6970 DCII

Howling

Howling

Howling

Soldato
Joined
14 Sep 2008
Posts
2,814
Location
Peterborough
Hey guys, usually don't like asking for help, but this one has me stumped.
Rig is as follows;

Case: RC1100 Cosmos S
PSU: PC Power and Cooling Silencer Quad Pro 750W
Mobo: Asus P8P67 Pro
CPU: i5-2500k @ 4.6GHz (46x 100.0) + H50-1 Cooler
Ram: G.Skill 2x2GB Ripjaw pc12800
GPU: Asus 6970 dcii @ stock <<<< the problem

I've tried various combinations of overclock software (smartdoctor, catalyst control center, riva, afterburner) and I just can't get a stable overclock on the GPU. I can get it through vantage and 3dmark11 and several hours of gaming sometimes - but inevitably it'll BSOD. The HIGHEST stable I can run it is 915mhz core, which is frankly a pathetic overclock on a unit that supposedly goes past 1ghz with no issues :/
Anyone have any experience with the card?
 
it sounds like a case of the silicone lottery being unkind to you. there is nowhere that says it is likely to do 1Ghz, the only details you are given is that it is guaranteed to do 890Mhz. you may get lucky and get one that can go up to 1000Mhz or more, or you may be unlucky and get one that can only do 910Mhz.

the reason is, its incredibly difficult to make millions of transistors that are 40 nanometers wide exactly the same. there could be a micro-earthquake, a truck could drive past, or someone could have sneezed next to the machine. all of these things could have easily made a vibration big enough to affect the chip in some way, meaning that the best speed will vary on each chip
 
Strange, usually if I overclock a graphics card and it's not stable, the computer will just freeze or reboot. A BSOD might indicate that it's the CPU at fault. Is everything stable with the gcard at stock? And what voltage are you using when overclocking the card? Also, what error message does the BSOD display?
 
Everything is perfectly stable with the gpu at stock, furmark burn in runs fine, prime95 runs fine, no hangs/bsods/freezes/anything.
I'm using 1.2v as the base for overclock attempts.

As for the BSOD error, I honestly can't remember. I've just been running stock for the past week or 2 - been too busy to fiddle with it.
 
*sigh*
Guess Reaper was right, the silicon lottory did a number on me this time. The absolute lowest overclock I've seen on the card from reviews was 950mhz, with the highest being over 1100mhz - most around the 1040mhz area.
Might have to look at xfire over OCing for performance =(
 
Howling said:
*sigh*
Guess Reaper was right, the silicon lottory did a number on me this time. The absolute lowest overclock I've seen on the card from reviews was 950mhz, with the highest being over 1100mhz - most around the 1040mhz area.
Might have to look at xfire over OCing for performance =(
Click to expand...

your going to have difficulty going crossfire with that card because it takes up three slots, not the usual two. i dont know what motherboard you have but this may cause a problem
 
Reaper 392 said:
your going to have difficulty going crossfire with that card because it takes up three slots, not the usual two. i dont know what motherboard you have but this may cause a problem
Click to expand...

It's in the original post: Asus P8P67 Pro.

Two 6970 DirectCU II's will fit but will be right up next to each other.

A dual slot card in the top slot and the DirectCU II in the bottom slot would be better for cooling though this may block the headers along the bottom edge of the motherboard.

BTW Guru3D overclocked their 6970 DirectCU II to 1050MHz but used 1.3V.

No idea if this is safe or not.
 
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Reaper 392 said:
there is another thread somewhere where someone is getting horrific temperatures with his crossfired 6970 direct CUII's. the top card is at 98C
Click to expand...

I don't know why people get these triple slot cards for SLI/Crossfire.

The extra cooling is more than wiped out when 2 cards are slapped in right next to each other.
 
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Aye, I'd not exactly planned on xFire as I don't particularly like the hassle of constantly updating game profiles - but since my card doesn't seem to want to give me more stable juice, I may end up with it in a few months D: Wouldn't be getting a second dc2 though, for the obvious reason that it's damned huge - would get the twin frozr. MSI in top Asus in bottom.
 
I don't understand your logic.

Are you saying because you can't overclock to what would have been a 7%ish perf boost you now have to consider xfire?

Are you really that Hung up on that 7%? It's not like its a slow card is it?
 
1.2v is sorta low for 1ghz. the defauly voltage on my 5850 direct cu is 1.18, and it allows me to cruise up to 911mhz. For 1ghz I need about 1.267v, but I need to do proper stability testing on that :p

Slap the fan on 100%, give it around 1.3 and then see what it will do... :)
 
amigafan2003 said:
I don't understand your logic.

Are you saying because you can't overclock to what would have been a 7%ish perf boost you now have to consider xfire?

Are you really that Hung up on that 7%? It's not like its a slow card is it?
Click to expand...

You're in the wrong section of the forums I think.

SirCanealot said:
1.2v is sorta low for 1ghz. the defauly voltage on my 5850 direct cu is 1.18, and it allows me to cruise up to 911mhz. For 1ghz I need about 1.267v, but I need to do proper stability testing on that :p

Slap the fan on 100%, give it around 1.3 and then see what it will do... :)
Click to expand...

5850 =/= 6970. Different architecture, different stability values. Though you do have a point, I should probably just whack on 1.3 and see where it gets me.
 
I always start with max volts im prepared to put through my parts then clock as high as i can then lower them if i can.

Im on water so temps dont come into it.

But as said put fans on 100% that will keep it cool until you stop testing
 
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