GPU Upgrade - from DCUII 2 x 7970HD's to R9 295X2 Woes

[Niz406]

Alright guys,

I've got a bit of an issue after a recent GPU upgrade which is really annoying me now, as I had to purchase a new case to house this new GPU, my system as it stands:

Asus Formula V
AMD FX8350 CPU
16Gb G.Skill Ripjaw X's @ 1866Mhz
Corsair HX1050
Corsair Force 3 120Gb SSD
WD 750Gb SataII HDD
Sapphire R9 295X2
Windows 7 Ultimate (64 bit)
Drivers tried, 14.4, 14.9, 14.9.1, 14.9.2
3 x 24" LG IPS Monitors in Eyefinity 5760 x 1080

I basically upgraded my GPU to remove the twin card crossfire set up as I was having issues on BF4 with two cards, none of the drivers tried made a difference in Eyefinity it was unplayable.

So I removed one 7970HD and set it up with a mixture of Low, medium and high settings, the only "Ultra" setting was Mesh Quality. With just one 7970 on Eyefinity I was getting consistent 60 - 80FPS with only minor dips below 60 on certain maps. I played like this for ages, before deciding to upgrade.

On getting the R9 295X2 I was very, very impressed..... especially on 3DMark Firestrike and Unigine Valley the results were epic, on Extreme and Ultra presets. I tested the card with the benchmark tests on Just Cause 2 and Grid 2, all amazing.

However I purchased this card primarily for BF4, and whilst single player seemed very, very good on Ultra preset with Eyefinity, online Multiplayer would just not work, dropping as low as 25FPS. So I started doing some investigating and with the perfoverlay.drawgraph option enabled I could see that after a round or two the CPU was spiking really bad.

I decided to exit the game and start OC3D Hardware Monitor to check temps as I was playing the game. Reloading the game and playing a few rounds again saw the spikes return. On checking the Max Value of the GPU I was hitting 65 Degree's the CPU however was hitting 42 Degrees and the CPU load was 100% on all cores.

I'd just like to add, nothing is overclocked and even AMD's turbo core is switched off in the Bios... When this happens the game becomes unplayable and the BF4 graph is terrible where the CPU is concerned.

So I have this evening, removed the R9 and reinstalled my old 7970HD, game as before plays effortlessly smooth as butter in multiplayer, even on three screens. After about an hour I decided to check the temps again in Hardware monitor.

This time the GPU was showing 72 Degree's and the CPU 24 Degree's, the graph in BF4 was as expected almost perfectly horizontal and smooth, making the game a joy. I didn't catch what the total CPU load was with the single card, but I can always play again tomorrow and record that.

My question is, despite me using the latest GA and even beta drivers, why does my CPU Spike and run so hot when using the R9 295X2? Why is BF4 unplayable on this card / system in Eyefinity?!

I even had to buy a new case for the R9 card to fit in, and for the price of the upgrade I'm very disappointing in it's performance in BF4. Any help you guys can give would be greatly appreciated.

 

[spolsh]

Is this not still a crossfire issue then ? the 295x2 being a crossfire card ?

Can't really think of anything that could help except maybe some beta drivers, but you'll have already tried that I'm sure.

 

[barnsley]

How do you get rid of the drivers? Do you remove the drivers when you change cards?

 

[SuB]

Did you put BF4 into Mantle mode (have you tried it on/off)

 

[Niz406]

Is this not still a crossfire issue then ? the 295x2 being a crossfire card ?

Can't really think of anything that could help except maybe some beta drivers, but you'll have already tried that I'm sure.

It is a native crossfire card and I tried this with Frame Pacing On/Off and changing all the settings, what I could not get my head around was the load on GPU and CPU during BF4.

How do you get rid of the drivers? Do you remove the drivers when you change cards?

I use the AMD Cleanup Utility between driver/devices changes and/or upgrades.

Did you put BF4 into Mantle mode (have you tried it on/off)

Yup, I tried Mantle and DirectX the CPU loading and spikes were the same after 3 rounds....

The three rounds bit makes me think it's heat related, but the CPU only reaches 40DegC and the GPU 65DegC.

I'm wondering if the PSU is upto the job at hand, the advert for the GPU stated 850w minimum, I'm running a Corsair HX1050 1050Watts - I wonder if it's not got the juice, being a single 12V rail @ 87.5 Amps.

AMD specify 50 Amps for the R9 295X2... do you think it could be my PSU causing the issues?

 

[RadeonHDx]

I'm wondering if the PSU is upto the job at hand, the advert for the GPU stated 850w minimum, I'm running a Corsair HX1050 1050Watts - I wonder if it's not got the juice, being a single 12V rail @ 87.5 Amps.

AMD specify 50 Amps for the R9 295X2... do you think it could be my PSU causing the issues?

Have you got the card connected with a daisy chain cable or with 2 individual 8 pin connectors?

 

[NeverBackDown]

Have you got the card connected with a daisy chain cable or with 2 individual 8 pin connectors?

Ya AMD specifically state that you need to use seperate 8 pin connectors and a daisy chain is not recommended.

 

[Thelosouvlakia]

Isn't there a bottleneck since the 990FX doesn't support PCIe3.0 bandwidth and the 295x2 is actually the only card that NEEDS that bandwidth?

ALSO PLUG IN THE 4-PIN MOLEX ON YOUR BOARD!!!!!!! (if you haven't already)

 

[NeverBackDown]

Isn't there a bottleneck since the 990FX doesn't support PCIe3.0 bandwidth and the 295x2 is actually the only card that NEEDS that bandwidth?

ALSO PLUG IN THE 4-PIN MOLEX ON YOUR BOARD!!!!!!! (if you haven't already)

It doesn't need it. It only consumes about 640MB/s. PCIe 3.0 can deliver 985MB/s.

 

[Thelosouvlakia]

With PCIe2.0 delivering up to 500MB/s, I woul'd say yes, it needs the extra bandwidth revision 3 supports. Maybe not all of it, but surely some of it!

 

[Niz406]

Have you got the card connected with a daisy chain cable or with 2 individual 8 pin connectors?

Daisy chain?

I have it connected directly to the PSU , as there are two PCI-E 8 pin connectors coming out of it, with the 24pin ATX connector, 8 Pin EATX connector.

Ya AMD specifically state that you need to use seperate 8 pin connectors and a daisy chain is not recommended.

As above I've used the two 8 pin connectors that come out of the PSU.

Isn't there a bottleneck since the 990FX doesn't support PCIe3.0 bandwidth and the 295x2 is actually the only card that NEEDS that bandwidth?

ALSO PLUG IN THE 4-PIN MOLEX ON YOUR BOARD!!!!!!! (if you haven't already)

What does plugging the 4-Pin Molex do?

It doesn't need it. It only consumes about 640MB/s. PCIe 3.0 can deliver 985MB/s.

With PCIe2.0 delivering up to 500MB/s, I woul'd say yes, it needs the extra bandwidth revision 3 supports. Maybe not all of it, but surely some of it!

So I need an upgraded Motherboard?

What I don't understand is why the CPU ends up @ 100% load on all 8 cores with this GPU, but not my old 7970 or even on 7970 CrossfireX.

 

[Thelosouvlakia]

Daisy chain?

What does plugging the 4-Pin Molex do?
So I need an upgraded Motherboard?

What I don't understand is why the CPU ends up @ 100% load on all 8 cores with this GPU, but not my old 7970 or even on 7970 CrossfireX.

Plugging in the 4pin molex gives more power to the cards through the pcie. Recommended when you are running multiple GPUS (I think asus recommended for more than 2gpus but the 295x2 isn't 2GPUs with the standards the manual was written for)

You don't only need a new motherboard you will need to move to the intel side of things. 1150 socket or 2011. What it happens that your southbridge is bottlenecking the data communication between your CPU and GPU. The 295x2 can perform better than what you are getting at the moment!

 

[NeverBackDown]

Don't plug the 4 pin molex. Looks horrible and does next to nothing. Don't know why he's recommending it.

The CPU is at 100% load because the GPU is too much for the CPU. You're gpus are essentially asking to much for the cpu to give them commands and on top of that they aren't providing those commands fast enough. Overclocking the CPU will help.

Reason why the 7970(s) were okay was because they were not fast enough to make the cpu struggle.

 

[Niz406]

Don't plug the 4 pin molex. Looks horrible and does next to nothing. Don't know why he's recommending it.

The CPU is at 100% load because the GPU is too much for the CPU. You're gpus are essentially asking to much for the cpu to give them commands and on top of that they aren't providing those commands fast enough. Overclocking the CPU will help.

Reason why the 7970(s) were okay was because they were not fast enough to make the cpu struggle.

I went to plug the Molex connector in, but decided not to for this very reason...... need a custom cable to make it look better.

I don't want to mess with the CPU's clock, as I'd rather not fry it / invalidate the warranty.

Surely the GPU can't be a problem and FX8350?!?! 4Ghz stock speed.... Okay so not as good as the intel's at single thread tasks, but more than adequate for multi thread operation?

Thanks for the input so far guys, but I'm starting to suspect the psu more and more. I had a warning from AI Monitor about the 12v rail being low 1.23volts which didn't make sense, and now on start up the LED's in the case and on the fans sometimes flash as if there is a cut in the feed to them.

How can I test the PSU to rule it out?

 

[Kushiro]

As post#13, it sounds a lot like a cpu bottleneck, as you arent having issues with single player mode.

As for testing the PSu, you could always try something similar to this:

http://www.pccasegear.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&products_id=4081&cPath=228

Or alternatively if you have access to a good quality verified working PSU, you could always try substituting.

While its possible its the PSU, why not just try OCing the CPU first, I know you are concerned about warranty, however if you take your time and follow guides in regards to overclocking it, you wont have an issue... I personally have never needed to use the warranty that came with my CPU's before, and they always outlived the warranty duration anyways, even running under heavy OC.

I personally dont think the PSU is the cause though.

 

[NeverBackDown]

You won't void the warranty. They can't really prove you OC'd it because well its dead

Though before OC'ing i really recommend changing the psu first to see if that helps. If it is the psu i really wouldn't want to OC my system. That's just asking for trouble.

 

[Niz406]

You won't void the warranty. They can't really prove you OC'd it because well its dead

Though before OC'ing i really recommend changing the psu first to see if that helps. If it is the psu i really wouldn't want to OC my system. That's just asking for trouble.

Very True... lol Unless they remove the cap and see heat damage on the pcb.

I've done some more digging, and it appears that the CPU is thermal throttling according to the AMD forums, it's been mentioned that the CPU will thermal throttle @ 40DegC and this is why I have no issue with the old 7070HD's because that runs a lot cooler in the case so the CPU never reaches 30 DegC.

So what it looks like, is I need to take a bit of a gamble..... and purchase a Corsair H80i/H100i and test it again, with both GPU's.... Well that's what I told the GF, she thinks it's just another excuse to buy more goodies for the PC lol

 

[barnsley]

I'm sorry, but the 8350 is not bottlenecking the GPU as much as some of you seem to think it would. Especially with Battlefield 4, which is very well multithreaded. Something else is wrong if you ask me.

I'd do a fresh install of the drivers and get rid of the old drivers using Display Driver Uninstaller.

Wait, since when did an 8350 actually thermally throttle at 40c? What temperature monitor are you using for it?

 

[Niz406]

I'm sorry, but the 8350 is not bottlenecking the GPU as much as some of you seem to think it would. Especially with Battlefield 4, which is very well multithreaded. Something else is wrong if you ask me.

I'd do a fresh install of the drivers and get rid of the old drivers using Display Driver Uninstaller.

Wait, since when did an 8350 actually thermally throttle at 40c? What temperature monitor are you using for it?

I actually said it the other way around, the R9 bottlenecking the FX..... but as I have seen it's all to do with thermal throttling.

I've bit the bullet today and ordered a H100i and some Corsair SP120 Quiet fans to see if that makes any difference.

 

[Excalabur50]

Tom has said in quite a few posts that you need at least a 1000w or above which you do meet and DO NOT DAISY CHAIN it needs two separate 8 pin power connectors