How To: Disable ULPS (CFX - Windows 10 - CRIMSON)

BradleyW · Jan 11, 2016

Introduction

ULPS is an ultra low power saving feature which turns off all GPU's except the primary one in use. ULPS can cause crashing / stuttering / reduced scaling when enabled. ULPS is always enabled by default. It can't be fully disabled via software such as MSI Afterburner or Sapphire Trixx (as of 11/01/2016) since AMD Crimson (and some previous CCC versions) changed various reg entries which controlled ULPS. Before following the guide, read the Q & A below.

Solution

1) Click Start - Type regedit.exe and hit enter.
2) In reg editor, press F3 and type EnableULPS, hit enter.

3) Keep pressing F3 until it finds a key called EnableUlps in a sub folder called 0000
4) Double click the reg entry and change value from 1 to 0.

5) Keep pressing F3 until it finds a key called EnableUlps in a sub folder called 0001
6) Double click the reg entry and change value from 1 to 0.

QA

Can't I just disable ULPS in MSI Afterburner?
It no longer fully disables ULPS. Trixx also has issues doing so.

Why is the first EnableUlps key set to 0 already?
MSI Afterburner most likely set this key to 0 when you tried to disable ULPS. Just leave it and find the next key required.

Should I reboot after following the guide?
Yes. For settings to take effect.

Will idle power usage increase?
Yes. If that's an issue, change the reg keys back to 1 after a gaming session and reboot.

Any danger?
Yes. Incorrect values can cause software issues. Make backups of files and the registry if you are new to reg edit.

Why disable ULPS?
Some games don't scale well, causing reduced performance, stuttering and system crashes.

Should I have CFX enabled in "Radeon Additional Settings" before following the guide?
It does not matter.

I upgraded/downgraded drivers. Is ULPS still disabled?
No. Follow the guide to disable ULPS once again.

I can see Enableulps_NA, what should I do with it?
Nothing at all, don't touch it.

I'm confused, where and what are these sub folders?
You'll see them on the left hand side. They are like any other folder/directory.

Pressing F3 yields a lot of hits for ULPS, is this normal?
Yes. Don't edit any Ulps keys expect the ones stated.

Can I enable/disable CFX whenever I want after following the guide without breaking anything?
Yes, you are safe to enable/disable CFX at will.

Where are the exact keys found exactly?
Here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE < SYSTEM < ControlSet001 < Class < 4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318 < 0000
and
Here: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE < SYSTEM < ControlSet001 < Class < 4d36e968-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318 < 0001

UPDATED 19/01/2016 DD/MM/YYYY

ZealotKi11er · Jan 11, 2016

Thank You Sir.

diggiddi · Jan 11, 2016

Do any of the BF or Crysis series have issues with ULPS also what about CARS?

BradleyW · Jan 11, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by diggiddi

Do any of the BF or Crysis series have issues with ULPS also what about CARS?

From personal experience, yes. It may vary from configuration to configuration.
A good way to tell is if usage is much lower on gpu2 compared to gpu1. If you are reading the usage with MSI AB, disable unified GPU usage monitoring. Unified GPU usage monitoring just mirrors the usage of gpu1 and applies it to gpu2/3/4. I'm sure you can all tell in many ways how and why this is a problem.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ZealotKi11er

Thank You Sir.

You are most welcome.
Thank you.
Edit:
QA Updated and complete.

ZealotKi11er · Jan 11, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by diggiddi

Do any of the BF or Crysis series have issues with ULPS also what about CARS?

If you try to OC yes. You will crash Instantly if you pass CCC limits.

BradleyW · Jan 12, 2016

OP Updated.
Intro and solution added/tweaked.
QA Updated.

kevindd992002 · Jan 13, 2016

Is ULPS only applicable for ATI?

BradleyW · Jan 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevindd992002

Is ULPS only applicable for ATI?

AMD, yes. Nvidia, no.

kevindd992002 · Jan 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradleyW

AMD, yes. Nvidia, no.

Is there an equivalent feature in NVIDIA cards that we need to disable though?

BradleyW · Jan 13, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevindd992002

Is there an equivalent feature in NVIDIA cards that we need to disable though?

I did a quick search and it "seems" all cards operate in 2D clock mode when you are not gaming. There are a few articles about hybrid SLI power saving but that information was posted from 2008, so I'm not sure. I'd ask in the Nvidia section. I only know about AMD CFX and Crimson when it comes to power saving, sorry.

kevindd992002 · Jan 14, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradleyW

I did a quick search and it "seems" all cards operate in 2D clock mode when you are not gaming. There are a few articles about hybrid SLI power saving but that information was posted from 2008, so I'm not sure. I'd ask in the Nvidia section. I only know about AMD CFX and Crimson when it comes to power saving, sorry.

No worries, thanks!

BradleyW · Jan 14, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by kevindd992002

No worries, thanks!

No problem my friend. Good luck and let me know if you find any info.

ZealotKi11er · Jan 15, 2016

There should be like a one click tool. I change drivers way too often.

BradleyW · Jan 18, 2016

OP update:

QA Updated.

DMatthewStewart · Feb 15, 2016

Thanks. One question: If I have a fresh install of Windows, Drivers, and AB, and I have not touched ULPS yet, do I edit the first key you mentioned here:
Quote:

Originally Posted by BradleyW

[/B]Why is the first EnableUlps key set to 0 already?[/B]
MSI Afterburner most likely set this key to 0 when you tried to disable ULPS. Just leave it and find the next key required.

Its hard to tell if that first setting even matters. It sounds like AB tries to use this to disable it and fails. But since I havent done anything yet on this install, I just need to know if I should change that first reg key or leave it alone

BradleyW · Feb 15, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by DMatthewStewart

Thanks. One question: If I have a fresh install of Windows, Drivers, and AB, and I have not touched ULPS yet, do I edit the first key you mentioned here:
Its hard to tell if that first setting even matters. It sounds like AB tries to use this to disable it and fails. But since I havent done anything yet on this install, I just need to know if I should change that first reg key or leave it alone

Yes. Change it to 0. Both keys must be set to 0 to disable ULPS. MSI AB can only disable the first key on it's own. Both keys are equally important.

TK421 · Mar 28, 2016

How does this apply to windows 7?

CurvedLine · Mar 28, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by TK421

How does this apply to windows 7?

In the search field (above the Start Orb) type
regedit
right-click on the regedit.exe shortcut that appears -> run as admin
In Registry, on the left highlight HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE.
Hit Ctrl+F, and in the Find field fill in:
enableulps
and hit Enter (or click Next) or hit F3 for next.
At every instance of EnableUlps change the value from 1 to 0
Don't touch EnableUlps_NA
Close Registry
Reboot the PC

DMatthewStewart · Mar 30, 2016

Quote:

Originally Posted by BradleyW

Yes. Change it to 0. Both keys must be set to 0 to disable ULPS. MSI AB can only disable the first key on it's own. Both keys are equally important.

You rock, thanks. Im going over to 10 this week. Fingers crossed that Aquasuite doesnt give me issues this time. So I'll be needing this

spyshagg · Mar 30, 2016

There are at least 5 or 6 entries in regedit with enableulps = 1, not just two.

But, as the guide suggests, disable all!

neojack · Sep 28, 2016

hand down still the best guide about disabling ULPS available on the internet ! I on't know how AMD did not take this problem into consideration already.

i mean, i can't even wath a video on youtube with ULPS on, that's crazy

Faster_is_better · Oct 4, 2016

Is this still relevant for newer Crimson drivers?

BradleyW · Oct 4, 2016

Yes.

Faster_is_better · Oct 7, 2016

Well this seems to be a step in the right direction for my OC. Ever since Win10 + Crimson my GPU's couldn't OC even close to as good as on Win 7. The randomness of OCing was really garbage. Hopefully this fixed my issue (quick testing looked promising last night though).

Thanks

SILENTDEATH316 · Oct 26, 2016

I have the MSI 990fxa gaming board and no matter the ULPS state it will show the 2nd or 3rd card in board monitor in bios but it never shows more then one in device manager.never get the option to crossfire in CCC or crimson no matter the driver.bout ready to chunk it and go back with a msi 990fxa gd80 thats always worked awesome.any ideas? i even wrote a batch file that disables ULPS every time the computer reboots to no avail.before this mobo gets a 75rnd drum in it i would honestly like to SEE IT WORK ONCE

DMatthewStewart · Jan 1, 2017

I do have one question and I hope it hasnt already been asked and answered. But, lately it seems that AB and Crimson dont play together well. One example is that Crimson will save the OC I set in AB even when I do not check the "apply overclock at startup". So when I black screen hitting max OC it can be tricky getting the machine post and boot. My question is this: If we disable this way WITHOUT first disabling ULPS in AB, are there additional entries that we need to look for? (ie the entry that AB wouldve changed by disabling ULPS through its interface). In earlier versions of Crimson one of the registry values mentioned here was changed by AB and one was not. Is that still the same scenario?

How To: Disable ULPS (CFX - Windows 10 - CRIMSON)

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