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7970 With Voltage Unlocked

Zaim

Zaim

Zaim

Associate
Joined
26 Jan 2009
Posts
959
Location
Crewe
Hi, so I got a msi 7950 TF3 a few weeks ago and i'm not happy with the temps and noise. So I'm going to return it.

Now I was looking at the gigabyte 7970 which is £320 at the moment, but i've read its voltage locked, someone left a review saying his couldn't oc more then 25mhz over stock.

so does anyone know which 7970's are voltage unlocked? I picked up a 7970 lightning BE a week ago for myself, that has voltage control. The 7950 is in another pc and I can't afford to spend over £120+ more.

Edit: According to Asus the 7950 dc2 can have the voltage increased, but I've read its voltage locked...
http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7970DC23GD5/

"GPU Tweak utility helps you modify and tune clock speeds, voltages, and fan performance via an intuitive interface"
 
the gigabyte is,msi arnt not sure on asus

the windforce 7950's arnt voltage locked,just the 7970's
 
The only ones I know for sure are not volt locked are the MSI 7970 OCs, the Lightnings and the 1100MHz Gigabyte WFs. I'm sure there are plenty of others but I can't confirm.
 
kissenger said:
The only ones I know for sure are not volt locked are the MSI 7970 OCs, the Lightnings and the 1100MHz Gigabyte WFs. I'm sure there are plenty of others but I can't confirm.
Click to expand...

The new 1100MHz Gigabyte Windforce 7970s are definitely voltage locked. Not only that they run at 50% fan speed in idle. Steer clear of them if you want a good 7970 IMHO.

The VTX3D 7970 X Edition is another that has unlocked voltage control.
 
Last edited:
ICDP said:
The new 1100MHz Gigabyte Windforce 7970s are definitely voltage locked. Not only that they run at 50% fan speed in idle. Steer clear of them if you want a good 7970 IMHO.

The VTX3D 7970 X Edition is another that has unlocked voltage control.
Click to expand...

You sure about that? My info is that the 1000mhz version is locked and the 1100mhz version is not. Hence the big price differential.
 
kissenger said:
You sure about that? My info is that the 1000mhz version is locked and the 1100mhz version is not. Hence the big price differential.
Click to expand...
Locked at 1.25v
 
MSI 7970 OC (black reference design, currently £299) is fully voltage UNLOCKED.

Off the top of my head the following cards are the only ones I know of that are guarenteed to be unlocked:

MSI 7970 Lightning (1.35v limit)
MSI 7970 OC (1.3v limit in afterburner, 1.4v actual)
Asus 7970 Matrix Plat (1.4v limit via gpu tweak)
 
Rusty0611 said:
Not locked.
Click to expand...

Thanks

pgi947 said:
MSI 7970 OC (black reference design, currently £299) is fully voltage UNLOCKED.

Off the top of my head the following cards are the only ones I know of that are guarenteed to be unlocked:

MSI 7970 Lightning (1.35v limit)
MSI 7970 OC (1.3v limit in afterburner, 1.4v actual)
Asus 7970 Matrix Plat (1.4v limit via gpu tweak)
Click to expand...

Cool, all are a bit expensive, the msi 7970 oc looks good price wise but its the cooler that's putting me off tbh.

Any idea's on what voltage this one goes to?
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-276-AS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938
 
Not sure, I'm quite sure the DCUII was one of the first 7970's that started to appear voltage locked. Though I think the lock was down to the VRM's used by Asus and lack of support through GPU Tweak

I think the DCUII TOP is unlocked to 1.4v (GPU tweak), perhaps the regular DCUII now is?

Unless you're planning on WC then you're probably at around a 1.3v limit with air anyhow depending on the cooler.
 
Well the 1st gigabyte rev1 are unlocked which I have, but I may after 7 months have to RMA if I do I will only accept an unlocked one or a refund. I have been told they probably hold some back unlocked for RMAs but I don't know wether that's true.
 
Zaim i have the vapour and its locked, even though it says in the description it isnt, there may be a fix just chatting to someone over at the sapphire forums trying to get it sorted.

May be due to being on beta drivers.
 
The only cards I can confirm have voltage control are:

MSI R7970 OC
MSI R7970 Lightning
Asus 7970 Matrix

Everything else is pretty much hit and miss unless you fine a stock reference (925:1375) card.
 
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