OCCT 3.1.0 shows HD4870/4890 design flaw - they can't handle the new GPU test !

[W1zzard]

he says that it is unacceptable that a card cannot handle any code that can be produced with an API it is supposed to support (OCCT fits into that category, as it is pure DirectX9). AMD's answer, according to him, is almost already known : limit OCCT's execution speed, just as furmark. But is this acceptable ?

that's exactly what will happen. a new driver release fixes the issue. the rendering output is unchanged, so isnt that an acceptable solution?
it's basically a software based OCP that results in exactly the same what the canardpc author suggests "the regulator should warn the pilot that the limits of the components are about to be reached, resulting in a secure and automatic underclocking."

according to him, this defect is sure to have been detected in AMD's quality check process, but have been ignored on purpose. And he goes on by saying that the OCP mecanism is badly implemented, and that this is a true problem on those cards...

uh what evidence does he have for such an accusation? just wild guesswork? maybe he called fudo and asked for advice how to write a story.
the ocp mechanism implementation is perfectly fine, it's just the ocp limit that is set too low.

i doubt the problem lies in 3 phase vs. 4 phase but ocp set too low vs. ocp set not too low. no data or evidence in the whole article, next please

[Solus Corvus]

We're not saying "this will happen in every game". We're saying "the design is flawed". We're saying "there's a possibility this will happen in another program". Why is that ? Because it happened in a legitimate program (OCCT is just a a DirectX9 scene, i remind you), so it can happen again.

It could happen again, but it seems unlikely. Programs doing a real workload aren't going to only be using such simple shaders and doing nothing else. Even the next closest stress program (furmark) doesn't come close - and the most stressful game or GPGPU app are even further from the limit then that.

It is possible that a program could reach the limit doing ordinary operations, but it's hard to imagine what it'd be doing (besides stress testing).

When the pentium bug appeared for Intel (remember : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pentium_FDIV_bug ), it appeared very rarely, and in very specific applications, and in none that were available publicly. Yet Intel did recall the CPUs Am i saying we do have the exact same thing ? No, the P4 bug wasn't stress related. Was the problem described by the one who discovered the Pentium bug a power virus ? No, of course not. Am i saying AMD should do the very same thing, a huge recall ? That's up to them, i am not knowlegdeable enough to be able to know if they should, or not. I'd say no, personally.

It would be a good move from the PR side of things but a bad move from the business side of things, IMO.

It's not like the chips themselves have a problem. It's just the card implementation details that are a problem. For the 99% of people that don't use OCCT, the reference board is fine. For the rest of us there are 4 phase boards and easy workarounds for 3 phase cards.

The real problem isn't deciding if a recall is a good idea, it's how to address this issue without it becoming a PR disaster. There are people out there who will use this as a chance to smear AMD, no matter how they handle it.

i doubt the problem lies in 3 phase vs. 4 phase but ocp set too low vs. ocp set not too low

But wouldn't the 4 phase cards probably have a higher OCP limit as well?

[W1zzard]

But wouldn't the 4 phase cards probably have a higher OCP limit as well?

physical limit before the card explodes? probably, yes.

but the ocp limit is an artificial limit designed to avoid exactly that. it is chosen by the person who designs the power circuitry of the card. i am sure that there is plenty of headroom left in the 3 phase design

[LordEC911]

I'm still confused at how people are missing the fact that some reference cards are not failing...

[Tetedeiench]

that's exactly what will happen. a new driver release fixes the issue. the rendering output is unchanged, so isnt that an acceptable solution?
it's basically a software based OCP that results in exactly the same what the canardpc author suggests "the regulator should warn the pilot that the limits of the components are about to be reached, resulting in a secure and automatic underclocking."


uh what evidence does he have for such an accusation? just wild guesswork? maybe he called fudo and asked for advice how to write a story.
the ocp mechanism implementation is perfectly fine, it's just the ocp limit that is set too low.

i doubt the problem lies in 3 phase vs. 4 phase but ocp set too low vs. ocp set not too low. no data or evidence in the whole article, next please

I fail to see that as a valid mecanism. It is not a valid OCP. Why ? Because of two things. One which is funny, one less :

• Let's imagine that in a future i want to turn OCCT GPU:3D test into a benchmark. That is NOT planned, but let's say i want to (after all, this code is pretty efficient, isn't it ? would be interesting to get some scores out of it). As ATI slowed down some cards because of an engineering problem, i wouldn't be able to do so. That would defeat the purpose of the benchmark. That's the very same problem as 3dmark's optimization, but backwards
• Imagine that in Final Fantasy XXV, PC DX9 version, you encounter the Great Furry Donut god, which is supposed to reveal your future as a hero. Poof, black screen. Yes, i'm joking by giving a silly example, but only midly. They ensure the sole app out there right now that could trigger the bug at stock value is castrated. They would have to redo it for every other app out there... to me, that doesn't sound like an OCP that's viable.

I already used the trick "run as another exe" to defeat limitations in the catalysts (i guess i learned from the furmark story already). I have already decided that if i ever see any limit put in the drivers on OCCT GPU:3D, i'll be working on releasing, very quickly, another version that doesn't have this limit. Just for impartiality purposes, and because i fail to see the point, ethically speaking, of any restraint put in an app due to a engineering bug. Because the card will still boast its capabilities... which it cannot use fully under all conditions. And that is, to me, a problem.

As for the article, i am not the one who wrote it, but yes, they're assumptions.

[Tetedeiench]

It could happen again, but it seems unlikely. Programs doing a real workload aren't going to only be using such simple shaders and doing nothing else. Even the next closest stress program (furmark) doesn't come close - and the most stressful game or GPGPU app are even further from the limit then that.

It is possible that a program could reach the limit doing ordinary operations, but it's hard to imagine what it'd be doing (besides stress testing).


It would be a good move from the PR side of things but a bad move from the business side of things, IMO.

It's not like the chips themselves have a problem. It's just the card implementation details that are a problem. For the 99% of people that don't use OCCT, the reference board is fine. For the rest of us there are 4 phase boards and easy workarounds for 3 phase cards.

The real problem isn't deciding if a recall is a good idea, it's how to address this issue without it becoming a PR disaster. There are people out there who will use this as a chance to smear AMD, no matter how they handle it.


But wouldn't the 4 phase cards probably have a higher OCP limit as well?

Yes it's unlikely it'll happen again, just as the Pentium bug I already stated that.

I don't think a recall is a good idea, personally. I fail to see it a good solution. But people had to know that the design had a problem, that my app wasn't responsible for the black screen bug, and that the overclocking capabilities, which is a marketing argument, is limited on those cards.

I really see the recall being highly unlikely.

[HiJon89]

I'm still confused at how people are missing the fact that some reference cards are not failing...

That is due to the fact that, for whatever reason, those cards are not drawing greater than 82A. There are a multitude of possible reasons for this outlined throughout the thread (not running the app with correct settings, having AA/AF forced in control panel, etc.) but the bottom line is that under the correct circumstances these cards can draw more than 82A and that all evidence indicates that once this happens the system will lock up instantly.

[Tetedeiench]

I'm still confused at how people are missing the fact that some reference cards are not failing...

I guess the cards without bugs fell into the following categories :

• A card that was not a reference design
• A setting that was forced in the driver that lowered the load, and thus made the test unable to reach the limit (Anisotropic 16x, FSAA, etc)
• Bad configuration of the test

[W1zzard]

I fail to see that as a valid mecanism. It is not a valid OCP.

it is exactly that, if you purely look at the definition. "overcurrent protection". your app brings the card into an overcurrent state. the driver does not allow that. -> it implements overcurrent protection.

final fantasy devs will notice that issue, talk to ati devrel, they will tell them to change their rendering method/shaders, problem fixed. if the dev isnt willing to do that ati will just add app/scene detection to fix it.

good luck playing cat and mouse with ati.

what do you expect ati to do? recall all cards? send all 4870 owners a 4890 ? leave the bug unfixed ? there are not really many options. they could give you a chunk of money to recode your application

[W1zzard]

I guess the cards without bugs fell into the following categories :

• A card that was not a reference design
• A setting that was forced in the driver that lowered the load, and thus made the test unable to reach the limit (Anisotropic 16x, FSAA, etc)
• Bad configuration of the test

another possible idea could be tolerances in components employed. it's not uncommon to see 5% for resistors.

[Solus Corvus]

physical limit before the card explodes? probably, yes.

but the ocp limit is an artificial limit designed to avoid exactly that. it is chosen by the person who designs the power circuitry of the card. i am sure that there is plenty of headroom left in the 3 phase design

That makes sense. But I imagine that the designer of the 4 phase board would feel comfortable picking a higher limit without running into the artificial safety margin.

I fail to see that as a valid mecanism. It is not a valid OCP. Why ? Because of two things. One which is funny, one less :

• Let's imagine that in a future i want to turn OCCT GPU:3D test into a benchmark. That is NOT planned, but let's say i want to (after all, this code is pretty efficient, isn't it ? would be interesting to get some scores out of it). As ATI slowed down some cards because of an engineering problem, i wouldn't be able to do so. That would defeat the purpose of the benchmark. That's the very same problem as 3dmark's optimization, but backwards

It wouldn't be a very good benchmark though. It would only be testing how fast any card could process that very specific simple shader. It would be able to test raw shader power but not much else (which is why the R770 whips the G200 in your test).

I guess you could make a whole series of tests with each one running a different simple shader. It would make a good benchmark, though extremely synthetic.

• Imagine that in Final Fantasy XXV, PC DX9 version, you encounter the Great Furry Donut god, which is supposed to reveal your future as a hero. Poof, black screen. Yes, i'm joking by giving a silly example, but only midly. They ensure the sole app out there right now that could trigger the bug at stock value is castrated. They would have to redo it for every other app out there... to me, that doesn't sound like an OCP that's viable.

No other scene geometry, AA/AF, vsync, or user interface? Seems a bit unrealistic and easy to workaround by just turning up the settings (force AF or whatever).

[[XC] Lead Head]

I personally wouldn't expect ATI to recall cards, but make newer revisions with a higher OCP or a more robust VRM. Judging by how hot the VRM was getting on some of these cards, I'd question the capability of it.

[Tetedeiench]

it is exactly that, if you purely look at the definition. "overcurrent protection". your app brings the card into an overcurrent state. the driver does not allow that. -> it implements overcurrent protection.

final fantasy devs will notice that issue, talk to ati devrel, they will tell them to change their rendering method/shaders, problem fixed. if the dev isnt willing to do that ati will just add app/scene detection to fix it.

good luck playing cat and mouse with ati.

what do you expect ati to do? recall all cards? send all 4870 owners a 4890 ? leave the bug unfixed ? there are not really many options. they could give you a chunk of money to recode your application

Well, the goal of my app is to put the card into the highest load possible, just as furmark. That's the problem. I worked hard to get to this point. Should i get castrated without reacting ? I don't know.

Playing cat and mouse doesn't appeal me at all. I have to say i don't know what to do.

[Solus Corvus]

If anything they are going to limit the load in the driver while running OCCT. It's not a big deal, the end user can rename the exe if they want the full effect.

[LordEC911]

Well, the goal of my app is to put the card into the highest load possible, just as furmark. That's the problem. I worked hard to get to this point. Should i get castrated without reacting ? I don't know.

Playing cat and mouse doesn't appeal me at all. I have to say i don't know what to do.

Then maybe you should ask Nvidia why the MUL isn't 100% efficient or maybe why your code doesn't fully load Nvidia cards?

Anyone try running a renamed .exe on Nvidia cards?

[eleeter]

Tetedeiench here are some questions for you.

1. What would AMD have to do, to satisfy you? Admit to you privately there is a problem? Recall every card affected? Issue a press release that they have sold millions of GPU's with a "fatal" flaw?
   
2. Why does your test not load down the Nvidia cards with the same severity as the ATI hardware? Have you made any effort to recode your application to address this?

[Solus Corvus]

1. What would AMD have to do, to satisfy you? Admit to you privately there is a problem? Recall every card affected? Issue a press release that they have sold millions of GPU's with a "fatal" flaw?

I don't know about him, but I'd be happy with: don't make the same mistake on the R800 reference board.

[Nightstar]

Please shelve the ignorant

borderline power virus

accusations. I thought we'd settled this already.

One more thing:whoever runs this test on their systems with Radeon HD4xxx risks either immediate or long term damage to their previously working Radeon cards.The VRM of reference cards is pushed beyond its specifications so no wonder the test fails(and the card could ultimately fail too).

If teh 82A cuttoff is appropriate to the card design then I agree that running OCCT 3.1.0 GPU test may risk damaging the 4870/4890 series cards. However that being the case, AMD is in for a bit of fun seeing as one could easily break VGA cards without invalidating warranty. Furthermore if 82A is a realistic limit to ensure continued function what does this portend for non-reference designs that allow greater current.

You can't have it both ways. Someone has screwed up a card design here. Either AMD/ATI or their AIB partners. Time will tell.

What is really the issue at hand is that some 487/4890 must be downclocked to pass this test.

What AMD should have done was set a lower clock speed on the reference design. Thus any problems experienced while overclocking would be the fault of he who tweaked rather than the marketing department.

Then again if these cards were clocked 100-150MHz lower how would they stack up to their NVidia competitors at stock frequencies?

[Solus Corvus]

What AMD should have done was set a lower clock speed on the reference design. Thus any problems experienced while overclocking would be the fault of he who tweaked rather than the marketing department.

Then again if these cards were clocked 100-150MHz lower how would they stack up to their NVidia competitors at stock frequencies?

Downclock the card and reduce performance across the board just to handle a corner case? Horrible idea.

[LordEC911]

Downclock the card and reduce performance across the board just to handle a corner case? Horrible idea.

Yep, to statisfy the .1% using a program that came out after release...

[Nightstar]

Much better to misrepresent the capabilities of your product and trigger the PR nightmare that is beginning right here and now eh?

Tetedeiench, please superimpose a maze over your GPU test with a little mobile furry donut to navigate said maze. Then we can call it a game and be done with the illogical dismissal of this problem.

[Solus Corvus]

Uh, it would have been much better to just have a slightly higher OCP limit. AMD isn't misrepresenting anything - these cards run games and gpgpu apps just fine.

[iddqd]

Damage was not caused by Orthos
Damage was caused by overvolting, lack of proper cooling and pebkac

I've run 52 hour prime95 25.6 64bit with my q9650 at 4.42Ghz using 1-32v-1.42v multiple times and its still doing great !

as i said, its only orthos that does it. he can run prime all day without any degradation. doing like ~4.2ghz @ 1.4-ish vcore with one of those 120mm heatpipe towers.

(there is also no degradation during "normal use" that some people over here are sneering at)

on the other hand, he is dumb for running it overclocked as high as possible for 24/7 use. Doesn't even need it - games are all about the gpu.

[Nightstar]

A higher OCP limit may have been appropriate for these designs. But I'm not an EE and I don't work for AMD designing video cards do you?

Your dismissal of OCCT as a valid application is illogical. I asked Tetedeiench to make his test the background for a simple game in order to demonstrate this(I don't really expect him to comply).

What is misrepresented is that this card is able to function in a stable manner at the specified frequency.

If you are reading these forums indeed 1%< you. If you are posting here your part of an even smaller group. I didn't wan't to be the guy to say it but this is "Xtreme systems", not "Good enough systems" or "Mildly defective systems".

[Nano2k]

In my opinion any component that is running at factory clocks should be able to deal with anything that you throw at it, if you overclock it and it fails then OK you are overspec and that's what you get but at factory clocks you should be able to throw anything at it.
It's not because you don't have issues in games that it's ok, a component has to be able to run at 100% and not fail. If it fails at 100% load then there is an issue.
OCCT is not running over the red line, it is running exactly at the red line and at original specs, underclocking the card fixes the issue which proves that the crashing cards at stock speed are not 100% stable, since they cannot cope with a 100% load.
It is not acceptable if my CPU runs at 100% load at stock speed and the CPU crashes, why would it be acceptable for a GPU? why do some of the reference cards work fine and others not? this again proves that some cards are good and others faulty, it would be another story again if all crashed.

ATI pushed the limits of the design, found a setting that was preventing most of the cards from burning out and yet ran all games fine in most situations, but yet many cards crash at 100% load. They have made a compromise and they know it, that's why they won't comment about it.

I don't think that the manufacturers using stronger power supply circuits and non reference designs are doing it for the fun, they know why they do it and why they spend more money on it. How much money does one of these components cost? 1$ maybe? imagine ATI saving hundreds of thousand of dollars just because they use one component less and it still works in 99.99% of the situations.

I'm not saying Nvidia is better and maybe the software does not load Nvidia cards as much as ATI, yet it's not excuse for ATI playing with design limitations to save $$$.