Sapphire HD 7870 OC is only used for 63%

Hey guys,

I built my first PC three weeks ago, and I'm really happy with it!
However, there is a problem that I can't fix...

When playing a game, MSI Afterburner says the GPU usage is 63 percent at max, like there's a limit on the GPU usage.
It has a few peaks to 100%, but they aren't noticable.
I've tested this on GTA IV and BF3, and the results are the same.

The result of that 'limit' in GPU usage is that I get a lower FPS. I know that there are a lot of people out there who can play GTA IV on max settings with the same (stock) CPU and graphics card that I have, with 40-50 FPS average.
With that settings I only get about 20 FPS, which is quite unplayable.
I can play BF3 at max settings, but with a lot of smoke in the scene I get a lot of FPS drops.

Here is an image of the GPU usage in MSI afterburner: (this is with GTA IV)


As you can see it just can't seem to get over that 63%, but I have low frame rates.
I don't think I can be bottlenecked by my CPU, since it's overclocked.
My motherboard also supports PCIe 3.0 with my Ivy Bridge CPU.

Is there anyone else with the same problem, or does anyone know how to fix this?

My specs:
CPU: Intel Core i5 3570k @4.4Ghz
GPU: Sapphire HD7870 @ 1150MHz
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-v
RAM: 8GB DDR3 (2x4gb) Kingston HyperX 1600MHz
HDD: Western Digital Caviar blue 1TB
SSD: Samsung 830 series 128GB
PSU: Corsair HX850W
Case: Coolermaster CM 690II advanced

Thanks
//WoZZerZ

 

does it happened in stock clock also?

 

Maybe its the i5-3750k processor in his sig causing the issues

Have you tried seeing what the gameplay is like without MSI Afterburner open? (should still see any different in fps visually).

How about trying the 12.9 beta's (13 September version):
http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=369009

Remember to uninstall old version first (disable Intel adaptor first in control panel if enabled!).

Intel graphics beta version 15.28.5.64.2849, Catalyst 12.9 (13 September, but the older September version as well), and Lucid MVP 2.1.115a seem to work well together! even when adding new games and apps. That won't fix your problem, but is something to keep in mind.

 

Yes, in stock clock the same thing happened.
I have installed Lucid MVP, maybe that could be causing the problem?

I will test the beta driver this afternoon, I have no time now.

Thanks for the answers!

 

No problem! The only experience I have had with Lucid MVP is on my current system, with the above drivers installed, so all I can say is it appears to work perfectly fine with that combination!

Good luck

 

I tried the beta driver, but it doesn't help...

Also, I noticed that the GPU usage when loading the game is higher than 63%, but as soon as I get ingame it just locks at 63-64%...

I also tried running the game without MSI afterburner, but I still had a low FPS

 

Have you tried without MVP ?

I find really strange how linear is the 63% limit... so i believe this dont come from driver or card, something on the software side.

 

Yes, without MVP I get the same results...

I'm thinking about making a new partition on my hard disk, and installing a clean windows 7 on it. I will only install the Catalyst Control Center drivers, and install a game.

If the problem is still there, it should be a hardware problem, right?

 

Fix

Hello

I have almost the same PC as you and the same problem.
I have been trying to solve it for a long time and finally i found a fix, at least for me.

I had the ATI driver version 12.8 and that caused me the problem, delete it and download the 12.6

Here is the Win7 64bit one.

http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/previous/Pages/radeonaiw_vista64.aspx

Good luck and please write about what happened.

 

I have the same card, and same processor

I don't know what is wrong with this card, with 12.8 and 12.9 drivers its all the time going from 3d clocks to 2d, voltage is all the time while playing going from 1,219 to 0,900 even 0,8xx, the game performance is bad, but my pc never had a blackscreen.


with 12.7beta and below, voltage is stable at 1,219 and the game runs smooth at full settings 1440p (GW2) but it causes a blackscreen sometimes.

Now I have deleted drivers from windows driver manager and it updated alone, voltage is stable, drivers are 12.4, but I guess ill face some blackscreens...

 

Dude, THANKS!!!!
This totally fixed the problem, I get usage of 80-100% now while playing GTA IV!
YOU'RE AWESOME!

Thanks for the replies

 

Niice ... i will have never think looking at it and with the numerous drivers this was come from it.


But this make me think to watch 2x the review of the card. ( lol i cant imagine what will happend if they use the buggy driver when testing this card )

 

Nice to see you go it fixed..

 

Have the exact same problem, recently purchased 7870. Same 63%. I did try 12.7 beta which fixes it, but major blackscreen crashes. Going all the way back to 12.6 is a big no-no, with the 12.7-.8-.9 having major performance improvements over the .6.
Also I should mention that I tested performance with 12.7 and 12.8 and even though I get 63% most of the time with 12.8, the performance improvement with 12.7's 100% isn't that big, +5 fps tops.

 

In other words brutlern, ATI just has to come with a new driver that gives us better performance and 100% GPU usage?
Hopefully they'll fix it soon

 

The reason the performance improvement with 12.7 (or 12.6) at 100% gpu usage isn't that much greater than the one in 12.8 with 63% is that with a small workaround i found, the gpu core clocks do not fluctuate from 450 to 1000 mhz. Basically, I just did a 2 mhz (that's right, 2, not 20, not 200, just 2) oc and now even though it's still running a 63% the clock stays at 1002 mhz. Without this small tweak the clocks (well, only the core) fluctuate up and down resulting in poor performance. However, this tweak no longer works in 12.9 beta, meaning I'm stuck at using 12.6 or 12.8 with the tweak. But if this bug propagates from driver to driver (cause I don't even know AMD are aware of this problem, if they were the would have issued a hotfix already) owners of 7870s (it's not just Sapphire, a google search reveals Asus and MSI 7870s are suffering too) are in a jam.

 

I got a notification today that version 12.10 was available for download, so I installed it, hoping they fixed the problem.

Result: STILL STUCK AT 63%! :bolt:

Wish I'd bought an Nvidia card instead...

 

AMD Catalyst™ Software Suite Version 12.11 Beta Release Notes

 

The 12.10 is the same as the 12.9 beta. Use the new 12.11 beta, it's all over the net, reviews everywhere, it's a beast of driver. And it works too.

Also, when you try these new drivers with your 7870 you'll be happy that you didn't go with nvidia.

 

Thanks brutlern, I'll give it a try!