AMD’s Enduro Switchable Graphics Levels Up
by Jarred Walton on September 6, 2012 3:00 AM ESTOther Technical Details and Performance Expectations
So far we’ve discussed the past and near future of AMD’s Enduro/Switchable Graphics, but we haven’t gone into the technical aspects much. We’ve covered most of this previously (and neither AMD nor NVIDIA provide a ton of detail as to how precisely they’re doing the work), but there are a couple other tidbits we wanted to briefly discuss before wrapping up.
At a high level, all of the display outputs on a laptop now connect to the Intel iGPU, and AMD is able to route their content through the PCIe bus to the embedded graphics and out to the display. Nothing has really changed there; content is copied from the dGPU to the iGPU output in some fashion and you get the ability to switch seamlessly between the two GPUs. We also mentioned earlier that AMD has now removed the need for the active PCIe bus when the GPU is powered down, which drops power use of the dGPU from less than 100mW or so down to 0W.
One thing that hasn’t changed is AMD’s use of Link Adapter Mode (LDA) where NVIDIA uses Multi Adapter Mode, but we now have an explanation of why this difference exists. As far as we could tell, there’s not really an inherent superiority of either mode for general use. The primary reason AMD uses LDA is that they also have a chipset business, where NVIDIA has bowed out of making chipsets. Why this matters is that LDA is what facilitates AMD’s Dual Graphics (formerly Hybrid CrossFire)—the dGPU and the iGPU working together to render a scene. This is less important on Intel platforms, as AMD isn’t trying to do any cooperative rendering with Intel iGPUs; they potentially could in the future if desired, but that seems unlikely given the difficulty of getting even similar GPUs to work together. AMD also indicates that the use of LDA provides full support for Windows 8 Metro applications; I would assume NVIDIA also supports Metro apps, so unless that proves to not be the case (and we should know soon enough), other than Dual Graphics it appears that Enduro and Optimus are essentially at parity in terms of how they function, with software/drivers being the key differentiator.
Something else we’re still waiting to see is the packaging of the new Mobility Catalyst drivers. AMD didn’t provide us with the actual installation files—they installed them for us as they were still in a rather early state. That being the case, we aren’t sure if the Mobility Catalyst drivers for Enduro systems will feature totally independent drivers as far as Intel iGPUs are concerned, but that appears to be the case. If all goes as planned, you will be able to update your AMD dGPU drivers separately from your Intel iGPU drivers without any trouble once the Enduro Catalyst drivers start coming out.
Performance Expectations
AMD let us borrow a Sager notebook for a short time after the preview to test out the new “Enduro 5.5” drivers, and they also helped us install the drivers on a Clevo P170EM system from AVADirect. We’ll be providing a full review with performance data for the P170EM in the near future, but in the meantime we wanted to show off the Sager notebook as well as discuss performance expectations. Here's a rundown of the system specs for the Sager NP9150 along with some photos.
| Sager NP9150 / Clevo P150EM Specifications | |
| Processor |
Intel i7-3720QM (Quad-core 2.60-3.60GHz, 6MB L3, 22nm, 45W) |
| Chipset | HM77 |
| Memory | 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3-1600 |
| Graphics |
Intel HD 4000 (16 EUs, up to 1250MHz) AMD Radeon HD 7970M 2GB GDDR5 (1280 cores @ 850MHz, 256-bit 4800MHz RAM) |
| Display | 15.6" WLED Glossy 16:9 1080p (1920x1080) |
| Storage | 180GB Intel 520 SSD |
| Operating System | Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit |
| Price | $1919 as configured (9/05/2012) |
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The Sager unit is their rebranded Clevo P150EM, and it has many of the same design issues that we’ve seen with Clevo in the past. The backlit keyboard with zoned lighting is a new addition, and they’ve tweaked the keyboard layout as well. Interestingly (and frustratingly), while they’ve mostly fixed my complaints with the 10-key layout, they went ahead and screwed up the main keyboard layout. The Windows key is now to the right of the spacebar, and there’s a second backslash key just right of the spacebar. I’m also not a fan of the tactile feedback from the keys, though it’s not terrible. Outside of the keyboard quirks and overly abundant use of plastic for the chassis, though, the performance is certainly there.
We ran through our current suite of games at the native 1080p on the P150EM with settings maxed out in most titles. Total War: Shogun 2 wouldn’t allow us to select Very High settings (a problem we’ve encountered on other systems in the past where the game incorrectly detects the amount of video memory and/or iGPU feature set rather than looking at the dGPU), but otherwise we get very respectable frame rates. Civilization V continues to be a bit sluggish at max settings (around 26FPS), but the brutal Battlefield 3 manages 36FPS and could very easily reach 40+ FPS if you disable 4xMSAA and just use FXAA. Those are the three lowest performing games we tested, with everything else running smoothly in the 45+ FPS range. A quick look at the last GTX 580M system we tested shows performance is better in over half of the games, and slightly lower in the other three titles. We’ll have a second look at the P170EM with a GTX 680M from AVADirect shortly after our full HD 7970M review, though, so stay tuned.
Finally, AMD did inform us that the current drivers aren’t fully optimized for performance (particularly with the 7970M), so we should hopefully see some gains with the final driver release—or if not then, the next release. Performance with GCN architecture desktop cards has been a little erratic since the launch, up until the latest Catalyst 12.7 drivers. I believe that the current beta drivers I’m using also predate 12.7 in some aspects (though they're version 9.0.0.0), so if that’s the case then the official release should clean things up quite a bit.
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Montage - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
Enduro is not working ok on any Windows. You get much poorer performance on EM-series Clevos with 7970m than with laptops that have the option to turn off Enduro (Alienware for example). At its current state, Enduro is not working properly and it is making gaming experience worse to those who are stuck with it.Follow the issue on Notebook Review's Sager/Clevo forums, that has many threads concerning the Enduro issue:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/sager-clevo/
There is also a Facebook page that has been created to spread the news about the malfunctioning Enduro technology:
http://www.facebook.com/Amd7000mEnduroUtilizationA...
I own a Clevo P170EM and have long hoped for a solution to Enduro issues that would finally fix my currently crippled AMD 7970M.
Woodchuck2000 - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
I almost wish I hadn't read those links!I was happy with gaming performance under Windows 7, in that it ran everything I threw at it quite happily. Knowing now that it should be even faster will annoy me now. Ah well...
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
This is the whole point of the article, guys: Enduro is basically not working all that well in the current form and the UI is terrible, but the preview drivers that should be out either this month or next should finally rectify the situation. Last month I would have said anyone buying an Enduro laptop was going to be sorry; now, at least, there's hope. If AMD delivers on their driver updates -- and really, they have to or their mobile GPUs are something no proper technology reviewer could recommend.hulawafu77 - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
Why recommend something or even give hope without any guarantee? This is just hearsay from you. As a consumer and someone who already spent $500 on a 7970M, the only thing I've heard from AMD is, a tweet, investigating the issue. Investigating? We know what the issue is, the driver for Enduro is broken! And they have known about it since it's inception, but never said anything, it wasn't until we started creating threads on every forum with a section for AMD drivers they tweeted that one small statement.Great they said something to you, but they still haven't said anything to us. And you still don't have drivers, preview of it to prove that this new update will even work!
JarredWalton - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
They're saying something via us, if that helps. They're saying, "We're finally going to start updating the drivers." There were no promises of Enduro drive updates prior to this point, so this is a big step. As for the drivers being poor on release, well, that's hardly a shock for a brand new hardware architecture -- all the more reason to not buy anything without the guarantee of driver updates.I'm sorry people purchased Enduro laptops and got burned. I have specifically recommended against doing so in the past. Now I'm saying that AMD is working to correct the problem. Is it corrected now? No. Will it be corrected soon? Maybe. Would I purchase or recommend an HD 7970M laptop right now? Definitely not (unless it doesn't have Enduro).
I would wait until at least the official public driver release, and probably one more release after that. By then 7970M is ready to be replaced by 7990M or something faster, but I suspect 7970M will be near the top of AMD's mobile GPU stack for at least another nine months. If they want us to recommend it, they need to fix the drivers.
vgray35@hotmail.com - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
This is a class action suite in the making. AMD has obtained a huge amount money for product that does not work, and has allowed 75% or more of the product's life cycle to elapse without addressing anything.AMD's next driver update is their last chance. If they do not fix it then I will be dumping AMD for NVIDIA period. I also have no problem joining a class action attack on that company. After years of buying AMD I will not just switch to NVIDIA, but I will become an avid enemy combatant.
I want a fraction of the money paid for the product to be refunded in compensation for this fiasco. If the company thinks its OK to attack us by forcing forums to delete posts, then I say we go on the offensive and attack them back in return, and see how they like it.
When they have lost a few hundred million dollars in damages, then maybe they will think twice about ever attacking their high paying customers ever gain. Respect us or expect to be attacked.
This is a bloody warning to AMD. Yes it is a threat. Fix it or die. Corporate arrogance can be punished in ways they have not even begun to think about yet.
Vozier - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
I hope you only mean "corporate death", this really doesnt justify personal harm...dont doubt that with or without FIX this issue is costing AMD a big market share, and an even bigger public opinion drop.
I can even foresee some public TV report on this wich will further sink AMD.
All this could happen if AMD doesnt sweat the hell fixing this and making people happy again..
regards
Voz
vgray35@hotmail.com - Thursday, September 6, 2012 - link
Did I not use the term corporate arrogance? Did I not mention class action suite? What part of that implies personal harm. Mere loss of market share might not be enough for me to address this corporate attack against their highest paying customers. Let them explain to a judge why such an attack was a requisite element towards the fix.Frallan - Friday, September 7, 2012 - link
Once some1 starts the class action - Im on it.../F
transphasic - Sunday, September 9, 2012 - link
I agree wholeheartedly with you on this. AMD released an incomplete product line that FAILED to do what it was SUPPOSED to do in it's advertising and marketing of the 7000 series GCN GPUs.Unlike Nvidia, AMD has chosen to be very slow in responding to it's customers' requests for driver updates and fixes to it's Enduro mess that it created. Not only slow, but downright rude, to say the least, because it is by it's silence been unresponsive to creating a workable solution for it's customers.
Both AMD and Sager told me last month that "there is not problem" with the 7970m GPU.
Nothing wrong with it? Are they kidding?
I believe this is mainly due to it's lack of care and concern for it's customer base.
We all bought 7970's and we are all greatly disappointed by what we got and are seeing in our games, and most of us feel that we should take action against AMD in some form or another.
My action is, I will pay the $800 dollars for the switchover to the Nvidia 680M at my earliest chance- even though I cannot afford it this year, and then I will wash my hands of AMD once and for all. This is how it will hurt AMD- in the wallet, with it's current customer base going elsewhere from now on to it's primary competitor.
Not to be a "Doubting Thomas" Jarred, but I am pretty much guaranteeing you that AMD won't have this Enduro mess fixed before the end of the year, if not at all.
I have made this prediction for this year, and I also feel that AMD will just ignore us with more placation and vague promises long enough, so that once their new 8000 series comes out in the Spring of 2013, they will hope that we owners of the 7970M will simply forget about it, and not care anymore.
I cannot wait for vague ambiguity and rhetoric from them, so I will save my pennies, dimes, and nickles, and spend it on a new 680M from Nvidia. At least I know that THEY care about their customers, unlike AMD which doesn't.