of some bandwidth bottleneck, while both 'machines' try to access the same single dimm.

GPU downclocking is a reaction to now getting enough work to keep it busy, while system is stall.

 

[SlowSpyder]

Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see the CPU clock there, just core use percentage. If you want, you can go into the bios and turn off Cool & Quiet and turn off turbo, that should lock it at your clocks. You can also set the multiplier manually (20x200).

The power delivery looks fairly weak on that motherboard. Might not hurt to put a fan over those vrms... I know from experience (well, highly suspected anyway!) if those get hot they can cause throttling.

 

[CBiz__]

Maybe I'm missing it, but I don't see the CPU clock there, just core use percentage. If you want, you can go into the bios and turn off Cool & Quiet and turn off turbo, that should lock it at your clocks. You can also set the multiplier manually (20x200).

The power delivery looks fairly weak on that motherboard. Might not hurt to put a fan over those vrms... I know from experience (well, highly suspected anyway!) if those get hot they can cause throttling.

so actually did just that ( Fan over the Vrms ) and my Settings are all disabled for the those and i also reduced voltage slightly but it still dropping a but from time to time, althou MUCH less from my tests and ill see tonight what happens when put to the test in softXpand thou i tried that earlier with her Char on follow and it seemed to function well.

is there anyway to measure my VRMs Heat ?

Also the Core clock for the CPU is 4.0 (20x200) and i set the Voltage down to 1.2875 and it seems to be much more stable in Prime95 Testing, at 1.3875 i was getting a bit of Vdroop and the cpu would drop down to 1400MHz and .976V then back up to 4000mhz and 1.3875V so im thinking that was a VRM issue and with added Air Flow and decreased Voltage im getting a range of +/- .020V and +/- 300Mhz in Prime95 testing

 

[CBiz__]

My vote goes for RAM issue.
Asymmetrical memory config may be the cause of some bandwidth bottleneck, while both 'machines' try to access the same single dimm.

GPU downclocking is a reaction to now getting enough work to keep it busy, while system is stall.

And what would be the solution to this ?

Should i run a different timing on 1 of my sticks or maybe get 2 different sticks for the B slots and leave 2 Kingston in the A Slots ?

 

[ShadowVVL]

I assume you are running 1 4gb stick and 2 2gb sticks.you need to run matching pairs like 2x2gb ,2x4gb or 4x4.
If the 2x2 sticks match you can run them or just the 1 4gb.

it is most likely the memory like erenhardt said, i have run 4 sticks once 2x2 and 1x1 and my system started crashing and spaming windows all over the screen so I took the 2 1 gbs out and it was fine.

 

[SlowSpyder]

so actually did just that ( Fan over the Vrms ) and my Settings are all disabled for the those and i also reduced voltage slightly but it still dropping a but from time to time, althou MUCH less from my tests and ill see tonight what happens when put to the test in softXpand thou i tried that earlier with her Char on follow and it seemed to function well.

is there anyway to measure my VRMs Heat ?

Also the Core clock for the CPU is 4.0 (20x200) and i set the Voltage down to 1.2875 and it seems to be much more stable in Prime95 Testing, at 1.3875 i was getting a bit of Vdroop and the cpu would drop down to 1400MHz and .976V then back up to 4000mhz and 1.3875V so im thinking that was a VRM issue and with added Air Flow and decreased Voltage im getting a range of +/- .020V and +/- 300Mhz in Prime95 testing

My FX9370 undervolts like a champ. I've been able to run ~1.22v @ 4.4GHz (haven't tried further than that, but it was still going strong at that setting, not a known limit of my CPU, yet... Not hardcore benching, should mention that though). I don't know how you're CPU will do, but I'd experiment with undervolting a bit if you have to. At 4GHz and with AIO water cooling you should be able to shave some power use off easy with some more whittling away at the voltage. So for you being at 1.3875 @ 4GHz, I have to think it'll likely have more in it.

A 4GHz four module FX really shouldn't over-stress that board, but I've seen my CPU pull way more power at factory FX8350 settings than it should, in my case it turned out the LLC on my board was adding far more voltage than my CPU needed. So if your board has LLC, I'd check that too.

 

[Erenhardt]

And what would be the solution to this ?

Should i run a different timing on 1 of my sticks or maybe get 2 different sticks for the B slots and leave 2 Kingston in the A Slots ?

Get exactly the same memory stick as the odd one, so they run in pairs.
It is best to have memory working with the same timings.
Follow you motherboard manual. It does specify which slots should be paired. Depending on the motherboard it could be: [A1+B1 and A2+B2] or [A1+A2 and B1+B2]
If you have 4 same sticks, the problem with pairing channels vanishes

 

[CBiz__]

I assume you are running 1 4gb stick and 2 2gb sticks.you need to run matching pairs like 2x2gb ,2x4gb or 4x4.
If the 2x2 sticks match you can run them or just the 1 4gb.

it is most likely the memory like erenhardt said, i have run 4 sticks once 2x2 and 1x1 and my system started crashing and spaming windows all over the screen so I took the 2 1 gbs out and it was fine.

hey sorry not sure if i wrote it wrong buy i have 3 8GB HyperX Kingston sticks all the same CAS and Timing

 

[CBiz__]

My FX9370 undervolts like a champ. I've been able to run ~1.22v @ 4.4GHz (haven't tried further than that, but it was still going strong at that setting, not a known limit of my CPU, yet... Not hardcore benching, should mention that though). I don't know how you're CPU will do, but I'd experiment with undervolting a bit if you have to. At 4GHz and with AIO water cooling you should be able to shave some power use off easy with some more whittling away at the voltage. So for you being at 1.3875 @ 4GHz, I have to think it'll likely have more in it.

A 4GHz four module FX really shouldn't over-stress that board, but I've seen my CPU pull way more power at factory FX8350 settings than it should, in my case it turned out the LLC on my board was adding far more voltage than my CPU needed. So if your board has LLC, I'd check that too.

Thanks for the input, i actually did this after posting yesterday and since then i haven't run into any issues but i also haven't tested it fully yet so we will see, i believe im running 1.2875 now and i agree MUCH more stable undervolted idk why factory sets it so high

 

[CBiz__]

Get exactly the same memory stick as the odd one, so they run in pairs.
It is best to have memory working with the same timings.
Follow you motherboard manual. It does specify which slots should be paired. Depending on the motherboard it could be: [A1+B1 and A2+B2] or [A1+A2 and B1+B2]
If you have 4 same sticks, the problem with pairing channels vanishes

ok Awesome thank you ill grab a 4th Stick they are fairly cheap anyway, and just to be clear is it not advisable to run odd Numbers for ram modules like i shouldnt have 1 or 3 sticks ?