Keeping my XFX Fatboy (Radeon RX 590 w/ 8 GDDR5)under control with AMD’s “Adrenaline”.
This is not “Step by Step” tutorial but a still on the point information to get on top of the stability (power vs performance) issues,
This graphic card without tuning and few tweaks quickly overheats under high loads in “modern” demanding tasks like GAMING.
Last time I did this was around three years ago. During crypto mining on this GPU (no BIOS mods).
To find the optimal settings configuration I was monitoring and tweaking the settings in “Adrenaline” while the “crypto miner” was running. That way I can monitor GPU performance and power parameters as it was preforming that given task.
Now I use Unigiene’s “Valley” benchmark while live tuning. I tried “3DMark DEMO” first but it stops running as I switch “ALT-Tab” to “Adrenaline Software” window. With “Valley” that is possible.
On the bottom of this article are the links to other online resources on this topic (software download, other related posts).
Persistent Custom Settings Configuration
To keep my settings configuration “persistent” I use “Snap Settings (Import | Export) in “Settings/System”, to save snapshot of user settings as a Zip file. That is for general Adrenaline software customisation.
More important are the configuration settings under “Performance/Tuning”. Here I can save my custom (for stability) “Tuning Control” settings configuration into .xml file, with import or export icons.
Performance Tuning For Stability
When the GPU and drivers are installed for the first time the defaults are loaded here.
I enable “GPU Tuning”, “Fan Tuning” and “Power Tuning”. And change settings just enough to create initial but stable settings configuration and save it (export profile).
NOTE: I’m doing this during cold Autumn period (no room heating in North Central Mediterranean) at time of writing and doing this tuning.
I will fine tune for optimal performance vs power consumption and save that profile when I’m happy along the way. Now, stability first.
Fan Tuning First
Enable “Advanced Control” and set to “aggressive” configuration and get the fans to start blowing faster.
Temperature at 70° C is critical as higher than that it becomes unstable. So, I set fan speed to 100% here.
Final temperatures and fans RPM depend of environment conditions or time of year. For that reason I have at least two tuning profiles save, one for winter cold and another for summer hot seasons periods.
Max. Frequency (%) GPU Tuning Is Next
For the start I don’t need “Advanced Control” right away.
Initially I set “Max, Frequency” to -5. That was enough along with the changes to power in next section.
Power Tuning Considerations
Maybe I don’t need to change this, I did it anyway. And change from previous step would be enough.
I did set “Power Limit” to 11 at this point. Many articles on topic discuss and suggest applying the “UnderVolting” and “UnderClocking”.
For me these changes where enough to prevent crashes during high GPU loads like “3DMark DEMO” “Steel Nomad” benchmark, that usually crashes when GPU gets to around 75° C on default driver settings.
My GPU Is Not Faulty
Now I know for certain that I can still reliably use XFX RX 590 Fatboy in my production. And continue tuning the setting from here.
Gaming is not my first these days. That software is still useful to practically determine the state of PC hardware.
From this point
Useful external resources
- Unigine’s “ValleY” benchmark download page link.
- Undervolting chapter in “Budget-Builds Official” “Is AMD’s RX580 Obsolete in 2025?” video.
- “XFX RX590 Fatboy OC+ Tips” found at “Folding Forum”
- “FYI: how I fixed crashing Rx590 (black screen, fans at max speed)” from “TechPowerUp Forums”.
- Also a good one on “RX 590 Keeps Crashing/Blacking Out” from “Linus Tech Tips”
- “Why adjust the power limit to +10%?” from “reddit”
- “Xfx rx 590 fatboy black screen crash” form “reddit”.
What about Linux?
That I will try out next time.
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