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6970's make gaming unplayable

HatMan

HatMan

HatMan

Associate
Joined
2 Oct 2007
Posts
610
Location
Cardiff
HI All,

Just upgraded from 5870's to 6970's. No game is playable currently.

Started a thread first for issues with Rage here

Anyway, FSX, Unique Heaven and GriD are all unplayable at ANY settings. IN particular because of being able to make changes I have been testing with Heaven v3.0. At 1920 x 1080, no AA/AF DX10 I get constant fluttering between 100fps and 40fps, so the video is very choppy. At 800 x 600 with nothing on, the result is the same albeit with higher fps. In game, Rage is literally unplayable. GRiD is a disaster.

With Xfire disabled, the results are the same. Choppy and of no use to man nor beast. In Heaven with one card, the results were better but the results were terrible, far far below a single 5870.

I am using the latest 12.3 drivers 64bit. PSU is now an 850w

Thanks
 
Did you use driver sweeper to clear out all of the amd drivers before using the 6970s?

I have read on here a similar issue with ccc or w/e it's called applying settings (clockspeeds etc) for a previous amd card the user owned.

Worth a try first.
 
HatMan said:
HI All,

Just upgraded from 5870's to 6970's. No game is playable currently.

Started a thread first for issues with Rage here

Anyway, FSX, Unique Heaven and GriD are all unplayable at ANY settings. IN particular because of being able to make changes I have been testing with Heaven v3.0. At 1920 x 1080, no AA/AF DX10 I get constant fluttering between 100fps and 40fps, so the video is very choppy. At 800 x 600 with nothing on, the result is the same albeit with higher fps. In game, Rage is literally unplayable. GRiD is a disaster.

With Xfire disabled, the results are the same. Choppy and of no use to man nor beast. In Heaven with one card, the results were better but the results were terrible, far far below a single 5870.

I am using the latest 12.3 drivers 64bit. PSU is now an 850w

Thanks
Click to expand...

Have you installed the CAPS?
 
@tribz, since the list of games he's tried are older titles, the profiles will already be in the driver he's using.

Try going into CCC panel and select default settings in the preference tab.

tommybhoy said:
0ebbb84266b714fe94988c92a9e21cea.jpg
Click to expand...

Top right in the pic if you can't find it.

There is a possibility your cpu isn't up to the task with scaling the faster 6970's, download Msi Afterburner and run some games/benchies with the OSD showing gpu usage, in Heaven both cores should be at least 95%+ all of the way through.

If you go here:
http://www.vistax64.com/tutorials/163016-ghost-devices-drivers.html

It shows you how to get rid of 'ghost drivers' this could be causing an impact on performance too, the instructions are for Vista but it's the same steps.

Let us know how you get on.
 
mattius1989 said:
Just my two cents, but wouldn't a new CPU/MB have been the most beneficial next step for you over a new GPU?
Click to expand...

+1

Another thing to try is maybe reinstall windows and hope it is just the OS that has messed up the drivers. If you used things like driver sweepers (which you should stay well clear off in my opinion) that may also be the cause. Your best update would be to stick a Q9650 and overclock the cpu too in that system and have 8GB of RAM or save up for a 2500K setup with 8GB RAM. Your CPU is not really great anymore and surprised FSX worked well on it in the first place. Also a single 5870 to get best use out of it needs a Q6XXX or Q9XXX @ 3Ghz + to make full use of a single 5870, not sure why you bothered with 2 x 5870 in the first place and not updated to a Quad cpu.
 
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Ohh didn't realise he has 2 x 6970's now ... I thought he had one... Well only real upgrade for them 2 cards would be a 2500K and 8GB RAM to make best use of them 2 cards. There was no point really moving from the 2 5870's untill you updated your CPU, motherboard and RAM. Not sure who advised you that 2 of the highend cards was a good idea on such an old CPU and with 4GB RAM. If you wanted to breath new life into that system sell one of the 6970's and buy a Q9650 and make the RAM upto 8GB. You will have a much more balanced system that will be great to game on a single screen upto 1920 x 1200. I use to have the same motherboard you have with a Q9650 and a 5870 was a great gaming pc even with modern games like Crysis 2.
 
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Wow lots to think about there. I am off out now but will answer all the questions and points raised asap.

Incidently I bought the two cards for £150 each, which I thought was good and I was planning for the future. I will be updating the system with new CPU/MB/RAM etc but with the PC being as fast as it is now, I didn't see the point in rushing that side of things.
 
Ok so why did I buy 6970's. Well I am very happy with my E8600 @4.3GHz. As far as I am concerned the PC is quick and all games run fine. When I had the opprtunity to help a mate out, I sold a 5870 XFX to him for £100. He's happy I was on the way to an upgrade. Then I found the chance to buy a pair of XFX 6970's for £300 so I figured that was a good move. Of course the problems started soon after. Yes I used Driver Sweeper to remove the drivers first, and then reinstalled 12.3. Everything went well. I install 12.3 CAP and off to bench we go. FAIL!! I have not tried a single card yet, only because I spent a while reinstalling everything after a hoovering and cable tidy. I guess removing the xfire cable and the 8/6 pin powewr feed is not the same and removing the card?? Only one xfire cable is required, right?

I am prepared to rebuild the OS if it really may be helpful.

Does anyone think the cards are too fast for the bandwidth of my mobo/cpu/ram combo? I don't believe I have to upgrade the mobo and cpu to get these working.

Thanks to everyone who is lending an ear.
 
I think if you were to play a wide variety of games, you'd see decent performance in some of them as not all games require a quad. However, the number of titles which rely on a quad core cpu are rapidly growing, so my advice would still be to look towards upgrading the cpu and whatever else needs changing. It'll be worth it in the long run. :)
 
arc@css that I don't doubt. An upgrade is on the cards but I hadn't planned to do that until next year. I need definitive advice regarding the current setup. Whether rebuilding the OS will make any difference, if the cards data flow outpefroms my current rig etc etc. Something is not right that is for sure :(
 
I think the answer is we don't know, because of the age difference between your CPU and GPU - they're not usually paired together. I will say that the general consensus is that a single card is significantly more stable than xfire or sli.

I could suggest things like upgrading other components and reinstalling, but I don't think that's worth your time - because - ... I think you've been sold a pair of dodgy cards and should get your money back - and buy a single card instead.
 
I have yet to remove a card but I have formatted the OS partition and reinstalled Win 7x64 again fresh. All programmes and stuff have not be reinstalled except drivers and Unique Heaven bench. I get avg 71fps min 9fps max 154fps @ 1920 x 1080 with normal tessalation, 2xAA 2xAF. Video playback during the bench is stuttery but not always. MIn fps of 9 not encouraging. RAGE not yet reinstalled.

Thoughts?
 
Update for 240412

I removed one 6970 and ran the benchmark again. Exactly the same issue. Juddering and the sound studders in sync with the juddering. I swapped cards and the results were identical. I then swapped back to a single 5870, would you believe it, the same problem, the same stuttering the same juddering. I have so far rebuilt Windows, cleaned and renew drivers, currently 12.3. The Unique benchmark has been cleared out and reinstalled several times. Anyone care to make a suggestion in light of this information.
 
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