Tried that. It makes no difference whether it's the default windows driver or the catalyst HDMI audio driver. The same problems persists. The only fix is to disable them.
Do a custom install of CCC and don't enable HDMI audio. Don't select it during installation. I had oddities as well with GTX 580 -- I always de-selected the HDMI audio driver during installation
I'm at work right now, so I haven't had a chance to install anything.
What drivers should I be using? I read that cat 12.2 betas are out. Are these any good for the 7970? What about catalyst profiles?
Hey blackened, according to Unwinder, AB is reading the 7970's real-time voltage measurement (hence vdroop reportings). Trixxx reads just like every other software (inlcuding gpuz and AB on any non-7900 card).
Some tips for my fellow 7970 users:
Use the drivers off the AMD website here:
http://support.amd.com/us/kbarticles/Pages/radeon-7900-series.aspx
- Disabling AMD overdrive in CCC can be helpful. What happens, if you're using MSI afterburner, afterburner will load first during windows startup and then CCC will load and over write your voltages/clock settings.
- Disabling ULPS in sapphire trixx is equivalent to enabling power tune +20% in CCC. Sapphire Trixx right now is more reliable than MSI afterburner.
- Sapphire trixx is an excellent utility to utilize, it gives more accurate voltages than the most recent MSI afterburner beta
- When using MSI afterburner, run it with the command line argument -xcl, then reboot to unlock gpu clocks
- Before installing your 7970, be sure to run driver sweeper after a SAFE BOOT and completely remove all prior registry traces of your last vidcard - I did this to remove traces of my 580s.
- Using a voltage monitor, sapphire trixx is more accurate on reporting GPU voltage. I think MSI afterburner still needs a bit of work in this aspect.
- If you're overclocking, set a custom fan profile in MSI afterburner or sapphire trixx. Do not use auto fan! It will not ramp up (fan speed) fast enough for overclocked GPU's most of the time. You can also use a set manual fan speed if you dont mind going full speed 100% of the time
thats all for now
Hey blackened, thanks for that awesome post. I learned some stuff!
I have a question, however. I was using MSI Afterburner and Overdrive in combination but I want to disable Overdrive and rely on Afterburner exclusively, as you suggest. Will disabling Overdrive not remove my +20% power tune setting? Can I reset that in Afterburner instead? I'm at work right now but I can't remember seeing the power tune setting in Afterburner but I may have missed it. Thanks
When I grow up I want to be AdamK47
blackened23 said:At 1200/1600 the 7970 in my case is anywhere from 48-80% faster than 580 SLI.
Nice! Use sapphire trixx and oc the heck out of it
I tried it and went for 1200/1600 on each card with 1.225V. Was getting display corruption in L.A. Noire. The results I posted are with the cards at 1100/1500 with default voltage using AMD Overdrive.
That's a pretty bold claim. And not correct except perhaps in one or two very isolated cases where sli doesn't scale.
Would 750W in an overclocked 2500K/P67 build be enough to feed one of these, or should I upgrade to 850W?
It really isn't. I usually try to use my PC for my own enjoyment, but i'll try to work on some gaming benchmarks and FRAPs later. In the meantime if you look at existing xfire benchmarks at hardwareheaven, crossfire scaling is near 100% in many games at stock settings. That is better than SLI scales, on average. I'm running at 1175 at the moment on both cards, so that is another factor.
Its not too difficult to understand really. Just like a single 7970 can perform up to 70% faster when overclocked (or near 100% faster in DX:HR), the same applies to xfire.
Adam: Get dxtory, install it, go into advanced settings, and set it to 60. This will eliminate all problems, period - if vsync doesn't. Are you running with vsync disabled? If so, why on earth would you do that? Do you have a 120hz monitor? Part of the issue is that DX9/DX11 has specific methods by which you direct them to enable vsync. AMD follows this method to the Tee. Nvidia does something different. Anyway, long story short, just enable vsync or install dxtory and problems are gone. Or another solution is using bandicap and setting a FPS limit to 130 if you're using a 120hz monitor. Either way this will fix all issues. Another "fix" for such issues is rivatuner's D3D override. If you force vsync with it, that also eliminates stutter.
It fixed it! I didn't think the micro-stutter with these cards could be fixed in its current state. I downloaded the software and set it to 60 FPS and the micro-stutter was gone! That got me thinking, could the Rivatuner Statistics Server technology included with MSI Afterburner do the same thing? It indeed does. When I set it to force 60 FPS the micro-stutter is gone. It's easier to use and doesn't cost anything. I wish the ATI/AMD driver did the same thing, but using this does work.
Also, what's up with ATI/AMD not forcing vsync? I have to use D3D Overrider to get it working with everything.
It fixed it! I didn't think the micro-stutter with these cards could be fixed in its current state. I downloaded the software and set it to 60 FPS and the micro-stutter was gone! That got me thinking, could the Rivatuner Statistics Server technology included with MSI Afterburner do the same thing? It indeed does. When I set it to force 60 FPS the micro-stutter is gone. It's easier to use and doesn't cost anything. I wish the ATI/AMD driver did the same thing, but using this does work.
Also, what's up with ATI/AMD not forcing vsync? I have to use D3D Overrider to get it working with everything.
Any other issues you've been having? One of my client's wants to get tri-fire 7970s and I want to brace him for any possible issues.