Radeon VII - 1650MHz GPU clock in full screen, full speed in windowed

[Agent_D]

As the title says. I've been having this ongoing issue that sometimes goes away when I reinstall drivers, sometimes not. I just finished a fresh install of Win 10 to see if I could address the issue with no luck.

Symptoms:
Any full screen 3d application will run the GPU clock ~1650-1655MHz, but if I switch it to windowed/windowed borderless, I get full clock speeds (running 2000/1200-1070mv). I have done a lot of searching over the past few weeks to try to figure this out, but I've come up empty for actual results/fixes, though I have seen a few posts here and there describing symptoms that sound similar with no resolutions.

Any ideas or solutions from those that have possibly run into this issue and happened to find a clever fix? I suppose I could just run everything in a borderless window, but I'd actually like to sort the problem out instead of throwing a band-aid at it, and in the process have the knowledge available for future use.

Fresh install of Windows 10 1903
ASRock X570 Steel Legend on latest 1.70 BIOS
Ryzen 3600X
AMD Radeon VII w/ 19.8.2 drivers (Before this fresh install of Win 10, it exhibited this behavior with multiple previous iterations of drivers and would sometimes go away after a reinstall for a while)


Edit: With some more testing I've discovered that it even happens if the game is set to Borderless Window mode, but it does NOT happen if the game is set to regular Windowed mode; in regular Windowed mode it will clock up to the normal 1950-2000MHz that the overclock is set to and it works perfectly. It seems as though when the focused window switches to a full screen in any way it, for some odd reason, changes something that doesn't allow the GPU to clock up normally and there is a terrible and noticeable frame stutter regardless of in-game fps.

 

[Mussels]

Not an AMD user, but what about the Wattman and whateverChill and all those features AMD have these days?

 

[Agent_D]

Thanks for that, I forgot to address it in the first post, but it honestly seems to be that was the case. I'm not a stranger to the option but it ended up being that I had to spam the Radeon Chill hotkey while in FF XV for about 30 seconds, it finally started running normally and retained it for other full screen 3d apps. It's quite frustrating as Radeon Chill was my first inclination, but pressing the hotkey once to toggle didn't actually do anything, pressing it again also did nothing, so the spam was just a desperate attempt that actually worked out. Hopefully that's all it was and I really hope AMD addresses stuff like this in the future; having no way to tell if it's turned on is a pretty big fail when it comes to relaying to your customers what your product is actually doing or not doing. At least with my kids PCs (RX590 and RX570) it will make an audible tone when Chill is toggled, no such indication with the VII in my PC or the Vega 56 in our other PC.

 

[Mussels]

hooray for lucky guesses!

 

[Agent_D]

Back to the idea board, or maybe just wait for a new driver. It didn't end up being the Chill setting. Today I had it happen again and had to alt+tab out and back into the game 5-10 times for the overclock speeds to stick when the game window was the focus.

 

[Chomiq]

Uhm...
https://www.reddit.com/r/Amd/comments/cvypt6
You can read about VII user rolling back to 19.7.5 and it fixed the issues for him.

 

[Agent_D]

After a brief discussion with someone having the exact same issue on the Guru3D forums, I think he made a suggestion that finally worked out to fix this issue. More Power Tool allows you to tweak the soft power play tables to give the card a base clock of whatever the overclock you're using is. This has, at least for now, solved my issue with the clocks not working properly when setting an overclock. The only issue with the current newest build is that you have to have already had a soft power play table imported to your registry for the software to recognize the settings for Radeon VII.

 

[jesdals]

Do you have a link to that tool?

 

[Agent_D]

igor´sLAB | PC & Components | Reviews & News

www.igorslab.media

 

[fullinfusion]

As the title says. I've been having this ongoing issue that sometimes goes away when I reinstall drivers, sometimes not. I just finished a fresh install of Win 10 to see if I could address the issue with no luck.

Symptoms:
Any full screen 3d application will run the GPU clock ~1650-1655MHz, but if I switch it to windowed/windowed borderless, I get full clock speeds (running 2000/1200-1070mv). I have done a lot of searching over the past few weeks to try to figure this out, but I've come up empty for actual results/fixes, though I have seen a few posts here and there describing symptoms that sound similar with no resolutions.

Any ideas or solutions from those that have possibly run into this issue and happened to find a clever fix? I suppose I could just run everything in a borderless window, but I'd actually like to sort the problem out instead of throwing a band-aid at it, and in the process have the knowledge available for future use.

Fresh install of Windows 10 1903
ASRock X570 Steel Legend on latest 1.70 BIOS
Ryzen 3600X
AMD Radeon VII w/ 19.8.2 drivers (Before this fresh install of Win 10, it exhibited this behavior with multiple previous iterations of drivers and would sometimes go away after a reinstall for a while)


Edit: With some more testing I've discovered that it even happens if the game is set to Borderless Window mode, but it does NOT happen if the game is set to regular Windowed mode; in regular Windowed mode it will clock up to the normal 1950-2000MHz that the overclock is set to and it works perfectly. It seems as though when the focused window switches to a full screen in any way it, for some odd reason, changes something that doesn't allow the GPU to clock up normally and there is a terrible and noticeable frame stutter regardless of in-game fps.

What frequency range is your monitor?

If it's 144hrz go into Windows settings and change your monitor refresh rate within windows to 120hrz and see if that fixes the problem.

 

[Lynton]

@Agent_D EXACT same problem mate. driving me up the wall these last few days. trying everything know to man and I've been building pc's since the 90's. If I go windowed e.g. a 3d rendering like Heaven benchmark running 'extreme' then it hits the proper OC's. If I go fullscreen in any 3d render/game...back to ~1650 as you've described. Tried reverting to a few recent drivers, didn't help. Latest 10th March 2020 Win10 patch hasn't helped. I tried 'morepowertool' you recommended. set 2000mhz min freq. but didn't up the voltage so got black screen when applying. Will try again with min voltage ceiling higher this time but feels a bit shaky. latest drivers everything, Vega VII with EK Vektor block previously performing very well but suddenly I'm losing all my performance (clocks) fullscreen. 1200w corsair psu

 

[eidairaman1]

@Agent_D EXACT same problem mate. driving me up the wall these last few days. trying everything know to man and I've been building pc's since the 90's. If I go windowed e.g. a 3d rendering like Heaven benchmark running 'extreme' then it hits the proper OC's. If I go fullscreen in any 3d render/game...back to ~1650 as you've described. Tried reverting to a few recent drivers, didn't help. Latest 10th March 2020 Win10 patch hasn't helped. I tried 'morepowertool' you recommended. set 2000mhz min freq. but didn't up the voltage so got black screen when applying. Will try again with min voltage ceiling higher this time but feels a bit shaky. latest drivers everything, Vega VII with EK Vektor block previously performing very well but suddenly I'm losing all my performance (clocks) fullscreen. 1200w corsair psu

Do the washer mod, go to frame 5:19

Get the Radeon Pro For Enterprise driver here

https://www.amd.com/en/support/graphics/amd-radeon-2nd-generation-vega/amd-radeon-2nd-generation-vega/amd-radeon-vii

 

[Lynton]

Hi @eidairaman1 yeah I did the washer mod way back before going onto an EK LC loop. Temps aren't the issue here as even Jtemp is in the 70's. It downclocks immediately when going fullscreen. running anything in a window sticks to the freqs and power targets you've set. I'll give the Pro driver a go; didn't know that would have been compatible. Bios flash I guess is a last resort, will engage AMD support first on that score. Will report back if any progress, thanks for the help attempt [edit: Pro driver didn't help, same downclocking. bios flash just told me I already had the latest bios installed]

 

[jesdals]

Just did some testing with mine, it does not seem to be affectet. I am on a x570 platform with win 10 pro and latest amd drivers. I play with Eyefinity setup

 

[eidairaman1]

Hi @eidairaman1 yeah I did the washer mod way back before going onto an EK LC loop. Temps aren't the issue here as even Jtemp is in the 70's. It downclocks immediately when going fullscreen. running anything in a window sticks to the freqs and power targets you've set. I'll give the Pro driver a go; didn't know that would have been compatible. Bios flash I guess is a last resort, will engage AMD support first on that score. Will report back if any progress, thanks for the help attempt [edit: Pro driver didn't help, same downclocking. bios flash just told me I already had the latest bios installed]

Could be a faulty card even. Did it do this on the air cooler?

 

[Lynton]

no it didn't but I've been going ok with LC OC's until about a week or two back. I can't pinpoint the event that caused the actual change. I'm not so sure it is faulty given it OC's fine in a window 3d render like Heaven benchmark, also wattman 'auto OC' also clocks up just fine. As soon as any manual setting is applied it downclocks to around ~1625 as @Agent_D found and started this post. It feels like the card is protecting itself for some reason keeping low power outputs/threshold but I don't know how to amend this and various power table registry updates don't help either

 

[eidairaman1]

no it didn't but I've been going ok with LC OC's until about a week or two back. I can't pinpoint the event that caused the actual change. I'm not so sure it is faulty given it OC's fine in a window 3d render like Heaven benchmark, also wattman 'auto OC' also clocks up just fine. As soon as any manual setting is applied it downclocks to around ~1625 as @Agent_D found and started this post. It feels like the card is protecting itself for some reason keeping low power outputs/threshold but I don't know how to amend this and various power table registry updates don't help either

Restore everything to stock clocks, settings. I would get gpu-z, get a snapshot of screen plus back up your gpu bios in gpu-z, (arrow next to uefi checkbox). Then reflash the card, its possible there is degradation of the card.

 

[thesmokingman]

Have you checked if any apps are calling for hw accel?

 

[Lynton]

not sure how sorry. I guess you think it may be interrupting the game rendering? I've got a ticket open with AMD now since this morning. Will see if they can think of something I haven't

 

[thesmokingman]

not sure how sorry. I guess you think it may be interrupting the game rendering? I've got a ticket open with AMD now since this morning. Will see if they can think of something I haven't

It definitely can. Stuff gets wonky when hw accel is left unchecked. The easiest way of going about this is with Afterburner. The info button in AB will show what apps are calling for acceleration, scroll towards bottom. Then you take that exe name and create a profile in RTSS, and set detection to none. That prevents X exe from getting hw accel. Over time your RTSS profiles will grow! I wrote a guide on this like 10 years ago. I can link if you need.

 

[Lynton]

Ok guys, will do re flash and hw accel. @eidairaman1 hmmm, I wasn't aware these things could 'degrade', especially in first year of life but that is a concerning thought. I'm still hoping it's a driver issue. What I'm doing first before the further steps you guys have suggested, is fresh install Windows 20H1 from an Insider iso, so there is a fresh registry, put the latest Adrenaline drivers on and see if the issue replicates. I've also just been into a h/w store and they were all scratching their heads. I've picked up an x470 board as well which will be last resort for this weekend in the event there is some kind of circuitry problem, perhaps 3rd gen Ryzen with 1st gen x370... (i.e. perhaps pcie slot not feeding properly)

 

[eidairaman1]

It definitely can. Stuff gets wonky when hw accel is left unchecked. The easiest way of going about this is with Afterburner. The info button in AB will show what apps are calling for acceleration, scroll towards bottom. Then you take that exe name and create a profile in RTSS, and set detection to none. That prevents X exe from getting hw accel. Over time your RTSS profiles will grow! I wrote a guide on this like 10 years ago. I can link if you need.

I turn off hw acceleration in webbrowsers, its been a broken feature since the late 90s.

Ok guys, will do re flash and hw accel. @eidairaman1 hmmm, I wasn't aware these things could 'degrade', especially in first year of life but that is a concerning thought. I'm still hoping it's a driver issue. What I'm doing first before the further steps you guys have suggested, is fresh install Windows 20H1 from an Insider iso, so there is a fresh registry, put the latest Adrenaline drivers on and see if the issue replicates. I've also just been into a h/w store and they were all scratching their heads. I've picked up an x470 board as well which will be last resort for this weekend in the event there is some kind of circuitry problem, perhaps 3rd gen Ryzen with 1st gen x370... (i.e. perhaps pcie slot not feeding properly)

Ok all electronics can have bad yields, some parts will last a picosec, others a year, sometimes a millenia, thats how electronics can be

 

[Lynton]

some really interesting stuff here https://community.amd.com/thread/249063. guys are saying Adrenaline 2020 drivers implemented some forced power efficiency rubbish, causing downclocks with Navi too. Fresh 20H1 build made no difference, older drivers tried too. I'm trying to get afterburner working but wattman/adrenaline locking certain settings. I'm trying with powerplay tables option enabled and disable ULPS. I'm holding out for the card being ok given that 'auto oc' allows higher clocks and power draw (fullscreen too). Something happens when you select manual settings and go fullscreen...

well I'll be rogered sideways I think the mystery is solved...f#<£ing Adrenaline drivers!!! So after a week at least of my life lost nailbiting that part of my awesome hardware is defective, solution is:
uninstall (clean recommended), there is some kind of reboot that happens. Go no further installing a new driver (win10 probably installs its own), then get Afterburner cranked up instead (i.e. no radeon tray icon or program in start menu). Wow that is some freaky good software, better monitoring metrics too like vrm thermals. key settings for me: unlock voltage control, disable ULPS, (didn't need unofficial overclocking mode). Geez I need a stiff whiskey now I think, only on 20PL, 1105mv and getting 2000mhz stable, 1200hbm, juncT ~85 ~250-316w. I might powerplay table to get 50pl but will probably stick and enjoy this for a while. What a shame I've had to waste so much time and how many others out there would have struggled I wonder. No way to keep a customer base although I'll stay red team for now, the Radeon VII is an incredible card under water. I'll miss some adrenaline features though like AMD link where I had it up on my phone. Come to think of it, I think msi afterburner has an android companion...
thanks for all the help suggestions and advice @eidairaman1 @thesmokingman @jesdals , this is a quality forum

 

[thesmokingman]

You don't need to disable ULPS as that's for crossfire. I see some suggest to disable it but I've never needed to disable it on my VII. I enabled the powerplay tables so you can overclock past limits in AB. I did not use wattman, just straight up AB and RTSS.

Here's some of my old runs on the VII.

Result

www.3dmark.com

Result

www.3dmark.com

 

[Lynton]

Nice scores, I'll try beat sometime (temps are low so I've more room) but just enjoying what I've cracked through for now. Still can't believe some frickin driver efficiency thing was holding the card back (why I disabled ULPS just in case).