AMD GPU Zero Core Issue : Asus K53ta

After a long time I am trying to Update the video driver of this Asus K53ta, and tried two sets of recent release

1. 12.10 Catalyst WHQL with 12.10 SB
2. 13.1 Catalyst WHQL with 13.1 SB

For past reference, I was on 11.12 Official Catalyst release for last 1 year, which runs almost stable..
During normal Desktop operation the 6520G clocks it self from 275 to 400 MHz and 6650M down clocks to 0/27 MHz Effectively switched off (Zero Core), Unless I assign it to a high performance application like 3D Games. (by GPU Z 0.5.7 reading)

So I went ahead and after creating restore point I express uninstalled all AMD stuff and cleanly install 12.10 SB and than 12.10 Catalyst. The Installation went smooth and windows boot up every thing works fine except battery life, when I unplugged I see 3 hours active usage, after checking GPU Z, I can confirm the 6650 M runs at 100/150 MHz all the time which causing power usage worth 1 hour of battery Life. (Usually I get 4.5 to 5 hours on normal scenario with 11.12).

So with newer Driver the Dedicated Graphics card down clocks to lowest P-State 100/150 when idling but never turn off.
And same thing happened with 13.1 upgrade, It fails to switch off the D-GPU on Idling.

I. fyi I always set GPU Z to Power saving graphics when taking reading
II. Dual Graphics always sets to Off but I tried turning it On during install and also during normal usage
III. Power-play is enabled and no GPU overclocking tools installed
IV. I tried with Uninstalling AMD stuff with manually cleaning registry entries and config before Upgrade
V. Reset CCC to factory default before and after Upgrading

I was going to Report this Issue to AMD but better to check if this is just me or any other owners of same Machine before bug report
So anyone else experiencing anything similar

 

Heres your problem: when you reinstalled the Control Center, it reverted back to default settings. When it says 100/150mhz that means the GPU is off and not being used. The reason you are getting worse battery life is because CCC is probably running all your programs/video players/games on Max Performance. Here is what I discovered in regards to the way the K53TA 6720G2 video card works:

Power4Gear Settings: These Do not affect video card or crossfire settings (however, through Advanced Settings, you can set ATI Power Play Settings that will affect it)

PowerPlay Settings within Control Center:
Enable PowerPlay Checkbox: Checking this box will give your GPU and Memory clock speeds a boost for each active GPU. Unchecking it will place both cards at their lowest default speeds. The "Maximize Battery Life setting with the box CHECKED will give you slightly higher speeds than having the box unchecked and the "Maximize Performance" setting will give you the fastest overall clock speeds.

Now, given all of that, their are two main modes that your computer GPU's will run on: Power Saving or High Performance. These settings are made by right clicking on the ATI Vision Engine Control Center (Catalyst program) in the taskbar and selecting Configure Switchable Graphics. Youll notice that their is nothing listed if no programs are open. What you want to do is open the game or video player that you want to set, and then go into the Config Switchable Graphics screen. Now that the programs are open, you will see them listed there. Here you will have those two settings:

Power Saving: The program or game will ONLY run on the slower 6500 GPU whose clock speeds are determined by the previous settings I just mentioned. In other words, you will be running on a single GPU.
High Performance: The program or game will run on BOTH GPU's the 6650 and 6500 whose clock speeds are again determined by the PowerPlay settings.

Please take a look at both screenshots Ive posted. In one of them you will see I have VLC Player set on Power Saving and Ive circled the GPU's being used. You'll notice only GPU#1 is being used because its on Power Saving. Any program that you have set on High Performance will utilize both GPUs and shown in the other screenshot. The PowerPlay settings only affect the mhz speeds.
They range from 200/675mhz to 275/675 I believe on GPU#1 and on GPU2 is Off to 100/150mhz to 600/900mhz max.

As far as best settings for battery life:

Best Battery Life:
Power4Gear on Battery Saving
PowerPlay box UNCHECKED
Switchable Graphics set to Power Saving

Best Performance:
P4G on High Performance
PowerPlay box CHECKED and set to Maximum Performance
Switchable Graphics on High Performance
(This setting will utilize both GPU's at the fastest clock speeds.)

Clock Speed Settings:
Slowest most conservative clock speeds: PowerPlay Box unchecked (setting doesnt matter)
Medium Clock Speeds: PowerPlay Box Checked, Battery Saving selected in drop down
Fastest Clock Speeds: PowerPlay Box Checked, Max. Performance selected