5700xt with Multimonitor?

I know new cards are coming, but I have my eye on deals that may shake out because of it. I have a 1070 right now (1440p, Freesync, 75Hz) and wanted a 2070 Super, but they are over $180 CDN more than a Sapphire 5700 XT...ridiculous. I am though concerned about all the driver issues with AMD that still appear in August reviews on Newegg.

I am running 32" and 11.6" (for TM Cougar MFDs) screens. I know a lot of the issues with the AMD drivers seem to be for those running multi-monitor. Anyone have any experience with the 5700xt and multiple monitors in DCS?

I will wait to see what comes of the new cards this fall first, but might grab a 5700 if there's a deal I can't pass up...

I just built a Ryzen 3600X / Sapphire 5700 XT rig for my brother... runs like a champ. You can always roll a one, but I don't think it's that big a deal.

I just built a Ryzen 3600X / Sapphire 5700 XT rig for my brother... runs like a champ. You can always roll a one, but I don't think it's that big a deal.

Was this with multi-monitor? That's my real concern.

I know new cards are coming, but I have my eye on deals that may shake out because of it. I have a 1070 right now (1440p, Freesync, 75Hz) and wanted a 2070 Super, but they are over $180 CDN more than a Sapphire 5700 XT...ridiculous. I am though concerned about all the driver issues with AMD that still appear in August reviews on Newegg.

 

I am running 32" and 11.6" (for TM Cougar MFDs) screens. I know a lot of the issues with the AMD drivers seem to be for those running multi-monitor. Anyone have any experience with the 5700xt and multiple monitors in DCS?

 

I will wait to see what comes of the new cards this fall first, but might grab a 5700 if there's a deal I can't pass up...

Not sure all of this will be of any help, as I'm on a single-screen but even so...

I'm extremely happy with my RX5700XT (love it to bits) and I too jumped to it from a GTX1070. :)

Not a single problem, good upgrade (+30% faster). Beautifull image quality as well. (BTW, here are my DCS setings)

.........but it is not a smooth, easy and friendly transition if you're accustomated to Nvidia's "plug n' play" way of things.

You may have to tinker with a bunch of things that are common solutions for it, only then it becomes what really is expected of it. ...read on...

First, avoid PCI-E risers at any cost, always plug the GPU directly to the motherboard's main PCI-E slot.

Second, cleaning AMD drivers from windows by running DDU (in safe mode) is mandatory before installing AMD Adrenaline drivers. Since 20.4.2 the drivers have been very good (latest ones are great too).

Third, the

For instances, not only I get consistently higher benchmark scores with Heaven, I also get 20ºC decrease in temps during continuous stress sessions with it! A dramatic improvement.

Fourth, I found that

After all this, throw anything at it, it just shrugs and does a marvellous job. No black or green screens or stuttering (never, ever, got any), it trully becomes rock solid, ultra reliable.

Also, some of the old niceties don't go well with it. I ran and tested pretty much every exhistent monitoring OSD software with my RX5700XT...

The one from the AMD Adrenaline drivers can, funny enough, cause issues (dragging performance down, stuttering, etc).

Worse, no longer using MSI Afterburner or EVGA Precision (the two heavy weights in the segment) as it doesn't mix well with RX5000 series (only partially working, some instability, stuttering, etc).

You want something similar, then Asus GPU Tweak II is fully functional with it (if prefered, it can also adjust clocks and fan speeds instead of doing it with Adrenaline settings), no issues.

Best OSD alternative in my experience is actually a combo of HWInfo + RivaTuner Statistics (but here you'll have to configure it all manually, setting by setting).

I'm aware of some issues with multi-monitors, even if I only have one screen and use HDMI (here all is good).

A common solution for most of the issues with multi-monitors seems to be to turn virtual resolution OFF in the drivers settings.

The one main issue there with any Radeon RX5000 series of AMD is that, AFAIK, it can't downclock to the 800Mhz it should do when it's not doing any real work, it always runs at the base clock (1750 Mhz +/-) regardless, when more than one screen is connected. (AMD recognized this when questioned by users and say it's normal behaviour for the RX5000 series)

.....is it really an issue? Well, perhaps not. But think in the long term, it'll certainly consume more power and run hotter, even if not flexing any muscles. Should never been like that IMO.

Also, you may have heard that some have had issues with DP cables in more than one slot, which you really have to use (DP) for more than one monitor. The quality of cables is important.

Now, add to all of this that issues can (very likely) occur if you don't tinker with the things I mentioned above, and you may now understand why so many complain on forums and returned theirs out of frustration.

It can be a quirky piece of hardware, but also a trully fine specimen if things are sorted.

My honest opinion...

The RX5700XT is only 15% slower than the mighty RTX2080S at (less than) 1/2 of its price! If you can get one for ~350,00 Euros, it's a killer deal, absolutely worth it! Just be prepared for the transition... :joystick:

I got mine for 320,00 Euros (Powercolor Dual Fan) as a returned item from a guy who paid full price and couldn't get it to work properly.... but now runs like a dream on my system!:megalol: LOL

I had an RTX2070S for a week to test, can now say that it was likewise very good (nearly bought it!) and it is "plug n' play", but the performance was indistinguishable (vs RX5700XT). It's NOT worth the higher price (520,00+ Euros?!).

In anycase, if I'm allowed the opinion, spending on GPUs that will be discontinued and replaced in a matter of few months is not a wise investment.

We're close to get the Nvidia RTX3000 series (the 3070 is rumoured to be one of the two initial models) and the new AMD Navi 2 (likely to be RX6000 series).

If you don't want to wait for those, and don't mind buying used, then get a GTX1080Ti :smilewink: performs same, if not slightly above the RX5700XT and RTX2070S.

With one ace in the sleeve.... it has 11GB of VRAM(!), besides being well proven and matured.

Especially with DCS that's really a plus. That VRAM extra alone makes it worth the 400,00-and-something Euros that people are asking for on Ebay (IMHO).

Wow, thanks for the excellent, detailed reply! I am waiting on the new cards no matter what, but figured if I could snag a really good deal on a 5700XT (like $425 CDN or less...$310 USD), I'd take the leap.

The only reason I'm even considering the upgrade is that I have a 32" 1440p monitor (I sit back a ways in a custom-built chair I put together) and performance is considerably lower than it was at 1080p with the same settings.

The monitor is Freesync @75Hz, but my down-low FPS of 37 (why it's locked at that I have no idea) kicks it out of Freesync, so I'd like to get that min up over 45 consistently. I know the 5700XT is more than capable of that.

I'd love though for the 3070/3060 to be released at a reasonable, non-gouge price, and then it's a no-brainer for me. I'm so busy in the summer and fall I don't really play any games anyways, so I can certainly wait and just skip this gen entirely. I like my GPU purchases to be 10 years if possible.

The only other thing I'm thinking is that selling my 1070 now would get me about $250 CDN. Waiting until the new ones release will surely drop that significantly.

Well, theoretically, selling your GTX1070 right now makes more sense, yes. :)

The Nvidia "Ampere" are now confirmed to be presented at the 1st of September (should start to be available later in the month), so everybody is selling GPUs now, before they get to be "even older gen".

With these new ones out in the market (in a month or two), used prices should start to go down, and maybe that's when prospective buyers of previous gen cards should start looking to buy them used.

FWIW, I still think the GTX1080Ti would be an excelent buy for you case. Considering that these will go down in price too, I'd not discard a good deal on one.

According to rumours, the upcoming RTX3060 is supposed to be (+/-) on par with an RTX2070S, but at the ~400,00 USD/EUR price segment. Not confirmed if 6GB or 8GB of VRAM. These should launch later (November?).

....if true, then not sure it'd be noticeably faster against the RX5700XT (and this one may still get cheaper). Time will tell.

The RTX3070 is the one I find most interesting, because every leak mentions that it's close to RTX2080Ti performance, for around ~500,00 USD/EUR. Not confirmed yet if 8GB or 12GB VRAM.

Getting same perfomance as the current top dog (selling at over 1.200,00 USD/EUR!), if true, is a heck of performance jump!

Similar then to what happened four years ago with Pascal (1000 series) over Maxwell (900 series), when the GTX1070 ran as fast as the previous top dog, the GTX980Ti.

If these rumours and leaks of info are true, this is the model that may sell the most (definitely good investment for the long term), and the one you should be aiming at. :)

I'll leave a quote with some speculative charts of the relative performance (note: GTX1080Ti is the baseline reference) of these new RTX series against current gen GPU series of AMD and Nvidia:

Chiphell has posted what seems to be an alleged performance chart of the GeForce RTX 30 series lineup which includes the GeForce RTX 3090, GeForce RTX 3080, GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, GeForce RTX 3070 & the GeForce RTX 3060. The chart claims to be an average performance measurement of the graphics cards purely in gaming benchmarks at various resolutions from 1080p and all the way up to 4K. It also showcases the performance per watt gains for each respective generation. Again, this chart should be taken with a grain of salt as the information on performance is yet to be verified.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 30 'Ampere' Gaming graphics card lineup is expected to be announced on 1st September at a digital event which will be hosted by CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang. We expect at the very least, three new graphics cards during the event which include the GeForce RTX 3080 Ti (or RTX 3090), GeForce RTX 3080, and a next-generation Titan. There's definitely a lot more to talk about regarding the Ampere GPUs but we will have to wait until more information comes our way.

 

(original article)

I would aim at the 3070 but at at least $800 CDN and then getting less for my 1070 (say $100 less??) the difference is $650. If I sell now at what I figure is the lowest I could get ($250...maybe even $300 after I checked local prices that are listing at $400) and get an RTX 2070 or 5700XT for $575 CDN all-in, I'm paying at most $325, so half. I don't plan on upgrading my monitor anytime soon, so anything over 75 fps is a waste IMO. DCS is the only game I play that struggles at 1440p at all. Everything else the 1070 is still plenty.

I could then sell the 2070/5700XT later on down the road I guess. I'm also a little concerned about the power requirements of the new cards. I'm sure they'll have adapters or whatever, but I'm a little skeptical when power requirements go up and efficiency down...seems backwards (like the AMD 500 series cards).

Now I'm not so sure I want to wait...may have to see what I can get for the 1070 first.

Now I'm not so sure I want to wait...may have to see what I can get for the 1070 first.

Notice that there's still AMD NAVI-2 (supposedly 6000 series) to be launched same time as the new consoles (November?).

That should also be a good jump in performance, and AMD usually keeps prices competitive. :smilewink:

Notice that there's still AMD NAVI-2 (supposedly 6000 series) to be launched same time as the new consoles (November?).

That should also be a good jump in performance, and AMD usually keeps prices competitive. :smilewink:

I would, but I suspect that will bring a whole new set of drivers for AMD to deal with. One would hope they've ironed out the bugs and would want to avoid all the lost sales that brought them. Maybe the alignment with the console release will improve things. I've been at this for 24 years now, but even I have gotten used to plug-and-play with Nvidia cards.

I do have a GTX 1060 3GB sitting here that I could use I suppose while I wait...:hmm: DCS will be out of the question at 1440p, but I could always reduce to 1080p. I'd look at the 1080ti but a used one is over $600 CDN which makes no sense to me.

I would, but I suspect that will bring a whole new set of drivers for AMD to deal with. One would hope they've ironed out the bugs and would want to avoid all the lost sales that brought them. Maybe the alignment with the console release will improve things. I've been at this for 24 years now, but even I have gotten used to plug-and-play with Nvidia cards.

 

I do have a GTX 1060 3GB sitting here that I could use I suppose while I wait...:hmm: DCS will be out of the question at 1440p, but I could always reduce to 1080p. I'd look at the 1080ti but a used one is over $600 CDN which makes no sense to me.

600.00 CAD = 383.00 EUR

What??? :cry: That's a friggin good deal if you can find it a that price!!

Seriously, it's the one I looked for first and the one I'd have got instead, problem is there weren't any at the time I got mine (none found below 520,00 USD/EUR on ebay)

Think of an RTX2070Super without the RayTracing and DLSS features (which will be useless for flight sims for quite sometime), and then add an extra 3GB of VRAM (for a total of 11GB).

That's what a GTX1080Ti is in practice, pretty much. If under 400,00 US/EUR, that looks like the best option, really.

RX5700XT has 8GB VRAM, and I see DCS eating over 6GB VRAM all the time... and I'm just running it at 1080P 60Hz with not maxxed out settings.

I'm not sure how things are going to be in coming two years for DCS, but considering casual games that will derive from the (now potent) consoles, I confess being a little concerned about the 8GB of VRAM starting to be eaten by games sooner than I expected...

:) Meanwhile, food for thought (GPU versus game):

600.00 CAD = 383.00 EUR

 

What??? :cry: That's a friggin good deal if you can find it a that price!!

Seriously, it's the one I looked for first and the one I'd have got instead, problem is there weren't any at the time I got mine (none found below 520,00 USD/EUR on ebay)

Think of an RTX2070Super without the RayTracing and DLSS features (which will be useless for flight sims for quite sometime), and then add an extra 3GB of VRAM (for a total of 11GB).

That's what a GTX1080Ti is in practice, pretty much. If under 400,00 US/EUR, that looks like the best option, really.

RX5700XT has 8GB VRAM, and I see DCS eating over 6GB VRAM all the time... and I'm just running it at 1080P 60Hz with not maxxed out settings.

I'm not sure how things are going to be in coming two years for DCS, but considering casual games that will derive from the (now potent) consoles, I confess being a little concerned about the 8GB of VRAM starting to be eaten by games sooner than I expected...

:) Meanwhile, food for thought (GPU versus game):

 

 

There's plenty of 1080ti's on Ebay.ca for around that price...okay, about $650 with the stupid amount of shipping some charge. There are a few on my local sites for about $600. Why would I spend $600 on a used card though when I could get a new 2070 Super for about $50 more or a Sapphire 5700XT for $70 less? Or better yet, take the $650 and put it towards the new 3070?

Just because it shows lots of VRAM usage doesn't mean it's actually using it. Similar to system RAM, some of that is merely allocated. Stuttering is the key indicator that you need more (which I had with my 3GB card, but not my son's 6GB 1660 Super). I haven't run into another game that uses over 6GB (of my 145+ Steam game 'collection'...i.e. I don't play most of them).

I realize people have man-love for the 1080ti for some reason :love:...which I suppose is good for them when they go to sell it, but I wouldn't pay that much for used. I know it's a good card (way overpriced when new though), but I've watched all those Hardware Unboxed videos, and even he says never pay more than $350 USD for one (about $495 CDN). To me, used cards need to be REALLY cheap to make it worth my while. I wouldn't pay more than $400 for one personally.

(...) To me, used cards need to be REALLY cheap to make it worth my while. I wouldn't pay more than $400 for one personally.

Well... here's another idea. :D

With the ammount of people unhappy with their RX5700XT giving so much trouble (lol) my bet is that there'll be plenty around just waiting to be bought on ebay.

Maybe try and go for the bid game on a good one on auction that isn't extraordinary blingy (Sapphire Pulse or PowerColor Red Dragon best purchases there, for sure), just for a giggle. :smilewink:

Well... here's another idea. :D

With the ammount of people unhappy with their RX5700XT giving so much trouble (lol) my bet is that there'll be plenty around just waiting to be bought on ebay.

Maybe try and go for the bid game on a good one on auction that isn't extraordinary blingy (Sapphire Pulse or PowerColor Red Dragon best purchases there, for sure), just for a giggle. :smilewink:

I looked, and there isn't much common sense going on on Ebay for those either. People are paying $500 for USED 5700XT's. I can get the Sapphire Pulse 5700XT all in for $560 CDN brand new on Newegg. I don't get it...:dunno:

I considered a 1080Ti but the used prices sent me to the 2070 Super instead. Likewise, couldn't see the point in spending that kind of money for a used card and entertaining the possibilities around dealing with someone else's used junk.

FWIW, DCS totally pins the VRAM usage at 100% on maps like The Channel (4K, high everything, no anti-aliasing; similar at 1440p with high most things, MSAA+ on).

Since the last OB update I see the occasional micro-stutter and this is on a "kick-ass" new 10700K build. Before the OB update it was silky smooth at all times. I'm pretty sure it is fully utilizing the VRAM. Other maps show a saw-tooth pattern to the VRAM usage and never quite reaching 100% utilization; Channel Map, not so much, it's pretty much a plateau at 99% IIRC.

I looked at the Sapphire Nitro+ 5700XT - almost pulled the trigger but the good deal at Canada Computers vapourised (~$570CDN in January). The more I read after the fact and trying to overclock the existing RX580 and dealing with the drivers - bought the 2070S and haven't looked back. It's a Gigabyte Gaming OC (Factory OC). I overclocked it a bit (can't leave well enough alone) but ended up removing the OC because it didn't really help frames much. I should try it again with the new system maybe...

Re: the new NVIDIA cards. Rumour has the 3080 at 12GB DDR6. I've seen 24Gb kicked around as well because 24 modules shown spanning both sides of the card - I figure they are 512MB modules.

I fully expect NVIDIA will be gouging.

I'm going to buy a new GPU at some point soon but will wait for the AMD stuff to see what it is about. The 2070S does fine for now - I'm having fun. I'll move that card to another system if/when I upgrade. Maybe I need a dedicated back seat/RIO computer. :)

Anyway, long rambling post to say I don't regret the 2070 Super but I bought it in February before knowing what I was getting into (new to DCS) and have gotten reasonable value out of the card. I'll be upgrading at some point in the next 4-6 months (will wait for non-Founder cards with better features/prices) but no regrets. Would have liked to try that Sapphire card but at this point the ship has sailed and I'm not convinced it would perform as well as the 2070 Super at 4K if the benchmarks for other games truly show the trending correctly.

I looked, and there isn't much common sense going on on Ebay for those either. People are paying $500 for USED 5700XT's. I can get the Sapphire Pulse 5700XT all in for $560 CDN brand new on Newegg. I don't get it...:dunno:

:doh: Yeah, that's not worth it then.

Give it a month or two and I suspect things will be very different.

FWIW, DCS totally pins the VRAM usage at 100% on maps like The Channel (4K, high everything, no anti-aliasing; similar at 1440p with high most things, MSAA+ on).

 

Since the last OB update I see the occasional micro-stutter and this is on a "kick-ass" new 10700K build. Before the OB update it was silky smooth at all times. I'm pretty sure it is fully utilizing the VRAM. Other maps show a saw-tooth pattern to the VRAM usage and never quite reaching 100% utilization; Channel Map, not so much, it's pretty much a plateau at 99% IIRC.

Absolutely!

I adore DCS but, really, sometimes this sim/game title can be the most freakin strange resources hog (VRAM and RAM especially), I can not understand it.

Currently, I can run IL2 BoX in a custom upscale resolution of 2880x1620@75Hz and, even if with 10+ planes, firing bursts, flak and effects galore, it doesn't hit resources as hard as DCS at 1920x1080@60Hz! ...go figure...

The more I read after the fact and trying to overclock the existing RX580 and dealing with the drivers - bought the 2070S and haven't looked back.

The 2070 Super would be my first choice for sure, but I just can't justify that cost so close to the release of new cards. The prices drop for a bit and right now again are up to $756 for the MSI Ventus card...$185 more than the Sapphire 5700XT.

I really wonder if the 3070 won't be closer to $1,000, but I guess that depends what AMD comes in at and if they can get their driver mess sorted.

I've listed my 1070 at $300...we'll see what happens and I'll take it from there.

Agreed - if I was buying today I wouldn't buy a 2070 with the new stuff coming out in a few weeks. I wouldn't buy anything and wait it out.

If the rumours are to be believed the 3070 will be ~30% uplift compared to the 2070... which makes it roughly the same as a 2080Ti. We'll see what the reality is on the ground... VRAM will be the big thing to watch.

For me, watching Wag's latest Syria map videos and seeing the occasionally stutter and dropped frames (being anal - really watching the video for the slightest aberration) I'm probably going to try to do a 3080 or higher if the pricing is not stupid.

With Covid the car racing season this year has been fubar and I haven't gotten on track once so maybe I'll pump some of that money into a larger than expected video card purchase.

For me, watching Wag's latest Syria map videos and seeing the occasionally stutter and dropped frames (being anal - really watching the video for the slightest aberration) I'm probably going to try to do a 3080 or higher if the pricing is not stupid.

I understand progress is inevitable but if that happens to be true and the Syria map (my next purchase) is going to aggravate what (IMO) is already a serious issue with the Channel map (hogging on VRAM), I'm not sure I'll even consider upgrading anything just for DCS. Honestly, that seems silly if all other sims/games (even newest ones) run just mighty fine.

I see that terrain stuttering even at high frames at 1080p which leads me to believe it's a DCS engine issue that a GPU won't fix until they fix DCS (Vulkan?). I have it on an NVME SSD and 32GB RAM (bought because RAM is so cheap right now, not because it's actually needed) and that annoying stuttering is still there. It's subtle, but I even see it in videos of those with a 2080ti (i.e. Wags videos).

I see that terrain stuttering even at high frames at 1080p which leads me to believe it's a DCS engine issue that a GPU won't fix until they fix DCS (Vulkan?). I have it on an NVME SSD and 32GB RAM (bought because RAM is so cheap right now, not because it's actually needed) and that annoying stuttering is still there. It's subtle, but I even see it in videos of those with a 2080ti (i.e. Wags videos).

Yeah, they did something to the engine in the last patch or two. Generally performance is higher but the stutter occurs sometimes. I've got 64GB in my machine and the pagefile.sys swap file is turned off. I still get stuttering (RAM sits around 24GB doing simple, self-created missions over the Channel in the Spit). The stutters are really subtle - but they are there. It's not a big deal - normal flying I might see a stutter every 10-15 minutes unless intentionally trying to stress the system (high speed horizontal figure eights over the town of Dover in the Spit at 150').

I understand progress is inevitable but if that happens to be true and the Syria map (my next purchase) is going to aggravate what (IMO) is already a serious issue with the Channel map (hogging on VRAM), I'm not sure I'll even consider upgrading anything just for DCS. Honestly, that seems silly if all other sims/games (even newest ones) run just mighty fine.

I have a different opinion on this (different strokes and all that). I tried IL-2, I tried X-Plane 11, I tried some other stuff - keep coming back to DCS. The level of simulation is really high in DCS and the aircraft library is stuff I actually like. I went from not knowing what a Yak-52 is to it being one of my favourites. I have like 95% of the aircraft available. The new gaming PC was built around DCS because I don't care about the other games other than Assetto Corsa (can probably run it on a phone in comparison).

Anyway - I'll be downloading Syria tomorrow. I'll let you know how it compares to The Channel. Realistically... if each house you see in the Channel takes a certain amount of RAM to render, multiply by what - 500 houses in Dover I'll guess... yeah, it's going to be hungry.

Unavoidable/inevitable as you said. Haifa in Wag's latest video was probably at least twice as busy as Dover. Good learning experience for ED to get ready for full implementation of London perhaps.

All that said, if ED can do something to capitalise on modern hardware (threading!) and make stuff run faster that would be great.

Yeah, they did something to the engine in the last patch or two. Generally performance is higher but the stutter occurs sometimes. I've got 64GB in my machine and the pagefile.sys swap file is turned off. I still get stuttering (RAM sits around 24GB doing simple, self-created missions over the Channel in the Spit). The stutters are really subtle - but they are there. It's not a big deal - normal flying I might see a stutter every 10-15 minutes unless intentionally trying to stress the system (high speed horizontal figure eights over the town of Dover in the Spit at 150').

I never see usage over 14GB, but I haven't touched the pagefile. I'm actually seeing higher usage right now playing MSFS (up over 15GB) which is the highest usage I've ever seen. There seems to be a 'line in mid-air' in DCS where when you drop below a certain altitude (over a city) the framerate just drops and that's when I see the terrain stuttering. Mine sits at a steady 37fps down low for some reason.

I never see usage over 14GB, but I haven't touched the pagefile. I'm actually seeing higher usage right now playing MSFS (up over 15GB) which is the highest usage I've ever seen. There seems to be a 'line in mid-air' in DCS where when you drop below a certain altitude (over a city) the framerate just drops and that's when I see the terrain stuttering. Mine sits at a steady 37fps down low for some reason.

Go to MP server with 40 or more players then you'll see RAM usage over 20Gb.

I have been on a few of them (40+). I still never see higher than 14GB. I suspect it's only certain servers that have that issue, but like the vast majority of DCS owners, I don't play much multiplayer...I only dabble for testing purposes usually. Again, it's well documented that RAM 'usage' is a mix of used and 'allocated'.

If anyone's interested, I sold my 1070 (EVGA 5173KR) for $280 CDN. Only took me a day and I got what I asked for it, which surprised me a bit. Plopped in my old ASUS 1060 3GB and now I wait to see what goodies AMD and Nvidia have for us!

I'd still like to know if anyone uses a 5700/XT with multi-monitor in DCS in case a great deal comes up in the interim.