AMD - How To Overclock The Official Way Using Afterburner + Step By Step Overclocking Guide + Comple

[LtMatt]

Thanks.

So far I've raised the core clock from default 900 to 1030Mhz and voltage from 1031 to 1063mV and I'm seeing a 5 fps increase in average and minimum fps on Unigine Valley Extreme preset, temps not exceeded 60c so I guess I'm on the right track. I hear 13.11v1 runs cooler too so might try those later.


One annoyance is if I get a freeze when testing, games run slower afterwards unless I reboot (even when clocks reset to default).

Yes restarting after a driver reset is part of the guide. I guess you didnt read that bit.

 

[LtMatt]

Also, the card is running at 70c while playing FC3 with only 1175mV core, isn't that a bit high? The card is only 2-3 months old so I don't think I'd benefit from re-seating the heatsink.

1.175V is still pretty high voltage for a 7950. As long as the card is below 75c when well clocked i wouldn't worry too much. Mine sometimes gets up to 80c when fully overclocked at 1.2v. You can always turn the fan up louder to cool it better or you can decrease voltage a bit. Your choice.

 

[LtMatt]

I've maxed out the core clock in AB to 1100Mhz and seeing a whopping 5fps increase in Unigine Valley though seeing 10 frame increase in Metro LL benchmark.

Does memory clock add any real performance? Also any way to increase clocks beyond current afterburner limits? I cant really see any difference in my games that could use a boost. Fun experiment but gains not really worth it on my end lol

Yes, but core makes the most difference. You should still overclock the memory though. 1500-1575 is good for a 7950. 1600-1700 is good for a 7970.

You can tick 'extend official overclocking limits' with afterburner. This will remove those limits. Restart when prompted for changes to take effect.

 

[LtMatt]

I seem to have found my core limit. It's 1020mhz @ 1175mv, any higher than that and I get display driver crashes, pretty bad clocker this card isn't it?

I shall start slowly increasing the memory now.

Yep you have a bit of a stinker there mate. I thought mine were bad.

 

[LtMatt]

My old 7970 (Asic 78.9%) would do 1125 on stock volts of 1.112v.

 

[LtMatt]

You could try disabling monitoring in afterburner/rivatuner/osd. If its part of afterburner its most likely tied to that.

 

[LtMatt]

But i need that for temps and stuff in my taskbar

You can't have your cake and eat it.

 

[LtMatt]

Duno about that.. over at Guru3D they say - SpawnEncoderServer = 0 in .\ProfileTemplates\Config

Problem is i cant find that option

He's the best guy to ask.

 

[LtMatt]

Just tried raising the memory speed to 1275mhz, and get blue lines all over the screen when trying to watch youtube. Tried raising voltage to 1606mv, same thing. Does this really mean I can't raise the memory speed from stock at all? Not really worth trying to raise the volts higher just for a small memory overclock?

Try bumping the memory up to 1.65v and see how it goes. Personally i dont touch memory voltage as both my cards do up to 1575 on 1.6. Tommy has to increase memory voltage to overclock his though. I'm not sure what voltage setting he uses it, but it won't be any higher than 1.65v and will likely be lower than that.

 

[LtMatt]

Just tried 1275mhz @ 1.65v, same blue lines with youtube again. I don't think I'll bother with the memory

That could be a browser/youtube/flash issue. Try it on some demanding games.

 

[LtMatt]

Hmm. I played Crysis 2 with 1275 @ 1650. No issues for like 20 mins. You could be right but I don't understand why it only happens if mem is @ 1275? When it's 1250 youtube works normally, odd.

What browser?

 

[LtMatt]

Firefox 24.0

Try chrome. Sounds like a firefox only issue.

 

[LtMatt]

Hmm, you're right, doesn't seem to happen with Chrome. Very strange, any idea how I can fix it? Guess I should try reinstalling Firefox first of all

I think there is an issue with Mozilla, flash and AMD drivers.

Try disabling hardware acceleration if you wish to continue using crappy firefox.

 

[LtMatt]

blahhh. I'll use Chrome for now until I get a game stable memory overclock. Then maybe I'll try to fix the Firefox issue Thanks for help

Real men use Chrome, firefox sucks.

 

[LtMatt]

Oh, hold the phone. I increased the mem to 1300 (after 1275 seemed stable), and just had the same blue lines crash while gaming. Now this was at stock volts however, but... maybe firefox wasn't the issue. I will try with 1.65v though.

Try 1.625v first. Work your way up in 0.025v segments. Less is always more. You must have a right stinker if thats true. Damn peasant Elpida ram. The weird thing is both of my cards do 1575 on 1.6v. Shame my cores are rather poor at clocking though.

 

[LtMatt]

Got an issue you may be able to help me with here (fingers crosses)

I've just got my 7950 underwater, i've always followed this guide when it comes to overclocking my single 7970 and it's always been fine.

The thing is, when I tick the box for unofficial overclocking limits, it only applies it to my 7970 and my 7950 can only get to it's maximum potential of 1100Mhz, which makes me sad

I've also tried in Trixx, it allows me to push both cards into the 1400 range, but doesn't allow me to adjust mvddc.

It's all fun though!

If you give me your 7950 bios i will increase the limits of the preset clocks. What clocks do you want available to use?

 

[LtMatt]

Let's say 1200 and keep it safe, I'll go higher when I have more rads.

Is it simple to flash one card, even if I have two different cards in my pc?

Its pretty simple yeah. I wrote a bios flashing guide here. That explains everything and what to do on a step by step basis. Pretty much foolproof, but theres always one.

Get your 7950 bios from gpu-z, upload it to sendspace and tell me what core and memory limits you want to show in afterburner.

 

[LtMatt]

beta 16 afterburner
http://www.guru3d.com/files_details/msi_afterburner_beta_download.html

Good spot Flopper, will update the OP.

You also managed to beat Scotty in the posting of it. Scotty, efforts must be doubled on your part.

 

[LtMatt]

Thanks for this epic guide.

Just OCed my MSI R9 280X using it and it worked a treat.

My card is V locked so i can only take it so far however i have managed to go from 1020Mhz Core to 1150Mhz, 1175Mhz cause a total system lock but i cant bump V

Have also taken my VRAM from 1500Mhz to 1650Mhz which again is pretty significant.

Forgot to take a valley bench before i started so i cant compare results however i did take a 3DMark test before so i'm gonna re run Firestrike now and see the difference

Good to hear. Voltage control will be here when afterburner gets updated.

 

[LtMatt]

Did you set the power limit at +50% or as high as it will go before benching?