My 7970M doesn't seem to have issues

UPDATE 2: I'm finally seeing my GPU utilization in the 70s. Thanks to arcticjoe for suggesting tests to me. I'll be trying 3DMark 06 in a bit. Regarding my GPU utilization not being 99% all the time, is there a reason why my fps wouldn't go past "60.1" according to the OSD (and other utilities)? It seems that the fps is capped at 60 and that's the reason why the GPU load won't go all the way to 99%?

UPDATE: So far, the ones who have voiced out that they aren't having major issues with their 7970M have the same or similar specs as me. That is they have the 9170 or 170EM with 3720QM, etc. Please continue to share your findings with as much details as possible guys. If we can see a pattern here, we can notify Clevo which will hopefully force them to do isolated and more scientific tests to get to the root of the problem. Help us help our fellow Clevo/Sager owners out.

First of all, let me begin by saying that I am starting this thread because I have only seen a handful of people speak out about their 7970M seemingly having no issues. A lot of people are confused whether they should get this over the 680M or if they should hold on and wait for AMD/Clevo to rescue them. I also want people who have no issues to say it here and post screenshots of proof that their GPU works as intended (meaning 99% utilization, good temps, good-to-great fps, etc.) Make no mistake that I am 100% convinced there are Enduro issues. I am not pretending that it doesn't exist. I am also not here to brag or rub it in to people who are going through all sorts of buyers' remorse and disappointments. I just want to compare apples-to-apples and maybe we can all help each other figure out what the differences are with out cards and/or settings by providing full details.

I'm very puzzled as to why I am not 'feeling' any of it. I have tried my best to replicate the issues by following the steps others have provided to trigger these issues and maybe I'm not doing it correctly or exactly as they are.

Here are my details...

-I bought my P170EM from Malibal (specs in my sig) and my 7970M is not from the first batch
-I have 12.7 official beta from AMD installed over stock 12.5 (express installation, not custom --thanks fantomasz)
-I haven't overclocked my GPU or CPU
-The games I have tested my GPU on are CS 1.6, CS:Source, Torchlight, Diablo 3, StarCraft 2, WarCraft 3, World of Warcraft, League of Legends, Lineage II, Smite, Battlefield 3, Blacklight: Retribution
-All my games, if the option is there, are set to the absolute highest settings with v-sync on and AA off
-Windows, CCC, etc. all have everything set to max/power performance whether battery or A/C plugged in

This is my 3DMark 06 result: AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor,CLEVO P170EM score: 15760 3DMarks

Here are some screenshots with descriptions below them:


This is Battlefield 3 with 16 players on Caspian Borders. I had multiple applications open while playing this, including Afterburner (of course), Firefox with 22 tabs, and several others.


I played again on the same server to make sure the first wasn't a fluke.

Note: The two graphs above were taken after exiting BF3, hence the dip in the graphs. So the 60 fps you see there wasn't due to BF3 minimizing when I attempted to take a screenshot in-game (see below). The 60 fps was actually in-game. I played BF3 in three instances to take each screenshot relating to BF3.


As suggested by others, I just finished playing Caspian Border with a full house of 64 players. My numbers was averaging in the low 30s and sometimes dipping to 27 fps. This confirms that when I played with 15-16 players also in Caspian Border with decent action, that I was having similar numbers though a little higher, no doubt due to only having 1/4 of the server population. Also worth mentioning, my fps went as high as 60 and this is on full ultra settings.


This is how my CCC's 3D settings look like.


This is how my Intel's 3D settings look like.ver

I tried taking a screenshot in the game with the fps, overlay performance, etc. enabled but having PicPick as my screenshot utility (I use for taking screenshots of Diablo 3 items) f*cks everything up. Here's what it looked like when I took a screenshot.



Note that this is not fullscreen and this is when PicPick suddenly shifted me back to my desktop to show a preview of my screenshot, but this screen is the actual BF3 window. When I took this screenshot, the fps was exactly at 43, I believe. This is just to show you that it was impossible for me to take a screenshot in BF3 due to the PicPick utility. I don't want to remove the utility just for these tests, you'll just have to take my word for it that the fps was indeed in the 30s to low 40s. (I don't really have a reason to lie since I'm very much willing and ready to find out the differences between your 7970M and mine.)

According to Battlefield's render.drawfps command, my fps drops to as low as 1 frame per second especially when I hit screenshot and it exits back to my desktop. When I'm playing the game though, it says I'm down to 29 at my very lowest (rare) and high 40s at the very highest (sometimes I also get 50s and 60 but that's also as rare as the 29). The usual fps it displays though is 98% of the time around 30-36 fps. I couldn't capture that with a screenshot for the reason stated above.

If you have any questions or suggestions as to which tests I should run to see if there is a difference between our GPUs, please let me know. I'm very curious why my games all seem to run smoothly. Perhaps I'm completely oblivious to these things being a newbie or maybe I'm one of the lucky few. I would really like to know.

VIDEO: Battlefield 3 with a P170EM, 3720QM CPU and 7970M GPU - YouTube

Please read the description to see my explanation of this video.

 

Damn, you're one of the lucky ones it seems. Quick question: did you install both the stock and 12.7 beta express?

 

I have never reformatted since receiving mine from Malibal so however they installed the stock drivers, all I did was installed the 12.7 beta using express installation over it.

I'm still skeptical that I am one of the lucky ones. I'll only fully believe that once I've ran tests others have done (at least to my capacity) and that there are others who have the same results as me. Right now, half of me believes that I'm doing something wrong/right which is why I'm getting these results... if that makes any sense. A part of me really want to see what you guys are seeing. I worry that if mine is indeed a fluke, that one day it will all come crashing down on me. Lol. So like everyone else, despite having very good gaming experience with mine, I want to see the issues fixed. I believe that everyone here aren't exaggerating about the problem with Enduro.

Someone in another thread told me that this card is capable of steady 60-100 fps in all the newest games. I also believe that and yes, it does worry me that some of the time my fps bottoms out in the low 30s playing BF3. However, I'm not as desperate as others who are getting worse results with higher temps as my fps is more than playable. If and when AMD comes out with newer drivers, I think mine would be "fixed" whereas others' might not.

 

Going by your graphs and explanation it seems as though you are definitely not experiencing the problem as seriously as p150em users. Could it have something to do with the model of laptop I wonder... I have seen other p170em users reporting little to no issues as well. At max settings with v-sync on in BF3, it would make sense that you are getting lows of 30 FPS.

 

I just did videos to prove my fps-to-settings-to-GPU usage are consistent. Meaning, if I'm in low settings, my fps caps out at 60 and spikes to high 60s with GPU usage still in the 90s and only dipping whenever I ALT+TAB and or in the BF3 menus. This is consistent when I'm in medium, high and ultra. Unlike others who have reported having low GPU usage despite the settings they use and having crappy fps whether it's in low or ultra. Mine isn't anything like that.

Uploading the video right now...

Note that these videos aren't edited. They're straight out of my phone to my Dropbox to YouTube. I'm also talking as I show things but I'm not sure if I'm audible as my AC is blasting at the moment.

(My BF3 log is going to say I'm a quitter thanks to all these tests. LOL.)

 

You know I haven't noticed that. I don't know how I missed that. I haven't check whether people with the issues have the P150EM or the P170EM. Are the power bricks the same? Same specs and ratings? I wonder if that has to do with the GPU's utilization.

 

It's a mystery to me but I'm definitely sure I've read elsewhere of other people with the p170em experiencing far less issues. I wonder if they have the same chipset??

 

VIDEO: Battlefield 3 with a P170EM, 3720QM CPU and 7970M GPU - YouTube

Please read the description to see my explanation of this video.

It's too bad the other two videos I did first weren't usable, they showed me in the middle of action in Caspian Borders. My phone, a hacked HTC Sensation running CM9 nightlies, sometimes records off sync and choppy. Those two videos would have definitely showed that I don't have the low, medium, high, ultra settings problem others have where lowering the settings yields lower GPU utilization and no better fps.

 

Apparently, my NP9170 has a lot less issues than what many people have been having. My 3DMark score is in my signature below. :] I still think that drivers will fix what little utilization problems I have, but playing Crysis 2 on Ultra + DX11 with 30-40fps makes me very happy.

 

Try to run with AA on max
From what I have seen, the performance drop is linked to the AA. Mainly MSAA

With MSAA enabled on max payne, FPS drops from 50-60 to 20-30 FPS

Here without AA mostrly games runs well too

And with possible, try to run a game affected by enduro issue. Just check notebookcheck ( AMD Radeon HD 7970M - Notebookcheck.net Tech) and see which games are affected.

 

I heard the utilization problems are in the larger maps. Try the ones w 64 players. FYI I have no issues on mine. And as far as what sort of FPS to expect with BF3 I am in line with what notebookcheck.net is showing. I have P170EM 3720QM 8GB RAM from Mythlogic.

 

That's good to hear and thanks for stating that in this thread. Actually, when I said above that I only know of a handful of people saying they aren't having heavy issues with their 7970M, you're one of them.

Though the Enduro issues are very real, and I do believe we should get higher fps at the very highest settings, it's curious that a few of us are having major issues. Also, our specs seem pretty similar. I wonder if it's the CPU as well as the 15 vs. 17? I never though any of those would bottleneck anything with these current games?

 

Honestly, I'm new to BF3 and from what I've been told, I should test Caspian Border. I did that, but unfortunately I'm not seeing big servers filling up right now. Maybe I've set my filters too strictly. I'll give this a try again, though. Thanks for the suggestion.

And once again, we have similar specs and like me, you also don't seem to have major issues with your GPU. Now we're getting somewhere...

 

Thanks for the suggestion! I'll look into this. In the video I'm uploading (link in the OP), I did turn on AA on max and the numbers are the same with it off, I believe. I'll check again to confirm but please see the video for yourself once it has been uploaded.

 

Thanks man! Pretty awesome that I've kinda made a name for myself on here. I thought the same thing about the CPU, but I honestly don't think that is the problem. I personally think it's a Clevo issue. Haha If it was a CPU problem, Alienware or other gaming notebooks that can bypass enduro would experience similar problems. I'm looking forward to getting some new drivers and I'm sure that MANY other people on this forum are too, but for now, I'm happy with my performance. :] Glad that you are, too!

 

The video is up. It's nothing more than to confirm my screenshots. That's all. Nothing special. But please read the description to see my explanation so that there are no misunderstandings or imaginary claims that never came out of my mouth. Lol. I'll to play on a 64-player server with a big map right now, as others here have suggested I try.

 

Just finished playing Caspian Border with a full house of 64 players. My numbers was averaging in the low 30s and sometimes dipping to 27 fps. It also went as high as 60 fps and this is on full ultra settings.

I posted the screenshot in the OP. It's the third graph, and as everyone can see, my GPU utilization is even steadier at 99%. The dip you see there is actually me ALT+TAB'ing and checking the video settings to confirm I put my settings back in ultra. The fps did spike but not down, rather up, during the game.

 

dbl check your GPU utilisation again if your frames are dipping as low as 30 on this map.. this is what I'm experiencing

 

I did, the graph is in the OP, and yes the fps was steadier in the low 30s as opposed to the video where the map wasn't as big and only had 16 players --hovering in the mid 30s or as high as in the 40s. The numbers didn't surprise me though as they're very consistent when I played with a near-empty Caspian Border server earlier. The fps slightly dropped as expected with the server completely full. The GPU utilization, however, as seen in the graphs are very solid. I have no complaints whatsoever with the utilization. The dips are consistent when I ALT+TAB and go into the menus.

I have no doubts that if a newer driver were to be released, it will give us better fps due to AMD fine tuning this card (that is if they ever get around to it). What I'm hoping though is that others with the GPU utilization get their fix as well. As everyone can see in this thread, unless Afterburner is lying to me, my GPU utilization is very steady at high percentages only dipping where expected (very predictable when it dips). This is where the Enduro issues are giving others fits with crappy gaming experience and inconsistent temps.

 

yeah I think you're right and that would just about some it up. this issue needs to be fixed ASAP as at the moment my p150em is effectively a broken product.

 

Did you try to lower your setting in this map to have stable 60 fps ?

And thank you for your work.

 

meh, sorry but that does not prove anything. I can get same FPS and Utilization numbers on Caspian border, its one of the maps that does not seem to be suffering too much. I find it interesting that for your firestorm video you did not venture out of the spawn zone, where I too get constant 99% utilization and close to 60fps.. problem is when you leave and get close to the centre your utilization is all over the place.
Also, its really easy to check if you have under utilization problem or not: run kombustor with default settings and see your GPU utilization, if you have 87% utilization then you have this problem, if you have 99% utilization then you dont. This issue either exists or not, - there are no varying degrees of how it affects different machines - everyone is the same (with clevo p1x0em series, this has been confirmed my a few resellers). Another easy benchmark is 3dmark06 - if you score around 20k you have this problem, as non enduro 7970m scores 23-24k.

PS. For your video try enabling GPU utilization display in OSD (right clikc the graph, select GPU usage and tick the box where it says "show in on screen display".

 

nah dude I run kombuster and get constant 99% utilisation but on BF3 I get 50-70%. it's not as cut and dry as you've made it out to be.

 

thats kombustor with default settings? because I get 99% if I set DX10 /11 mode in Kombustor too.

 

also, OP - why did you join a nearly empty map in your video? I might be a little paranoid, but you seem to be doing your best to "prove" that the problem does not exist and actively avoiding problem spots.

 

so is it only dx9 then? yeah dx11 i was testing on

 

yep, it seems only certain rendering techniques or functions cause this issue, that's why sometimes you can be getting really nice solid fps and suddenly a new object / effect is introduced to the scene and fps and utilization drops severely.

 

ah k. is that indicative of it specifically being an enduro issue or the card itself malfunctioning (be it either software or hardware related)?

 

According to Mythlogic here:

I guess the power saving feature brought the output down when Enduro is enabled.

 

i really hope they are wrong about that, as zerocore is enabled on all current gen high end AMD GPUs and most of them are working fine, so it shouldnt be causing this issue. I dont know what powerxpress 5.0 could do to affect utilization as there isnt much information about it online. If it is programmed to behave that way then its a really stupid design fault on behalf of AMD - why the hell would you put something in a high end card that severely affects its performance?

 

In the same topic Mythologic also say

I still believe this issue will be fixed someday.

 

I've ran Kombustor quite a bit and I've never seen it below 99%, to be honest. What do you mean by default settings. Can you give me the steps you take to run Kombustor and get 87% or lower?

Regarding OSD, where can I find that? I'll try your other suggestions, thanks! Never mind, I found the OSD feature in Afterburner. Learn something new every day.

As for the maps, I played on Caspian Border because someone asked me to play there and check to see if the issues crop up, that's why. I've explained all this in previous posts in this thread.

EDIT: Okay, I just ran Kombustor while 3DMark 06 is still downloading and I do see what you mean by it not reaching 99%. I tried running every mode and figured out by myself what you meant by "default settings". What I also noticed though is that the temp doesn't go up either nor does it move past 60 fps. Would that be why the GPU load stays below 99%? Everything basically just stops moving after a few seconds of running it. Is there a reason why I haven't seen fps higher than a constant 60? I have seen it spike beyond 60 but considered those a fluke. Most of the time, like when on low settings in BF3, it's steady at 59-60 only.

 

just run 3dmark06 to see what scores u got thanks

 

I mentioned why. I also joined a full 64-player server on Caspian Border. To prove that this problem doesn't exist would be the same as trying to stop the people responsible for giving me better drivers from making them.

I know my posts have been 'TL;DR', but if you've read them, you'll know.

 

Yup! It's on my list of things to try in a bit.

I look forward to adding all the data I can and find out first hand rather than just hearing from others. If mine does have the same problems and I've just been completely oblivious to it this whole time, it's completely fine with me. At least I can still play my games fine until AMD or Clevo figure this out.

 

BTW, thanks to articjoe and others who are giving me suggestions to try. I've asked in the similarly related threads before on what to do but everyone else are engrossed in their own discussions and comparisons that topics go all over the place and I can't really try any tests to find out for myself.

 

Its your VSynch setting, you will need to disable it. Alternatively you can try to switch to a different rendering mode, - DX9 for me has vsynch disabled by default. Please note DX10 and 11 work as intended and you get full 99% utilization.

 

Try to run with AA on max
From what I have seen, the performance drop is linked to the AA. Mainly MSAA (directx 10.1 or 11)

With MSAA enabled on max payne, FPS drops from 50-60 to 20-30 FPS

Here without AA mostrly games runs well too

And with possible, try to run a game affected by enduro issue. Just check notebookcheck (AMD Radeon HD 7970M - Notebookcheck.net Tech) and see which games are affected.

 

no, it isn't linked to AA. its linked to enduro. I run my games without AA and experience the same problem.

 

One thing does not exclude the other. At least in max payne 3, the drop in fps when AA is turned on is huge. Test and see

In addition, Sager strongly suggests tests with different modes of AA in an attempt to circumvent the problem with enduro: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/679568-7970m-8-982rc1-feedback-appreciated.html

 

That makes sense. If I hadn't started this thread, I'd still be oblivious to these things. I'm learning a lot, thanks.

I haven't had a gaming laptop or desktop in years which is why I'm such a noob right now. Like I said in my previous post, I wouldn't be trying to hide the problems because then I'd just be blinding myself from the truth when my 7970M really does have issues. I saw just a few people saying they didn't have issues and felt like maybe I'm one of them, hence this thread.

The thing though is if I turn vsync off, and let's say I do get higher fps, I see chopping in my games, even in the lesser demanding games like Torchlight and Diablo 3.

I did run AA on max for BF3. I'll see if I have the games listed there that are affected by Enduro.

 

Here's my 3DMark 06 results. I downloaded, installed and ran it with other applications open. I don't know if the numbers are good or bad. I'm not a benchmark junkie at all so I have no idea what this means. I see that it does say my scores should be better and that the drivers aren't approved.

Anyway, I'm just saying all this as a disclaimer so people won't think I ran the test several times until a fluke score came out in my favor. I did not do that. This is the first and only test I have ever run on this laptop, or in my life for that matter (LOL).

AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3720QM Processor,CLEVO P170EM score: 15760 3DMarks

(Results also added in the OP.)

EDIT: I just remembered arcticjoe's post...

So this is definitely an indication I have the problem, too, then. Correct? Now I know that I'm just being a complete noob (I'm not ashamed to admit it as long as I am learning something) but when I play I don't feel handicapped or any sort of disadvantage. Everything does play smoothly despite these low scores or whatever.

 

that score is far too low, - did you mess around with MSAA settings in CCC? That could explain it.

But yes, even when its under performing this card is very fast, if I didnt come from 2 really fast cards already I would not have noticed this issue. Just wait until this issue is fixed and you will be amazed by the difference in framerates.

 

Indeed. I do look forward to that day. My eyes are being opened for the first time right now thanks to you and others posting here. No matter how I followed other threads, where I kept to myself mostly, I couldn't grasp that Enduro problem even though I do understand it and know it exists. Of course, this is because I wasn't seeing and testing for myself... until now.

As for the CCC settings, it's the screenshot you see in the OP. I've set it to follow the application's settings. Should I change it and run 3DMark 06 again?

 

That's like 5000~8000 points off the standard score for a HD7970M... Your HD7970M is on pair with a GTX580M indeed need fixing.

 

Seanzky how many times you ran 3dmark06? even with utilization problem it should not be so low. "normal" is around 20k

since 7970m is a top card so even it runs at 50-60% most current games are still very "playable" and since it does not always behave like that: some scene 60% some scene 99%, this moment 50% next moment 99%, we mostly will not notice the problems. but being "playable" does not mean we have any reason to accept. we pay for it and it should be working as how it shoud

 

That's the only time I've ever ran it in my life. Ever.

 

try to run few more times

 

Title should be changed to. "My 7970m does have issues." cuz it runs like a 580m in 3d mark.

i thought the issue was the p150em with the 7970m not the 170? mostly everyone i see with the issue is on the 150, i know the issue was enduro period but i saw the most probs with 150 users.

guess enduro is universally hurting us!
uh wow seeing more stuff in this forum... this really is sad. didnt clevo have a rep asking ppl to try out drivers recently? maybe thats the fix?

Does anyone use the battery removal ghetto way of disabling enduro? does that work or could it harm your laptop?

 

Run it a few more times, a 16% OC'd GTX675M (720/1500) + 3610QM scores 21466 in 3DMark06: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 675M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-3610QM Processor,CLEVO P15xEMx score: 21466 3DMarks. Sad to see such powerful card being out performed so much by a Fermi card, especially when the HD7970M in Alienware can score more than 23000. GTX680M in a P150EM/P170EM can score 23000+ too. Hopefully AMD fix it soon.