7970M survey!

will do the same....AMD has to learn that we customers don t want to waste our money in such a useless and not perfectly working technology. Before introducing on the market such a thing they should have tested it for months and make it perfect.....

my next card is going to be nVidia whole life if they don t fix Enduro soon.

 

Actually it took quite some time before AMD owners admitted to the problem. I read every page of the P150EM owner's forum and owners of these cards were still recommending them even though they didn't work right. People that were told not to worry would then buy the card and realize the mistake they made. I also find it funny that many people still put smiley faces next to the 7970m in their signature when they themselves are talking about how much they hate the fact that it doesn't work as advertised (cough cough).

 

Voted "Enduro down-utilizing issue (down-utilizing with correct setup/settings consistently in 1+ program" because in BF3 my card doesn't get fully untilized at all times but I'm still happy with the performance.

 

4 days since poll was started:

80% report some issue and/or RMA'ed and upgraded.
20% report their satisfaction (I've checked up on these and at least a third are bogus)

60% report the Enduro issue (40 people out of 68)
3% report overheating issues (2 people)
1.5% report erratic BSODs/hang-ups (1 person)
6% report two or more of the above (4 people)
4.5% report other issue (3 people)




I removed 4 people from the "I suffer no issue" column because from checking their sigs and posts they're either lying or misunderstood the poll.

 

Is it a requirement of the forum to have your laptop in your sig? Does typing in a few lines in a signature really prove anything anyways? Tossing out votes that go against your agenda is a pretty dishonest thing to do.

 

So you mean the "Alienware guy" (for example) just made an oopsey by writing in his sig that he has an AW? Perhaps he meant to write P150em or P170em and just mixed up a few letters...

 

No, because the poll is specifically for Clevo users with 7970m's. Not Alienware users with 7970m, and not people who ordered Clevos with 7970m's but don't actually own them yet.

Also, it's not dishonest to trust that what people write in their signature is the truth.

Edit: Furthermore, he never said anything about deleting people with no signature. Only those who clearly weren't Clevo users with 7970m's.

I'm half tempted to fill it out as "Other Issues" and say, "My computer reports my graphics card as an Nvidia 680m." You know.... because that's real helpful.

 

I wasn't referring to if someone had a different laptop in their sig. But rather no sig at all.

 

There were two users with 0 and 1 posts, the AW-guy and if I remember correctly one of the voters hadn't tested any games with known enduro issues. There were also some discrepancies in people's previous posts and their choice in the vote.

 

You could probably get a hint from their recent posts if they have any. If some guy posts "My laptop's coming tomorrow!" and voted in this poll, then it's quite obvious their vote is fake.

 

What are the known games besides BF3? I just got mine last night and only tested out Dead Island so far for a few minutes.

 

Follow the 7970m logging thread.

 

It's every game I've tested so far. There isn't a game that isn't affected for me.

 

I was not having issues on the games I play, how is that hard to understand? I play Skyrim, Path of Exile, Serious Sam 3, and a few other games. On the games I play I am not having issues, so I have not experienced any issues in the poll at this time.

I have not BSOD, the utilization has been great on these games, and I have not had any other issues.

I tried the new drivers just to help test them out. None of the games I played had any gain. That does not mean I was having issues in the first place.

 

The point is are you playing at 100%? It's not if you're having a problem with under-utilization, it's simply if you have it.

 

For those with the utlization issue, can someone please try this:

Download and install these drivers (cats 12.7b):

http://www2.ati.com/driverS/hotfix/radeon-hotfix/amd_radeon_8.981.2.1_hotfix_win7.exe

Download and install afterburner 2.2.0:

MSI Afterburner 2.2.0 Beta 15 download from Guru3D.com

tweak the config file with "UnofficialOverclockingMode=2"

i.e.,

UnofficialOverclockingEULA = I confirm that I am aware of unofficial overclocking limitations and fully understand that MSI will not provide me any support on it
UnofficialOverclockingMode = 2

Make sure you open the file as an admin and make sure it saves as a .CFG file and make sure there are no duplicate config files in the directory

You may also want to set ENABLEULPS to 0 (look in my 7970m guide for instructions)

Set the clocks to the default clocks 850/1200 in afterburner and leave afterburner running...minimize then game and report back to me.

This is similar to what the guys had to do with the gtx 580/675 as they are throttling on the Alienwares m17x R3's

 

Can you please post either some photos or videos to support this. It just seems hard to believe seeing as everyone else is experiencing the issue. Please post some screenshots or videos in game with the MSI Afterburner overlay with your GPU utilization and FPS.

 

What are your results with enduro on and this fix enabled?

 

I have no ability to turn enduro on in my Alienware R3 (its a blessing in disguise) so i have no way of testing this. i need others in the community to help me out here. I'm going to try help you clevo guys

UnofficialOverclockingMode=2 prevents any downclocking. i want to see if it has a positive effect to your throttling

 

Got it. Didn't know which AW models had Enduro . You might have started a new thread, so more people would see this.

 

Just tried this. Did not work for me unfortunately.

 

are you able to overclock your 7970m? I just want to make sure that you set it up right

 

First of all, I'm not an admin and I have no power to remove anyone's vote. I chose to omit 4 people from a certain bracket for reasons I highlighted early in the thread in my own pie chart representation. You can choose to take the original for a result.

Second of all, there was a guy with one post who joined the same day I posted this thread, and disabled private messages and voted no issues. I didn't even exclude that guy because it would be unfair to do so, but you've got Prasad for example, an old and well-respected member of the forum, who has an AW, talks about his AW all the time, and voted here so was probably an honest mistake. You've got Awaken, who admits he saw the Enduro issue but since he plays League of Legends the fps is stable for him, and he therefore doesn't care about intensive games like BF3. That doesn't translate to "I checked for the Enduro issue and didn't find it" but to "I found the Enduro issue but I don't mind". Just two examples out of four.

What really annoys me is the people who vote/post that they have 99% utilization all the time, then share no more details.

It's highly unlikely that for the 10-15 people who say they're doing fine, there's some manufacturing glitch that made things work okay, so either they're lying/haven't checked properly, or they have some exotic configuration that masks the issue somehow. The only way we'd know is if they share more about their systems. Thus far no one did, and we've been asking them in several threads.

 

I can do that. I am on vacation right now and don't have it with me. However I will post it when I get back.

You say everyone is experiencing the issue and that may be correct, but not on every game. I may just not be playing any games that have the issue. I know on Skyrim that I definitely used after burner to check the rate and it was at 99%.

So I am most certainly not doubting the issue exists, I just have not seen it on the particular games I play and it has already been proven that the utilization does not affect all the games in the same manner.

I am most certainly not having heating issues on anything. I can't make mine get hotter than 84/85 in stress test let alone gaming.

Since this is not a "controlled' test to see what people are testing / checking with you will never get everyone having the same results.

 

Damn, Skyrim is definitely not getting 99% for me! So strange! In any case it seems AMD have taken notice and are working on what the cause of the problem is. Likewise, no heat issues for me either thankfully.

 

The 3 games I tested so far have been fine. Installing 7-8 more overnight to test them tomorrow.

Skyrim
View attachment 81674

Dead Island
View attachment 81675

Metro 2033
View attachment 81676

 

I believe Skyrim and Metro 2033 are a couple of the games that are reported not to have any issues with Enduro.

 

I think so too, I don't have issues with those. Try Dirt 3 for example

Best Regards to all

 

Thats one of the ones installing atm.

Batman: AA
Crysis 1
Dirt 3
GTA4
Just Cause 2
L.A. Noire
Left 4 Dead 2
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: CoP

Got a lot more I can try in my Steam library too after these. No BF3 though. EA doesn't get my money anymore

 

Did you try to lower your setting ?

 

No, only used max settings. Except Metro 2033 I disabled the two dx11 options. They drop the FPS a lot even on my desktop.

 

Try to lower your setting if you want to see the under utilization from enduro. Most people have 99% utilization at max setting, 7970M is very nice for single player game but when you have some very demanding work to do ( multiplayer ) you need to lower your setting if you want 60 fps, but with enduro you dont gain much because utilization get lower too.

 

I'll give it a try tomorrow. Need sleep before work

How many/which games get higher FPS in SP mode? I don't play too many multiplayer games these days besides some Co-Op types but i've never experienced that.

 

Yeah i was able to. Followed your instructions to the letter . At least AMD has acknowledged the problem now!

 

my 7970m is at 99% utilization during gaming and max temp is 78 degrees. no complains

 

mythologic have better driver, but you still can see enduro issue if you lower your setting. Most of they customers seem to have better utilizations at max setting.

Look what they said about enduro issue in another thread.

 

I tried Skyrim. Definitely not seeing 50+FPS outdoors. All settings on maximum, seeing FPS mostly in the 30s outside, usage ranges from 50% to 98%. Yes, the .exes are set for high performance. Am I not supposed to set every thing to max detail, because I was under the impression every one was doing that.

 

utilization varies from map to map and from scene to scene. In Max Payne 3 I get 99% utilization on most maps, then on a few maps / scenes it goes as low as 40% for no apparent reason - there isnt any serious geometry being rendered or too many polygons on the screen, but utilization crumbles. Same in BF3 and Crysis 2. Also, anyone who says they do not have this issue simply hasnt tested properly. Even Sager admitted that this problem exists on all Enduro Enabled 7970M cards.
Right now the only way your 7970m can be performing as it should is if you have Enduro disabled - which is impossible to do on a laptop with no MUX (you would only get a black screen). Hopefully AMD get on top of this problem and find the issue.

 

I tried the game using the Ultra PRESET like mentioned on notebookcheck and bam, I seem to be getting FPS averaging in the mid 50s. People don't realize the Ultra preset isn't Ultra. In the advanced area of the Skyrim launcher there are settings that are not at highest quality under the Ultra preset.

 

Just got this email back from my reseller in Australia:

Hi *******,

Thank you for your enquiry.

From reading your email I believe you have a good knowledge of the current situation with the AMD 7970 which includes reported cases of the issue with certain games not performing optimally. I assume you have experienced a similar issue in your games too.

As you may or may not know, AMD are currently working on a solution for their driver that encompasses both our Clevo products and Alienware products which will enable their Enduro technology to perform more effectively. Admittedly, despite reports of this issue dating back to early June on notebookreview, this issue was only recently brought to the attention of AMD and is the reason why a solution is only in the pipeline now.

We have been informed by the factory that AMD are close to releasing a driver update and we are very confident a solution is not far from surfacing. We are currently waiting on an update from the factory with the aim we can get a more definitive timeframe which I hope to be able to provide you shortly.

In the meantime, you are welcome to return your laptop for a replacement to the NVIDIA GTX 680M if this is something you feel more comfortable doing. If this is so, please let me know and I will arrange it for you.


Kindest regards,
***** ****
Metabox / ITC Mobile Computing
953B Beaufort St
Inglewood WA 6052
Ph (08) 61026060


Doesn't add anything new but if what they're saying is correct, AMD might be close to fixing it...

 

Well, this sounds promising.

Anyone taking bets on the ETA of us being able to bash Nvidia again for their ridiculously priced mobile solutions and fanboyism?

 

LOL! Good one!

 

I am upgrading my MSI laptop with a 7970m, and since my laptop doesn't support Enduro, will the card perform properly and not suffer from the same issues Clevo/Sager is seeing?

Thanks.

 

Correct, without switchable graphics this card works perfectly.

 

Ok, so I am still not back from vacation, but I had my buddy who has the same config as mine do a test on Skyrim. I understand a little more what people are saying on this. I was not seeing any problem because I only use Ultra with everything set to max and the high texture pack. He was not seeing the utilization issue either on those settings. But as seeing where people saying to lower the settings to see it I asked him to try it and sure enough he actually got much lower FPS on lower settings than on Ultra and he said utilization was around 45% compared to 99% on Ultra.

Interesting to say the least. So I would change my vote if I could.

I can see where the whole, shutting down parts of the GPU could cause this, since AMD / Sager has mentioned this happening. IF that is the case then they should be able to change that behavior via a driver, or at least I hope so.

 

this survey is very inaccurate since most people that view this and are still watching this forum are obviously having troubles with the GPU themselves... and i'm currently having no issues what so ever. i used to have an issue with CS:GO and my framerate used to be 20-40... now that they updated the game for optimization i get 100-150 fps on ultra.


but one question, would i be able to send my notebook back to xoticpc for a free replacement up to the gtx680 if i run in to troubles soon? i haven't tested everything yet.

 

trust me, your 7970m has issues you just dont know about it - every 7970m is the same. Performance can still be pretty good in some games even with the issue. CS:Go is hardly a good game to check if your card is being utilized fully.

 

Definitely no on that one - you'd have to pay the difference and shipping.

 

well atleast AMD is now aware of the issue and should hopefully get a fixed driver update release sometime this month...

and thanks for the input on the gpu question.

 

How do you figure that? Are you saying that most of the forum's population are people with tech issues to begin with? That's absolutely unfounded.

Yes, people with issues are more likely to post about it than those without, but when it comes to a simple vote there's no reason to think that a person with 7970M issues is more likely to vote than a happy user of the same card.