R9 290 / 290x - powertune throttling the core under load (updated with fix!)

Morning guys,

So there are many of us who have bought the MSI 290 gaming edition (or any 290/290x for that matter). Has anyone noticed the fluctuating core when gaming? At 90*c + I could understand but when temps are only hitting 63*c and fan speed not going above 40%, why is powertune so adament to lower the core clocks to stay on top of temps, instead of doing what cards have traditionally done which is simply increasing the fan speed some more?

AMD are sacrificing performance, for the sake of noise, which on a aftermarket cooler seems very strange

Eg. fps is good, but microstutter is present, and look at the core what i'd expect to be a straight line at 1077mhz, is all over the place dropping as low as around 700mhz!




I want to force it to stick at 1077mhz and let the fan go as loud as it wants before throttling the core, anyway to set this up? or disable powertune?

I noticed this but wasn't sure if it was normal.

Edit:

Just to add to this, when I stress test the GPU the core clock sticks at 1007 and fluctuates to 994 occasionally.

In games like Arma 3 is when it will fluctuate lower to around 840 or so.

Not sure if I've noticed any stuttering, I will see if I can notice it.

Try this,

In afterburner, go to settings, unofficial overclocking mode, select -Without powerplay support.

Next make sure power limit is maxxed in AB, dial in your overclock of 1077 on the core, hit apply and save the profile if you wish, next go into CCC and enable graphics overdrive, make sure the powerlimit is maxxed out in here too if not max it. (should be 50%).

Now try a game and see if the clocks drop, i use the above settings for my 24/7 oc of 1150/1400 and my clocks don't move a mhz.

What drivers are you fellas using and what are your system specs please?

LtMatt said:

What drivers are you fellas using and what are your system specs please?

Click to expand...

Driver 13.12

PSU: Corsair AX760
CPU: Amd FX 8350 @ 4.3GHz
RAM: 8GB
2x Samsung EVO SSD

I just ran a stress test and it was fixed at the 1007MHz OC. It's just in games for me that it fluctuates, I'll try what uksoldierboy said.

uksoldierboy said:

Try this,

In afterburner, go to settings, unofficial overclocking mode, select -Without powerplay support.

Next make sure power limit is maxxed in AB, dial in your overclock of 1077 on the core, hit apply and save the profile if you wish, next go into CCC and enable graphics overdrive, make sure the powerlimit is maxxed out in here too if not max it. (should be 50%).

Now try a game and see if the clocks drop, i use the above settings for my 24/7 oc of 1150/1400 and my clocks don't move a mhz.

Click to expand...

Will try this now and report back.

LtMatt said:

What drivers are you fellas using and what are your system specs please?

Click to expand...

on driver 13.12 as apparently the beta kills mining hash

Having trouble understanding the whole powertune idea, every article points to noise control at the expense of core clocking fluctuating

http://www.extremetech.com/gaming/1...blem-but-nvidias-smear-attack-is-heavy-handed

ps. is powerplay another term for powertune?

pps. should I leave the fan on auto in AB?

uksoldierboy said:

Try this,

In afterburner, go to settings, unofficial overclocking mode, select -Without powerplay support.

Next make sure power limit is maxxed in AB, dial in your overclock of 1077 on the core, hit apply and save the profile if you wish, next go into CCC and enable graphics overdrive, make sure the powerlimit is maxxed out in here too if not max it. (should be 50%).

Now try a game and see if the clocks drop, i use the above settings for my 24/7 oc of 1150/1400 and my clocks don't move a mhz.

Click to expand...

done all this and core is now at 1077 even in 2d mode, thats ok right about to try a game out

Set your fan on 55%, make sure you set the powerlimit in both CCC and AB, every time you load a profile in afterburner you'll have to set the powerlimit in CCC.

It's a pain i know but it's the only fix i could find to this issue.

Just know guys that this fix will force your card to 3dclocks which will result in higher idle temps.

Left the fan on Auto, as on 55% I could hear it very slightly, so wanted to see what the card would choose itself to keep the temps down


3d core clocks a solid 1077mhz
max temp 68*c
max fan speed 42% (silent)
max mem use 2254mb

So fantastic all round, cool, quiet, and no microstutter, or clock throttle!





Question is if a 290 can hold its own in gaming @ less than 70*c with super low fan @ 42% whats the whole idea being powertune and using core throttle instead of locking it like above?

Glad that's sorted it pal, remember, if you change the profile or load a different one, make sure you max out the powerlimit in CCC again.

Btw one last thing and this maybe silly and obvious to some, but you MUST have the core overclocked for the cards clocks to remain locked, i don't know why you can't just run the card at stock with locked clocks but for some reason you can't.

Oh and this fix also drastically improves cpu scores on 3Dmark firestrike, at least for me on my 4770K.

Cheers for the help, invaluable!

I hit the reset button on AB to browse the net, and noticed the CCC powerlimit reset, then when pressing 1 in AB for gaming it staying at 0 in CCC. Only niggle but worth it for decent fixed core!

"Btw one last thing and this maybe silly and obvious to some, but you MUST have the core overclocked for the cards clocks to remain locked, i don't know why you can't just run the card at stock with locked clocks but for some reason you can't.
"

so by this you mean if I set AB to run core at 977mhz, it would start its clock fluctuations again? but if I set it at 978mhz for example it would lock it? lol


The final thing which narked me, is with the core dropping to 700mhz ish with vanilla settings, my 280x was a better gaming card from a framerate and stutter perspective, so unless 290 owners force the core en masse they may have been better off buying a 280x!

So this fix doesn't allow the core to drop when idle?

northun_munky said:

So this fix doesn't allow the core to drop when idle?

Click to expand...

No you need to hit reset on AB,

unless you were to setup a profile 2 in AB, to lower the core, but maintain the 50% power, which would maintain the 50% setting in CCC too I think? one less niggle?

Heres an example of how bad the card is with its vanilla powertune settings, the core drops to 485mhz! 55% drop from advertised clocks, and hand in hand the fps drops to 15fps!






So the fix although niggly, is worth its weight in gold

toprock said:

Heres an example of how bad the card is with its vanilla powertune settings, the core drops to 485mhz! 55% drop from advertised clocks, and hand in hand the fps drops to 15fps!






So the fix although niggly, is worth its weight in gold

Click to expand...

What?! Isn't the core guaranteed to not go below 600 or something?! I guess the card isn't running in 3d mode.

I'm going to have another play with ab when I get home from work as I've read somewhere you can assign a profile to 2d and 3d separately in AB so when gaming you get the rock solid oc core clock then when in 2d reverts back to your custom low power/clock profile.

uksoldierboy said:

Try this,

In afterburner, go to settings, unofficial overclocking mode, select -Without powerplay support.

Next make sure power limit is maxxed in AB, dial in your overclock of 1077 on the core, hit apply and save the profile if you wish, next go into CCC and enable graphics overdrive, make sure the powerlimit is maxxed out in here too if not max it. (should be 50%).

Now try a game and see if the clocks drop, i use the above settings for my 24/7 oc of 1150/1400 and my clocks don't move a mhz.

Click to expand...

I LOVE YOU

northun_munky said:

I'm going to have another play with ab when I get home from work as I've read somewhere you can assign a profile to 2d and 3d separately in AB so when gaming you get the rock solid oc core clock then when in 2d reverts back to your custom low power/clock profile.

Click to expand...

that would be amazing