Pushing a 7970 past 1.2GHz

[tribz]

Doing a bit of benching on my 7970 for the fun of it but struggling to get it to clock past 1.2GHz. Most I can seem to get is 1.185GHz. Once past that, I get some artifacting / texture flicker in Vantage. Memory is 1575MHz.

Its a voltage unlocked reference card under water. Temps mid 40's under load, VRM's less than that. I've tried gradually increasing the volts all the way to 1.3 but it doesn't make any difference

Have I reached the furthest I can go? Bit strange how voltage increases don't allow me to push it further.

 

[LtMatt]

Doing a bit of benching on my 7970 for the fun of it but struggling to get it to clock past 1.2GHz. Most I can seem to get is 1.185GHz. Once past that, I get some artifacting / texture flicker in Vantage. Memory is 1575MHz.

Its a voltage unlocked reference card under water. Temps mid 40's under load, VRM's less than that. I've tried gradually increasing the volts all the way to 1.3 but it doesn't make any difference

Have I reached the furthest I can go? Bit strange how voltage increases don't allow me to push it further.

Use Unigine for initial stability testing, then games for final stability testing. However it could just be that you have a average clocker. Perhaps you should dial the memory back to stock 1500 while you try to find the maximum on the core first. Its unlikely to make a difference but its worth a shot.

 

[tribz]

Use Unigine for initial stability testing, then games for final stability testing. However it could just be that you have a average clocker. Perhaps you should dial the memory back to stock 1500 while you try to find the maximum on the core first. Its unlikely to make a difference but its worth a shot.

Just did a test in Valley at 1.2GHz, 1.187v and it went through fine with no artifacting. I'll see how far I can take it.

I've think I've seen the artifacting in Vantage and thought right, its a fail as it could artifact in games. So its pretty safe to ignore that then?

 

[LtMatt]

Just did a test in Valley at 1.2GHz, 1.187v and it went through fine with no artifacting. I'll see how far I can take it.

I've think I've seen the artifacting in Vantage and thought right, its a fail as it could artifact in games. So its pretty safe to ignore that then?

Once you want final stability use farcry 3 for core testing and sleeping dogs for memory testing.(if possible) If not any current demanding dx11 game should suffice.

 

[tribz]

Hmm, got some texture flicker in Heaven 3 with 1.2GHz/1.25v. VRM1 got to 50 degrees which I dont think is too hot?

Get the feeling its not going to be stable above 1.185GHz which strangely it can do on stock voltage.

 

[ArchAndroid]

Do you maintain your 1575 mem clock when trying to overclock the core?

It's easier to dial in the core clock first and then attack the memory clock afterwards.

 

[tribz]

Yes, defaulted the memory clock and worked upwards on the core.

 

[LtMatt]

Yes, defaulted the memory clock and worked upwards on the core.

Have you tried working your way up the voltage really slowly, one notch at a time? Some 7970 cards work better with less voltage as opposed to more. What is your asic ? If you can reach 1185 on stock voltage then it does seem odd that you can't go further without artifacts.

 

[pgi947]

Use a couple of programs to test stability, not just one. The vantage issue could be down to something unrelated to your GPU.

All else fails, try modded trixx (1.38v) or the Asus Test OC bios (1.4v with GPUT) and give it some more juice.

Happily wrench 1270/1800 out of my ref 7970's @ 1.3/1.625v under water