7970M survey!

Can't wait to see what amd can do to solve this. I'm currently happy with my performance but I would love some more.

...tapatalk...

 

For those not experiencing any issues regarding enduro. Quick way to check is to play BF3 and change your settings to medium. You will get crap gpu utilization and wont even get 60fps. Another way is playing an older game like Company of Heroes, max settings you wont get 60fps.

Don't get me wrong the card is not a dud. It's faster than the 675 and gives me playable frames on BF3 in Ultra (~45 fps) but I definitely want this thing to work like it is supposed to.

 

In Skyrim a GPU load of 70% happens for me too, but that's because Skyrim's engine is CPU bottlenecked in most cases.
What's interesting me is, what Cinebench scores do you guys with a mobile ivy bridge CPU get?

 

*Edit*
Sorry guys, I just deleted two paragraphs of nonsense. Time for an edit. I installed Skyrim and didn't update, and as a result I was seeing terrible frame rates. I just updated to the latest patch, and now I am seeing very large FPS increases. And I mean where I used to have 30FPS I now have 70FPS. Every setting to the max, AA and AF all max, vsync off, FPS rarely goes below 60. I read some where that the original build of Skyrim actually was crippled by i7 processors, so make sure you update!

 

You also make sure not to disable vsync in Skyrim. It causes major issues with physics and the AI.

 

I definitely will make sure. Since 60FPS can be held stable, it makes sense. Also, with vsync enabled, usage won't necessarily be maximum, because once you hit 60FPS the GPU won't be used more to make frame rates higher.

I also want to point out that before updating, my CPU usage was below 30%. After the update, STILL below 30% in Skyrim (all max settings). The update changed how the GPU was utilized I am assuming. I wonder if this may apply to Battlefield 3. Maybe it just needs to be patched by EA? Maybe Sager, Clevo and AMD are not at fault, and it it the games themselves that need patching for a brand new card, let alone a new HD 7000 series.

I don't own Battlefield 3, so maybe some one can try the original, non-updated BF3 and compare FPS to the latest update. See if GPU utilization is different.

 

Do me a favor would you? In Skyrim go into a room with an open flame and look directly at it and move side to side. Does your game stutter or get 'laggy' when looking at a flame? Same happens for me if I look directly down and run in a circle, it gets really jerky all of a sudden and the fps never drop.

Curious if you see that...

Also Diablo 3 stutters badly for me, if anyone has that see if they can replicate it

 

Yep, happens to me with fire. It isn't extreme but I see it, and frame rate doesn't change. I haven't tried the circle thing but I don't honestly think that tactic would ever be used.

 

Okay well at least I know it's not just me. Depending on the effects in a room I've seen it get worse/not as bad. I just was curious if someone else could replicate it is all. It does annoy me though.

Thanks for the help.

 

radiators are not alignment to fan which cause high temps on gpu

 

Unfortunately its not possible to try BF3 unpatched - it wont let you play online without updating to the latest version. Also, if it was an issue with games and not AMD drivers you would not get a massive performance difference between 7970m with enduro on and 7970m with enduro off.

 

Your overall CPU usage is only 30% because Skyrim's engine only utilizes 2 of your cores. If you have HT enabled, 2 out of 8 cores run at 100%, resulting in 25% overall + the rest of your cores will handle the background processes which adds about 5% load.
Thats the sad story.

 

I see 4 out of 8 logical cores being used on my end, or in other words 2 out of 4 physical cores (but I do see instances in my log where the game uses 5 threads). That is still an advantage to have a quad core, as all of the Core 2 Duos only had two threads. The game is optimized to use 4 threads, but like you were saying it likely won't use all 8 threads . It doesn't need to because no thread really ever maxes out. The highest percentage one of my threads hit was 74%, so it isn't like I am missing out on CPU utilization. BTW, my CPU utilization never passes 30%, but a lot of the time it sits right around 20%-25%.

Btw, to those who I spoke to about the shakiness when viewing fire in Skyrim, here is the solution: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/682739-fix-frame-stutters-skyrim.html
In there is a link to Dxtory which allows you to limit the frame rate without causing screen tearing. This method gets rid of all jittery effects, including instances when viewing fire.

To arctcjoe: What could be possible is that Enduro is not yet fully supported by current games, which as a result need patching. It could be that Skyrim's newest patch was optimized to include Enduro support, or support for the 7000m series in general.

 

I feel like the people on the Rage 3D forum are actually going to hinder any efforts in getting this problem fixed. What an arrogant bunch of fanboi *****s!!!

 

yeah, i dug out my old rage3d account to make a few posts there.

 

So ..... how the hell do I enable the 7970M on my system, and how do I know if it's enabled?

My first time using Catalyst and I hate AMD already. I can only see the "add application to switchable gfx blah blah" page. Where is that PowerXpress simple switch from Dedicated to Integrated and vice versa?

 

there is no way to know. you can only go into CCC and select high performance for what you want to use the 7970m on and hope that it is working.

 

yeah i hate this, would never have chosen amd if i knew this before hand

 

HWinfo both 32 and 64 bit editions can't tell me the temps of my 7970M ... any other app you guys recommend?

 

Open a program that enables your 7970m then open HWinfo64, it'll detect the card then.

 

Question to Skyrim players: When you are entering Ivarstead for the main quest line, do you start having frame skips, where the frame rate drops from 60 down to 50 for a split second? It doesn't happen in many places, just in the general area around Ivarstead is where I first started seeing it, and I think it only happens in the day time. If you go by the river past Ivarstead it continues to happen as well.

BTW a tip for all: lower AA to 2x (you can keep your AF at 16 ), especially since we are on 1080p screens (and extra especially if you are only using the smaller built in laptop screen). I see no visual change from 8x, and while there probably is a difference, that goes to show how little the change is to human eyes. My FPS gain is 3-6 FPS depending on the area, and FPS are more stable. Definitely worth it.

 

Not it doesn't.

Furthermore, the framerate in SC2 (constant) is VERY low (some 20ish or less) so I'm SURE it's using that @#$#%ing iGPU.

Kombustor doesn't see me my 7970M no matter what exe file I save as "high performance".

 

Top right of Kombustor screen: AMD Wimbledon XT.

 

Top left corner - Intel HD4000. MSI afterburner shows no utilization of the 7970M in the graphs, and HWinfo64 shows no 7970M. I also don't think I'm lucky enough to have a 58 Celsius 7970M running kombustor on stock paste and cooling.

HWinfo64 shows the iGPU to be at 58 Celsius as well. Not a coincidence.

 

I recommend wiping every thing AMD including drivers and CCC and re installing the stock driver pack from the Sager CD.

 

I only ever installed from the CD supplied. One other way I know the 7970M isn't working is the fact that I've only ever seen/heard the CPU fan spinning.

All of this has to be put on hold because my power brick just failed (after 12 hours) and now I have to find an identical one and/or cut the wires and do some DIY.

Some great first impressions these Sagers give huh? I kinda understand the appeal of Apple now. Switch on and never worry about tweaking anything. Too bad I'm a gamer and Apple doesn't pack enough umph.

P.S: I tried CSS, WoW, EvE, HoN, WC3 in addition to SC2, all bound to "high performance GPU" from CCC and same result. Does CCC "forget" the settings btw? Because every time I open up CCC the switchable graphics panel is empty, or is it saved but just invisible (which is incredibly stupid)?

 

The Sager is a great machine. Its the 7970m that is lackluster. AMD needs to get their act together. Enduro doesn't work right on any system. The only reason AW work is because they can turn off enduro. Im so glad I switched while I could. 680m is worth the extra cash IMHO. Im done with AMD from here on out. They are 2 for 2 in disappointing me now.

 

They don't forget the settings. They just show the list of the most recent apps you've opened.

 

The Intel 4000 temps are actually 7970m temps in HWinfo. I've noticed this when watching HWinfo and Afterburner.

 

I dont have problem with BF3 but I have utilization problem in Crysis and Crysis Warhead.
No problem with Crysis 2.

 

Sorry for being a noob, but how do I check for these things. Also, I can't seem to find an application that monitors the temperature of 7970m.

 

Did you even google it?
Try hwmonitor, but there are a couple more.

 

Just bought the P150EM and I must say I'm pretty satisfied so far..... Of course I tested for the underutilization and there are issues there, but having done some research up front I'm not really worried. This IS a driver issue and it will be resolved. The fact is that the 7970m is beating the GTX680m in Gaming, and once the issues are resolved those test results should become even clearer as a lot of these are based on average performance. Not only that but if you are using your lap for CAD - work etc. you would best stick with AMD.... for sure. Add the premium price tag on the 680m and my choice was simple. Now while those two cards are comparable I'm glad I didn't go for the GTX675m, which cannot compete at all with the top 2.... Actually my reseller charged more for the 675m than 7970m......????

 

If it ever gets resolved... its been 5 months now and AMD is being particularly quiet about it which makes me wonder if the issue cannot be resolved without a change of hardware.

 

I'd have to argue with you there. I switched from a 7970m to a 680m and I am getting better overall gaming performance on the games I play. Mind you I have not even attempted to OC the card.

BF3- improved fps (5-15 fps more in ultra settings), better utilization, and your able to lower settings for higher fps
Witcher 2- not as much of a boost in high settings regarding frames maybe 5-10, but again with utilization you can adjust settings to get much higher fps
Batman: AC- HUGE improvedment. less stuttering, higher fps ~10-15 frames more. When I ran the benchmark w my old 7970 got min fps of 1!!! with the 680m my min fps was 20fps.

Hopefully the new drivers come out soon for you guys. I for one couldn't wait any longer.

 

What sort of actual utilisation do you get with the 680m? In the 90% range most of the time?

 

Received my system last night, and have spend most of my awake time in the forums since Today at class i smiled and thought: "This is a good buy. The fans are really not noticeable doing class, and i got all this power for CAD and SimCC pro and whatever."

BUT this morning i see this poll, and i checked the option "Didnt check" since i really didn't think i would actually own one of the games that would be affected. But as i turns out i saw a post of low fps doing World of Warcraft, and i just had to try it out since i have that one.
Standing around in Stormwind gave me 13-14 fps, and moving out of the city gave me 39-40 fps. Not really what i would have expected from this card. On the positive note, GPU was after one hour on 66 Celsius.

680m is not available in Denmark yet, so either I turn it back or get a 675m installed.

What do you guys think, cross fingers for update or get a 675m?

 

are you sure that your computer setting is in performance mode + have you added the game to ccc and set it to high performance ?

 

Ye CCC popped up after the first time i ran wow, and power settings was the first thing i checked.

 

Make sure you enabled the WoW.exe and not the Launcher. Mine stays pegged at 60fps.

 

ALso keep in mind some gpus dont run optimized when unplugged even if you change settings on power performance...

 

I am not a gaming guy, but I liked Crysis before so I tried Crysis 2 last night. Played for a couple of hours. I was getting 40 -50 fps with hi -res texture pack, ultra settings 1920x1080. I got better fps(60+) when I lowered the settings, but even lowering them to high and setting display to 1280x720 didn't make much of a difference beyond that. I have no idea what would be normal here, but if you want fluent gameplay I can see how this is annoying people....

 

By the way I'm on the p150em 3610qm, 7970m, 16GB, 120 GB intel 320 ssd, 500 gb Momentus xt