7970 Lightning, worth the premium?

[psychodil]

I downloaded afterburner extreme off a well known torrent site, didn't unlock any extra volts on my twin frozr 7950 though

 

[dave_beast]

I downloaded afterburner extreme off a well known torrent site, didn't unlock any extra volts on my twin frozr 7950 though

See my previous post, seeing as it's not copyrighted, there's no reason why I can't link it

http://tiny.cc/zv07fw

 

[Nickolp1974]

Already tried that, must be too old a version.

 

[dave_beast]

Already tried that, must be too old a version.

1.6 beta 6 is the newest afaik

 

[pgi947]

Think I'll leave off using extreme for now, 1.35v should be enough to send me north of 1300mhz at the moment. Only thing that interested me about extreme was the higher powertune limit.

 

[theCrim]

He mention anything about being above 'X' voltage on the core and memory would lead to the life expectancy of the card deteriorating? Been told running 7970s at 1.3v for 24/7 use or even gaming isn't advised. Vega also mentioned running the memory at 1.7v is totally fine.

Would be great to know if this is the case with these premium cards.

Could you not just use AB ex for the higher power tune limit or is anything above +20% excessive for 1.35v?

 

[pgi947]

He said something along the lines of one voltage may be a sweet spot for one card but may fry another, which is why the unlocked BIOS is recommended for sub zero cooling.

I'll put up a better breakdown when I get home tonight. The key thing he said was the temp marginal are very very tight on the 7970, especially while air cooling.

 

[theCrim]

I don't think I like the idea of having a crossfire setup with 2 cards which aren't identical.

Is that me being too picky?

What causes irregularities in the cards and could a card be tuned to match every aspect of another card given the same parts to work with? Not sure if what I'm asking is an on going unsolved problem or just stupid.

Looking forward to your breakdown

 

[pgi947]

Right, here we go then, I'll break down key parts from the email Scott @ MSI kindly sent me and explain what I perceive them to mean/imply.

You are correct about EK, I sent them the sample a while ago and they have told me that they expect the blocks to be finished in the next few weeks.

Waterblocks are due real soon, I'd expect before 2nd week of July, which fits my budget nicely.

With most GPU's, if you can keep it cold enough there is no upper limit, especially with 7970 were just a few degrees makes a difference even on air. A voltage that works great for one GPU will fry another.

Pretty much what we already knew for the most part, though a few degrees making the difference even on air is key here, even those that can't break say 1250mhz despite voltages and temps being in check may yield better results with water, the card likes to be as cold as possible.

With that in mind the unlocked limits available on the card are only recommended for LN2 cooling. In my experience as long as you overclock gradually you'll find the natural limit quite easily.

Be VERY careful with the fully unlocked bios, if you want to play with it fine but don't go moving sliders if you aren't aware of the consequences. Take it easy and don't go straight for the high end.

I'm afraid that Afterburner extreme is only made available to trusted extreme overclockers who have to sign a library load of forms before they get it.

To get this firstly you need to be a proven overclocker and secondly I would say you need to wave all warranty rights before they give you a copy. Afaik all copies are personalised to the overclocker they were given too. From what I gather if you are given a copy of AB Extreme it is not to be re-distributed to the public, doing so may rule the overclocker in question out of receiving future updates from MSI.

I'd like to thank Scott for taking time out to answer my questions

 

[theCrim]

Yer I'd heard the blocks were coming in soon and a few other tweaks played a big part in me settling for the premium card/7970.

I was using the unlocked BIOS for the card i just sent back but i never actually got to use any of the benefits of it because of the heat. Pretty sad considering how stable it was at such low volts and 1200+ core clock.

You won't be attaining AB ex through other means then?

If my new card is anything like the card below my life will be complete.

Look at these scores from user "FtW 420" over at overclockers.net... dat graphics score.

mind=blown

"FtW 420

On air I maxed my lightning at 1300/1800 at 1.256V in 3dmark 11.

It started getting flaky with any higher core clocks or more voltage, hoping tonight I have time to get it cold & see how far it will go (better go farther than my reference card)."

EDIT: no update from him as of yet

 

[pgi947]

Thats pretty impressive, in the area of clocks I'm aiming for.

I may try AB extreme, but for nothing more than seeing what it offers.

Edit: Ran AB Extreme, won't read driver number, acknowledge that the card has 3D clocks or even monitor or adjust voltages. Probably something on my end so I'll give it a miss and try out 2.2.2

Edit2: I've also just noticed that GPUZ reports 1.170v, AB reports 1.174v and AB OSD reports 1.87v ?

 

[pgi947]

This is odd.

GPUZ won't read voltages above 1.170v, even if I fire it up to 1.25v it still sits there at 1.170v....

 

[theCrim]

I noticed that a couple days in too, it peaks at 1.170v and goes down to 0.9v right? i just assumed it was a error on CPU-z's part.

IMO unlocked bios offers everything you'd need for gaming/benching on air/water.

unless you plan on using ln2?

EDIT: read earlier today that it looks like the 7970 ghz editions are shipping at 1200mhz clock ^^ if anyone's interested http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2253321

 

[pgi947]

Nah I'll pass on LN2, don't have the time or money for it

I did stumble across an air venturi at work that pumps out 3500cfm of air though?

A water chiller, maybe, in the future but at the moment I'm just sticking to OTT rad space.

I'm actually curious now if the voltage increases are applying or not? AB says they are, but I've always trusted GPU-Z.

 

[Nickolp1974]

Edit: Ran AB Extreme, won't read driver number, acknowledge that the card has 3D clocks or even monitor or adjust voltages. Probably something on my end so I'll give it a miss and try out 2.2.2

Edit2: I've also just noticed that GPUZ reports 1.170v, AB reports 1.174v and AB OSD reports 1.87v ?

This is what i got and why i thought it was an old version that did not recognise the lightning, i could not alter voltages at all. Did you not say in your earlier post about ABe being personalised for the individual user, does this mean you tell them what card you have and they adjust the software settings for that particular card???


Edit

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Afterburner-1.6.0-Beta-6-download-2559.html


Date added: 2010-06-01 08:53:05

Not extreme but surely not a coincidence

 

[pgi947]

I tthink perhaps you enter the info your self.

Going to try ln2 BIOS tomorrow to see if I can get this voltage to move. Latest gpu shark also only reads 1.170v

 

[Nickolp1974]

Imo if msi released AB 1.6 beta 6 over 2 years ago they would not release the extreme version with the same title just recently, which means its based on old hardware and not geared for this card.

 

[theCrim]

I tthink perhaps you enter the info your self.

Going to try ln2 BIOS tomorrow to see if I can get this voltage to move. Latest gpu shark also only reads 1.170v

I remember it showing the same 0.90v and 1.170v in ln2 mode for me although I could be mistaken as i switched a few times to test a few things. For me i found no difference in the ln2 bios although that could have just been my card as I've read others gaining an extra 20mhz or so in ln2 mode.

Anyone have knowledge of or tested the 1.3X feature in the MB BIOS for cleaner power to the GPU cards?

 

[theCrim]

My replacement came today just installed it but in the first slot this time, had to remove the reactor and it's touching the nh-d14 not sure if its safe to leave it there.

http://i.imgur.com/Ip67g.jpg

Turned the system on and theres still no display or post

Debug LED on the MB says 34 which is "CPU post-memory initialization" So I'm not entirely sure where the problem is.

I've cleared the CMOS too and still nothing. Any ideas?

 

[CraigN]

you have four PCIe lanes

put the graphics card in one of the other slots lol.