7970 volt Oc problems

HankScorpio · 29 May 2012 at 14:07

Hello, I have an edition X VTX3D and cannot seem to get a stable overclock from it. It's stock is 1050/1425 and even increasing it to 1075/1450 caused my drivers to fail and reboot during a game of Sc2.

I've increased the volts to accommodate higher clocks, and they seem to allow the card to *run* at higher clocks, I've gotten it to run at 1175 core clock, but only for a run of heaven benchmark.

The problem is when I increase the voltage, my system will shut down as if I'd pulled the plug. I've removed all HDDs,dvd drive, case fans AND undervolted my CPU to take into account an insufficient PSU, but even when running at stock clocks and simply a 1.200v and 1.250v (1.170v stock) my system will shut off during a heaven benchmark run.

the temps hover around 90c, almost 100c in this weather but hasn't gone over.

Anyone know why my card won't allow any voltage increase?

AISC is 84.2% if that makes any difference.

Thanks

Jasonst888 · 29 May 2012 at 14:16

90c at stock volts??? id say u have a dodgy card. Not familiar with that card myself but even the reference model is a good 20c cooler than that!

TheRealDeal · 29 May 2012 at 14:33

What case do you have? What psu do you have? It sounds like the card is duff as the temps are higher than they should be or your case cooling is not up to the job. I would not rule out the psu either but without knowing what you have i cant say. Looking at your sig i would hope its not a cheapo brand as the rest of your hardware is good.

HankScorpio · 29 May 2012 at 14:55

My PSU is an £50 500w asaka that ran my old 1.4v phenom 955 and Cf 5770s and all my peripherals just fine. 2x 1.5 TB HDDs, an SSD, 5 case fans, dvd burner. I've just replaced my mobo, cpu and gpu and kept everything else.

I'm think it's the PSU now. It runs Fumark just fine at stock, temps hit 78c (65-70c under other loads folding/gaming) I think the 90-100c was when I was experimenting with it on a REALLY hot day and increasing the volts to 1.2 + 1.3. Card idles at 39-45c

Anyways it's running Fumark just fine at stock but when I increase the volts it instantly crashes as if I'd pulled the plug. I've just removed both HDDs, lowered cpu voltage and case fans and it still sys crashes with increased voltage under load. Fumark says it's drawing near 200W.

Do I need a stronger PSU?

Oh case is a CM Storm scout.

Jasonst888 · 29 May 2012 at 15:05

Ok those temps are far more normal. With that in mind I'd guess psu. How old is the psu? they lose power as they get older, plus 500w isnt a lot of headroom for that setup to begin with.

Do you know anyone with a spare psu that would let you borrow it? or are you able to test the card in another system?

HankScorpio · 29 May 2012 at 15:15

Unfortunately not. I think my PSU is solid I feel, but I guess it's at the limit with this system. (2 years old) Runs just fine with my cpu Oc, but gpu at stock. Problem has arisen when I've tried to OC my card, which requires more volts.

I guess spending £70 for a new psu atm for a small gain in fps should be put on hold.

By the way what PSU would suit my needs, with possible intention of adding a 7950 in CF in the coming years?

Rusty0611 · 29 May 2012 at 15:19

750W good quality as a minimum ideally 850W to be safe and have ample headroom.

Mal X · 29 May 2012 at 15:43

mine is 650 w and handles the card fine... but 90 degrees at 1.3 V is high, it should be more like 80 degrees.

my card blew last week, i'm waiting for a replacement right now, mine blew just looking at ``my Documents``, so i've no idea what went wrong and i hadn't gamed for two days because i was reuploading Win 7..

Menty · 29 May 2012 at 16:16

Your psu is right on the limit and that is not taking into consideration your overclocks sucking even more juice out of your system.

For future crossfire you would need a decent psu rated at 700 or 750 watts minimum.

Jasonst888 · 29 May 2012 at 16:25

^ what he said! but with overclocks I'd say your better off looking at decent 850w:

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-000-XF&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=

Quite good deal at the moment.

dave_beast · 29 May 2012 at 16:38

I have a Xigmatek 600w 85+ bronze psu and I can only reach 1250mhz before the system shuts down. Op its definitely your psu causing the shutdowns.

HankScorpio · 29 May 2012 at 16:55

Thanks guys. I really wish I had a 750w to test if it's just the card not liking any increased volts, which sucks if true as I can't seem to get it stable off stock at all.

If I do need a PSU, I will probably invest in one when I come to buy a second card, can't justify spending £100 on a few fps.

chilipeppersc · 29 May 2012 at 17:08

I would definately recommend a higher wattage PSU as if it is only bronze rating that is 80% efficient, so do the maths. Recommended psu is 500w for this card, its likely you could be getting less than 400w supplied with a bronze rating over time, so I think the safe option would be to upgrade the PSU then try it out again, if it is within the 14 day period you could always hand it in to OCUK to check if you live locally, if not then an RMA possibly?

It is actually likely that there is nothing wrong with the card 34-40c idle correct? and 50-60 under load?

I cant say tho, it could be either, or both. But your current PSU wont help the situation and I definately would not recommend 500w for 7970.

HankScorpio · 29 May 2012 at 19:02

chilipeppersc said:
I would definately recommend a higher wattage PSU as if it is only bronze rating that is 80% efficient, so do the maths. Recommended psu is 500w for this card, its likely you could be getting less than 400w supplied with a bronze rating over time, so I think the safe option would be to upgrade the PSU then try it out again, if it is within the 14 day period you could always hand it in to OCUK to check if you live locally, if not then an RMA possibly?

It is actually likely that there is nothing wrong with the card 34-40c idle correct? and 50-60 under load?

I cant say tho, it could be either, or both. But your current PSU wont help the situation and I definately would not recommend 500w for 7970.

What does bronze rated mean?

http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?t...lies&type_sub=Main Stream&model=AK-P050FG7-BK

This is my PSU. I used x2 5770s though and they used 1.1volts each, so assumed a single card would not draw as much power. I also overclocked one of them an msi twin fzror to 1.2v and they worked just fine.

Yeah, I'm currently getting around those temps. a little bit higher at the mo, since my ambient temps are like a sauna.

chilipeppersc · 29 May 2012 at 19:55

HankScorpio said:
What does bronze rated mean?

http://www.akasa.co.uk/update.php?t...lies&type_sub=Main Stream&model=AK-P050FG7-BK

This is my PSU. I used x2 5770s though and they used 1.1volts each, so assumed a single card would not draw as much power. I also overclocked one of them an msi twin fzror to 1.2v and they worked just fine.

Yeah, I'm currently getting around those temps. a little bit higher at the mo, since my ambient temps are like a sauna.

PSU's tend to come with an efficiency grade

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_PLUS

As stated your psu is on the edge of being short of power. I would recommend a more efficient higher Wattage psu for later cards. You also dont want a £60 psu blowing a system worth 400+

Surveyor · 29 May 2012 at 19:58

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Gregster · 29 May 2012 at 21:54

Mal X said:
mine is 650 w and handles the card fine... but 90 degrees at 1.3 V is high, it should be more like 80 degrees.

my card blew last week, i'm waiting for a replacement right now, mine blew just looking at ``my Documents``, so i've no idea what went wrong and i hadn't gamed for two days because i was reuploading Win 7..

Sorry to hear. I take it you followed the OC threads first?

MOOGLEYS · 29 May 2012 at 22:58

The VTX 7970 X-edition has increased voltage already. It also uses a stock OEM board so you may find with the factory overclock and increased voltage you might be at the cards voltage limit. Have you tried overclocking without increasing the voltage ? Mine runs happily at 1200/1500 on stock volts.

A decent 550W psu will run a 7970 system with ease, My OCZ 550W with dual 25A +12v rails had no problem. For crossfire a decent 750W would be best. Make sure the PSU has a decent +12V line, most decent branded ones will. Don't worry too much about efficiency ratings its marketing bluff. You save a few quid a year and is not worth worrying about.

Your Akasa PSU has dual 18A +12v rails which for a high end gaming card is not ideal and is likely why you are not getting the best from the card.

HankScorpio · 30 May 2012 at 01:37

Like I said, I put clocks to 1075/1450 and stock volts and on Sc2 yesterday the drivers crashed during a game. Whenever I tried to increase volts my system just fails. Maybe I need a new PSU, most likely, but can't afford one at the mo.

I've had gpu-z running all day and I've been folding and gaming for 13 hours now and the max temp has been 72c, my room is really hot though. I think I only hit 90c during FurMark extreme Benchmark with increased volts, before it crashed.

demon8991 · 30 May 2012 at 01:58

HankScorpio said:
Hello, I have an edition X VTX3D and cannot seem to get a stable overclock from it. It's stock is 1050/1425 and even increasing it to 1075/1450 caused my drivers to fail and reboot during a game of Sc2.

I've increased the volts to accommodate higher clocks, and they seem to allow the card to *run* at higher clocks, I've gotten it to run at 1175 core clock, but only for a run of heaven benchmark.

The problem is when I increase the voltage, my system will shut down as if I'd pulled the plug. I've removed all HDDs,dvd drive, case fans AND undervolted my CPU to take into account an insufficient PSU, but even when running at stock clocks and simply a 1.200v and 1.250v (1.170v stock) my system will shut off during a heaven benchmark run.

the temps hover around 90c, almost 100c in this weather but hasn't gone over.

Anyone know why my card won't allow any voltage increase?

AISC is 84.2% if that makes any difference.

Thanks

I have a Gigabyte 7970 OC Edition with the Windforce cooler.

I was having problems with temperature and game/benchmark crashes too and last night I removed all heatsink and all the thermal grease which was poorly applied and then applied some Noctua stuff I got with my cooler (its really good btw) making sure to clean heatsink and core thoroughly with Isopropyl and now the card is running 20 degrees cooler at stock and is comfortably clocked at 1125/1550 without any problems. I ran MSI Kombustor for two hours and the max temp was 82 degrees with the mentioned overclock.

In conclusion I would suggest you try this.