Clevo EM series + 7970m Enduro problems. I sent ticket to Clevo HQ. Get yours in too.

should we be directing these reports at Sager? I read somewhere that Clevo arent really known for good customer support and generally Sager is more responsive to issues.

 

I'm thinking the language barrier is definitely causing some issues here. If someone knew Mandarin and could find a way to contact someone at Clevo through Skype, I'm sure things could better be explained this way.

 

We are actually in contact with Clevo, and AMD and a variety of Importers about working on this issue. The responses that you have gotten from Clevo are not indicative of the actual engineering department and how they are working on the issues internally note we don't have anything to report on that side as it doesn't appear to be a motherboard issue, in addition asking for a way to disable enduro on the EM series laptops won't get traction as its physically impossible due to how the motherboard is designed. You also have to also remember that Clevo releases reference drivers and then companies (Like us) have to pick up the ball to keep the updates rolling, and thats what we are doing. Yes its a slow process, and yes its improving. From our estimations there is probably one more driver revision that will fix these issues (12.7 and an updated Intel Driver), but you have to remember that by design this card will never have pegged utilization due to how to new zero-core technology and PowerXpress 5.0 works, the card even in the middle of a frame will power-down parts of the card that aren't being used when used in a switchable configuration, this can lead to the utilization graph bouncing all around. Now there are for sure games that have clear issues, so that is not an excuse as to the issues for sure. Its more just explaining that everyone who want a nice pegged 100% GPU graph aren't going to see it due to the power system. We have seen that the change from 12.3 -> 12.6 have yielded major improvements and 12.6 -> 12.7 will yield more, we've reported many specific issues to AMD and have gotten good responses. We are confident that these issues can be solved soon, and we have dedicated many man hours and sleepless nights to that effect, as its always our goal to never be satisfied by ok performance, we dedicate every resource we can to make sure we make and support the best laptops in the world =) We want these card to perform just as well as we all hoped they would too, so here's hoping :wub:

 

Yes, We get what you are saying here, but it's not just an issue of a 'graph bouncing around' , but an issue of performance not being enough in games and also random crashes of the game.

Also, if 'its physically impossible due to how the motherboard is designed' , how can the company (clevo) expect us, its valued customers who have shelled out decent amount of money to stick with an improperly designed motherboard? It's high time that the company steps up and acknowledge these issues.

BTW, I commend you guys (mythlogic) for getting some sort of a solution for this thing. It appears that you guys are the only ones who have taken this issue seriously. The customer service AFTER selling the laptop is what matters a lot and props to you guys for that.

 

Thank you so much for this update mythologic ! Being in the dark is the worst thing ever.

 

Hey, no we fully agree that there are some games that have utilization issues and we are working to solve them. What we were trying to clarify is that AFTER those issues get solved (hopefully) it still won't necessarily lead to a pegged utilization graph due to the power management. Thats all, we fully agree there are some games that just aren't right and hopefully more better drivers(tm) will solve those performance and stability issues.

Also on the subject of the motherboard being "improperly" designed, its not improper, its a design choice. Dell/AW chose to have a mux to be able to switch, Clevo chose not to, doesn't make either one right and one wrong. Now would we have loved to see a mux'ed solution of course, but we work with the motherboard design that we are dealt and work with Clevo to bring improvements when they can.

Thanks for the kind words everyone again =)

 

so in terms of money, dell/aw design is higher cost or clevo one?

 

Hi all. I've been a long time lurker here and thought I would share what I've just sent through to AMD. I submitted a customer care email submission form to them. Here it is in full:

Hi,

It seems most, if not all people in your company are currently unaware of one of the main issues stemming from the HD 7970m and its lack of driver support. I will summarise the issue for you but please please please have a read through the threads I have posted at the bottom -

- The most important/frustrating issue is that the GPU is not using full utilisation, ie 99% load. The most I've seen my card reach is ~70% but it fluctuates up and down all the time. I have tested this with other laptops I have with dedicated GPUs and all run at 99% load 99% of the time whilst in game. This issue happens in various games, whereby it seems as though your enduro technology is somehow limiting the 7970m's use and instead channelling most of the work it should be doing through the integrated Intel Graphics 4000 chip on the motherboard. As a result people are getting extremely low framerates for this card when they should be able to run games like Skyrim for example, flawlessly. It seems that a driver would fix it as it looks to be a software issue.

What amazes me is the lack of dedicated driver support for this card. The card has been out for around 2 or more months now and AMD/ATI's apparent lack of concern/knowledge of this issue is worrying as well as frustrating. This is a major issue that is being experienced by the majority of 7970m users. Of course, if your people are currently working on a fix as I type this, then by all means please respond and let me know so I may inform the rest of the 7970m community that is experiencing the issue. Nobody has heard anything from AMD/ATI about this issue and it is leading people to believe that your company simply doesn't care or is ignoring the issue.

Threads on the issue as previously mentioned -

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...ems-i-sent-ticket-clevo-hq-get-yours-too.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...er-seeing-people-reporting-flawless-680m.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/679375-7970m-will-ever-work-advertised.html

http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/679427-worth-getting-7970m-p150em.html

Please have a read and respond at your earliest convenience.


Hopefully if more people submit forms like this they may actually do something about the issue.

Why then are Nvidia systems with the GTX 680m and Optimus able to achieve 99% load 99% of the time? It honestly just seems like Enduro is really really buggy.

 

Hey, could anyone list a few games that have low gpu utilization when fps is low? I've tried several games, both DX9 and DX11 and gpu utilization never drops below 90% when fps starts dropping. The only problems I'm facing are screen tearing on DX 11 games regardless of Vsync being on, or horrible stuttering.

 

I dont think ZeroCore is the culprit here as its enabled in all current generation AMD cards. I also think there should be a software fix for this as you can easily make the problem disappear by changing some settings :
in kombustor burn in test if you select DX9 or OpenGL you get 80% utilization and around 90fps, if you switch to DX11 or DX10 you get 99% utilization and 118fps - this is rendering the exact same scene with the same textures and geometry. I might be wrong but to me it seems that some rendering functions are bugged, as its definitely physically possible to get 100% of cards performance out of it.

 

Battlefield 3 Multiplayer only - also depends on which map or a certain part of a map, operation firestorm gives me unstable fps / utilization, other maps give me 90% ish figures.
All ARMA games
All Dirt games
Max Payne 3 - but only later on in the game, in favela maps. most other maps are nice 99% utilization.
Batman Arkham City
Crysis 2 with DX11 on

probably many others, these are the only games I've tried.

 

The biggest issue with enduro is when you lower the graphic, most of the time the utilization just get lower too, so you cant get 60 fps in battlefield 3 even at medium.

I can add Ghost Recon : Future Soldier on your list.

 

I've just tested Crysis 2 with DX 11 - utilization starts at 70% and goes up to 99% a few seconds in, and stays like that when things heat up (combat etc). FPS is 25-45 in open areas with lots of things to render at Ultra settings, but again I get awful screen tearing on DX11 which goes away when I disable DX 11.

I don't remember having utilization issues on Max Payne 3, but I stopped playing on DX 11 because the game would inevitably crash. It runs perfectly on DX 9.

I installed the Clevo stock drivers that came on the CD then upgraded to the 12.7 beta display driver (only), but things looked the same with stock drivers as far as I remember.

I tried Skyrim too which uses DirectX 9 - utilization is good in Full Screen mode, but I get horrible stuttering. Utilization drops to 60ish when I run the game in Windowed mode.

 

Update, with help from Sager: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sag...679461-my-visit-sager-amd-7970m-solution.html

 

Also F1 2011- when I run the benchmark test I get around 30-35 fps and utilization around 30-40%..??? what ?? thats the same performance as my old 5870m
Also this issues are in shift 2- try to play at nightime ann frames drop to even 20-25fps in the middle of a grid.

 

need for speed the run for sure...ALWAYS 28-30 fps with constant below 50% utilization

 

just to confirm - are you getting 99% utilization in DX11 for most of the game? Because I get 99% at the start, then I get into a big open space and it drops to 70% or even less. Can you check your utilization on the 2nd map (after the sub level, when you get the suit), where you walk out of the first building onto outside space - mine drops pretty much immediately.

 

I tested on a few open areas a few levels ahead of that for 5 minutes, utilization fluctuates between 80 and 95% with 30ish fps.

 

just the first map already have problems
<param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AijjXy1NPoo?version=3&amp;hl=zh_HK"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AijjXy1NPoo?version=3&amp;hl=zh_HK" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width='560' height="315" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object>

 

I just tested that point you mentioned, you're right - utilization drops at 67% and fps at 20ish and below.

 

New AMD 7970 Clevo Drivers! http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/679568-7970m-8-982rc1-feedback-appreciated.html

 

Hi,
Based on your comment I made another suggestion on AMD Developer central (see last post): Suggestions to improve CCC | AMD Developer Forums

Maybe it's a dumb suggestion but perhaps it gives them some new ideas

Best Regards to all

 

Well its seems the whole issue is multifactorial, even DX11 is involved in the mixture.
Its clear the power saving is not responsible for the low % usage, also its only logical one could turn all power saving features off or at least optimize the system for performance.
I wouldnt care using 10% GPU if FPS are stable and high... that would be the end point.
Maybe one of th forum testers could be temporarly hired by AMD to test all issues on site and hurry this whole ordeal up, i bet many would do it for free (i know i would!)

i donate for a solution anytime!

regards
Voz

 

that link is dead, did any computers blow or something?

regards

Voz

 

Why necro this old thread? If you want to do some testing, test this latest solution:

7970M Enduro Issue - Page 4 - Rage3D Discussion Area

post 111

 

The thread was removed per AMD's request. The situation is still ongoing, and AMD is working on a solution.