High draw call is pointless if the gpu got bottlenecked somewhere else, eg: ROP, Unified Shader unit, memory bandwidth etc.

R7 260X again? Sigh, here you go, please read more at :

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=391122

and

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=391970

You will find your solution after reading those two sites ( IN ORDER AND dont skip it )

EDIT: R7 260X is a rebrand of HD7790.

This post has been edited by JohnLai: Apr 11 2015, 03:44 PM

Actually, the 2D flickering also happen with 290 series, but it was quickly patched before mass production for consumers, only initial batch was using problematic vbios. After all, flagship product got more attention that low end 260.

Go ahead and claim your RMA.....but...beware of new asus vbios for that model.....asus totally disable the powertune/zerocore for the latest batch.

So, that means maximum frequency for gpu core and memory clocks.
Thus, get ready to use the Bonaire tweakers once you get back ur GPU ~~~~

This post has been edited by JohnLai: Apr 12 2015, 11:12 AM

.......I got one R7 260x which support adaptive sync......but all currrent freesync display is 1440p or ultrawide 1080p. Lack of normal 1080p.

With 260X low performance......the requirement for mininum refresh rate must be 23fps, which no manufacturer provides right at all.

On the other hand......I got gtx 970 which Gsync display way too expensive.

Sigh, forced to defer screen purchase decision until the battle between freesync and gsync is decided.

Except Intel HD Graphics.

Nvidia even disable gpu based physx if it detects AMD APU integrated graphic.

...........so.....the rebranded hawaii 390x.....water cooling + 8pins and 6pins PCIE power connector?
In addition to extra VRAM and higher GDDR5 clock speed (6Gbps instead of 290x original 5Gbps).......I think AMD also 'overclock' the gpu core to the maximum possible amount.....
Power consumption is going high for sure, sigh.....lack of delta color compression(not like hawaii gonna need this because its memory width is quite large)

-.- Feature wise, I still think maxwell GTX 980 or 970 (even with 3.5gb fiasco) is a better purchase. Example, hybrid HEVC 8bit DXVA decode, color compression, lower driver overhead (hope amd can improve its driver overhead), lower power consumption compared to upcoming extra overclocked 390x.

No idea what the hell amd is doing, two of my R7 260X sitting there doing nothing because no 'working' crossfire profile for GTA V, Project Cars and Witchers 3.

GTA V = weird blocky black checker board pattern on bottom right of screen.
Project cars = need to use modded driver dll from windows 10 preview for better performance.
Witchers 3 = followed all AMD knowledge base solution to reduce flicker, still flickering hard especially at watery area.

I did try the latest beta 15.5 and 15.4. I even install the modded win10 driver.
For some unknown reason, the weird black checkerboard still exist, not to mention there is some shadow issue when viewing from certain angle.

Whatever fixes amd has done = must be for top end model only.

GTA V = often in crossfire, but sometimes it is really annoying to see the artifacts pop up and shadow goes missing. Single card needs to turn off many effect.

Dont get me started with witchers 3 -.- so sad being force to use single gpu.

At least project cars can run properly with modded win10 drivers.

Well, I got GTX 970 on my other PC......

My twin 260x are installed at my far away accommodation.
Simply moves the save files around each time I travel between both places.

Haha...cannot lah, GPU isnt designed for 'plug and play', worry it might get damaged.....

First site pc;
Core I3-4330,
DDR3 1600mhz 4Gb X 2 = 8Gb
Crossfired R7 260x.
Plextor M5S 128Gb with 500gb HDD

Second site pc;
Core I5-3570K
DDR3 1600mhz 8Gb x2 = 16Gb
GTX 970
Crucial M4 128Gb with many HDDs ( Three 2TB hdd, one 1TB hdd, one 4TB hdd)

-.- No no, steam offline mode. Cause I often use cheatengine tables to speed up my gaming process.
Last time, because steam achievement got me banned due to the hit rate being too ridiculously high even though I played single player mode.
That why I am forced to manually move the save files.

With most upcoming PC games will be ported from console, probably not important at all.

Mantle 'push' Microsoft? No such thing.
DX12 is already in development long before AMD announced its Mantle initiative.
Beside, the so called Mantle low level is kinda useless because Catalyst driver cpu overhead.

DX development doesn't take one year to finish, it takes several years for testing suitability, acceptability and feasibility.
I think Mantle kinda rushed to the market. If you take a look on the mantle documentation, it is kinda......messy and feel rushed.
Really wonder how DICE is able to use the mantle renderer.

Mantle is destined for failure in first place.
Reason, AMD has somehow low discrete gpu market share.
For console argument;
PS4 dev tool uses PlayStation Shader Language (PSSL).
Xbox One on the other hand uses DirectX HLSL with dx 11.2 API.

We don't expect Sony to support mantle or microsoft to use its competitors API, no?

Reason for people saying some documentation from mantle is similar to dx12 documentation?
Simple, AMD contributed some of the code to Microsoft to review and included in DX12. It is not copying.

http://techreport.com/review/26239/a-close...k-at-directx-12

Reading first page is sufficient.
DX12 was designed as low level API in first place because many AAA game developers are asking for it.
Because DX12 development takes too long, AMD steps in and promote its version of low level api Mantle.

........I think you confused about something.

Allow me to elaborate;
First thing first, you need to differentiate between driver and API.
Easier if I grab some definition from wikipedia.

1) In computing, a device driver (commonly referred to as a driver) is a computer program that operates or controls a particular type of device that is attached to a computer. A driver provides a software interface to hardware devices, enabling operating systems and other computer programs to access hardware functions without needing to know precise details of the hardware being used.

I was talking about AMD catalyst driver overhead.

2) In computer programming, an application programming interface (API) is a set of routines, protocols, and tools for building software applications. An API expresses a software component in terms of its operations, inputs, outputs, and underlying types. An API defines functionalities that are independent of their respective implementations, which allows definitions and implementations to vary without compromising each other. A good API makes it easier to develop a program by providing all the building blocks. A programmer then puts the blocks together.

Mantle and DirectX are API.

Now, DirectX 9 - 11 are known to have some API overhead. The purpose of Mantle and upcoming DirectX 12 is to reduce/optimize the API overhead by making low level access available. And yes, as you said, Mantle successfully reduce the API cpu overhead.

Next, the second part is the DRIVER cpu overhead. This is the section AMD has its worst. Compared to nvidia driver, the issue of AMD catalyst driver overhead in dx9 - 11 game is quite serious.
You can find more about it at guru3d forum. http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?t=398858

When AMD released its R9 285 (unofficially known GCN 1.2), even when using Mantle renderer, there was some performance issue. This was solved after AMD optimized R9 285 driver overhead later.

Edit: some grammer and wording mistake.

This post has been edited by JohnLai: Jun 6 2015, 07:30 PM

I said, MANTLE/DX12 only reduce API OVERHEAD, but not DRIVER OVERHEAD itself.


EDIT: some more, do you know amd catalyst driver doesn't utilize DX11 multithreading functionality?
EDIT V2 : It is true that if one uses intel quad core cpu, the driver overhead is practically negligible. However, those CPU with weaker IPC will suffer from it.

This post has been edited by JohnLai: Jun 6 2015, 08:03 PM

Which is why pure AMD die hard fan who bought AMD CPU and GPU will suffer from the driver overhead caused by lower IPC unless AMD does something with its driver.
AMD CPU price is quite cheap compared to Intel offering.

DX12 API is quite thin and it is a good thing, but amd needs to solve its driver overhead first.

From windows 10 catalyst driver preview, the driver overhead reduction is progressing well so far....
However, there isn't any proof the win10 catalyst driver preview make use of directx multithreading functionality yet.

I3-4150 + 750TI is quite a bargain too. Considering most site recommends this combination for new budget pc gamers.

Rarely see anyone recommend AMD CPU + AMD GPU these day, most famous reviewers tend to suggest intel cpu + amd gpu or intel cpu + nvidia gpu.

True....Plan to get GTX 960, but I rather wait until the price drop until RM600 - 700 range.
260X crossfire issue is really getting on my nerve...
Sell both 260x also can't get enough fund.

Oh? Where? I didnt see any brand selling that cheap?