MSI R9 380 4GB: Max power consumption is very low?!

[Bogdanov89]

I am using MSI R9 380 4GB and i am having some severe FPS issues in GPU-intensive games like ARK: Survival Evolved.
My PSU is 750W Seasonic SS-750AM2 and two separate 6pin cables are leading from the PSU to the GPU.
At first i thought it was normal since that game is demanding, but then i saw that people with weaker GPUs (and overall PCs) are getting much better frames on higher graphic qualities.

So i did the toughest Furmark 1.17 stress testing (stress test over an hour on maximum settings at 1080p).
That most difficult test got my FPS down to 25, my GPU temperature to 72 celsius and my GPU's maximum (highest peak) power consumption to barely 140 watts.
At the same time i kept GPU-Z and HWMonitor active as well, and they recorded the same 138-140 watts maximum power consumption.
As far as i could see my GPU was under maximum load, the FPS in Furmark was at barely 25 and GPU load was stated to be at 100%.

In 3DMark Firestrike under the standard (1920*1080) test my score was 7515 (graphic score 8554, physics score 12295, combined score 3017).
In Unigine Valley (1920*1080 and highest settings) my score is 923 (min FPS 22, max fps 65).
In both 3DMark and Unigine tests the GPU-Z reported my GPU's maximum power consumption at 120 watts (VDDC Power highest reading).

In my most GPU intensive game Ark Survival in the Radeon Universal Overdrive it says my GPU is 100% active, the GPU clock is 980MHz and my Memory clock is 1425MHz.
It also states my temperature is at 65 celsius and my cooler is at 30%.
GPU-Z claims my GPU is consuming barely over 102 watts while having 15 FPS in ARK.

Various websites, articles and youtube videos show the same GPU model as mine go up as high as 200+ watts under maximum load (both in games and stress tests/benchmarks).
The MSI official website shows my model of GPU to go up to 190 watts without any specific overclocking.

I am just a tech amateur, but something seems very wrong when my GPU is under-performing and is seemingly using a small amount of power compared to other GPUs of the same model.

I took a look at the inside of my PC, the GPU seems properly inserted into the MBoard and the two separate 6pin cables from the PSU (750W Seasonic SS-750AM2) are firmly plugged into my GPU's two power jacks.

The GPU and the whole PC is clear of dust so that is not an issue, and software-wise i am using the latest AMD drivers and all Windows 7 updates and my startup programs are at a bare minimum (anti-virus paused during the tests).

PC specs:
Intel Core i7 4790K
ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO
16GB DDR3 2400MHz Kingston HyperX
MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB
SATA3 7200 1TB WD Black
750W Seasonic SS-750AM2
Windows 7 64bit Service Pack 1

I got no clue what is going on... looks like my GPU is unable (or refusing) to draw more power from the PSU?
Can anyone please help me?

 

[Silverforce11]

AMD GPUs & Kepler run Ark very poorly.

 

[Bogdanov89]

AMD GPUs & Kepler run Ark very poorly.

Thank you for replying.

I would not be worried about my GPU running ARK poorly if it was using its full (specified) power consumption.
It should also be using its maximum power consumption during stress tests and benchmarks, but it is not

Here is an imgur link to a big screenshot with additional info about my PC:
http://i.imgur.com/zYm6kkr.png

 

[thilanliyan]

Does gpuz actually measure consumption properly?
I'm not sure it does.

Also furmark is throttled always I think so don't base any performance on that.

 

[LTC8K6]

Why the slow ram speed with the 4790K? 1600 cas 11? Why isn't it running at 2400?

 

[thesmokingman]

I kind of have a silly large account, I'm digital hoarder! But Ark was the only game I ever returned to steam.

 

[Mahigan]

I am using MSI R9 380 4GB and i am having some severe FPS issues in GPU-intensive games like ARK: Survival Evolved.
My PSU is 750W Seasonic SS-750AM2 and two separate 6pin cables are leading from the PSU to the GPU.
At first i thought it was normal since that game is demanding, but then i saw that people with weaker GPUs (and overall PCs) are getting much better frames on higher graphic qualities.

So i did the toughest Furmark 1.17 stress testing (stress test over an hour on maximum settings at 1080p).
That most difficult test got my FPS down to 25, my GPU temperature to 72 celsius and my GPU's maximum (highest peak) power consumption to barely 140 watts.
At the same time i kept GPU-Z and HWMonitor active as well, and they recorded the same 138-140 watts maximum power consumption.
As far as i could see my GPU was under maximum load, the FPS in Furmark was at barely 25 and GPU load was stated to be at 100%.

In 3DMark Firestrike under the standard (1920*1080) test my score was 7515 (graphic score 8554, physics score 12295, combined score 3017).
In Unigine Valley (1920*1080 and highest settings) my score is 923 (min FPS 22, max fps 65).
In both 3DMark and Unigine tests the GPU-Z reported my GPU's maximum power consumption at 120 watts (VDDC Power highest reading).

In my most GPU intensive game Ark Survival in the Radeon Universal Overdrive it says my GPU is 100% active, the GPU clock is 980MHz and my Memory clock is 1425MHz.
It also states my temperature is at 65 celsius and my cooler is at 30%.
GPU-Z claims my GPU is consuming barely over 102 watts while having 15 FPS in ARK.

Various websites, articles and youtube videos show the same GPU model as mine go up as high as 200+ watts under maximum load (both in games and stress tests/benchmarks).
The MSI official website shows my model of GPU to go up to 190 watts without any specific overclocking.

I am just a tech amateur, but something seems very wrong when my GPU is under-performing and is seemingly using a small amount of power compared to other GPUs of the same model.

I took a look at the inside of my PC, the GPU seems properly inserted into the MBoard and the two separate 6pin cables from the PSU (750W Seasonic SS-750AM2) are firmly plugged into my GPU's two power jacks.

The GPU and the whole PC is clear of dust so that is not an issue, and software-wise i am using the latest AMD drivers and all Windows 7 updates and my startup programs are at a bare minimum (anti-virus paused during the tests).

PC specs:
Intel Core i7 4790K
ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO
16GB DDR3 2400MHz Kingston HyperX
MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB
SATA3 7200 1TB WD Black
750W Seasonic SS-750AM2
Windows 7 64bit Service Pack 1

I got no clue what is going on... looks like my GPU is unable (or refusing) to draw more power from the PSU?
Can anyone please help me?

What do you play at? High or Medium?

These folks with worse PCs than you... What GPU are they running?

Ark is a horrible game programming wise and is built on a horrible engine (UE4).

I wish the game used the Frostbite 3 engine instead tbh.

 

[SimianR]

I am using MSI R9 380 4GB and i am having some severe FPS issues in GPU-intensive games like ARK: Survival Evolved.
My PSU is 750W Seasonic SS-750AM2 and two separate 6pin cables are leading from the PSU to the GPU.
At first i thought it was normal since that game is demanding, but then i saw that people with weaker GPUs (and overall PCs) are getting much better frames on higher graphic qualities.

So i did the toughest Furmark 1.17 stress testing (stress test over an hour on maximum settings at 1080p).
That most difficult test got my FPS down to 25, my GPU temperature to 72 celsius and my GPU's maximum (highest peak) power consumption to barely 140 watts.
At the same time i kept GPU-Z and HWMonitor active as well, and they recorded the same 138-140 watts maximum power consumption.
As far as i could see my GPU was under maximum load, the FPS in Furmark was at barely 25 and GPU load was stated to be at 100%.

In 3DMark Firestrike under the standard (1920*1080) test my score was 7515 (graphic score 8554, physics score 12295, combined score 3017).
In Unigine Valley (1920*1080 and highest settings) my score is 923 (min FPS 22, max fps 65).
In both 3DMark and Unigine tests the GPU-Z reported my GPU's maximum power consumption at 120 watts (VDDC Power highest reading).

In my most GPU intensive game Ark Survival in the Radeon Universal Overdrive it says my GPU is 100% active, the GPU clock is 980MHz and my Memory clock is 1425MHz.
It also states my temperature is at 65 celsius and my cooler is at 30%.
GPU-Z claims my GPU is consuming barely over 102 watts while having 15 FPS in ARK.

Various websites, articles and youtube videos show the same GPU model as mine go up as high as 200+ watts under maximum load (both in games and stress tests/benchmarks).
The MSI official website shows my model of GPU to go up to 190 watts without any specific overclocking.

I am just a tech amateur, but something seems very wrong when my GPU is under-performing and is seemingly using a small amount of power compared to other GPUs of the same model.

I took a look at the inside of my PC, the GPU seems properly inserted into the MBoard and the two separate 6pin cables from the PSU (750W Seasonic SS-750AM2) are firmly plugged into my GPU's two power jacks.

The GPU and the whole PC is clear of dust so that is not an issue, and software-wise i am using the latest AMD drivers and all Windows 7 updates and my startup programs are at a bare minimum (anti-virus paused during the tests).

PC specs:
Intel Core i7 4790K
ASUS MAXIMUS VII HERO
16GB DDR3 2400MHz Kingston HyperX
MSI Radeon R9 380 4GB
SATA3 7200 1TB WD Black
750W Seasonic SS-750AM2
Windows 7 64bit Service Pack 1

I got no clue what is going on... looks like my GPU is unable (or refusing) to draw more power from the PSU?
Can anyone please help me?

You might have to tweak the Ark game settings to get better performance. Try setting the textures to high but everything else to medium, and disabling all the other options like motion blur, "high quality materials", etc (in the bottom left corner of the video options). If that doesn't work, you can try launching the game with -sm4 on the command line properties in steam, it will run a lot better but look a lot worse. The game is still alpha, and it doesn't run well.

 

[TeknoBug]

ARK isn't an ideal game to test stuff on, it's a very badly optimized game right now.

 

[Piroko]

Hi, GPU-Z has issues reading out the sensors of HD380 and Fury series as far as I can tell, I just did a quick comparison with my Sapphire R9 380:
Running Furmark the system power consumption at the wall goes from 55W to 220W, so a delta of 165W at the wall.
Meanwhile, GPU-Z reads out between 85 and 95W, with a peak reading of 95.4W.

As for ARK, that game has so many random performance issues...

 

[Headfoot]

Ark runs like garbage on my rig below, its the game. They simply haven't done an optimization pass yet, so there are a lot of issues. They are 100% focused on content for the time being. The other issue is the UE4 itself is still under development. Now that Epic is finally releasing its own games on UE4 I imagine we will see performance and bugginess clean up more quickly.