16F2 with 7970M first impressions (with pics and benches).

Meaker · 10 Jun 2012 at 03:35

FAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

But at the utter limit of what the motherboard can supply. If you fully overclock it at stock volts (for me at least) it will trip the motherboard and shut off the system.

I think it's the total draw (tested with 150W and 180W bricks with the same results) causing the issue as disabling two CPU cores reduced the restarting but obviously is not the best when you want to use the system.

This may be a limitation of the 560M version, 570M versions came with different power components so may be up to the task.

However with a slight (1.05v to 1.025v) undervolt I have gone from stock speeds of 850/1200 to 940/1575 which is a nice level of performance to have.

Some pics:

GPU power rework + pads for back of gfx cards.

Pic of it all installed.

Pic of modified 5870 heatsink.

Pic of the card

985/1575 at stock volts, note that it's not quite stable at these settings (will shut off under peak load).

I think I have zeroed in on 940/1575 1.025v for 24/7.

FredFlint · 10 Jun 2012 at 14:50

Looks very good. I want two for my r1.

This is what 2*6990m's gets on Ultra preset with 4xAA:

Meaker · 11 Jun 2012 at 14:20

Yeah pretty damn fast

Purgatory · 12 Jun 2012 at 12:38

What settings were used for the game ?

Resolution ?

Max settings ?

Which view setting were you in when benchmarking (in car, outside view etc ) ? (The view set can make a difference too).

Meaker · 13 Jun 2012 at 02:32

Outside, ultra preset, 4x aa, 1080p.

Purgatory · 13 Jun 2012 at 10:55

Thanks Meaker. Will have to have a bench of the 6970M to compare.

Antx777 · 15 Jun 2012 at 00:11

With my 6970 I get 41 AVG, and 36 min on maxed out settings 4aa/ultra/1080P etc. Can't say its not very playable

- its smooth

Mercutio · 17 Aug 2012 at 14:08

Sorry for the necro - will this work in a GX660R? Going from a 5870m to this would be quite a shot in the arm I think

Meaker · 17 Aug 2012 at 23:05

You need a 180W PSU but yeah it should too

You don't want to be paring it with an OCed 920xm though lol. You will get cut out at that point.

Mirage · 18 Aug 2012 at 08:41

I was looking to pair a 940xm with a 7970M on my 16F1, but I'm guessing thats a no no?

I thought the F2 came with 3 heatpipes, or is that just the F3?

Meaker · 18 Aug 2012 at 11:53

You can, just don't expect to overclock both CPU and GPU.

At the time I could only find a 2 heatpipe cooler so used that.

FlyingFish · 5 Jan 2013 at 21:36

Hi Meaker

Sorry for digging up your old thread, but Ive been thinking about trying the upgrade to a 7970m.

At tthe moment I have a GX660r modded with a 920xm and a 6970m, both overclocked, and the 6970m actually overvolted! Powered by an Alienware 180W psu everything works fine with the fan on full whack for gaming. And has been stable like this for ages now. I have different throttlestop & atitools profiles setup for 2D & 3D and also battery and mains power etc..

But dam I would like to turn up a few more visuals on Farcry3

Now I'd imagine that running a 7970m should be easier on the power draw and heatsink temps, due to the smaller die...Right?? So running and overclocking a 7970m shouldnt be an issue?? Any thoughts?

I started with a stock 5870m heatsink, and dremeled it to suit the 6970m, do you know if it will fit the 7970m or do I need to dremel some more, buy a new sink?

And speaking of buying, any idea where I can get a 7970m at a decent price? They seem pretty rare still, and theres not much info on which version has the right bios for my GX660r....I remember nervously flashing my 6970m with a modded bios to enable the HDMI audio..Hope I dont have to go thru that again!

Thanks for any advice.

Mick