347.52:new memory management for GTX970

[Head1985]

I just tested heavy moded skyrim with new 347.52 drivers.
Here is mine old video from skyrim with 347.11:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ejqt1_skyrim-gtx970-8xmsaa
And now with 347.52
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gz451_skyrim-gtx970-8xmsaa-347-52_videogames

As you can see GTX970 with 347.52 uses more than 3800MB(vs 3550MB with 347.11) in 1920x1080.And game is now like 5000% more playable.

 

[RussianSensation]

This driver needs extensive testing to confirm that the memory management has worked. For example, in Evolve at 4K VRAM exceeds 3.5GB and 970 SLI bombs against the 980 SLI.

I don't think websites are going to investigate this again because of how much time has been spent already on this issue.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Looks promising, I wonder if there are game specific optimizations or just general? But then again Nvidia said there are no specific memory tweaks to be done in drivers for the 970 so not sure what to think.

 

[Head1985]

It looks like general optimization.Before 347.52 i wasnt able use more than 3580MB in far cry4 in full HD and now it uses more than 3600MB from the start and if needed it uses even more.
GTX970 still not acting like normal 4GB card, but its far better than before.

 

[RussianSensation]

And now with 347.52
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gz451_skyrim-gtx970-8xmsaa-347-52_videogames

As you can see GTX970 with 347.52 uses more than 3800MB(vs 3550MB with 347.11) in 1920x1080.And game is now like 5000% more playable.

I just watched the video. Your 2nd video shows FPS as low as 10.9 and generally the game barely hovers around 30-32 fps, with frequent dips to 24-28 fps. You call that playable? That's 100% unplayable and choppy and all you are doing is running around without any combat.

Try running the game with 2x DSR. Maybe the performance is better and the IQ is better too.

 

[Head1985]

You know Fraps recording and old i5 2500k@4.8GHz
heavy moded skyrim is already cpu heavy + fraps recording..
This is all about mega lags/stuttering with old driver not FPS.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Well in the 1st vid the slowdowns/pauses were unbearable, the new driver is doing something to mitigate the slow block of memory issue. I would guess Nvidia is using the last bit of memory differently so effectively you are running a 3.5+ 0.5 cache card. I do think this confirms Nvidia was flat out not being honest about not doing anything special in drivers for the 970.

 

[Enigmoid]

This driver needs extensive testing to confirm that the memory management has worked. For example, in Evolve at 4K VRAM exceeds 3.5GB and 970 SLI bombs against the 980 SLI.

I don't think websites are going to investigate this again because of how much time has been spent already on this issue.

Can we please use some common sense here and stop the fearmongering?

Its NOT vram. 780 Ti SLI 3GB is getting higher fps than 3.5 GB effective 970 SLI. 970 SLI is not dropping relative to the 980 because of VRAM.

Look at the 690 at 1600p

 

[Silverforce11]

Can we please use some common sense here and stop the fearmongering?

Its NOT vram. 780 Ti SLI 3GB is getting higher fps than 3.5 GB effective 970 SLI. 970 SLI is not dropping relative to the 980 because of VRAM.

Look at the 690 at 1600p

What? Your reference benchmark doesn't show that at all, the 780ti SLI is faster than 970 SLI in minimum fps. As it should be, because the 780ti IS faster unless its a GameWorks title that neuters Kepler for some insane reason.

Also, 1600p doesn't hit the vram barrier. Importantly, avg/min fps chart don't show you issues with vram swapping, leading to poor frame times and stutters.

 

[Silverforce11]

I just tested heavy moded skyrim with new 347.52 drivers.
Here is mine old video from skyrim with 347.11:
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2ejqt1_skyrim-gtx970-8xmsaa
And now with 347.52
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2gz451_skyrim-gtx970-8xmsaa-347-52_videogames

As you can see GTX970 with 347.52 uses more than 3800MB(vs 3550MB with 347.11) in 1920x1080.And game is now like 5000% more playable.

It looks like they took time to optimize for Skyrim, since its one of the older games that people like to use mods for, which is known to cause the 3.5gb 970 problems. My guess is they went back and threw infrequently used data into the 0.5gb segment. As per AT's article, its game specific optimizations or NV heuristics as they like to call it.

 

[Head1985]

It looks like they took time to optimize for Skyrim, since its one of the older games that people like to use mods for, which is known to cause the 3.5gb 970 problems. My guess is they went back and threw infrequently used data into the 0.5gb segment. As per AT's article, its game specific optimizations or NV heuristics as they like to call it.

I dont think its skyrim specific.its happenenig in all games.GTX970 using more than 3580MB when with old driver it uses only 3580MB.
Most of the time only 3680MB max, but atleast something.
I test it in dying light and fc4 in 1920x1080 and in those games Vram was above 3600MB from start.But with 347.25 GTX970 was capped on 3580MB.

 

[AnandThenMan]

But with 347.25 GTX970 was capped on 3580MB.

That is just shy of 3.5GB, 4096-3580=516.

 

[cmdrdredd]

Unplayable is still unplayable. Sorry but when we start using settings that actually get some fps that doesn't drop to 20 or less I'll pay attention.

 

[Grooveriding]

Didn't nvidia say there would be not driver work down to account for the 970's crippled 500MB portion of VRAM ?

 

[cmdrdredd]

Didn't nvidia say there would be not driver work down to account for the 970's crippled 500MB portion of VRAM ?

They said they won't make a special 970 only driver to deal with it. They didn't say they won't do anything at all in a driver at some point that might alleviate some issues.

 

[ocre]

This driver needs extensive testing to confirm that the memory management has worked. For example, in Evolve at 4K VRAM exceeds 3.5GB and 970 SLI bombs against the 980 SLI.

I don't think websites are going to investigate this again because of how much time has been spent already on this issue.

Bogus claim.

why make stuff up? You really dont have to.

straight from your claim to the charts,
Wrong.

980 vs 970
avr 130%
min 129%

980 SLI vs 970SLI
avr 137%
min 128% (where it matters most)

780ti vs 970
avr 105%

780ti SLI vs 970 SLI
avr 111%

but wait here? look at this

980 vs 780ti
avr 124%
SLI 123%

What? The 3gb card in SLI actually gaining on a full blown 4 gb card?

Anyway, at some point we must factor in that the 970 is only so powerful. The 780ti has more grunt and less ram. Less ram and it gains more performance in this game.

 

[Silverforce11]

@ocre avg/min is just the tip of the iceberg.

You should read Computerbase.de's bench on Evolve. They noted the 970 stutters terribly.

But its not playable at 4K on any single card, its more for SLI users to be wary of.

 

[Elixer]

There could be plenty of things going on behind the scenes, like playing with IQ, compression, move mipmaps to the slower area, and so on, to get the least used stuff on the slower VRAM, that would be specific to the 970, and since WHQL drivers takes 1 month to get "certified", we know that this was in the works for awhile.

 

[AnandThenMan]

Unplayable is still unplayable. Sorry but when we start using settings that actually get some fps that doesn't drop to 20 or less I'll pay attention.

I think you missed the point, did you watch the vids?

They said they won't make a special 970 only driver to deal with it. They didn't say they won't do anything at all in a driver at some point that might alleviate some issues.

"Some issues" in this case means a specific memory issue on the 970. Let's be honest here, Nvidia knows full well the fragmented memory config has compromises, the driver trying to clamp usage to 3.5GB is a dead giveaway. Kudos to Nvidia if they find a way on the driver level to reduce things down to a manageable level. But it will never be as good as a GPU with a 4GB block of full speed memory.

 

[cmdrdredd]

I didn't miss the point. When you start with unplayable settings that stutter to begin with I don't care about it getting better. It is still bad.

 

[Head1985]

its perfectly fine when i dont record with fraps.I already say that.Fraps Eat alot cpu power.Moded skyrim is super CPU heavy i will need like haswell-E on 8Ghz to record that with 60fps.:awe:
point of that video its show stuttering/lags with old driver with only 3580MB max vram usage vs 3800+MB with new driver and low lags/stuttering compared to 347.11

 

[Elixer]

its perfectly fine when i dont record with fraps.I already say that.Fraps Eat alot cpu power.Moded skyrim is super CPU heavy i will need like haswell-E on 8Ghz to record that with 60fps.:awe:
point of that video its show stuttering/lags with old driver with only 3580MB max vram usage vs 3800+MB with new driver and low lags/stuttering compared to 347.11

Why are you using FRAPS instead of shadowplay ?

 

[Head1985]

I dont using GFE

 

[ErichDirk]

edit :its been suggested that time of day is the issue, so i'm trying again.

AC Unity is no longer looking the same, everything appears to have gotten foggy. I took some pics back to back with the old 347.25 and 347.52 and its pretty obvious something has gone wrong. All settings are the same for before. Also with the new driver i can see about half a second delay or so before the nicer textures fill in on buildings and other objects, its odd. Def not an improvement, looks like Nvidia nerfed something. 347.25 first and 347.52 second for each set, done about 5 min apart, texture quality is clearly inferior as well, check board i'm standing on on the bridge (3rd and 4th) and my lovely hair has lost its sheen and detail as well

Here they are: https://imgur.com/a/CyoPm

 

[Silverforce11]

AC Unity is no longer looking the same, everything appears to have gotten foggy. I took some pics back to back with the old 347.25 and 347.52 and its pretty obvious something has gone wrong. All settings are the same for before. Also with the new driver i can see about half a second delay or so before the nicer textures fill in on buildings and other objects, its odd. Def not an improvement, looks like Nvidia nerfed something. How to add the screenshots?

Host it on https://imgur.com/

Then use the tag [ img ] img url [ / img] (no spaces).