anyone familiar with afterburner?

[NilSatis]

You need to go into Power Management and see if there are any features that are putting the pc into a power saving state at any time. I dont think this will be your problem but it is worth a check; go to control panel, then system, then power management, and then set up the pc to a high performance plan. May not look like it does much but can be a problem if it is using power saving features on the pci-express parts of the pc, or in other areas.

Have you scoured what else is running on the pc at the same time as when these games are being used? It would be worth running some software that comes with Advanced System Care called "Game Booster" which can provide some performance increases as it turns off background processes when gaming. Would be worth it just to see whether anything is really causing performance issues in the background. If you dont have Advanced System care, it is an excellent little tool. Game booster can come with it, or you can download seperately. One of the main benefits is it will show you things that are running in the background that maybe more of a problem than you think, and you can select which ones to turn off and on etc.

I suggested looking at Overdrive in ccc as if there is anything amiss with Power Management on the card itself through corrupt drivers or something similar, then turning up the clock speeds in ccc can get the cards out of the idle power management state that they can get stuck into. You can turn up the sliders on both core and memory clock with no ill affects in ccc, it basically gives the cards a mild overclock; but only in the realms of an increase that the driver will allow (basically bugger all) but you can also adjust how much power in voltage the card can draw when it is trying to work hard, by altering power control settings in ccc. It may be worth bumping this up and seeing whether anything changes on these games too. You wont ruin anything as long as you stay in the areas the sliders allow in ccc. The cards can take far more than these small adjustments so you will be fine. If it seems to have done something positive then alter them back again and see whether the problem comes back. You can do this before and after running a game.

I would also check some other things before reinstalling Win7 although it is probably going to be your best bet soon if nothing else works.

1. Check device manager and check that there are no warnings there. If there are then this may be a problem.

2. Remove all drivers again; open the case up, remove the gpu by hand and reseat it. Then reboot. Let windows install its vga drivers if necessary and then reinstall the latest drivers that worked well on your card. See if there is any improvement now, and while the card is out remember to have a good clean of the fan/heatsink if possible.

3. Have you tried other games? If it only happens on one or two games then check out whether there are any problems with direct x, or the game installations themselves. type dxdiag in the run box of windows to run some direct x diagnotics and see if everything is detected ok there. Im pretty sure this wont be the problem, but again worth a try.

4. This one is definitely worth a try; after uninstalling all drivers using a driver cleaning utility (if you like using them) and reinstalling 12.8; the latest drivers, you may want to turn off a function called ulps which basically is what controls the lower power state of the card. Try to download this small program and turn the ulps off. It may also be worth a read so you know how to turn it off in future. There has been some suggestion on ATI forums, as mentioned before; that the later drivers have messed this setting up for the older cards, especially ones that use crossfire. So you can use this program to remove the low power state; until the problem is resolved. Or just to try it!
ULPS software

Let us know whether this did anything.

 

[Al.Neri]

is there any risk to disabling ulps?

 

[NilSatis]

No, no risk at all. If you read the link that was posted it will tell you all about it, the worst that can happen is you need to enable it again via that program or the registry; which is also explained on that page. Its worth a shot. Sounds a little like the problem. Just let me know again, is it happening in all games, or just those ones you mentioned? Try as many as you can to see if there is a problem on other games. As you tried a benchmark which came out fine there is something weird going on.

 

[Al.Neri]

well, I tried that, and if anything, it has made it worse.

when I downloaded and ran it, it said the registry key didn't exist, and suggested I add it manually. I did so following the instructions, adding it to the 0000 folder, but it seemed to result in the game still having low fps, but it also introduced a strong flickering that definitely wasn't there before. there is no way I can play like this, I would end up with a bad headache within a few minutes.

what is more, deleting the registry entry I created manually doesn't fix the issue.

so now not only am I stuck with terrible frame rate issues, I now have an even more annoying flickering that I can't get rid of.

 

[NilSatis]

Well that is very strange. Im not too sure what has happened there. I have used the program with a friend sitting with me, and have also recommended it to a couple of others who have had no issues with it. It only changes one thing. Which is the ULPS setting.

Essentially all you are doing is turning this feature on and off by entering and removing this key manually, or by running the program. Did you have crossfire enabled when trying to use the software? It needs to be enabled. If you have entered that line in the registry, and then deleted that line, nothing will have changed to introduce flickering; unless there is a generic issue with the card that this has highlighted. Im assuming drivers were installed, as it needs them installed to find the registry entry created by them. You can email the author at [email protected] if you are concerned with anything the program has done, but im sure it wont have done anything untoward. The flickering is very strange, as all this does is enable/disable the power saving mode that the cards can go into sometimes and the purpose of it is to stop this mode being activated to eliminate it as a potential problem. The worst it can do is give you a larger electricity bill. Nothing in ulps can cause flickering etc.

To find the entry in the registry type, regedit in the search box. When it opens, you can click on edit at top and then click on find and type in enableulps. It will take you to those entries. Then change volume to 0 or 1 whichever you need. This is all that has been changed.

Double check that you have entered that in correctly, in the correct string, and that you have crossfire enabled before using the tool. I suppose it is possible that this is simply highlighting something that is wrong with the card; after all the things that have been suggested and tried, then it would seem that way. If there are multiple entries in the registry like the string you have edited then there are still remains of old drivers on the system.
You should be able to eliminate anything done by your registry entry or the program by uninstalling the drivers again. This will delete all of this from the registry, and if you prefer use a driver sweeper type program to be sure everything is gone. Reinstall the drivers and you will be back to normal, of course with your problem still there.

Of course if you are thinking about reinstalling Windows as was mentioned before, then it would be back to normal if that is the next step for you anyway.

 

[tom_gr7]

If you aint done it already mate, I'd reinstall windows, then if you still have the issue contact PCS, are you still in warranty?

 

[Al.Neri]

If you aint done it already mate, I'd reinstall windows, then if you still have the issue contact PCS, are you still in warranty?

just finished reinstalling now, I'm half way through updating windows, the rest will have to wait until tomorrow as I'm off out soon. after critical updates are done, I'll get round to reinstalling some of my games to see if it's fixed. I should still be under warranty, I only placed the order for my comp in late october 2010, and got it mid november if my memory is correct.

 

[Al.Neri]

I finally got F1 2011 installed again, and am disappointed to see the problem is still there. I've tried everything I can think of now, can't think of anything else it could be other than a hardware problem

 

[tom_gr7]

I finally got F1 2011 installed again, and am disappointed to see the problem is still there. I've tried everything I can think of now, can't think of anything else it could be other than a hardware problem

gutted for ya mate, I can only suggest to get on the phone to PCS.

 

[NilSatis]

Nasty mate, I would have thought that would have sorted it out to be honest. Normally does if all else fails. Have you tried pulling the card out of the slot and reseating it? Or maybe different pci express slot on the motherboard if you have one? Other than that Im not sure what to suggest. If it is only a couple of games with the problem then might be worth living with, but if it is your fav. game or all others are the same then yeh, get on the phone to PCS or maybe scour Ebay for a decent card at a good price. Alternatively, I have a perfectly decent card for sale as mentioned before, not after a lot for it; but i better not talk about it anymore on here. Shoot me a pm if youre interested. Got to take the girlfriend down the zoo in a moment to show her what will happen to her in my dungeon if she misbehaves again.

 

[Al.Neri]

I've noticed the frame rate is not as high on a lot of my games since I discovered it. it is one of those things you don't see until you go looking for it, but once you do spot it, it sticks out like a sore thumb. they are nowhere near as noticable as F1 2011, but they are still significantly lower than they were.

my pc is still under warranty, so I think I'll just call that in and see about getting it replaced. I'm just pondering right now whether to ask for one to be sent out and fix it myself, or ask for my computer to be collected and enquire as to whether they will replace the coolit liquid cooler for a traditional mechanical alternative while they are at it.

I know the cooler & labour will cost me, but for peace of mind taking into account the increase in stories I've read about coolit failure, might be worth it for peace of mind. don't know how I'd cope without my comp for the duration though.

 

[NilSatis]

Yes, I know how you feel regarding the Coolit alc. I have one too! Need to figure out my options; on something else I think too. Mine has so far been ok, but I have noticed that the radiator picks up a hell of a lot of dust. Its not a problem as I clean out the pc regularly but I would hate to think of the effect of the radiator being clogged full of dust on the pressure of the system and then what would happen to the seals as a result. My new gpu is just underneath it too. Doh! Good luck anyway.

 

[Al.Neri]

finally got round to calling support, not much use though, I was pretty much told it was a driver issue, even though I explained to them that I had done a full reinstall of windows and reinstalled older drivers that caused no problems at all. the only advice I was offered, was to wait until the next set of drivers, or take my card out and clean it. I tried the second option, but couldn't get it out. I removed the screws holding it to the backplate, disconnected the cables and tried to coax it out. it would only come partially out, as if something else unforeseen was holding it in. I didn't want to forcefully drag it out in case I did some damage.

I still cleaned it as best I could while the case was open though, blasted it from all directions with compressed air as advised, but wasn't surprised to see the frame rates were still low.

seriously frustrated, can't for the life of me see how it can be a driver problem after reformatting & reinstalling windows. I wasn't going to take it out on the guy who answered. he was just doing his job, but yeah, right now, I'm not happy!.

 

[tom_gr7]

there may be a little clip on the actual Pci-e slot.

it does sound like a faulty gpu to me, saying that im not it hardware professional, thats just my opinion.

- I'd contact amd directly and the manufacturer of the card, and see what they say.

 

[steaky360]

There are pci clips on the rampage III but I would imagine you've noticed them before
Little white clips next to each PCI-e slot

 

[Al.Neri]

yeah, I noticed those, but the one on the slot my card is seated in is hidden by the card itself, making it really difficult to get to. not sure what getting in touch with AMD would achive, since PCS have pretty much said there is nothing they can/will do. if I go to AMD and they say it is a hardware failure, won't PCS just uphold their original decision?