Just a rant about AMD and their so-called "foolproofness"

[Beginner Micro Device]

I happen to be a little bit of an overclocking and undervolting enthusiast.

AMD Adrenalin is a great tool with simple and intuitive interface but it has an annoying "feature" called "Default performance tuning settings have been restored due to an unexpected system failure."

Just imagine a situation when you are testing uncommon gaming scenarios in existing or developing games and your GPU is far from being efficient or is outright unstable on stock settings. And whilst you're testing that game you run into crashes, sometimes dozens times an hour. And every single time you're forced to pull your refined settings back because of this quote-unquote "friendly" behaviour of their Adrenalin software which reverts clocks and voltages and whatnot to stock regardless of the nature of the crash.

I am exactly in this situation. My GPU has been thoroughly tested in a million possible scenarios proving my OC/UV settings are rock solid and not to be questioned. I am playing a game which is modded and crashes because of some bugs in mods I am trying to fix or at least work them around. This made me forced to use a 3rd party software piece to force my OC/UV settings to be applied on every startup.

AMD never answered my questions. AMD never introduced an "I understand what I am doing" button. They never seem to give a rat's patoot about testers' convenience. And this makes them deserve a very huge boo from everyone who cares.

And I care. I really do. I want this to go as public as possible.

I recall @Dr. Dro rants about him being ignored. You can welcome me aboard, holmes.

 

[RJARRRPCGP]

That feature deletes my custom fan settings, if Windows 11 stops responding, even when I wasn't OC'ing. This includes the infamous "blank screen with backlight still lit on monitor" crashes, if using Edgium.

 

[Dr. Dro]

Inconvenient as that one may be, it's really a minor one, at least it means that the fail-safes are working as intended. My grievances are of a relatively different nature... most of which I'm not really at liberty to discuss, you understand.

 

[Bill_Bright]

Who said it was foolproof?

 

[Vya Domus]

You are complaining about something that's actually working as it should.

This only triggers if something goes wrong on the graphics driver side, a game that's just crashing because of a mod should not trigger this, I've never seen it do, every time it happened it was because of unstable OC which is also fine, it's the most obvious way to inform the user something is not right while keeping the system usable after a crash.

 

[Belfaborac]

^This^. Crashing mods, of which I've experienced plenty, never did this to me either back then I ran Adrenalin. The only culprits for me were unstable OCs.

 

[P4-630]

Just buy intel, fine wine...

 

[AsRock]

You are complaining about something that's actually working as it should.

This only triggers if something goes wrong on the graphics driver side, a game that's just crashing because of a mod should not trigger this, I've never seen it do, every time it happened it was because of unstable OC which is also fine, it's the most obvious way to inform the user something is not right while keeping the system usable after a crash.

Only use mods in 7dtd and they are typically well tested. I known it reset a lot and it's been to lowering the voltage to much as far as i can tell.

Better be safe than sorry so it resets, i just reload the profile...

 

[Beginner Micro Device]

You are complaining about something that's actually working as it should.

I know. My point is not that this thing exists. My point is I can't disable this thing. I get crashes REGARDLESS of GPU settings. Even at full stock it goes kaboom. Then it reverts settings to stock despite the bug's nature having nothing to do with GPU unstability.

Just buy intel, fine wine...

Their GPUs are even farther from ideal than the AMD ones. Especially where I live. A750 for the price of RX 6800 is just why.

^This^. Crashing mods, of which I've experienced plenty, never did this to me either back then I ran Adrenalin. The only culprits for me were unstable OCs.

Your mileage != the whole picture.

it means that the fail-safes are working as intended.

This is cool, not gonna lie, but not being able to disable it is worse than just lame. I want more freedom.

Who said it was foolproof?

I said. For me, automatically disabling OC/UV settings in case of crashes is a foolproof approach.

 

[Steevo]

The recovery isn't an issue, it's a feature... but AMD features occasionally work against enthusiasts, for the good of the noob. I have experienced more "timeouts" caused by slightly unstable system memory than from.the GPU itself and I'm genuinely curious how it gets reported. Sure the GPU stopped responding, but was it due to actual GPU overclock/undervolt or due to BAR and system memory timings/speed?

 

[Steevo]

I know. My point is not that this thing exists. My point is I can't disable this thing. I get crashes REGARDLESS of GPU settings. Even at full stock it goes kaboom. Then it reverts settings to stock despite the bug's nature having nothing to do with GPU unstability.


Their GPUs are even farther from ideal than the AMD ones. Especially where I live. A750 for the price of RX 6800 is just why.


Your mileage != the whole picture.


This is cool, not gonna lie, but not being able to disable it is worse than just lame. I want more freedom.


I said. For me, automatically disabling OC/UV settings in case of crashes is a foolproof approach.

I found that system memory speed and timimings caused my crashes and not the GPU clock. Set everything to defualt and work.at it one thing at a time.

 

[R0H1T]

most of which I'm not really at liberty to discuss, you understand.

No not really, what are you talking about

What the heck you guys? I thought AMD was awesome? Now there are closet problems that no one wants to talk about?

They're awesome so long as they're minting me millions via ETH or BTC(?) back in the day, otherwise they are bottom of the barrel scum just like Nvidia & especially Intel

 

[freeagent]

They're awesome so long as they're minting me millions via ETH or BTC(?) back in the day, otherwise they are bottom of the barrel scum just like Nvidia & especially Intel

They cant be that bad if people swear by them..

Unlike with coolers, I am not willing to spend the money to find out on my own

 

[Steevo]

They cant be that bad if people swear by them..

Unlike with coolers, I am not willing to spend the money to find out on my own

Me, I'm new here and am unaware of the issues.....

 

[R0H1T]

Your opinions will depend on your (personal) experiences, if they make you money like with cyrpto just a year back you'd probably like them. That's how the vast majority of opinions get shaped, for me in recent years AMD has given great VFM & very little to no headaches overall so YMWV.

In that AMD is no worse or better than the competition for the avg user. A lot of bickering on tech forms is fun but ultimately superficial in the larger scheme of things!

 

[Bill_Bright]

Who said it was foolproof?

I said. For me, automatically disabling OC/UV settings in case of crashes is a foolproof approach.

I fail to see the reason for this "rant". This is system that protects users from causing permanent damage, that you admit works. That's a good thing.

My GPU has been thoroughly tested in a million possible scenarios proving my OC/UV settings are rock solid and not to be questioned.

Only a million? LOL

In that case, no doubt there are 10s of millions, if not multitudes more, possible scenarios.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Another day, another, it's not my undervolt it's AMD thread, Noice.

 

[Xex360]

I am exactly in this situation. My GPU has been thoroughly tested in a million possible scenarios proving my OC/UV settings are rock solid and not to be questioned.

Any OC/UV runs the GPU outside its design, you cannot just assume it's rock solide.

I have no idea what your rant is about, the whole system is working as it was designed, maybe you could use some professional grade GPUs for your testing.

 

[Frick]

I know. My point is not that this thing exists. My point is I can't disable this thing. I get crashes REGARDLESS of GPU settings. Even at full stock it goes kaboom. Then it reverts settings to stock despite the bug's nature having nothing to do with GPU unstability

In what games specifically does this happen, and what mods specifically? As said the only time I've had Adrenalin reseting things has been when the driver has crashed. I've had some crashes with my 6950xt and no settings has been changed.

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

He's not wrong though, GPU certainly are not foolproof, I don't think I have ever owned one that didn't at some point crash, especially while undervolted,regardless of "stability"and despite years and years, an now over a decade of running GPU undervolted and continuously running F@h or Wcg.

 

[freeagent]

Eww undervolting. Use that power for moar performance

 

[TheoneandonlyMrK]

Eww undervolting. Use that power for moar performance

In gaming I agree unless undervolting nets better performance, but in compute , for me it's about reducing heat output.

 

[BetrayerX]

Is a bit annoying, but I am glad there are some security measures to protect the hardware. GPUs are not cheap these days. Anyway you can just save your fan profile, undervolt and overclock on a profile, and 2 clicks get things back to were you like them.

 

[ir_cow]

It's always been overclock at your own risk.

 

[Beginner Micro Device]

This is system that protects users from causing permanent damage, that you admit works. That's a good thing.

This is entirely not the point. I agree with the part it's a good thing and it protects users from damage.

I disagree with not being able to disable it.

you cannot just assume it's rock solide.

Believe me, I can. I got a truck load of GPUs and they never failed at all. And in Cyberpunk 2077 with CyberEngineTweaks + vsync enabled, AMD GPUs tend to crash if you change the resolution. This is a known bug and developers are currently working on it. I decided to take a part despite being no coder, I just want to contribute to the solution.

If you're still insisting on being a deaf skeptic it's your right I cannot take from you but I will not change my mind. These crashes have never had anything to do with GPU OC/UV stability. They arise absolutely regardless of GPU clock settings, be them stock or not.

In what games specifically does this happen, and what mods specifically? As said the only time I've had Adrenalin reseting things has been when the driver has crashed. I've had some crashes with my 6950xt and no settings has been changed.

Cyberpunk 2077 + CyberEngineTweaks + vsync + attempting to change the resolution in game settings. Crashes EVERY time.

Anyway you can just save your fan profile, undervolt and overclock on a profile, and 2 clicks get things back to were you like them.

Yeah, this is what I am forced to do.

It's always been overclock at your own risk.

Currently the only thing OC has ruined is my mental stability. And indirectly. I am perfectly aware what my GPU is capable of and I run it at safe settings (stock speed, -55 mV undervolt) under good PSU and excessive cooling.

Eww undervolting. Use that power for moar performance

I am not the chosen one who can tell the difference between 59 and 60 FPS. But I can tell the difference between 20 dollar and 30 dollar electricity bills.

maybe you could use some professional grade GPUs for your testing.

I'd definitely do so out of pure curiosity but I don't have a surplus million dollars.

it's not my undervolt it's AMD thread

Go test it yourself then. Latest GOG version Cyberpunk 2077 + CyberEngineTweaks + Vsync + AMD GPU + attempts to change the resolution in game. If your GPU doesn't crash I won't believe you. And neither will I believe that AMD Adrenalin doesn't revert your settings to default values afterwards.