P150EM 7970M. Strange behaviour

I am currently doing benchmarks on a P150EM with a 7970M, and experienced the following:

- When running some games on the system, such as BF3 , i had GPU Usage in MSI afterburner at 95-100% throughout, and frame rates at the expected values in the notebookcheck review of the GPU. My 3D mark 2011 score is also P5870 ( The expected value)

- However, in other games such as SC2 and D3, GPU usage was also much lower, in the 60% range (also resulting in much lower temperatures.). Unlike notebook check's review of the gpu, where the benchmarks in sc2 produced 91 FPS, i got performance in the range of 50-65 fps (in the same region as my previous laptop, with a 6970gpu)

I've tried installing the new catalyst 12.6 beta drives and various other methods, but have been unable to figure out why i am getting low gpu usage and performance for specfic games.

Would appreciate any opinions on this matter.

 

I am having the same problem! My thread here: http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/671191-7970m-gpu-utilization-games-benches.html

so far I have found no solution, but will try a few changes today / tomorrow.
What spec is your machine?
I'm running p150EM with 2920xm, 7970m, 16gb 1600mhz ram, 256gb Samsung 830 SSD + 240gb OCZ agility 3 + bigfoot 1103.

Can you try running 3d Mark Vantage and 06? As I get decent score on 3dmark 11, but almost everything else is poor..

 

I'm running with 3610QM, 7970m, 8gb 1600mhz ram. 120gb intel 520 and 750gb 7200rpm seagate momentus. Its really strange that performance is GREAT for games where GPU utilization reaches 100% but really below expectations for others.

My score for 3dmark 2006 is 20000 ~ This seems like a really low score for this card Strange part is that ... 3dmark 11 scores are good.(5800~)

i'll try vantage.

Edit for post below: For BF3 my gpu usage is near 100% and i have no problem with ultra settings and 1080p with AA, but with other games like sc2 and D3 my gpu utilization sits at 60%, and fps isn't even near notebookcheck's values.

 

Yeah, for me my GPU utilization seems to drop to as low as 60% in BF3. Same for 3dmark06... In fact my 6970m scored higher in some of the games / benches than my 7970m.

I wonder if this is that famous Enduro FPS drop problem that Alienware users reported?

 

The Alienware issue if memory served was the game using the IVY GPU, can you confirm its using the ATI, then it sounds like a different issue.

 

It is using the amd GPU. 60 FPS at ultra at 1080p in sc2 is no mean feat (i believe its not possible for the ivy bridge GPU), and the amd radeon's temps and GPU usage where clearly displayed on MSI afterburner.

Also, both games have been configured under high performance GPU in the amd control panel.

 

Look at the thread linked above, I wrote a small guide about a possible issue with throttling, sort of.
Follow the guide and report back, maybe it helps u a bit.

 

i think i got the same problem with my 9170 (220W adaptor).
i didnt run any game but i just run the windows performance index. the graphic and gaming graphics scores are just 7.3. the alienware with 7970m got 7.9 for both graphic scores.

 

WEI is inaccurate on Clevo 7970m, as it doesnt fully switch to 7970m for the benchmark (whereas Alienware can turn off Intel graphics completely for accurate runs)

 

i just run 3dmark06 only got 20xxx. same as others.

 

i had the same problem.
I hope it is just a driver issue, not a hardware problem...

 

it should be a driver issue, because at least it shows that there's still room for 100% GPU usage.

 

did you get that probem resolved? what spec was your machine?

 

Hopefully. But we have to push someone, or clevo, or AMD, for new drivers. Maybe online petition or something...

 

not sure if it is in my case. I have installed only windows, chipset drivers, intel hd drivers, and AMD drivers. All in this order, from the driver DVD. No other programs but benchmarks have be installed after so it should work ok, but it still runs crap...

 

No. I had a np9170, but send it back to my reseller.
I'm still wondering if I wait a solution for these problems to buy a new np9170 or np9150

 

which batch of 7970m was your card from? what was the rest of your spec (CPU, etc)?

 

What do you mean by "which batch"?

When I took the back cover of the notebook, I saw that had a sticker foxconn on 7970m, and the "made date" was May 12, as you can see here: http://s1264.photobucket.com/albums/jj491/spettow/?action=view&current=foto.jpg
The notebook was mounted on USA Sager.

Other specs: Cpu i7-3610qm, 8gb ram, 2xHDD 500gb on RAID0

 

There were a couple of batches; the first was shipped out from starting 5/16, the second batch being shipped out 6/11 due to a malfunction delay.

 

I don't think this would be a throttling issue as BF3 would definitely push the temps a lot higher, maybe performance mode is not set in windows/CCC, maybe try it without the power plugged in and then plug the power in and restart the game, maybe the gpu is not transitioning properly. Have a good look through the CCC settings, maybe program specific settings. Try all the latest drivers, an earlier one might work better than a later one.

 

I think it may be a driver issue. A few of us (including me) are experiencing poor performance on the 7970m so we couldn't be so unlucky to all get a faulty card...i hope. If not I may rma and get it changed to a 680m.

 

The strange part is that i get great performance (100% gpu utilization) on some games and really bad (60% utilization) on others.

Been trying various means to resolve this but haven't found a workable way yet.

 

Same problems here. Just received my NP9150 with an i7-3610qm/7970m and I get ~5600 in 3DMARK11 and ~18000 in Vantage. Metro 2033 and BF3 seem to be much lower than anticipated. Will continue testing.

 

i've had no luck so far either. I've reinstalled for the 4th time yesterday, disabled windows updates this time so nothing at all but chipset and graphics drivers were installed - same result. i really hope its not another batch of 7970m with faulty power circuitry, because it just seems like the card cannot get enough power and throttles at some level - increasing GPU speed does absolutely nothing to improve fps and i can reduce it quite far before my fps starts to go down (in games and apps that are affected that is)..

 

It cannot be hardware related because i can have BF3 maxed and have 100% utilization then turn around and play bad company 2 with 60-70% utilization. I know that BF3 gave my laptop a beating in terms of power draw so it must be software related.

 

i hope so, but whats odd is that i am running all the correct drivers from manufacturer's DVD, installed in the correct order, with reboots between installs and no other software (appart from 3dmark). I have even ruled out windows updates... so if isnt hardware, why does it work for other people with those exact same drivers?
also, your issue may be slightly different, albeit with same symptoms - you're with alienware and you say BF3 works well for you, whereas it runs like crap for me, i get about the same performance i was receiving from my 6970m..

 

Well I just hope AMD releases an official driver so that we can really see if the driver is the culprit. Perhaps you should see if you can get any game to make it go 100%.

 

i guess is it the driver problems that it conficts with some games and some versions of 3dmarks and prevents the softwares utilize all parts of the gpu?

 

but why would the same driver work ok for all the other clevo's with 7970m?

 

so far ive only seen 3dmark 11 go to 100%, but then i havent tried many other games apart from BF3 as I keep reinstalling windows trying to figure this out lol

 

Well as with all new products there are kinks to work out so I guess we will just have to live with it until more progress is made.

 

then maybe the 7970ms in our machines are those second batch with problems. the factory just screen out those have severe problems and they think the remainings are ok and sent them out again

 

If that is the case, then I will either return or sell the card on eBay and get a 680m which im sure is at least a tad bit better.

 

From what I've read, it is driver problem. Enduro technology is very imature.
In the notebookcheck review, they found a big FPS difference in some games when the enduro was activated.

On alienware models, however, it is possible to disable the integrated card and enduro by pressing fn + f7. Unfortunately, clevo doesn't let we disable enduro. We need to protest for a new bios and new drivers!


link to 7970m review:
Alienware M17x R4 Notebook Review - Notebookcheck.net Reviews

there are still some topics in the forum discussing problems with enduro

 

No need to protest for new bios and new drivers - this is hardware wise.
iGPU and dGPU are muxed in Clevo and MSI's unlike Alienware's, you can't disable Enduro that's the bottom line.
However, you won't get performances drops that suffer Alienware users with the 7970M using Enduro, we can't explain why yet but at least that's a good thing.

 

I think yes we should protest. A change in the bios can fix the problem of deactivation of iGPU. Most users want a notebook with 7970m for gaming and do not care about saving energy. We have the right to choose which card to use

And a change of drivers can improve the underutilization of gpu in some games

 

can someone start a new thread and take a survey of how many 7970 users are experiencing issues to those who are not.. I'd be curious to see what the percantage is.

 

I have a 9150 ordered specifically for BF3. I really hope this isn't a issue affecting everyone.

 

This is a story of delight, love lost, murder, and resurrection.

After running 3DMark11 for a second and third time last night, I finally had a run with ~5800. The Graphics and Physics scores were always acceptable, but the Combined score varied between 4000-5000. In MSI Afterburner, GPU Usage in the Combined test looked like /\, as if the usage were low, rose, peaked, and dropped again.

I uninstalled the AMD drivers, used Driver Sweeper, and cleaned the registry with CCleaner. After restarting, I attempted to reinstall the Clevo drivers. Unfortunately, that resulted in a BSOD and a warning about a failure to start the display drivers. I rebooted and attempted to install again, but the setup file never completed (or started, for that matter) installation.

The only solution for me was uninstalling all AMD software, cleaning with Driver Sweeper, cleaning with CCleaner, and installing the leaked beta 9.00 drivers (which also have much better Switchable Graphics options IMO). Now 3DMark11 and my other software, including Metro 2033, show near full utilization.

 

I am having the same issue, infact I only got 16~ on 3dmark06

 

could you please show the link for leaked drivers?

 

dude how did you install the 9.00 beta while uninstalling all the AMD software which also uninstalls the intel HD4000 driver. I did what you did and installed 9.0 beta and didn't work, so I re-installed stock drivers then installed 9.00 beta and it finally upgraded. Also, I'm getting the same performance in the 9.00 beta as I did with the stock drivers in BF3. average of 40 and bounces around 30-70 ultra preset stock clocks.

 

The 12.7 beta driver was leaked yesterday I believe, users who have them have reported some pretty decent results.

Link - AMD Catalyst 12.7 BETA (8.981.2 June 12) - Guru3D.com Forums

 

I have been testing the 9.00 version: Unofficial BETA 12.x 9.00 - June 12.

 

Even on BF3 afterburner says it reached a max of 95% GPU usage, but only for like a second, the whole time I was playing it was around 50-60% GPU usage. Is this enduro's doing? or are alienware users also experiencing this with enduro off?

 

for some reason it does not work with clevo 7970m's, as far as i can tell.

 

It does work, only when HD4000 intel drivers are installed, which I've posted like 5 times in this thread, I think, and counting...

 

12.7 beta is mainly for desktop 7970 GHz edition

 

I don't doubt it, Im on 12.7 and get the same performance in games, maybe slightly more stable FPS but still foes down to 25 at times. I did get a little higher score on 3dmark11 with 12.7 beta, but i dont care about bench scores, I care about gaming performance.