Page 1 of 1

XFX RX460 and "TrueClock"

Posted: Tue Jan 17, 2017 7:58 pm
by jrweiss
This is an update to a post on another thread, looking for more info/experiences.

I recently bought the XFX RX460 P4HFG5 Fanless GPU to replace my old HD7750 iSilence.

XFX advertises this card as a 1220 MHz clock speed. It also advertises the GPU clock is regulated by "True Clock"
Software controlled clock speed optimizers can be hindered by overall computer performance, heavy loads can cause it to misread the maximum potential clock speed of the graphics card at any given moment. XFX's True Clock however is hardware controlled clock speed performance optimization so it's always running at peak performance all the time.
When running Unigine Benchmark or the GPUz rendering test, it does indeed reach and maintain 1220 MHz. However, when Folding, it settles in around 1140 MHz at 100% load. After several inquiries to XFX support, their (neweggsupport@xfxforce.com - NOT the support ticket folks) recommendation was to increase the power limit. So far, increasing the limit by 10% in MSI Afterburner gives 1150-1180 MHz while Folding, depending on WU. Temp and power limits are not factors, at 62C and 56 Watts peak (59-61C and 53-55 W nominal), respectively.

Does anyone else have experience with an XFX GPU with True Clock? Can you achieve advertised clock speed? I'm trying to determine if this is a defective card, or if True Clock needs tweaking via Firmware, hardware, or driver fixes.

Except for this apparent anomaly, I am happy with the card as a low-power, low-noise solution.

Re: XFX RX460 and "TrueClock"

Posted: Thu Jan 19, 2017 11:33 pm
by jrweiss
Interesting response from XFX Support:
What is a reasonable power level and temperature for 24/7 operations?
-Not Applicable. These cards are not designed for 24/7 commercial use.
Don't do it.

Have you gotten any info on the status of tweaking True Clock to sustain the
advertised clock rate?
-no, but you may want to ask the amd community at community.amd.com

-----Original Message-----
From: John Weiss
Sent: Thursday, January 19, 2017 1:18 PM
To: Newegg Support
Subject: Re: Feedback from Newegg Review

OK. +15% is giving a nominal 1170 MHz GPU clock at 63C and 57 Watts.
Peak at 1220 MHz and 65C.

What is a reasonable power level and temperature for 24/7 operations?

Have you gotten any info on the status of tweaking True Clock to sustain the
advertised clock rate?
Has anyone else ever gotten such a recommendation to NOT use a GPU for 24/7 activities such as F@H?

Is this "True Clock" hardware control an XFX branding of a feature in ALL 460s?

Re: XFX RX460 and "TrueClock"

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 1:58 pm
by _r2w_ben
FWIW: I have a Sapphire RX 460 with a max clock of 1210 MHz. Based on GPU-Z sensors, most projects keep the core clock pegged at 1210 MHz. However, p10495 runs slowly on this card and clock speed ranges between 1178 and 1210 MHz with the majority of the time between 1180 and 1195 MHz.

Re: XFX RX460 and "TrueClock"

Posted: Sat Jan 21, 2017 4:47 pm
by Joe_H
What is a reasonable power level and temperature for 24/7 operations?
-Not Applicable. These cards are not designed for 24/7 commercial use.
Don't do it.
This may be the "official" response from AMD as they only officially support use of their workstation line of GPU's such as the FirePro for continuous use and reliably accurate calculations. Do note that the person responding included the word "commercial" in their response, this was either intentional or an indication that your reasons for your question in relation to folding were not understood.

From AMD's perspective, the GPU's they produce for the consumer market are intended for normal consumer usages such as gaming. They are certainly aware that their consumer grade GPU's are used for other than those intended purposes and do not prevent that. It may even let them sell a few percent more cards than they might otherwise. But as a matter of being "supported", that is a different matter which has legal and other implications that they (or nVidia for that matter) will attempt to keep clear in any communications.