5xxx idle downclock observation

A1A9C1 · Dec 16, 2009, 05:16 PM

I'm not too happy with video and 2D graphic quality with my high $ card. Until a few days ago I used a HIS4870 IceQ4+ 770gpu x1000mem clocks. Everything was fine and sharp with cat 9.11, but no DX11. My new build uses an XFX-5870-XXX idle clocks are 157gpu x 300mem. It's a quiet Radeon, it saves power u$age. For movies it clocks at 400 x 900. Heaven 1.0 (875 x 1300) got 37fps and 930 something score at 1920 X1200 fullscreen with 4x AA. It wasn't smooth like the 4870 ran it in DX10.

I know this is the way the 5x is designed to be "greenish". For the money I don't want less quality with the new gen card for non - 3D use.
I haven't done any bios mod since my 9800 pro a long time ago, but I'm thinking of searching for that.

From your perspective is this the norm for the new cards? Or do I put this card back in the "egg".

Judas · Dec 16, 2009, 07:13 PM

from my perspective..

no this sounds like the auto clocking isn't working properly.

I've a "few" of the HD5xxx cards now.. one of which is the 5870 which automatically throttles obviously to.

2D quality is perfect and i see no different among the various 2/3/4/5 HD xxxx series in that respect.

2D acceleration seems to be right on.

The only clear issue i've come across is the insane throttling that takes place in windows 7 where AERO + Background changing taking place every 10 second making the video card constantly hop around with sudden jumps in speeds only to idle again (the transition i guess is kicking in the 3d clocks)

DVD playback (br) great.

Your score does seem quite low as i beleive i scored about that with a single 5770

Perhaps your in need a clean install or perhaps a wipe of the drivers and reinstall?

A1A9C1 · Dec 16, 2009, 08:05 PM

Thanks Judas your experience with the 5xxx cards counts for me. This install is new from zeros, gpu and psu are brand new. Just got online last night, updated KIS and activated w7. No issues with the win7 install except the gpu wasn't recognized and set the screen to 800 by 600 to start with. It took the 9.11 install to fix it and I had to re-boot for that. The fan noise from the card is almost inaudible and non changing (except at start-up and running unigine) so I was thinking it was just clocked too low for crisp text and decent dvd play and hulu tv shows.
Cat 9.12 are due at any time so I will try them via drivercleaner instructions soon.
Always heard great things about XFX from N-folks, being RED through and through never tried them before. I've got a few weeks that I can return this to the egg for my $440.00.

Judas · Dec 16, 2009, 10:23 PM

the actual visual clarity in windows even looks out of focus or blurred...?

Either the resolution select isn't actually what is being displayed, and the low performance does indeed seem strange.

XFX does have a good history.. but there is always the possibility of a faulty one.

A1A9C1 · Dec 16, 2009, 11:13 PM

Yup, I changed the font on some apps and that helped. Texture with the 5870 and DX11 is massively better _ just like the reviews told me. The edges in HD video are just not as good as it was with the 4870.
I had a slightly better score on Heaven before I turned the aa up a little and I was running it full at 1920 x 1200, but it should have been more smooth playback I'm sure.

I'm thinking it's a weak RV870.

Dark Lord · Dec 17, 2009, 03:45 AM

something does seem strange with that card, but turning aa on/up and having a decrease in performance is normal, and wouldnt do anything to smooth playback.

A1A9C1 · Dec 17, 2009, 05:21 AM

Strange is right. Dropping the resolution helped the score a little too. Newegg even did a good job packaging this time, all four sides were protected with peanuts. Thanks to the both of y'all for the feedback. With Christmas (NO apologies forthcoming) this close I'll bet it will take a month to settle this with them

Dark Lord · Dec 17, 2009, 05:57 AM

i really doubt it. neweggs pretty damn good at this and should have it settled quickly. and with them even being in stock still, there shouldnt be any problem at all. last time i had to rma a vid card, it took 10 days round trip.

A1A9C1 · Jan 2, 2010, 04:06 PM

They were about to ship it when I saw DiRT wasn't included this time, got my money back instead. I might wait until after CES when the non-stock coolers start showing up on the new cards. CPU temps went up 2 degrees mb and nb up 1 each with some of the exhaust getting pulled up instead of straight out the back.

Dec 16, 2009, 05:16 PM	#1
A1A9C1 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Charlotte Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	5xxx idle downclock observation I'm not too happy with video and 2D graphic quality with my high $ card. Until a few days ago I used a HIS4870 IceQ4+ 770gpu x1000mem clocks. Everything was fine and sharp with cat 9.11, but no DX11. My new build uses an XFX-5870-XXX idle clocks are 157gpu x 300mem. It's a quiet Radeon, it saves power u$age. For movies it clocks at 400 x 900. Heaven 1.0 (875 x 1300) got 37fps and 930 something score at 1920 X1200 fullscreen with 4x AA. It wasn't smooth like the 4870 ran it in DX10. I know this is the way the 5x is designed to be "greenish". For the money I don't want less quality with the new gen card for non - 3D use. I haven't done any bios mod since my 9800 pro a long time ago, but I'm thinking of searching for that. From your perspective is this the norm for the new cards? Or do I put this card back in the "egg".

Dec 16, 2009, 08:05 PM	Thread Starter #3
A1A9C1 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Charlotte Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: 5xxx idle downclock observation Thanks Judas your experience with the 5xxx cards counts for me. This install is new from zeros, gpu and psu are brand new. Just got online last night, updated KIS and activated w7. No issues with the win7 install except the gpu wasn't recognized and set the screen to 800 by 600 to start with. It took the 9.11 install to fix it and I had to re-boot for that. The fan noise from the card is almost inaudible and non changing (except at start-up and running unigine) so I was thinking it was just clocked too low for crisp text and decent dvd play and hulu tv shows. Cat 9.12 are due at any time so I will try them via drivercleaner instructions soon. Always heard great things about XFX from N-folks, being RED through and through never tried them before. I've got a few weeks that I can return this to the egg for my $440.00.

Dec 16, 2009, 11:13 PM	Thread Starter #5
A1A9C1 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Charlotte Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: 5xxx idle downclock observation Yup, I changed the font on some apps and that helped. Texture with the 5870 and DX11 is massively better _ just like the reviews told me. The edges in HD video are just not as good as it was with the 4870. I had a slightly better score on Heaven before I turned the aa up a little and I was running it full at 1920 x 1200, but it should have been more smooth playback I'm sure. I'm thinking it's a weak RV870.

Dec 17, 2009, 03:45 AM	#6
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	Re: 5xxx idle downclock observation something does seem strange with that card, but turning aa on/up and having a decrease in performance is normal, and wouldnt do anything to smooth playback. __________________

Dec 17, 2009, 05:21 AM	Thread Starter #7
A1A9C1 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Charlotte Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: 5xxx idle downclock observation Strange is right. Dropping the resolution helped the score a little too. Newegg even did a good job packaging this time, all four sides were protected with peanuts. Thanks to the both of y'all for the feedback. With Christmas (NO apologies forthcoming) this close I'll bet it will take a month to settle this with them

Dec 17, 2009, 05:57 AM	#8
Dark Lord HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Grand Rapids, MI Posts: 5,945 Rep Power: 125 System Specs	Re: 5xxx idle downclock observation i really doubt it. neweggs pretty damn good at this and should have it settled quickly. and with them even being in stock still, there shouldnt be any problem at all. last time i had to rma a vid card, it took 10 days round trip. __________________

Jan 2, 2010, 04:06 PM	Thread Starter #9
A1A9C1 DriverHeaven Junior Member Join Date: Aug 2004 Location: Charlotte Posts: 92 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Re: 5xxx idle downclock observation They were about to ship it when I saw DiRT wasn't included this time, got my money back instead. I might wait until after CES when the non-stock coolers start showing up on the new cards. CPU temps went up 2 degrees mb and nb up 1 each with some of the exhaust getting pulled up instead of straight out the back.