R9 290 Multi-Monitor Idle Really Really Bad

Bryf50

Golden Member
Nov 11, 2006
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I run 2 monitors one large for games and one small for multitasking. Its been the case for a while that multi-monitors would cause the GPU to act funny at idle specifically the VRAM doesn't downclock. But the 290 is way worse than anything I've seen before. With 2 monitors it idles at 60C-70C. The second I unplug one of the monitors the RAM downclocks and the idle temperature returns to a sane value. Measuring power consumption with my UPS my idle draw from the PC increases ~50w from having 1 monitor to 2. Really strange and hopefully AMD can do something to fix it in the future.
 

(sic)Klown12

Senior member
Nov 27, 2010
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There's really nothing they can fix in this situation. They have to run the memory at full speed as letting it drop will cause extreme flickering on the secondary monitors. AMD found this out the hard way on the 58xx series, and higher idle temps is much preferred to the unusable mess that 300/150 clocks made it. Hawaii is just a power hungry and leaky card, and only a shrink to 20nm can change that.
 

Erenhardt

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2012
3,251
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This card wants to be at 90'C. If you want to lower temps, you need to make a custom fan profile.
Just like Klown12 said, 4GB of GDDR5 @fullspeed need some juice.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
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This was actually one of the reasons why I replaced a HD5770 back in the days. Its obviously not impossible to fix, since nVidia can do it. Perhaps there is hope for a driver fix in a future revision?
 

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
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As (sic)Klown12 said, there's nothing to fix. AMD runs the RAM higher on multi monitor setups by design.
 

Bryf50

Golden Member
Nov 11, 2006
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It seems strange that keeping the memory clocked high would cause such an extreme difference in idle temperature. Not something I saw with my cards in the past but I guess their coolers were never this [bad].

Profanity isn't allowed in the technical forums.
-- stahlhart
 
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(sic)Klown12

Senior member
Nov 27, 2010
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Perhaps there is hope for a driver fix in a future revision?

I think that would depend on exactly how much the new Powertune can be changed by just a driver instead of a new BIOS. Hawaii gets rid of the separate 2D/UVD/3D power states, with the memory only being able to switch between 150/1250 (or user set OC) while the core is completely dynamic from 300-max boost. If AMD can have the card recognize multiple monitors and set a speed like ~400Mhz then it should be enough to stop the flickering while helping keep temps closer to single monitor idle.
 

3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
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It seems strange that keeping the memory clocked high would cause such an extreme difference in idle temperature. Not something I saw with my cards in the past but I guess their coolers were never this [bad].

The new setup is tuned differently. Set up your own custom fan profile if the temps bother you. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. 60°C-70°C isn't going to hurt anything.
 
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(sic)Klown12

Senior member
Nov 27, 2010
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The new setup is tuned differently. Set up your own custom fan profile if the temps bother you. Personally, I wouldn't worry about it. 60°C-70°C isn't going to hurt anything.

He could also use Afterburner create separate 2D/3D profiles and turn the memory speed all the way down on the 2D profile and see if that helps. He could also possibly use a negative offset on the Aux to lower the VDDCI which should lower temps even more. I'm not at home or I would give it a try.
 

Zstream

Diamond Member
Oct 24, 2005
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This was actually one of the reasons why I replaced a HD5770 back in the days. Its obviously not impossible to fix, since nVidia can do it. Perhaps there is hope for a driver fix in a future revision?

It happens on all cards including Nvidia. At least the 4series
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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I havent experienced on 4 series and 6 series.

Having used multi screen pretty much...forever....i'll speak on this..

It definitely did happen with Fermi. In fact, idle speeds were downright bad on Fermi with multi monitor - I had 580s that would toggle to 3d speeds frequently. This was changed and improved with the Kepler, but if you're stating it didn't happen with Fermi..well...IT DID...

It happens on Kepler as well but it is improved, idle speeds are still higher in multi monitor with all cards including kepler. But kepler does idle at similar idle speeds, it is much improved - but you get more "bumps" in idle clockspeed while in multi monitor mode as compared to single screen. This is expected. That said, 60-70C? That sounds insane for idle temperatures. Not sure what's up with that.
 
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blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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This card wants to be at 90'C. If you want to lower temps, you need to make a custom fan profile.
Just like Klown12 said, 4GB of GDDR5 @fullspeed need some juice.

So the card wants to be at 90C while idle. Either you didn't read his post or you don't know what you're talking about. A GPU should not be 90C when it is idle, give me a break.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
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It definitely did happen with Fermi. In fact, idle speeds were downright bad on Fermi with multi monitor - I had 580s that would toggle to 3d speeds frequently. This was changed and improved with the Kepler, but if you're stating it didn't happen with Fermi..well...IT DID...

It happens on Kepler as well but it is improved, idle speeds are still higher in multi monitor with all cards including kepler. That said, 60-70C? That sounds insane for idle temperatures. Not sure what's up with that.

Perhaps it was different on the lower cards. I used a GTS450, and it did idle in the lowest state with both screens on. My GTX680 also idles in the lowest state when 2 screens on. So I cant agree with that either.

GPU-Z shows 324Mhz core clock, 162Mhz memory clock with both 1 and 2 screens on.

Both DVI connected. 1x Dell U2713HM, 1x Dell U2408FPW.
 
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blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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Perhaps it was different on the lower cards. I used a GTS450, and it did idle in the lwoest state with both screens on. My GTX680 also idles in the lowest state when 2 screens on. So I cant agree with that either.

What? I used Fermi with multiple screens. If the GTS450 was somehow different , maybe that is the case, I dunno, but I remember how the GTX 580 was with multiple screens.

http://www.legitreviews.com/nvidia-geforce-gtx-580-gf110-fermi-video-card-review_1461/19
GPU Runs at a High Performance Level (full clock speeds) in
Multi-display Modes
This is a hardware limitation and not a software bug. Even when no 3D programs are running, the driver will operate the GPU at a high performance level in order to efficiently drive multiple displays. In the case of SLI or multi‐GPU PCs, the second GPU will always operate with full clock speeds; again, in order to efficiently drive multiple displays.

In any case, 70C while idling (for the 290) is downright stupid. So I dunno what's up with that.
 
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itsmydamnation

Platinum Member
Feb 6, 2011
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its not just the GPU that matters its the screens. i run eyefinity on a 6970 if i disable one screen ( all three of mine are identical) then my memory clock jumps down.
 

ShintaiDK

Lifer
Apr 22, 2012
20,378
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Kepler example:
gpuidle.png
 

(sic)Klown12

Senior member
Nov 27, 2010
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So the card wants to be at 90C while idle. Either you didn't read his post or you don't know what you're talking about. A GPU should not be 90C when it is idle, give me a break.

The default fan profile is extremely laxed until you hit 80c+. So his GPU is hitting those temps (60-70c) because the fan is still running at only 20%, or 1000 RPMs. Pushing it to 30 - 35%, while adding not much more noise, could lower temps into the 50-60c range.
 
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Erenhardt

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2012
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So the card wants to be at 90C while idle. Either you didn't read his post or you don't know what you're talking about. A GPU should not be 90C when it is idle, give me a break.

Any reason why not? or is it because you said so?
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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The default fan profile is extremely laxed until you hit 80c+. So his GPU is hitting those temps (60-70c) because the fan is still running at only 20%, or 1000 RPMs. Pushing it to 30 - 35%, while adding not much more noise, could lower temps into the 50-60c range.

What idle temps do you get with a single card, out of curiosity? I only have a problem with the statement that a card "should" idle at 90C. That is of course nuts. I mean, core clockspeed has a direct correlation with temperatures and generally speaking, core clocks are 150-300mhz while idling. With that being the case, idle temps should not be super high even if the fan speed is lax - 50-60C? Maybe, even though that would make me do a double take. 70-90C? That...I dunno. Not while idle.
 

blackened23

Diamond Member
Jul 26, 2011
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You disabled the fan until it hits 75C. That's interesting, you should screen shot that. I wasn't aware of CCC's new "hey disable my fan" option.
 
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3DVagabond

Lifer
Aug 10, 2009
11,951
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Common sense maybe? /rolleyes

Lemme help you: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/idle

A card doesn't idle at 90C. Maybe you should look up what the word IDLE means. Certainly when the clockspeeds of the core are probably at 150-300mhz you don't expect 90C temps. If they're 90C something is wrong, and if you're saying it should be 90C something is wrong.

Is that really how you took what he said? You think he said that the card does/should/whatever idle at 90°C?

Let me tell you what he meant with the original post you jumped all over. He meant that the target temp for the card is 90°C, and even then he wasn't being precise, it's actually 94°C, so the fan isn't going to ramp up to knock the temp down when it's only at 60°C-70°C. As he and others have said, if you want to lower it you can set your own profile for the fan. That's what he was getting at.
 

Erenhardt

Diamond Member
Dec 1, 2012
3,251
105
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You disabled the fan until it hits 75C. That's interesting, you should screen shot that. I wasn't aware of CCC's new "hey disable my fan" option.

Call me a Haxxor!
Is that really how you took what he said? You think he said that the card does/should/whatever idle at 90°C?

Let me tell you what he meant with the original post you jumped all over. He meant that the target temp for the card is 90°C, and even then he wasn't being precise, it's actually 94°C, so the fan isn't going to ramp up to knock the temp down when it's only at 60°C-70°C. As he and others have said, if you want to lower it you can set your own profile for the fan. That's what he was getting at.

True. But if he asks me if it is ok for this card to idle at 90'C, yes. I'll go even further and say that with lowered voltage at idle you can keep it above its operating temp of 94'C
 
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