AMD - How To Overclock The Official Way Using Afterburner + Step By Step Overclocking Guide + Comple

MOOGLEYS · 7 Nov 2012 at 18:56

I run BF3 1080p all on ultra and it never drops below 60fps even in 3D. Having two makes a huge difference especially in BF3.

My top card will hit 80.c if they are pushed. Sleeping dogs drives the fans crazy for some reason.

shankly1985 · 7 Nov 2012 at 19:02

MOOGLEYS said:
I run BF3 1080p all on ultra and it never drops below 60fps even in 3D. Having two makes a huge difference especially in BF3.

My top card will hit 80.c if they are pushed. Sleeping dogs drives the fans crazy for some reason.

Yer sleeping dogs is very bad. Another one is Alan wake wow that game pushes my system. When I started OC it was Alan wake that showed my OC was bad.

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 12:33

For anyone still wanting to use/try this method. I have updated the OP and will post the info here as well.

A short guide oh how to overclock the Official way using AMD's powerplay tables but without the restricted clock limits you encounter with CCC whilst using msi afterburner.

This method also eliminates screen flicker problems that are associated with un-official overclocking methods such as those used by other apps and afterburner's ulterior overclock method which involves editing a config and placing two old Ati files in a windows folder.

1. Download the Latest AMD Drivers+Caps.
http://support.amd.com/us/gpudownload/windows/Pages/radeonaiw_vista64.aspx

2. Download the latest version of afterburner.
http://download1.msi.com/files/downloads/uti_exe/vga/MSIAfterburnerSetup225.zip

3. Download & install driver sweeper. Start up driver sweeper, disable backup.
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4266-driver-sweeper.html

4. Download this file & keep it safe. atipdlxx.dll is the file name.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/tqui4i

6. Un-install any other versions of Afterburner, Trixxx, GPU Tweak etc. Don't want other apps interfering. Do not keep user settings, delete everything.

7. Un-install AMD Drivers + Caps.

8. Restart into safe mode. Once in safe mode run driver sweeper, analyse, then clean all AMD entries.

9. Restart your pc, boot into windows as normal. Install the latest drivers, before you restart and after you finished installing the new drivers, install the caps as well. Restart.

10. Once booted back into windows, install afterburner. Once its installed run it, it will prompt you to restart, restart.

11. Once back in windows place atipdlxx.dll into the root afterburner folder like so.

12. Create a shortcut to msi afterburner and place it on your desktop. Right click the shortcut, properties and add /xcl to the target box. Click ok+apply, then run the shortcut like so. Delete /xcl once you get the clock limits message.

13. Restart your pc. Once back into windows open afterburner, go to options and enable voltage control and monitoring like so.

14. Do not unlock overdrive in CCC. You should now be able to overclock the official way without the clock limits imposed by AMD. You should be flicker free when changing clock speeds. If you're not then its likely something else that is causing the problem. I'm able to replicate the flicker by switching back to un-official overclock methods.

Here are some suggested fan profiles which you can use with afterburners manual fan control for 79xx users.

Silent - Stock

Quiet - Light overclock

Normal - Decent overclock

Balanced - Performance version of normal, no increase in sound level but better, quicker cooling.

Performance - For Large Overclocks

Performance Extreme - Extreme version of performance with no increase in sound level but better, quicker cooling.

Benchmark - For extreme overclocks to bench

Benchmark Extreme - Extreme version of benchmark with no increase in sound level but better, quicker cooling.

~Mike~ · 8 Nov 2012 at 12:54

I know who to speak to when I eventually get my 7970

Great work there again Matt, bored by any chance

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 12:57

Mike306 said:
Great work there again Matt, bored by any chance

Always.

Its 1pm though so its time for my afternoon nap.

Kralnor · 8 Nov 2012 at 13:21

Cheers for the updated version of your guide!

My memory clock won't drop below 600 though when idle, is this normal?

NZB · 8 Nov 2012 at 13:37

Thanks for that update Matt, it prompted me to stop being lazy and switch back to AB from GPU Tweak, was really starting to miss the OSD.

You forgot to mention removing the /xcl from the shortcut after you run it. Had to google to make sure and came across your old guide elsewhere

Edit - hmm, voltage doesn't unlock and the clock speed is locked at 1120 :/

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:07

Kralnor said:
Cheers for the updated version of your guide!

My memory clock won't drop below 600 though when idle, is this normal?

NZB said:
Thanks for that update Matt, it prompted me to stop being lazy and switch back to AB from GPU Tweak, was really starting to miss the OSD.

You forgot to mention removing the /xcl from the shortcut after you run it. Had to google to make sure and came across your old guide elsewhere

Edit - hmm, voltage doesn't unlock and the clock speed is locked at 1120 :/

Kralnor did you follow the guide from 1 to the end? Maybe you should try that just to rule out any old conflict.

Are you both using the latest AMD beta, beta 6 which fixes the idle clock bug?

AMD display driver version 9.01.8
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/beta/AMD_Catalyst_12.11_Beta6_dotNET4.exe

I added the part to remove /xcl, cheers. Knew id miss something out.

NZB, what card are you using? Did afterburner always work for you with this card?

~Mike~ · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:26

Matt you've only edited the OP, don't forget the one above #243

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:29

Mike306 said:
Matt you've only edited the OP, don't forget the one above #243

Thanks mum.

Antowns · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:30

Thanks for this guide, gonna give it a go when I get home, I was overclocking via CCC, I see you wrote not to enable it? Can I just disable CCC and swap to the MSI utility?

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:31

Antowns said:
Thanks for this guide, gonna give it a go when I get home, I was overclocking via CCC, I see you wrote not to enable it? Can I just disable CCC and swap to the MSI utility?

You can, or should be able to.

If i was you id start from begging of the guide and go right through to the end. Better to be safe than sorry imo.

I let afterburner take care of everything and keep CCC locked.

~Mike~ · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:34

LtMatt said:
Thanks mum.

Slacker

Next time take a longer nap

Kralnor · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:37

LtMatt said:
Kralnor did you follow the guide from 1 to the end? Maybe you should try that just to rule out any old conflict.

Are you both using the latest AMD beta, beta 6 which fixes the idle clock bug?

AMD display driver version 9.01.8
http://www2.ati.com/drivers/beta/AMD_Catalyst_12.11_Beta6_dotNET4.exe

I followed your guide to the letter, except I used Driver Fusion rather than Driver Sweeper. As I understand it, Driver Fusion is simply a continuation of Driver Sweeper, which seems to no longer be maintained.

I should also mention that I had the problem right off the bat after installing the new Beta 6 drivers. I checked with GPU-Z and idle clocks were 300/1200 before I even installed Afterburner.

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:40

Kralnor said:
I followed your guide to the letter, except I used Driver Fusion rather than Driver Sweeper. As I understand it, Driver Fusion is simply a continuation of Driver Sweeper, which seems to no longer be maintained.

Yeah i heard Driver Fusion leaves a few files behind as opposed to driver sweeper which removes them all, but i doubt thats your problem.

Are you 100% sure you're using the beta 6 driver? Sorry, its all i can think of lol.

Kralnor · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:45

Yup, I'm completely positive.

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 15:46

Kralnor said:
Yup, I'm completely positive.

Well i guess you can't get it right for everyone, sorry my friend going to have to let you slip through. :confused:

NZB · 8 Nov 2012 at 16:03

LtMatt said:
NZB, what card are you using? Did afterburner always work for you with this card?

IceQ 2GB 7850 and nah afterburner didn't work with it before either (hadn't read up on tweaking it the first time). It's a new card last week so i just switched to GPU Tweak straight away when i saw AB wasn't giving control, today was the first time trying afterburner properly on this card.

Followed your guide multiple times earlier and no joy, it's a single card but even tried with and without CAPS. I've settled for going back to GPU Tweak for the OC and Afterburner for the OSD for now but would have been nice to get rid of GPU Tweak.

Thinking of sending this card back anyway as the fan rattle is back.

LtMatt · 8 Nov 2012 at 16:05

NZB said:
IceQ 2GB 7850 and nah afterburner didn't work with it before either (hadn't read up on tweaking it the first time). It's a new card last week so i just switched to GPU Tweak straight away when i saw AB wasn't giving control, today was the first time trying afterburner properly on this card.

Followed your guide multiple times earlier and no joy, it's a single card but even tried with and without CAPS. I've settled for going back to GPU Tweak for the OC and Afterburner for the OSD for now but would have been nice to get rid of GPU Tweak.

Thinking of sending this card back anyway as the fan rattle is back.

For some reason there are a few type of cards that afterburner won't allow voltage control for, sadly yours is one of them i fear. Trixxx or gpu tweak should work for you, but you might have to put up with the flicker problem for now.

IRLeetly · 11 Nov 2012 at 12:31

I am also one of the unlucky few who are stuck using two pieces of software to OC (MSI 7850 2gb Twin Frozr), no biggy really.

Will try the new walkthrough later today and update, as the latest AB still doesn't give voltage unlock once checked in settings.

Good work again OP.