Low Frame Rates on 5900X RX 6900 XT 32GB Ram @ 1440p

[eliotcole]

Issue

I'm getting frame rates as low as 34fps ( which is only 10 better than my SLI 970s managed on my creaking i4950k previously ) on a setup that should be able to absolutely kill this game, no?

Full Specifications

• OS
  Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
  
• Motherboard
  Asus ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING
  
• MB bios
  05.00011
  ( 14th April 2021 - 20210414T175729Z )
  
• Processor
  CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor (24 CPUs), ~3.7GHz
  CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-U12S which is an extra 120mm Noctua NF-F12 5V PWM
  
• GPU
  AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
  ( Powercolor OEM - Running Drivers from Powercolor site )
  
• GPU bios
  TBC
  
• RAM
  32768MB RAM
  
• DirectX Version
  DirectX 12
  
• DxDiag Version
  10.00.18362.0387 64bit
  
• Monitor
  Benq BL3200 1440p Monitor 60Mhz
  
• PSU
  Corsair Professional Series™ HX1000 – 80 PLUS® Certified Modular Power Supply

Evidence

See Benchmarks in the "Discussion" part, below.

Other Comments

The first time I played the game with this new setup it basically completely halted the computer, and it wouldn't turn back on. I'm hoping that was just because I'd got all the fans on low, and perhaps it wasn't cool enough ... but I dunno ... I've read stuff about some of these Radeons being DOA ( not a lot, just a little ), but it's clearly doing something.

Will be on the phone with Scan about the Radeon presently, but thought I'd see what you folks have to say.

It's been mentioned in the comments about the PSU, I do doubt this is an issue given the wattage, but we'll see.

---

Discussion

This is where I chat a bit more freely about it, please feel free to ignore, or don't, there is more anecdotal evidence here, though.

So, Am I missing something extremely obvious, here?

Sorry if I am (I haven't been keeping up with developments here) but I'd assume this would spank it on full ultra settings and FXAA.

I've attempted this with and without Unlimited Video Memory, and that actually increased tearing ( no spunky monitor here ) and felt less smooth.

Here's some benchmarks, and ... yes ... I'll put something on tw dot com, too.

((( might not be able to upload the benchmarks, renamed and moved them around, will edit in if I can )))

Benchmarks

I did a few benchmarks, and I'll try to do more. As you can see, most of the highs were prior to getting into the meat of the benchmark.

Skaven #1
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492459975
Lowest FPS - 34
Average FPS - 64.5
Highest FPS - 118
Anecdotal - Smooth and looks good, but those low counts are really a kick in the nuts after spending 2k on what should effectively smoosh this game into being its slave.

Battle #1
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492460147

Lowest FPS - 68
Average FPS - 97.9
Highest FPS - 126
Anecdotal - This was always going to be fine as the somewhat milquetoast benchmark of choice. However I still think that it feels low.

Skaven #2
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492460321
Lowest FPS - 34
Average FPS - 65.6
Highest FPS - 121
Anecdotal - This was, comparatively, pretty bad. The stats show that it's marginally better than Skaven #1, but the reality was way worse tearing than I've ever seen, and it was juddery as all heck.

Other Tests

I'll try to run the game in the way that caused the previous crash, with, of course, everything at max ( except Depth of Field is off, because I don't like it ) and no other thing running that could kill the performance.

Log / Stats Outputs

Working on an obfuscated/edited event log.

DXDIAG

https://ctxt.io/2/AACgvQAuEg

AMD cmdb.blb

https://ctxt.io/2/AACg-VxGEg

AMD gmdb.brb

https://ctxt.io/2/AACg7tYvEw

AMD In-Game Logging

1 - https://ctxt.io/2/AACg5XsyEQ
1 - '.FrameTime' - https://ctxt.io/2/AACg-VxGFg
2 - https://ctxt.io/2/AACgPW8NEQ
2 - '.FrameTime' - https://ctxt.io/2/AACgnXdKFQ

[KELLY GOOSECOCK]

Is your graphics card overclocked? I had similar problems on my RX 6800, horrible tearing, black screen flickering and crashes. I dropped the gfx card memory clock speeds to default(left fast timing on) and it fixed the problem.

I'm usually around 100fps on 1440p with settings tuned for performance without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. Drops below 60 when 40+ units are on the field. Same with the campaign map when large chunks of it are revealed.

[eliotcole]

Thanks for the reply, mate! :-)

Well, it's an untouched OEM Powercolor, so I'd assume not.

---

Also, it did the whole PC power down again. This happened when Grom won a siege battle ( I forget where ), and that is the same time that it happened before.

I can't shake the feeling that something is off with the Graphics Card, or it could be the PSU ( Corsair Professional Series™ HX1000 – 80 PLUS® Certified Modular Power Supply ), but the PSU should be able to handle all this.

The secondary 4-pin isn't connected to the ASUS X570-E gaming MB, but I believe that's only required if you're running two or three RX 6900 XT or 3090s in unison.

---

Back to the issue at hand, I used the Radeon's logging software. The first log ( or two ) I didn't stop it before the loading screens, so any AVG fps it logs in those could be a bit borked.

Will get imagery etc up presently.

FWIW - I'm not expecting any of you guyz to fix this for me ... I really am just putting this here ( with appropriately StartPage-able [or google-able for ugh people] results ) to see if anyone else is getting the same issue with the frame rates.

Perhaps also to see if anyone has immediate suggestions like you did, Kelly, for how to sort out the performance.

((( I'm on 1440p, too. I'll edit that into the title, I think. )))

[burningmime]

This is clearly a hardware issue (or a driver issue) that this game causes to manifest. I see a few possible causes, but these are all completely speculation and I'm no expert, but these are what I would check, in order:

1) Update drivers. Probably not the cause, but easy to do. Or rollback to a known-stable version if you're on a beta version.

2) Overheating. What temps are you running for CPU and GPU?

3) Malfunction in some component. The GPU would only shut the computer down if it's a power issue. Usually when the GPU stops, it'll recover itself a few seconds later, and if not, the rest of the computer will still be on. Could be a malfunction in CPU or RAM, have you tried running Prime95 overnight? Or mine some bitcoins.

4) Power. Seems like you've identified this as a possible cause, and that would indeed cause the whole system to shut down. Could be as easy as under or over voltage, which is fixable in the BIOS, or your PSU could be too low wattage, or there could be a motherboard power issue, or some wire could be slightly unplugged. I guess try plugging the extra 4-pin in if you can.

5) Grab a can of compressed air and clean out your PC , then make sure nothing is blowing into it. I know this sounds stupid, but I was having all sorts of laptop issues a while back. Turns out it was the desk fan thing under it. That thing is supposed to help it keep cool, but it was blowing cat hair into the bottom of the computer.

[eliotcole]

Cheers, @burningmime, much obliged. I'll try to address each of those, or say that I'll look into them in an edit in a second.

Would I be right in thinking you've mainly been addressing the Power Down issue, though? ( that's not a slight, I'm thankful, just confirming for the record )

I will make an answer to question zero, too (😉)

---

Question Zero - How new is this build?

This is a brand new build, only set up this weekend.

The only things that remain from the old one are the PSU and the hard drives ( non-raid ).

The only other real issue I've had was a horrendous static IP networking thing that I'm possibly going to blog about.

All the drivers *should* be current, the only ones that might *not* be could be the motherboard ones, but I think I did those ... I'll double check on it, though.

I should probably get the Display Driver Uninstaller thing, too to double check the NVIDIA claws that are still in here.

---

Answers To burningmime's Questions

Below are the answers to burningmime's questions and below that a further power breakdown from their fourth question.

1. So, I'll respectfull refer to my answer to question zero here, 😉. However, a new Radeon Driver has been released since Saturday, so I'll try that. However I'd not like to incur the wrath of the shut-down issue again, tbh.
   
   
2. GPU is idling at 37C right now, and the temperatures can be seen ( I think ) in the Radeon logs below.
   
   Quickly taking a look at SpeedFan and the idle temperature of the CPU right now it's at 21c, if that's to be believed. Which it can't be. Down from 32c. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
   
   I'll look into that, I have a second fan on the Noctua NH-U12S which is an extra 120mm Noctua NF-F12 5V PWM ( same fan again ).
   
   
3. This is exactly what is happening. The whole system powers down ( and the power button doesn't work unless I hit the PSU on/off ), however there is clearly still power as the onboard RGB never turns off or falters for a second.
   
   After a few seconds ( which makes me think the PSU on/off is irrelevant ) I'm able to power on again.
   
   
4. I'll address each point in a separate list in a second. I am hoping that the PSU is not the cause, here, because ... well ... it shouldn't be. But I do know that they reduce in capability over time ... and it's possible that the previous SLI 970 setup taxed it too much. I dunno

    ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

   
   
5. It's *totally* not a stupid suggestion! Always assume that someone might not know, plus you didn't suggest it in a dickish way, which also helps. :-) ... Either way ... I respectfully refer to my answer zero again. 😉
   
   That said, for the record, I did do a complete and thorough blow out with canned air prior to use with the new system. It's clean as a whistle, sharp as a thistle, mate.
   

Power Stuff

With relation to question #4, I've broken down the part to the following:

• Under/Over Voltage - If there are problems here, what should I look for ( I will StartPage it ) in the BIOS?
  
  
• Wattage - Again, I'm thinking a 1000w PSU should be OK. Scan have stated that the PSU should be able to cope here.
  
  
• Motherboard Power - This could be something, but it's apparently at the latest BIOS update, and ...
  
  
• 4-PIN - ... Scan have affirmed my cabling setup is good for this, but if there's a way I can rig the 4-PIN using another ( modular ) connector, I'm all ears. 😉
  
  
• GPU Power PINs - I'll take another look at these, and swap out the cable to be sure. I have a few, but I was preferring to use the ones that aren't modular.

---

Hope this is all useful ... I have a feeling that this is a confluence of a potentially annoying TWWH2 bug, and an issue with the GPU and its power draw or something.

---

Originally posted by burningmime:

This is clearly a hardware issue (or a driver issue) that this game causes to manifest. I see a few possible causes, but these are all completely speculation and I'm no expert, but these are what I would check, in order:

1) Update drivers. Probably not the cause, but easy to do. Or rollback to a known-stable version if you're on a beta version.

2) Overheating. What temps are you running for CPU and GPU?

3) Malfunction in some component. The GPU would only shut the computer down if it's a power issue. Usually when the GPU stops, it'll recover itself a few seconds later, and if not, the rest of the computer will still be on. Could be a malfunction in CPU or RAM, have you tried running Prime95 overnight? Or mine some bitcoins.

4) Power. Seems like you've identified this as a possible cause, and that would indeed cause the whole system to shut down. Could be as easy as under or over voltage, which is fixable in the BIOS, or your PSU could be too low wattage, or there could be a motherboard power issue, or some wire could be slightly unplugged. I guess try plugging the extra 4-pin in if you can.

5) Grab a can of compressed air and clean out your PC , then make sure nothing is blowing into it. I know this sounds stupid, but I was having all sorts of laptop issues a while back. Turns out it was the desk fan thing under it. That thing is supposed to help it keep cool, but it was blowing cat hair into the bottom of the computer.

[eliotcole]

Separate post for different threads of conversation, this is relating to the power issue, which the game is potentially causing (or is at least involved in triggering).

As I think I mentioned in the OP, I've read a few reports of systems with these cards just stopping.

On this reviewer's website, they state they're having what sounds the same thing, but I might be wishing it so:
https://iphonewired.com/industry/71552/

In any case, one commenter there says:

I was having this issue on initial install of my 6900 XT. I have a Seasonic PX 850 Watt Platinum Rated. Turned out to be a driver issue, and I’m honestly will to bet that’s the same with yours. You need to download DDU and run it in safe mode twice. First time to remove Nvidia drivers and second to remove any AMD drivers. Next install AMD drivers but before starting there should be an optional option to do a factory install. This removes windows drivers and blocks windows update temporarily to ensure a clean install. Give it a go and I’m sure it will address your issue. If not at least it was attempted and you can rule that out.

This does *feel* like an answer to the power issue ... however, with everything ( performance-wise ) tied together, I still feel there might be a deeper hardware issue here, and the reseller was immediately ready for RMA.

[OLLY]

it sounds like you have a PSU issue, try a different Psu in your system see if that gets rid of the power downs. if you need a new PSU and are out of warranty you should look at 750w its more than enough for that system. Now as for performance your frames actually seem normal for this game its very poorly optimised, there are many threads on this forum discussing the performance issues.

[OLLY]

another quick question where you mentioned power in your last post, you said 4 pin, is this the CPU power cable? if you are using only 4 pins that isnt enough power for that CPU i believe you need a minimum of 8 pins

[eliotcole]

Hi, OLLY, cheers for the reply, mate ... oh ... and not quite.

It's connected with the conventional 8-PIN connector for the CPU/MB, and I believe ( as do scan ) that it is the right cabling setup for this CPU/MB/GPU setup.

You only need the extra 4-PIN if you're using multiple 3090s/5900XTs in unison.

Originally posted by OLLY:

another quick question where you mentioned power in your last post, you said 4 pin, is this the CPU power cable? if you are using only 4 pins that isnt enough power for that CPU i believe you need a minimum of 8 pins

---

With regard to the PSU, it sounds that it's perhaps not an issue, per se, but reading the below two quotes from the previously linked blogger/vlogger, there's:

• a potential that the PSU is either too sensitive, and can't handle the spikes ...
  
• or it just doesn't pump enough down the right rails.

I will investigate the power outputs after I deal with my OLED issue with Richer. 😅

The PSU is unable to tolerate the transient spikes and extreme load changes. I remember experiencing this issue on the Vega 64 when playing FFXV, the opening cutscene would cause the PC to shut off. That was on a Seasonic Prime Titanium 1000w. I had to change to a Corsair HX1200 and since then never had these issues. It really depends on how the PSU tolerates transient spikes. How lenient it is with it's OCP (over current protection).

Hi. You want a PSU with 70A on the 12v rail. I do not suggest lower. I had to upgrade from my Seasonic 650W Plat with a 54A rail. The one you are planning to use has 62A, it might be okay but i would not take the risk if it was me. I went with a Corsair HX1000W (overkill i know but i plan to overclock) PSU with a 83A 12v rail, not one issue even when pulling over 400W from the GPU alone.

[Hieronymus]

Disable blood for the blood god and try again, leave a bad review once you find out this is whats causing the dips.

[OLLY]

the thing is those issue your guys mentioning there shouldnt be happening with a high end PSU (within wattage), and sounds like he had a fault originally and threw money at the problem (which fixed it luckily for him) But a high end 750w PSU is MORE than enough for this system even with light overclocks and should have more than adequate ampage, at the end of the day the choice is yours good luck bud try not to overspend needlessly

[OLLY]

oh and 1200W is way,way more than is needed for this system

[ℬℓα⊂₭ ℙℜ¡ℵ₠]

Originally posted by eliotcole:

Issue

I'm getting frame rates as low as 34fps ( which is only 10 better than my SLI 970s managed on my creaking i4950k previously ) on a setup that should be able to absolutely kill this game, no?

Full Specifications

• OS
  Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
  
• Motherboard
  Asus ROG STRIX X570-E GAMING
  
• MB bios
  05.00011
  ( 14th April 2021 - 20210414T175729Z )
  
• Processor
  CPU AMD Ryzen 9 5900X 12-Core Processor (24 CPUs), ~3.7GHz
  CPU Cooler - Noctua NH-U12S which is an extra 120mm Noctua NF-F12 5V PWM
  
• GPU
  AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT
  ( Powercolor OEM - Running Drivers from Powercolor site )
  
• GPU bios
  TBC
  
• RAM
  32768MB RAM
  
• DirectX Version
  DirectX 12
  
• DxDiag Version
  10.00.18362.0387 64bit
  
• Monitor
  Benq BL3200 1440p Monitor 60Mhz
  
• PSU
  Corsair HX1000W

Evidence

See Benchmarks in the "Discussion" part, below.

Other Comments

The first time I played the game with this new setup it basically completely halted the computer, and it wouldn't turn back on. I'm hoping that was just because I'd got all the fans on low, and perhaps it wasn't cool enough ... but I dunno ... I've read stuff about some of these Radeons being DOA ( not a lot, just a little ), but it's clearly doing something.

Will be on the phone with Scan about the Radeon presently, but thought I'd see what you folks have to say.

It's been mentioned in the comments about the PSU, I do doubt this is an issue given the wattage, but we'll see.

---

Discussion

This is where I chat a bit more freely about it, please feel free to ignore, or don't, there is more anecdotal evidence here, though.

So, Am I missing something extremely obvious, here?

Sorry if I am (I haven't been keeping up with developments here) but I'd assume this would spank it on full ultra settings and FXAA.

I've attempted this with and without Unlimited Video Memory, and that actually increased tearing ( no spunky monitor here ) and felt less smooth.

Here's some benchmarks, and ... yes ... I'll put something on tw dot com, too.

((( might not be able to upload the benchmarks, renamed and moved them around, will edit in if I can )))

Benchmarks

I did a few benchmarks, and I'll try to do more. As you can see, most of the highs were prior to getting into the meat of the benchmark.

Skaven #1
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492459975
Lowest FPS - 34
Average FPS - 64.5
Highest FPS - 118
Anecdotal - Smooth and looks good, but those low counts are really a kick in the nuts after spending 2k on what should effectively smoosh this game into being its slave.

Battle #1
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492460147

Lowest FPS - 68
Average FPS - 97.9
Highest FPS - 126
Anecdotal - This was always going to be fine as the somewhat milquetoast benchmark of choice. However I still think that it feels low.

Skaven #2
https://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=2492460321
Lowest FPS - 34
Average FPS - 65.6
Highest FPS - 121
Anecdotal - This was, comparatively, pretty bad. The stats show that it's marginally better than Skaven #1, but the reality was way worse tearing than I've ever seen, and it was juddery as all heck.

Other Tests

I'll try to run the game in the way that caused the previous crash, with, of course, everything at max ( except Depth of Field is off, because I don't like it :wogball: ) and no other thing running that could kill the performance.

Log / Stats Outputs

Working on an obfuscated/edited event log.

DXDIAG

https://ctxt.io/2/AACgvQAuEg

AMD cmdb.blb

https://ctxt.io/2/AACg-VxGEg

AMD gmdb.brb

https://ctxt.io/2/AACg7tYvEw

AMD In-Game Logging

1 - https://ctxt.io/2/AACg5XsyEQ
1 - '.FrameTime' - https://ctxt.io/2/AACg-VxGFg
2 - https://ctxt.io/2/AACgPW8NEQ
2 - '.FrameTime' - https://ctxt.io/2/AACgnXdKFQ

Can't help right now, but will be getting a 3800x, 32GB RAM, Same motherboard but the -F variant, will be using an old 1080Ti and playing at 1440p so will be able to rule out Motherboard issues that way I think.

[ℬℓα⊂₭ ℙℜ¡ℵ₠]

Originally posted by Hieronymus:

Disable blood for the blood god and try again, leave a bad review once you find out this is whats causing the dips.

This as well, I think it was badly implemented and causes low frame rates so switch it off.

[eliotcole]

Cheers, ℬℓα⊂₭ ℙℜ¡ℵ₠, much obliged, any feedback you get will be gratefully received.

Oh, and yeah ... I know it's not a perfectly optimised game, but I just really thought I'd have zero issues with nearly the top AMD consumer CPU and a completely overkill GPU and memory config.

I mean ... Is TWW2 the new Crisis?

Originally posted by ℬℓα⊂₭ ℙℜ¡ℵ₠:

Can't help right now, but will be getting a 3800x, 32GB RAM, Same motherboard but the -F variant, will be using an old 1080Ti and playing at 1440p so will be able to rule out Motherboard issues that way I think.

---

Oh, OLLY, I wasn't looking to change the PSU, I think all parties concerned with the literal power issue I've seen see that there's clearly something off with the card or how it's setup, here. But Scan are doubling down on the RMA ... I'm just keen not to get into a prolonged "ugh" if there's a way out that is something like AMD saying " yeah, take this special pill and it will work. "

With regards to the frame rates, though, I was just extra concerned when I saw KELLY's initial reply. Because, ignoring the power issue, I should be identical in terms of performance there ( near enough ).

Originally posted by OLLY:

the thing is those issue your guys mentioning there shouldnt be happening with a high end PSU (within wattage), and sounds like he had a fault originally and threw money at the problem (which fixed it luckily for him) But a high end 750w PSU is MORE than enough for this system even with light overclocks and should have more than adequate ampage, at the end of the day the choice is yours good luck bud try not to overspend needlessly

---

Finally, Hieronymus, I can't leave a bad review ... the game is bloody brilliant, it really is.

Plus I was lucky enough to review it for a reasonably sized pop-culture website, too.

This is shockingly bad form, though, given how long ( I was semi-aware ) the noise about optimisation has been going.

Here's my review from Bleeding Cool, edited for Steam:
https://steamcommunity.com/id/eliotcole/recommended/594570/

Originally posted by Hieronymus:

Disable blood for the blood god and try again, leave a bad review once you find out this is whats causing the dips.

[LighT]

Use DX11 (faster than DX12 in this game).

Run Timespy and check your score to other systems with same CPU and GPU, it should be relatively close or you have some software config problem or hardware problem.

Turning down shadows to high and porthole quailty to 2d can boost fps.