HD 7xxx drivers for flicker/BSOD fix

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon Drivers Section' started by vejn, Sep 10, 2012.

  1. NiColaoS

    NiColaoS Master Guru

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    I fully agree. Perhaps they can mitigate the problem at the expense of something else, but... Nothing more.

    By the way, 10 days without card. I don't even know what they found or what is going to happen. At least, currently my GTX460 can still stand a bit -my good ol' boy :p
     
  2. Fox2232

    Fox2232 Guest

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    I still have 1st driver card came with. It was wonderful one:
    When I enabled Antialiasing in CCC most of games had semi-transparent textures and all polygons edges were visible like in wireframe mode. But still antialiased.

    As for note that it should not happen when character is not moving... Not many games have frozen camera while character is standing still as he breathes.
     
  3. homefry

    homefry Guest

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    Then you've never taken your card to the tipping point limit. I'm talking about taking your card within 2-3 mhz of the tipping point. Once you get there, you'll realize that the card can be stable in games you thought were the most demanding, but artifact in a dx9 title.

    If you go up by 25-50 mhz increments, then yes, you'll find a point where the card isn't stable in any games because you're so far beyond that tipping piont, it becomes a moot point.

    GPUs have changed so much. And so has ocing. In the past, the only reason to keep your temps down was to prolong the life. But since the 6900 series, you can overclock much higher when you keep temps below 65C and then clock higher when you keep temps below 50C.
     
  4. Espionage724

    Espionage724 Guest

    Had this happen with one game on older drivers on my 5570. Basically the game I guess didn't like Adaptive-MSAA I think
     

  5. berukburuk

    berukburuk Guest

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    Guys i have some tricks to solve this problem and tried by me. Maybe this is good news (I hope):
    Do this:
    1. Download the latest application named: asus gpu tweak or msi afterburner. Im using asus gpu tweak.
    2. In 3D tab (asus gpu tweak) change values mV to be 1160 (my default is 1200). My default core is 925 and I change to 975 (leave it if u dont need to change but mV must). Apply
    3. Change it to 2D tab. Change core to 500 and mV to 800. Apply
    4. Make sure this application run every restart. Dont save to profile.
    5. Restart and then make sure no that gpu tweak's didnt changed.
    6. Play your game.
    I tried play skyrim 5 hours with setting 1920x1080, AA 8x, AF 16x, texture high, radial high, shadow ultra, decal ultra, fxaa, water all set checked, view distances full, distance object ultra, object detail checked and I have'nt yet get any error like freeze/flickering/error.
    I've not try msi afterburner yet. Googling it if u want to use this application.
    Sorry again about my bad english :(
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2012
  6. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Master Guru

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    Hmm...Now that you mention this...
    I remember when I first installed 12.7. Black Ops didn't have many flickers at all. Then I installed the first CAP that came out (the cap mentioned something about COD btw) and then I noticed my FPS went up by about 10 (in this area where I tested), AND I could have sworn that I noticed a lot more flickers as well. It was this (along with some other issue, like getting pauses during play, which don't seem to happen anymore) that caused me to revert drivers. But I remember when I went back to 12.7 (even after the caps were already removed!) I still had the 10 fps boost.

    Since this fps boost directly relates to when the flickers got bad, as well as much faster loading times, is there anyone who can determine exactly WHAT the cap is actually doing to the card? Anyone here able to debug this? (Btw remember newer catalyst releases have the older caps integrated with the driver).
     
  7. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Master Guru

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    I'll give this a try in COD Black Ops.
    But are you saying that this is a bug in powerplay? But when I use GPU-Z, the card is always in 3D clocks when I run Black Ops. It never switches to 2D. I'm not holding my breath, but are you saying its something to do with the volts? Because forcing 'constant' 3d clocks (even in windows) by creating a profile and changing the Want_0 values to match the 3D values, should do the same thing (but that doesn't help the black flickers).
     
  8. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Master Guru

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    How are you able to increase voltages in GPU tweak? I just tried downloading it, but I don't even have a voltage slider on mine. It monitors voltages just fine but there's no way to adjust any voltage as the slider isn't there...what card are you using? An asus one?
     
  9. ClockClocker

    ClockClocker Master Guru

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    I also could swear it helps a bit. I also started to overclock my card and increased vcore a bit. Flickering seem to be more rare now. Strange thing is that increase vcore alone doesn't seem to change a thing. Increasing the core clockrate seems to make it happen more rarly. But i can't promise it and im not 100% sure about it.

    But i didn't saw a flicker for 5 days till i saw one again in a "flickergame".


    @Falkentyne. Maybe try older Version. It seems like they changed some things in the newest version. I use 2.1.9.2
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2012
  10. id0l

    id0l Banned

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    I should mention that it has been said that Heaven shows the flickering as well. I've only tested version 3.0 but it's definitely there - there are also some youtube videos out there demonstrating the issue in Heaven. But you are right in the fact that Furmark doesn't exhibit this issue. I haven't personally tested 3dmark Vantage/11 so I can't comment on those.

    I can say that Guild Wars 2 is heavily affected by this issue - however, it exhibits this issue WAY more frequently when you have a "window" open - for example, your inventory pane. I very frequently see flickering inventory slots (and general weirdness, like parts of some other panes border flashing amongst the inventory slots - where it clearly doesn't belong) in the inventory pane when it's open - frequently as in almost every time I open it...

    Could this issue somehow be related to 2d(?) overlays displayed in 3d games/apps?
     
    Last edited: Nov 5, 2012

  11. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Master Guru

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    Hmm...I tested both 3.0 and 2.5 and I never saw flicker in either of them.

    The only flicker I saw was the section when the dragon is spinning, close to the end of the spinning scene. You see a short black triangle like flicker at the top right side, by the wing. It's *always* at the exact same spot and at the exact same time on any passthrough (though sometimes you see two instead of 1)

    I know this is NOT related to AMD, because I see the EXACT SAME flicker, same shape, on my Geforce 570M, which uses the forceware 2.95 drivers (or whatever they're called these days).

    I saw a video of some VERY BAD flicker in Heaven...(this thread?) looked like yellow splotches or something? Mine definitely doesn't look like that, and never has....
     
  12. homefry

    homefry Guest

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    What is your stock memory voltage? The 7950 is supposed to be 1.5v, but mine came with 1.6v. I can't see which memory modules they used. The memory modules might not be able to handle the extra .1v. Btw, ecc is for when speeds are too high, not when voltage is too high.

    I tried undervolting them to 1.5v, but I'm not sure if afterburner is applying 1.5v because the graphs still show 1.6v. Has anyone successfully undervolted the ram with afterburner? Does your graph readings show 1.5v?

    Back when everyone was flashing 6950 to 6970, a handful of people were reporting artifacts presumably from the increased memory voltage from 1.5 to 1.6.

    We could be seeing the same issue here. Its worth a try. Downclocking the ram won't be the same because the memory voltage runs constant in all power play modes.
     
  13. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Master Guru

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    I'm using a 7970 with the normal 1.602v on the memory, so that's definitely NOT it.

    @clockclocker:
    How did you get GPU tweak to change voltages? I tried 2.1.9.2 and there is still no option to change voltages anywhere....just clockspeeds :( There is no voltage slider on the gputweak anywhere, for either GPU or Ram. What drivers are you on? I'm on 12.11. Do I have to go back to an older driver?

    Did you use any special dll's or anythinig to get third party tools to work (e.g. change voltages, like that atidplxx.dll or whatever it was called?)
     
  14. homefry

    homefry Guest

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    At least with a try. You're going through messing around with the core but neglecting the other half of the equation. Under clocking the memory is not the same as undervolting
     
  15. homefry

    homefry Guest

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    I want to try but nobody in any forum knows how to adjust the memory voltage. I must have posted in 5 other hardware forums.

    I'm using afterburner to adjust the core voltage but adjusting the memory voltage from 1.5 up to 1.7 keeps the readings a constant 1.6 no matter what.

    Does anybody even know?
     

  16. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Master Guru

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    I can't even get the core *OR* memory voltage sliders to work in GPU tweak! That's the problem. So I can't adjust the voltages on anything. So I need help with if anyone can get voltages working in GPU tweak, because I sure can't ! There's no slider for it. There's only core clock, mem clock, fan speed and power control.

    BTW, I did get memory voltage tweaking working on afterburner before. I adjusted the memory voltage to 1.65v, and GPU-Z verified it was 1.65v (since gpu-z shows true readings). There was zero effect on artifacts....no better, no worse than before. I did not try downvolting the memory. I'll try that later just for kicks, although I expect some GSOD's to probably happen...
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2012
  17. derupter

    derupter New Member

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    Hi all i'm new here
    I have followed this issue from mid June,when i bought my 7950 and did a lot of testing during these months.
    There are 3 groups of drivers:
    11.12-12.1=fewer artifacts
    12.2-12.6=rare artifacts
    12.7b-12.11b=more artifacts
    Game tested:
    Crysis 2 dx9 mode (only tested): rare artifacts with 12.4, more artifacts with 12.7, try to load map downtown (open console and digit "map downtown" without quotes) stand still at the beginning of the map and see what happen on the screen with 12.7+ on DX9 mode)
    Crysis 2 DX11 mode (only tested):perfect with all drivers
    Metro 2033 (played entirely): very rare artifacts in dx9 with 12.4, perfect in DX10 and DX11 with all drivers
    Crysis and Crysis Warhead (played entirely): very rare artifacts with 12.4 in DX9, perfect in DX10
    L.A. Noire (played entirely): rare artifacts with 12.4 in DX9+Supersampling, very rare without supersampling, perfect in DX11 Mode With all drivers
    Sleeping Dogs (played entirely): DX11 Game, perfect with all drivers
    Battlefield 3 (played entirely): DX11 Game, perfect With all drivers
    Medal of honor Warfighter (played entirely): DX11 Game, perfect with all drivers
    Played entirely a lot of games DX9 like darksiders 1 and 2, Singularity, Bulletstorm, Alice 2, Tomb Rider Anniversary, all with 12.4 without a single artifact
    The Witcher: DX9 game,rare artifacts with all drivers,best for this game 12.1
    The Witcher 2: DX9 game,rare artifacts with 12.1-12.6, more artifact (above all in the wood of Flotsam) with 12.7b-12.11
    Dishonored: dx9 game,very rare artifacts with all drivers (i have not seen increases in artifacts with 12.7b+)
    I tested lot of games dx6-dx7-dx8-dx9a-dx9b-OpenGL-DX10-DX11, never see a single flicker.All problems are from DX9c games (more than 50% of last 6 years)
    Maybe it has something to do with this: http://devgurus.amd.com/thread/159666
    Tested with powerplay,without powerplay,different clock,different voltages, don't change a thing.
    Tested Windows XP, Windows 7 64, Windows 8 64 on witcher 2 (same driver,same problem in the same map)
    For me the problem is a bug in DX9 driver (atiumdag.dll),is present from the beginning (almost 1 year),and AMD know well about this but they do not know how to fix it (without performance drop?)
    Wait for 8000 series,test the same driver and if there are no artifacts then it will be a big problem
     
  18. ClockClocker

    ClockClocker Master Guru

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    Hmm im on 12.9 Is there a option in settings to enable voltage control? What card do you own? It seems like every brand has to use a different tool. You may try Afterburner oder Trixx instead. Somewhere you should be able to change your voltage.

    @derupter
    Pretty interessting post. May of course be related although not every DX9 game flickers. From what i can tell i did not see the problem on any DX11 game yet.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2012
  19. Falkentyne

    Falkentyne Master Guru

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    Wow just wow.....NICE information there.
    I know Skyrim is DX9...but I always thought The Witcher 2 is DX10 or 11!
    I never knew it was DX9C....
    Well that definitely explains a lot of stuff.

    So it's a bug in the DX9C/DX9 driver / atiumdag, and not in DX10/11 ?

    I guess it sort of makes sense...most Unreal engine 3 games are DX9 and the fact that sleeping dogs/BF3 are not affected answers everything.

    But why does enabling SuperSampling fix the problem in most affected games? Does Supersampling somehow reduce the # of vertices sent to DrawIndexedPrimitives() or is it bypassing it entirely? (or is supersampling handled by different hardware on the card?)

    FWIW, I sometimes see an artifact when I enable supersampling, right after the maps load or sometimes on entering a new area, then its clean as can be.

    Someone should definitely write AMD about this...

    @Clock:
    I'm using a ghz card (regular card flashed with ghz bios).

    Trix and afterburner have voltage control for the GPU, but it seems to only change the "1000 mhz" voltage (this is the voltage when the card runs at 1000 mhz for light apps; non ghz 7970 cards don't have this), instead of the full 3D voltages; this seems to be 1.13v. Sapphire told me they were going to release a new trixx for ghz cards...haven't checked in awhile tho.

    The speed sets are 150 (2D), 500 (2D load), 1000 (not sure what triggers this, only seen it rarely), max 3D (1050, changeable in overdrive).

    Haven't tried afterburner 2.25 yet though.

    Just to confirm,
    I switched to the original Bios for the card (bios 2) and reinstalled drivers and GPU tweak, and there were still no voltage adjustment sliders.
     
    Last edited: Nov 6, 2012
  20. Espionage724

    Espionage724 Guest

    I play osu! a lot, and have never seen any flicker on it, and it's DX9. I've been playing a lot of GTA IV though, and barely notice any flickering on my screen via DVI, but noticed it a lot on my friend's TV via HDMI.
     

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