Calling on 7850, 7870, 7950 and 7970 owners

Nuclear Fusion · 20 Sep 2012 at 14:54

My 7950 TF3 stock voltage is 993mv, and so far it can do 1000 MHz on the core. 1050 MHz was stable for one heaven run, but crashed the second time. Pretty low stock voltage, most 7950's seem to have 1093mv.

chris-82 · 20 Sep 2012 at 15:18

humbug said:
GPU-Z - sensors tab - VDDC, if you check box 'log to file' it records the volts into a text file in your documents.

For Overclocking i find Sapphire TRIXX best.

highest recorded on the gpuz log was 0.979 is this a good low voltage?
whats the max volts i can go from here?
not sure where to start should i put a voltage value in(not sure how much) then up the clocks untill it crashes then lower down a little then start to reduce volts until it crashes then add a little then leave or?

humbug · 20 Sep 2012 at 15:34

Once you have installed TRIXX https://www.sapphireselectclub.com/ssc/TriXX/TriXX.aspx

Scroll down, what you should see there is VDDC, ignore what it says in mine your does not go that high.

First overclock the core without any voltage increase and use this http://unigine.com/products/heaven/ to stress test. how to stress test is to click run and then hit F9 when it starts, that will re load it for a bench, let it run the full cycle.
If it crashes during benching your overclock is unstable, it will go black for a few seconds and then stop, you will get a driver crashed error, reboot the computer and set the clock where they crashed and add some volts to it, 30 / 50Mv and run it agin. if it crashes again you might need more volts.

Do this in 20 / 25Mhz increments.

Don't go to high on the volts, i have 50mv left before it maxes out. that's perfectly safe for 24/7 use, you should only use max volts for benching points and even then don't do that all the time.

RetrogamerX · 20 Sep 2012 at 15:47

humbug said:
^^^ AMD use Hynix Memory IC's, in your case (H5GQ2H24MFR-ROC) which rated for 80c

@ RetrogamerX, it's up to you, try 1.15v

Do you mean 1150 on vccd on trixx?

humbug · 20 Sep 2012 at 15:53

RetrogamerX said:
Do you mean 1150 on vccd on trixx?

Yes

RetrogamerX · 20 Sep 2012 at 15:55

Is my card ok for raising the voltage? slowly of course

What about memory clock? do I raise that too?

Also I just installed a cooler, my temps are much better now. My idle before was 50 to 55C now it's 30 to 32C. When gaming it's 46C. much better then the 78C I was getting

humbug · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:02

RetrogamerX said:
Is my card ok for raising the voltage? slowly of course

What about memory clock? do I raise that too?

At your own risk! But yes, just as long as you don't crank it right up and leave it there like some idiots do.

Yes. again in 50Mhz increments, look for image corruption while stress testing.

RetrogamerX · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:05

humbug said:
At your own risk! But yes, just as long as you don't crank it right up and leave it there like some idiots do.

Yes. again in 50Mhz increments, look for image corruption while stress testing.

ok thanks mate

humbug · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:12

No problem

chris-82 · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:24

humbug said:
Once you have installed TRIXX https://www.sapphireselectclub.com/ssc/TriXX/TriXX.aspx

Scroll down, what you should see there is VDDC, ignore what it says in mine your does not go that high.

First overclock the core without any voltage increase and use this http://unigine.com/products/heaven/ to stress test. how to stress test is to click run and then hit F9 when it starts, that will re load it for a bench, let it run the full cycle.
If it crashes during benching your overclock is unstable, it will go black for a few seconds and then stop, you will get a driver crashed error, reboot the computer and set the clock where they crashed and add some volts to it, 30 / 50Mv and run it agin. if it crashes again you might need more volts.

Do this in 20 / 25Mhz increments.

Don't go to high on the volts, i have 50mv left before it maxes out. that's perfectly safe for 24/7 use, you should only use max volts for benching points and even then don't do that all the time.

Thanks for the info
I will use Msi afterburner though as I prefer this program(like the onscreen display and options) but will use your way of testing.
Is it worth trying to push the memory past 1600mhz? And if so would I need to adjust voltage? What's the limits regarding this?

wazza300 · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:26

after a certain point the memory throttles itself to stay stable,around 1300-1400mhz is the sweetspot imo

i find asus gpu tweak to be the best oc program

humbug · 20 Sep 2012 at 16:52

chris-82 said:
Thanks for the info
I will use Msi afterburner though as I prefer this program(like the onscreen display and options) but will use your way of testing.
Is it worth trying to push the memory past 1600mhz? And if so would I need to adjust voltage? What's the limits regarding this?

I actualy use MSI AB just for the OSD, no overclocking, i run them both at the same time. TRIXX just works better with my card for overclocking.

On the memory, you can try but i have not been able to get my memory stable at all at 1600Mhz, 1550 is my limit.

MyBrainz · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:09

Sapphire 7950 OC 950MHz Edition (7970 PCB) 1.056 stock volts.

chris-82 · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:29

humbug said:
I actualy use MSI AB just for the OSD, no overclocking, i run them both at the same time. TRIXX just works better with my card for overclocking.

On the memory, you can try but i have not been able to get my memory stable at all at 1600Mhz, 1550 is my limit.

tbh i have had no problems putting the memory upto 1600mhz not sure if i would see any gain though going past this or would i?

so have been tinkering and this is what i have got so far (volts could still be lowered need to fine tune them.

so have been tinkering and this is what i have got so far (volts could still be lowered need to fine tune them).

msi 7950 twin frozr

asic: 92%
stock:
volt's: 0.993v
core : 880mhz
memory: 1250mhz
heaven benchmark:1258
@65c

volts:1.0v
core:1050mhz
memory: 1600mhz
heaven benchmark: 1492
@68c

volts:1.049v
core: 1100mhz
memory: 1600mhz
heaven benchmark: 1559
@72c

volts:1.1
core: 1150mhz
memory: 1600mhz
heaven benchmark: 1619
@73-75c

does this seem about right? when should i worry about temps?
when i got to 1200 core i started to see problems in the screen like ghosting or artifacting(never seen these before so guessing it is) like small white pieces on the screen not many but i instantly stopped the benchmark, am i right in saying that because of this thats the limit of my card (well below).

i also have the fps scores for each benchmark if people are intrested.

humbug · 20 Sep 2012 at 17:36

chris-82 said:
tbh i have had no problems putting the memory upto 1600mhz not sure if i would see any gain though going past this or would i?

so have been tinkering and this is what i have got so far (volts could still be lowered need to fine tune them.

so have been tinkering and this is what i have got so far (volts could still be lowered need to fine tune them).

msi 7950 twin frozr

asic: 92%
stock:
volt's: 0.993v
core : 880mhz
memory: 1250mhz
heaven benchmark:1258
@65c

volts:1.0v
core:1050mhz
memory: 1600mhz
heaven benchmark: 1492
@68c

volts:1.049v
core: 1100mhz
memory: 1600mhz
heaven benchmark: 1559
@72c

volts:1.1
core: 1150mhz
memory: 1600mhz
heaven benchmark: 1619
@73-75c

does this seem about right? when should i worry about temps?
when i got to 1200 core i started to see problems in the screen like ghosting or artifacting(never seen these before so guessing it is) like small white pieces on the screen not many but i instantly stopped the benchmark, am i right in saying that because of this thats the limit of my card (well below).

i also have the fps scores for each benchmark if people are intrested.

Oh? 7950...? yes, sorry they have higher binned memory IC's than 7870's...

You might even get that to 1700Mhz.

anyway yes, it looks like your hitting the limit of overclocking both in temps and with the artifacting there. really i would be more comfortable with temp at 70c but no more, altho 75c is still well with in limits, can you turn the fan up 10%, that might bring it down.

shankly1985 · 20 Sep 2012 at 19:32

7950 stock 1.031 volts mine oc 1005 core and memory [email protected]

chris-82 · 20 Sep 2012 at 19:43

humbug said:
Oh? 7950...? yes, sorry they have higher binned memory IC's than 7870's...

You might even get that to 1700Mhz.

anyway yes, it looks like your hitting the limit of overclocking both in temps and with the artifacting there. really i would be more comfortable with temp at 70c but no more, altho 75c is still well with in limits, can you turn the fan up 10%, that might bring it down.

well after u said that i tried for 1700mhz on the memory i used this overclock from earlier:

volts:1.0v
core:1050mhz
memory: 1600mhz (chnaged to 1700mhz)
heaven benchmark: 1492 with the memory changed this went upto 1822!
@68c

i have put no extra voltage on for the memory either im quite impressed with this card so far or is this normal?
not sure if to push more.
will be doing a run at my higher clocks with this memory setting

whats a safe 24/7 clock for this card(7950)?

psychodil · 20 Sep 2012 at 19:51

chris-82 said:
well after u said that i tried for 1700mhz on the memory i used this overclock from earlier:

volts:1.0v
core:1050mhz
memory: 1600mhz (chnaged to 1700mhz)
heaven benchmark: 1492 with the memory changed this went upto 1822!
@68c

i have put no extra voltage on for the memory either im quite impressed with this card so far or is this normal?
not sure if to push more.
will be doing a run at my higher clocks with this memory setting

whats a safe 24/7 clock for this card(7950)?

Yes I wouldnt go any higher on the memory, sounds like you have found a sweet spot. I would aim for 1100 on the core, youve got a little way to go in terms of temps. Remember your gaming temps will typically be lower, especially if you game with vsync.

chris-82 · 20 Sep 2012 at 20:01

psychodil said:
Yes I wouldnt go any higher on the memory, sounds like you have found a sweet spot. I would aim for 1100 on the core, youve got a little way to go in terms of temps. Remember your gaming temps will typically be lower, especially if you game with vsync.

hi thanks for the info,is that 1100 for 24/7 clocks? as a few posts up you can see i have run other clock speeds also.

just want a nice safe 24/7 clock to use really.

LtMatt · 20 Sep 2012 at 20:08

Sounds like you got a great clocker Chris. Enjoy it and bask in the glory knowing you're getting more than you paid for.