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The GPU clocks issue with some browsers

spirits247

spirits247

spirits247

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29 Jan 2007
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731
For a long time now, I've been annoyed by the fact simply scrolling a webpage in a browser is causing GPU clocks to spike to maximum values, meaning constant voltage spikes, increased energy usage and temps. I'm currently running a Win 7 64bit and a MSI HAWK 6870.

This is not flash acceleration, but simply webpage scrolling even a simple forum page. It doesn't even go to UVD mid clocks, which wouldn't be as bad, but jumps straight to max 3D.

A quick Google search turns up a lot of examples, and here are a few affecting ATI and nVidia:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=2119709
http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1775755&start=1320
http://forums.amd.com/game/messageview.cfm?catid=279&threadid=155885&enterthread=y
http://support.mozilla.com/en-US/questions/803525
http://forum.beyond3d.com/showthread.php?t=59830
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18276242
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18219493
http://www.evga.com/forums/tm.aspx?m=1223925
http://forums.nvidia.com/index.php?showtopic=185531
http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?268574-Firefox-4-and-GPU-utilization
http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18219933
http://boardreader.com/thread/P150HM_W_6970_jittery_GPU_clocks_b0f41Xd4ez.html
http://www.rage3d.com/board/showthread.php?t=33971978

http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=firefox+gpu+clocks
http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=browser+gpu+clocks

It seems to be a bug in how browsers interact with GPUs. This thread is for investigating the issue.

In the past, IE8 suffered from the problem but in IE9 it seems to be fixed. I see some minor spikes now and again, but I think that's flash acceleration.

Latest Firefox still suffers from this rather annoying problem, with huge long spikes at max clocks and voltages. It can increase idle GPU temps by 7C!

To test, just fire up GPU-Z or another monitoring app and scroll these forum pages, surf the web for a while (obviously not flash video/youtube however).

Here are my results - exact same webpages visited in each browser. My usual idle temp on my 6870 is 36C.

First up problematic Firefox:

firefoxt.gif


IE8 had a similar problem, but it seems to be better, almost cured, in IE9:

ie9.gif


Notice minimal GPU load in both browsers, yet max core speed spikes appear when scrolling and rendering webpages for long periods in Firefox, dramatically increasing GPU temps. Now that can't be very power efficient or correct usage?
 
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Hi thefreeman0001, if it's only on Youtube that will be flash acceleration where your GPU accelerates flash content and videos. That's normal and is a good thing! :)

This is an issue with scrolling webpages.
 
No spikes i can see with scrolling , GPU load stays @ 1%.
Win 7 64 bit , SP1.
6950 Cat version 11.5 , Latest Firefox.
 
well for me it sometimes spikes when im on youtube and other times it doesnt. if im watching something in windows media and surf the web my temps go up and down from 30 to 43 degrees BUT if i close either media player or firefox they level out to 33... sigh :(
 
Thanks for the extra info the freeman0001, but again that sounds like UVD or Purevideo kicking in which is normal.

Some of the temp rise in Firefox could be the issue I'm mentioning here - simply webpage scrolling or even basic rendering pushes GPU clocks up to max.
 
even with gpu acceleration disabled in firefox, when scrolling pages my primary gpu will change to seemingly random clock speeds; from 157 stock it'll jump to 400, 550, 735 (default clock when running 3d apps), 950 (old clock speed i had set) and 975 (current overclock).

i really don't get why it chooses to go to all of those clocks instead of just 400; i could live with that but this is taking the mick a bit
 
Hi twist3d0n3, it is an issue that needs fixing.

I'm not sure if disabling hardware acceleration in options actually disables Direct2D (Win 7 Vista only), which is perhaps why you get the clock problem too. Direct2D can be disabled in about:config from the address bar, so I'll have to give that a try.

Now, I have been digging around for more info. Bugzilla link above says it's Firefox rendering too quickly without limits using Direct2D.

The Firefox discussion below however has some great detail, and says for nVidia it's a bug in the drivers that is or is about to be fixed:

http://forums.mozillazine.org/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=1775755&start=1275

his is a quote from ManuelG, a Nvidia's developer:

"BTW, I don't need any more information on the P-State changes at this point as I've already passed along the following complaints from end users and they have already taken action on this:

1) Fan spinning up and down as a result of the constant P-State changes
2) Basic tasks causing spikes in GPU clock and voltages such as simple scrolling of the page
3) Graphics card running slightly higher temperature as a result of clocking up and down more frequently"
Click to expand...

So will ATI release a fix?

I just want to get to the bottom of this, it's been going on now for over a year!
 
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are you sure its the gpu manufacturers fault? I thought some of the display stuff had been moved over to the GPU in vista/w7 and thats part of what the aero theme is. Maybe turning off the browser acceleration and turning off aero will fix it?
 
i'll have a look into the direct2d thing, thanks for the heads up.

kotu, i never had this issue before using firefox 6 onwards, coincidentally using new amd drivers; so it could be either, or, or a combination of the 2 companies' software. i'd hope this sort of thing would be tested more thoroughly, or at least looked into in a bit more depth as it seems to effect a few people.

anyone know what other browsers this issue effects?
 
My GTX260 and 560 readings hardly budged testing this issue in Chrome Beta using driver 275.33.

I also tested Chrome with Vsync disabled (about:flags) There was no issue in this case either.
 
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Thanks yashiro. Perhaps Chrome is fine now then, plus the 275.33 is mentioned as having the first fix for the issue but it was fully implimented in the 285.27.

Definitely happens in Firefox and Catalyst 11.9 for me. I'll try running Firefox without any addons or plugins, to see if they are causing any issues.
 
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IE9 11.10prev3 - 5850 xfire (stock)

my primary gpu spikes to full default clocks (725/1000) if i click and drag the scroll bar however, if i use the mouse wheel to scroll it stays at idle (157/300)...weird lol!
 
Hi Dave, that's perhaps normal for IE9 - a little strange I agree - see the pics in the opening post. I guess moving the page quickly is too much for the low clocks to render. Still, high clocks seems overkill when UVD clocks can accelerate video! Notice however it happens very rarely and GPU temps remain low for most of the time during normal browsing.

In Firefox however, well, the opening post pics show the difference! Compare the clock spikes to GPU load - they shouldn't be revving up so high on such low loads.
 
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smooth scrolling makes no difference but it is to do with the speed rather than the method.

If i drag the scroll bar slowly then it doesn't ramp up. meh
 
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