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Tech support call with AMD: OpenGL/IDtech4 issue/s.


Bikerdude

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[update - 16/09/14]

Called today for an update and the support call has been passed to the team that looks after the driver development and game interaction.

 

[update - 14/09/14]

Called AMD UK support and got the issue raised with a 2nd line engineer, ref:104047

 

[update - 14/09/14]

Just got a call from a senior tech guy at AMD, told how to download and install the darkmod and told him the best mission in terms od DC count to test with was "Penny Dreadfull: All the way up" He will get back to me in due course.

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

And here is a copy of the email trail -

 

From: tech.support

To: b1k3rdude

 

Thanks for the update! I am afraid that it is a hardware issue and you may need to contact the retailer for a warranty or replacement.

Thanks!

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

From: b1k3rdude <b1k3rdude>

To: tech.support

 

Hello again

 

Just done another test with D3 and the Darkmod games on a nVidia GT-640 and its out-perfs the R9-290, getting max fps almost all of the time and only dropping by 5-10fps when the R9-290 dropped by 35fps in the same locations.

 

It is entirely ridiculous that an old GT-640 is out perfing a cutting edge R9-290.

 

Regards

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

From: b1k3rdude [mailto:b1k3rdude]

Sent: 11 September 2014 12:29

To: 'tech.support

 

Hello

 

Right, tested Doom3 in like-for-like conditions, eg with the draw-call count above 1500, using the console command “r_showprimitives 1” and I see exactly the same FPS drop. And an educated guess any other games based on IDtech4 or that used OpenGL (Quke3/4, Prey 1/2, Wolfenstien, Brink) will show the same FPS drop.

 

Regards

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

From: b1k3rdude [mailto:b1k3rdude]

Sent: 11 September 2014 11:06

To: 'tech.support

 

Hello

 

All the other games I’m playing atm (Half life2, Batman:Arkam origins, Skyrim, metro: Last light) I believe are D3D based and are not affected. I will install an old copy of Doom3 and see if that exhibits the same issue. Give me 20 mins.

 

Regards

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: tech.support

Sent: 11 September 2014 11:00

To: b1k3rdude

 

What about other games? Will this issue occurs in other games?

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

From: b1k3rdude

To: tech.support

Sent: 11.09.14 02:36:15

 

Hello

 

1. I have been using driver-sweeper for years.

2. I figured you guys would ask for this so I have already done a clean install and test of ALL the following drivers, 13.12, 14.4, 14.7rc3 and 14.8 and the issue occurs with all of them.

3. Mobo is already running latest bios as stated in original ticket.

4. Reinstalling DirectX made no difference.

 

Kind regards

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

From: tech.support@amd

Sent: 11 September 2014 07:31

To: b1k3rdude

 

Your service request : SR #{ticketno:[8200605387]} has been reviewed and updated.

 

Response and Service Request History:

 

Thanks for your information in detail! If the problem only occurs in one game, maybe it is an optimization issue. But if it happens in quite a few games, I recommend you to have a clean installation of 14.7 beta driver first. Here I provide some methods which you can try.

 

1. I. Please remove existing graphic drivers completely using third party tool driver sweeper - http://www.majorgeek...driver_sweeper>

 

Before beginning the uninstall/reinstallation process, please run Windows Update to ensure that there are no outstanding recommended/required updates, especially updates for the .Net or C++ frameworks, or Service Pack updates. This will ensure that our software will run properly. You may need to run Windows Update and restart multiple times, as certain updates will not appear in the list of updates until certain previous updates have been installed first.

 

Please keep in mind that Driver Fusion is in no associate or maintained by AMD and is used at the user’s discretion.

 

II. Run Driver Fusion and select all of the AMD filters then start.

 

III. Restart the computer when it finished.

 

2. Install the 14.7 beta driver. These two links may help

- http://support.amd.c...ws-install.aspx

- http://support.amd.c...ktop?os=Windows 7 - 64

 

3. Check the motherboard manufacturer’s website for available BIOS / chipset driver updates.

4. Reinstall Microsoft DirectX or install the latest version. This link may help - ttp://support.microsoft.com/kb/179113

 

If you have any other questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to reply to this e-mail directly and I will try to provide any additional information that you may require. Thank you for contacting AMD!

 

In order to update this service request, please respond, leaving the service request reference intact.

 

Best regards,

 

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

From: b1k3rdude

To: tech.support@amd.com

Sent: 10.09.14 11:25:44

Subject: Very poor OpenGL performance

 

 

Hello I am one of the developers of a game called "The Darkmod (www.thedarmod.com)". I recently upgraded to a Radeon R9-290 from a GTX670. I have been working on a new mission/game level and I noticed that my FPS was shockingly low anytime the draw call count dipped below 1500. I then plugged my old GTX480 back in and low and behold my FPS figures are back to normal, as in the draw count can get as high as 3000-4000 before I start to see a drop. The GTX480 is 3 generations older than the R9-290, so it is totally unacceptable that the R9-290's OpenGL perf is this shockingly sh*t. Before I take the card back to the shop I wanted to give AMD the chance to come up with a solution to this issue. kind regards.

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They should have just said "Fuck you, we don't care about your stupid problem". At least it would have been honest, and not involve jumping to non-sensical conclusions based on no evidence whatsoever.

 

How could a hardware problem possibly cause FPS drops? I guess the GPU might be overheating, but this ought to cause rendering errors or crashes. Hell, even "we think it is probably bad programming by the games concerned" would have made more sense.

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FWIW I think you're going the right way about getting it seen by someone who knows what they're talking about. Persistant and informative. I get the same problem when trying to report anything to our tech support at work. Step 1: someone working off a script will make a couple of useless suggestions; step 2 is they try to make me spend 3 days rebuilding the machine from scratch, which will use loads of my time and none of theirs; step 3, if I'm lucky and persuasive enough, is that the problem gets passed to someone who understands what it means.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Fantastic! I'm going to follow your example and take the time to give quality error feedback in future even to giant companies. Time to complain to Microsoft about the vs2013 compile bug that causes light artefacts :-)

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Fantastic! I'm going to follow your example and take the time to give quality error feedback in future even to giant companies. Time to complain to Microsoft about the vs2013 compile bug that causes light artefacts :-)

 

I suspect that on some level AMD realise that if a game doesn't work well because of their driver problems, people are going to start buying nVidia hardware instead.

 

Microsoft, on the other hand, probably couldn't care less, unless you are a large customer threatening to switch all of your desktops to Linux.

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  • I suspect that on some level AMD realise that if a game doesn't work well because of their driver problems, people are going to start buying nVidia hardware instead.
  • Microsoft, on the other hand, probably couldn't care less, unless you are a large customer threatening to switch all of your desktops to Linux.

  • exactly, and I suspect the fact I had a top teir card helped.
  • Agreed, they prefer the devious and underhanded approach of leaning on manufacturers to install bioses that are linux un-friendly.

@SteveL, it can't hurt to try at the very least.

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  • 3 weeks later...
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