GVR thinks drivers are up to date. I don't.

[thorpj]

Hi, i have a problem.

 

First of all, thank you to anyone who even reads this thread, and if you decide to help me, well you are literally my saviour. My specs are in my sig.

 

See this for the details: http://imgur.com/8NBVEOR

 

So here's the problem: For a long time my GPU has been underperforming (i have to play BF4 on medium/low to get 60fps with an r9 280x!!!, but sometimes [particularly in the campaign] i can play ultra.) and i think i know why. I've always had AMD Gaming Evolved (Raptr) and it has told me that i've got the AMD 14.4 driver. But today i decided to have a look around at some of the power tools. I discovered system information, and it tells me that i only have the 14.1 driver installed

 

Now that i have that information about my system (horrible pun intended) it seems to make sense. I built my PC three days before the release of the 14.4 driver. Now i highly doubt that Windows Update installed the 14.4 driver, and i don't think catalyst would have done it.

 

I think i should also mention that i attempted to reinstall drivers recently (I uninstalled catalyst in windows, went through the registry and C driver and deleted most things with AMD or ATI on it (there were 2 folders which couldn't be deleted because "a program is currently using that"). Upon reinstalling the drivers (14.4) when opening CCC it said something about mui implementation was missing and it wouldn't open CCC. I then ran the 14.4 installation again, and although i can play games at (as far as i can tell) the same frame rates as before (bad ones) and AMD Game Recording works, when i go to open CCC, it won't open. It shows CCC in task manager for a moment, and then it disappears from there as well.

 

Also, mantle performs horribly, which could be because 14.1 was the first driver with mantle, and 14.4 fixes many problems. My fx-6300 is a bit of a bottleneck in games like BF4, WoT and Planetside 2, but mantle 14.1 just made the frame pacing and frame rate worse.

 

So, what do i do now? i'm sure that getting 14.4 working would fix my issues, but my previous attempt to reinstall the drivers has failed (possibly because of those two folders that i couldn't delete). I didn't use any driver sweeper program, nor did i use safe boot.

 

thank you for reading, and i hope that the excellent community at LTT can help me!

 

Joe

[dragoon20005]

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/display_driver_uninstaller_download.html

 

 

try this program 

 

it should clear your PC of the old install and the current broken install of the 14.4

 

then boot to safe mode with networking and install the 14.4

[Jamdude]

If you open the Catalyst Control Centre and go to the Information tab and then Software, what version does it say you have?

 

I uninstalled AMD Gaming Evolved because every 5 or 10 minutes it would send my disk utilisation up to 100%.

[thorpj]

If you open the Catalyst Control Centre and go to the Information tab and then Software, what version does it say you have?

 

I uninstalled AMD Gaming Evolved because every 5 or 10 minutes it would send my disk utilisation up to 100%.

Hi, thanks for helping. CCC doesn't open, so i can't check the software tab.

[Jamdude]

Hi, thanks for helping. CCC doesn't open, so i can't check the software tab.

It doesn't open?  As in the executable doesn't launch?  You might want to try reinstalling the driver.  

[thorpj]

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/display_driver_uninstaller_download.html

 

 

try this program 

 

it should clear your PC of the old install and the current broken install of the 14.4

 

then boot to safe mode with networking and install the 14.4

Hi, thanks for helping

 

So i won't need to uninstall catalyst in Control Panel -> add/remove programs -> remove AMD catalyst, or delete anything in the registry or C driver if i use DDU?

 

And when i read about how to uninstall the drivers in the first place, it recommended that if i use a program such as this, that i should run it a few times, and also run it in safe mode. Should i do either of these things?

[dragoon20005]

Hi, thanks for helping

 

So i won't need to uninstall catalyst in Control Panel -> add/remove programs -> remove AMD catalyst, or delete anything in the registry or C driver if i use DDU?

 

And when i read about how to uninstall the drivers in the first place, it recommended that if i use a program such as this, that i should run it a few times, and also run it in safe mode. Should i do either of these things?

yea the app removes it without you to go to add/remove program

[thorpj]

It doesn't open?  As in the executable doesn't launch?  You might want to try reinstalling the driver.  

I've tried opening it by:

 

* right clicking desktop and opening it

* in win 8 search

* running the shortcut 

* running the exe 

 

they all achieve the same thing. the program appears in task manager, but doesn't actually open (nor does it show the CCC icon in the taskbar)

[thorpj]

yea the app removes it without you to go to add/remove program

Ok, i've got some mowill i need to run it in safe mode?

 

And some more questions:

 

* Do i need to uninstall AMD Gaming Evolved

* When i install the driver, its a simple matter of running the 14.4 exe isn't it?

 

edit: I forgot to mention that Device Manager shows the driver as 14.1, lol how did i forget that...

[dragoon20005]

Ok, will i need to run it in safe mode?

no need to but yes it a good trick

 

that way the driver can be uninstalled successfully

[thorpj]

When looking at the 14.4 AMD driver page i found this in the description of the driver.

 

"AMD has received feedback that some users are unable to install the Catalyst 14.4 driver on some motherboards with AMD chipsets. We have investigated the issue and have determined that it was caused by the AHCI driver component that was included with the driver package.

We have therefore removed the AHCI driver component from the driver package and will be providing it as a separate download.
If you were affected by this issue, we recommend you download and install this updated version of the driver."

 

Now as far as i know, i'm using the Microsoft AHCI driver, but i don't know that for sure. (When i tried reinstalling i used the recent 14.4 driver which doesn't include the AHCI driver). Could this issue be to do with the AHCI drivers. I might mention that i had some issues with the AHCI drivers a few weeks back. C drive (an SSD) was running in IDE mode, but i fixed that by booting into AHCI in safe mode.

[thorpj]

Ok, so i've reinstalled the drivers, and CCC now opens.

 

However, device manager and system information still says 14.1. See here: http://imgur.com/Sab0n5P

 

and CCC says: http://imgur.com/upXAQlo

 

Funny on the CCC window it says go to system information, in System info it says the driver is 14.1

 

When i installed the driver, once it got to this point: http://i.imgur.com/9DizJho.png (not that isn't my image, but its the same window as what i had, just different drivers and all. But one of the check boxes was to install GPU driver 14.1 they were all ticked by default, so i just went next.

[dragoon20005]

Ok, so i've reinstalled the drivers, and CCC now opens.

 

However, device manager and system information still says 14.1. See here: http://imgur.com/Sab0n5P

 

and CCC says: http://imgur.com/upXAQlo

 

Funny on the CCC window it says go to system information, in System info it says the driver is 14.1

 

When i installed the driver, once it got to this point: http://i.imgur.com/9DizJho.png (not that isn't my image, but its the same window as what i had, just different drivers and all. But one of the check boxes was to install GPU driver 14.1 they were all ticked by default, so i just went next.

do a valley benchmarks and see what driver version it says

 

also Afterburner and GPU-Z ID

[thorpj]

do a valley benchmarks and see what driver version it says

 

also Afterburner and GPU-Z ID

Ok GPU-z says : http://imgur.com/VXpbMRJ

Is it just a coincidence, is 14.1 some other driver that is easily confused with catalyst?

[thorpj]

do a valley benchmarks and see what driver version it says

 

also Afterburner and GPU-Z ID

Sorry, took ages to download both of em

 

 MSI afterburner says: http://imgur.com/DftKUI4

 

It looks like it works

[thorpj]

http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/display_driver_uninstaller_download.html

 

 

try this program 

 

it should clear your PC of the old install and the current broken install of the 14.4

 

then boot to safe mode with networking and install the 14.4

Ok so i think the problem is solved now. Thanks very much for your help dragoon, couldn't have done it without you!

[thorpj]

do a valley benchmarks and see what driver version it says

 

also Afterburner and GPU-Z ID

Wow. So i loaded up BF4. On the first map (op locker) i switched from low to ultra settings, and it did 60 fine.

 

Then loaded up a small domination paracel storm (which is an even smaller map with less people. And it averages 40 fps, i even lowered the settings a bit. GPU usage doesn't peak past 70%. Temps don't go past 65.

 

What is wrong with this GPU!!!

[dragoon20005]

Wow. So i loaded up BF4. On the first map (op locker) i switched from low to ultra settings, and it did 60 fine.

 

Then loaded up a small domination paracel storm (which is an even smaller map with less people. And it averages 40 fps, i even lowered the settings a bit. GPU usage doesn't peak past 70%. Temps don't go past 65.

 

What is wrong with this GPU!!!

BF4 is a broken game now

 

if you run heaven it should be fine

[thorpj]

BF4 is a broken game now

 

if you run heaven it should be fine

I don't think BF4 is that broken. I know how it should perform, and 30-40 fps in most cases on Ultra without AA or Ambient Occlusion. Also when i turned settings down to high, the frame rate stayed the same.

 

I also noticed in Metro last light that when changing the settings around, frame rate would drop horribly. Upon restart with the same settings, frame rate would be fine. Is it a possibility that my GPU has a problem thats causing this?

[dragoon20005]

I don't think BF4 is that broken. I know how it should perform, and 30-40 fps in most cases on Ultra without AA or Ambient Occlusion. Also when i turned settings down to high, the frame rate stayed the same.

 

I also noticed in Metro last light that when changing the settings around, frame rate would drop horribly. Upon restart with the same settings, frame rate would be fine. Is it a possibility that my GPU has a problem thats causing this?

In Metro did you disable PhysX?

 

what was your CPU and VRMs temps

 

coz i suspect the mobo is overheating

[thorpj]

In Metro did you disable PhysX?

 

what was your CPU and VRMs temps

 

coz i suspect the mobo is overheating

I did disable physx.

 

Cpu averages 50, doesn't peak 55. Gpu averages 65, doesn't peak 70 - pretty healthy to me. 

 

The cpu scored 407 on cinebench, which is normal.

 

 

I've always had a suspicion that the mobo was overheating. A tiny feeling, but now that you think the same, i think that could be it.

 

I don't understand why its heating though. I've got a 200mm intake on the front of the case, 200mm exhaust on the top, and a 120 mm exhaust on the back. I know that negative pressure is bad, but i really don't want to leave a puny little 120mm exhausting all the heat!

 

I'm not at my PC at the moment, so i'll get my Mobo temps later today. 

[dragoon20005]

yes you Rev 1 are known to overheat pretty bad

 

the only solution is to direct air onto the heatsinks beside the CPU using the chipset cooler

[thorpj]

yes you Rev 1 are known to overheat pretty bad

 

the only solution is to direct air onto the heatsinks beside the CPU using the chipset cooler

Wow, i guess i didn't research the mobo thoroughly...

 

i read on tom hardware that the Gigabyte GA-970a-d3p has heatsinks on the vrm, wheras the 970a-d3 rev 3 does not. I'm using the stock AMD CPU cooler

 

I really have no idea what to do now.

 

[dragoon20005]

 

Damnit, i guess i didn't research the mobo thoroughly...

 

i read on tom hardware that the Gigabyte GA-970a-d3p has heatsinks on the vrm, wheras the 970a-d3 rev 3 does not. I'm using the stock AMD CPU cooler

 

I really have no idea what to do now.

 

 

buy a CoolerMaster TX4 and some chipset coolers

 

the CPU cooler uses the bracket and it just a bolt on cooling solution

 

stick some 80mm or 60mm fans which use the fan headers on the mobo to power it

[thorpj]

buy a CoolerMaster TX4 and some chipset coolers

 

the CPU cooler uses the bracket and it just a bolt on cooling solution

 

stick some 80mm or 60mm fans which use the fan headers on the mobo to power it

ok i've done a valley benchmark: http://imgur.com/0EbzNqt

 

According to hardware monitor the peak values were:

Mobo:

    voltage: 3.168 v

      temp 1: 30 C

      temp 2: 58 C

      temp 3  48 C

 

CPU 47 C

 

GPU 

Core: 1000 mhz

Memory: 1500mhz (shouldn't these turbo?)

temp 70C

load 96%

 

If i was to get a CPU cooler, i would probably get a hyper 212 evo, but i don't know anything about chipset coolers.