HD 7950 constantly sleeping/waking when PC is idle.

[Jstn7477]

Hey guys,

Is there any way to stop this seemingly endless GPU "power cycling" when I've left my computer unattended with no GPU load and the screen has turned off? I'm using Windows 8 (yes, the problem happens in 7 too before anyone points their finger) and this problem is annoying because the fans on XFX cards make a horrendous "jerking" noise when they power on and it is annoying as **** to hear it happen EVERY 5 SECONDS while I am trying to sleep. I finally got a screenshot that describes what is happening, so any suggestions besides turning the computer off at night are welcome.

I'm also getting random "BSODs" that either occur once every few days or several times a day in some cases, and all of them show up in the Event Log as "Critical Kernel-Power Event ID 41 Task Category 63" stating that my computer didn't shut down cleanly. Happened on my 2600K + Z68 mobo + different PSU so it probably isn't any of those things. Anyone else getting these?

[Jack1n]

Does something similar happne when the gpus is underload? did you try checking the power options? (i am unfamiliar with windows 8 so i cant help you there).

[Jstn7477]

Not really, although it does enter 2D clocks in the middle of TF2 a lot which is quite annoying as well. Power options are the same as they are in 7/Vista and mine is set to High Performance.

[brandonwh64]

I would try a full format and reinstall and if that doesn't help then a good RMA to XFX maybe in order.

[Jstn7477]

My SSD blew up last week so I'm on a clean install with no difference. My original XFX DD 7950 with its stock 800MHz BIOS may have done this before I had to RMA it after 3 weeks due to a broken fan, but my card uses the generic 925MHz boost BIOS.

[brandonwh64]

It was doing this before your SSD exploded?

[Jstn7477]

Yep, and on Windows 7 x64 (I then moved to 8 for a month and the SSD exploded). This card used to hard lock the system with older drivers, so I'm wondering if AMD's power management is still bugged and if there is anyway to disable it on 8? (ULPS Disabler instantly gets removed by Windows Defender when I download it and I don't see the registry keys anyway).

[brandonwh64]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

Yep, and on Windows 7 x64 (I then moved to 8 for a month and the SSD exploded). This card used to hard lock the system with older drivers, so I'm wondering if AMD's power management is still bugged and if there is anyway to disable it on 8? (ULPS Disabler instantly gets removed by Windows Defender when I download it and I don't see the registry keys anyway).

Hmmm May try a different bios for that card to see if it helps.

[Slizzo]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

Not really, although it does enter 2D clocks in the middle of TF2 a lot which is quite annoying as well. Power options are the same as they are in 7/Vista and mine is set to High Performance.

Looks at above.

Looks at system specs, notices PSU.





Try a different PSU, one that is a much better brand/quality unit. You're rolling the dice on your current one. I'd say something no less than a 600W-650W for the hardware currently in your case.

[brandonwh64]

Originally Posted by Slizzo

Looks at above.

Looks at system specs, notices PSU.





Try a different PSU, one that is a much better brand/quality unit. You're rolling the dice on your current one. I'd say something no less than a 600W-650W for the hardware currently in your case.

The PSU he has is a good quality one, It even got anandtechs editor award and the reviews are VERY promising.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...-Review/1584/1

[Slizzo]

Originally Posted by brandonwh64

The PSU he has is a good quality one, It even got anandtechs editor award and the reviews are VERY promising.

http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/artic...-Review/1584/1

OK, read OklahomaWolf's review on the 750W version of the unit, and I suppose it is much better than Rosewill has put out before.

Still, 550W seems a little on the low side for all the hardware in his rig. I would still test with another PSU just because the unit he has may be failing. Get that replaced under warranty if there's an issue with it IMO.

[brandonwh64]

Originally Posted by Slizzo

OK, read OklahomaWolf's review on the 750W version of the unit, and I suppose it is much better than Rosewill has put out before.

Still, 550W seems a little on the low side for all the hardware in his rig. I would still test with another PSU just because the unit he has may be failing. Get that replaced under warranty if there's an issue with it IMO.

Hell I ran a 500W PSU on my 2600K OCed to 4.5ghz 4HDD's 6950 unlocked and 8 120mm fans without a issue and this was on a 80+ bronze unit. With all that being said, I doubt even if he did have a voltage issue with the PSU that it would make it go to full 3d clocks at idle.

[Jstn7477]

I also tried with an OCZ StealthXStream II 600w and it made zero difference. My CPU only takes 80w max and I just have 6 1200RPM fans, 2 HDDs and that's it. The card seems to think the game isn't demanding enough in some spots and goes to 300/150 with 100% GPU usage, which drops the framerate to an extremely stuttery 60FPS (I use a 120Hz monitor with VSYNC).

[Jack1n]

Originally Posted by Jstn7477

My original XFX DD 7950 with its stock 800MHz BIOS may have done this before I had to RMA it after 3 weeks due to a broken fan, but my card uses the generic 925MHz boost BIOS.

So your sayings you had a another video card do the same thing before?

[Slizzo]

Originally Posted by Jack1n

So your sayings you had a another video card do the same thing before?

In that case, yeah it's the video card now. Could try reinstalling drivers with a driver clean/sweep in between.

[Widjaja]

My HD7870 does something very similar in sleep mode.
The fans will spin up very briefly, making the jerking noise approximately every 30 seconds.

I put it down to the current state of AMDs drivers with the 7000 series

I'm still using the 12.8s to avoid the flicker/corruption seen in Skyrim and various other DX9 based titles which many are experiencing.