Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Forum for all the AMD (Previously ATI) video cards from the past, present and future!
Post Reply
impsterdude
Legit User
Legit User
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:05 am

Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Post by impsterdude »

Hey, duders! :supz: This is my rig:

CPU: CORE i7 920 2,67 GHz
MB: ASUS P6T
MEM: CORSAIR DOMINATOR 6 GB DDR3 1600 MHz
PSU: Thermaltake Toughpower 850W

First off, when the speed of GDDR5 memory displays 1000 MHz and the webstore's specifications tells you it is 4 GHz, is this because GDDR5 has a quad effective speed?

My real question is this: When I check MEMORY SIZE under GRAPHICS HARDWARE in ATI's CCC it tells me I have 1024 MB. This should be 2048 MB, yes? It is a 2 GB card after all. I've tested this with catalyst 10.8 in both Windows XP and Windows 7 with the same result. The funny thing is that DXDIAG in XP tells me I have 1024 and DXDIAG in Win7 tells me I have 716 ??? :shock: What is the issue here? Can it be a driver issue? :-k

Any help would be greatly appreciated! :prayer:
User avatar
InspectahACE
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 1776
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:25 pm
Location: Las Vegas

Re: Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Post by InspectahACE »

Honestly you're fine. Crossfire/SLI setups will only see and use what one GPU has for memory..Dual GPU cards(like the 5970 and the GTX 295) are the same way as essentially, they are two GPU's hardwired into Crossfire/SLI in one single card. Your card does have 2GB, for each GPU. But in Crossfire, it will only use/see 1GB.

As far as DXDIAG goes, I never use the info it shows as it's shown wrong usually(or it's just compiled differently). Heck, it even says I have 4GB total memory on the graphics section, but I have 1.5GB on each card technically.
i9-9900k | ASUS Maximus XI Hero | ASUS Strix RTX 2070 Super | 32GB G.Skill Trident RGB DDR4-3600 | Cooler Master ML360L AIO | Seagate Firecuda 510 1TB NVME SSD | Tt ToughPower RGB 850W PSU | Sound Blaster Z | LL PC-O11 Dynamic | ASUS Gladius II Mouse | ASUS Strix Scope RX| ASUS VG259QMM 24" 240hz monitor | Windows 11 Pro
impsterdude
Legit User
Legit User
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:05 am

Re: Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Post by impsterdude »

Thanks

Then in which cases does one actually use 2 GB of memory with dual GPU cards? Also, what benchmarking tool (other than those made for specific games) would you recommend to best measure performance?
User avatar
skier
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 4450
Joined: Mon Mar 26, 2007 3:29 pm
Location: Maine
Contact:

Re: Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Post by skier »

impsterdude wrote:what benchmarking tool (other than those made for specific games) would you recommend to best measure performance?
3DMark Vantage performance preset, you can compare your results against thousands of other cards/setups on hwbot just set the results filter to stock and or single card
-Austin
Image
Screamin' BCLK: Image
775 System (Overclocking Platform): Q8400/Q8300/E8400/E7400/E7500 - GA-EP45-UD3R v1.1 - 4GB (2x2) OCZ Reaper HPC DDR2 1066 CL5 2.1v Corsair TX-750w
Gamer: Asrock Z77 Extreme4, i7 3770K @4.6GHz, ThermalTake Armor A90 modded, 2x4GB GSKILL RipjawsX DDR3 2133 CL9, Corsair HX-750w, MSI GTX660 Twin Frozr
Server2012: Q9300 - 8GB DDR2 - Asus P5QL Pro - Corsair CX430 - Mirrored 2TB Seagate's with 2TB WD cav for fileshare backups, 1TB WD for OS backups
User avatar
InspectahACE
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 1776
Joined: Tue Sep 06, 2005 8:25 pm
Location: Las Vegas

Re: Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Post by InspectahACE »

impsterdude wrote:Then in which cases does one actually use 2 GB of memory with dual GPU cards?
When each GPU has 2GB basically. (like hte 4GB version of the 5970) <----sadly those like a grand a piece though
i9-9900k | ASUS Maximus XI Hero | ASUS Strix RTX 2070 Super | 32GB G.Skill Trident RGB DDR4-3600 | Cooler Master ML360L AIO | Seagate Firecuda 510 1TB NVME SSD | Tt ToughPower RGB 850W PSU | Sound Blaster Z | LL PC-O11 Dynamic | ASUS Gladius II Mouse | ASUS Strix Scope RX| ASUS VG259QMM 24" 240hz monitor | Windows 11 Pro
impsterdude
Legit User
Legit User
Posts: 5
Joined: Wed Sep 01, 2010 11:05 am

Re: Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Post by impsterdude »

skier wrote:3DMark Vantage performance preset, you can compare your results against thousands of other cards/setups on hwbot just set the results filter to stock and or single card
Thanks for the tip

InspectahACE wrote:When each GPU has 2GB basically. (like hte 4GB version of the 5970) <----sadly those like a grand a piece though
Yeah, I know. That's twice the price. How much gain in FPS would you get with the 4GB anyway. Can't imagine it's worth it.
User avatar
Major_A
Legit Extremist
Legit Extremist
Posts: 3793
Joined: Tue May 15, 2007 2:11 pm
Location: Houston, TX

Re: Memory issues with XFX Radeon 5970 2 GB BLACK EDITION

Post by Major_A »

The only time you will need a 4GB frame buffer is at insane resolutions and detail settings (i.e. 2560x1600 and up). Otherwise it will be wasted. You can monitor GPU memory usage with GPU-Z under the Sensors tab.
Post Reply