CCC Overclocking

[paradisiac]

how safe is it to OC just using CCC settings? do they set the max settings to something well within the saftey limits of the cards?

 

[paradisiac]

is there a ratio for gpu:memory clocks or do you just get the gpu to just before it fails stability, then adjust memory until just before it fails stability?

 

[paradisiac]

Increasing the GPU clock will give the the biggest gain in performance so I'd start with that and once your've found you maximum stable OC, move onto the memory.

As kristmace has pointed out, the CCC will only give you a little to moderate OC. If you wish to go beyond the GPU clock parameters in the CCC you may have to use a 3rd software like MSI afterburner, RivaTuner or ATI Tool.

thing is, i dont want to kill my new gfx card, so was just going to see how much, if any, gains i would get from using CCC, if it was safe. if that went well and the gains were noticable, then maybe i would consider a high OC, but if i wont actually notice the gains in anything other than benchmarking, then there is no point in risking killing my card.

 

[paradisiac]

Lol you won't kill your GPU unless it was running at over 100 degree Celcuis or if you increased the GPU from 775mhz straight 1000mhz and even then, you'd probably get the BSOD or the system would just reboot.

If you overclock safely, then you'll fine - make sure you monitor the temps of your GPU.

I don't think your AMD Athlon II X2 250 @ 3ghz will bottleneck your 6850 so hopefully any increase you make to the GPU clock will increase your performance in games.

Let us know how you get on.

if you look at my 3dmark results in one of my other posts, the cpu does seem to be holding it back a tad, the difference between my old 9800GTX on my old i7 system.

 

[paradisiac]

just remembered i have DiRt2 on my steam account (thanks to purchasing my HD5770s in my old pc) it struggled abit in DX11 mode with the 5770s, should the 6850 be better?

 

[paradisiac]

has been benchmarked and was not that impressed with the score, barely beat my 9800GTX and HD5770 (albeit they were in an i7 machine)

 

[paradisiac]

The i7 is faster clock for clock compared to Phenom CPUs so that would most likely explain why the 9800GTX and HD5770 are both able to achieve decent framerates but the 6850 should still be higher.

However, the 9800GTX is only a DX10 card so will mostly run in either DX9 or DX10, which will give you higher framerates than running in DX11.

Are you comparing like for like i.e. the setting in the game are the same?

What framerates are you getting from your 6850 compared to the 9800GTX and HD5770?

Try running Dirt 2 in DX10 as that should give you a nice boost in FPS.

im not sure, as it was last summer when i had my i7 build, so cant remember what the settings were.

 

[paradisiac]

The thing that you have to remember is that if you maxed out the video settings on Dirt 2 when you owned those previous cards, then the graphics would be pretty much identical between the three cards. The only improvement you'll notice in an increase in fps.

i couldnt run dirt2 with everything maxed as it got proper jumpy, i struggled to find any game that would max the settings, but i was playing at 1920x1080. even fifa10, which i dont think is that gfx intense didnt like that sort of res with settings on high.

 

[paradisiac]

Hmm, something doesn't quite add up if you are not able to max 90% of the games out at the moment.

On my bedroom gaming rig, my ATI 4850 along with an Intel dual-core E6300 @3.2ghz, can max out 90% of the games that I play @1080p (no AA though) and on Dirt 2 maxed out, I get around 35 - 40fps with no judder, stutters or jumpy gameplay at all and I'm using Catalyst 10.9 if that helps.

Both your CPU & GPU are noticably more powerful than my bedroom rig so you should be getting at least 50fps, which shouldn't cause any jumpy gameplay at all.

I would seriously look at overclocking your CPU a bit and see if that makes a difference because theres a good chance that it is holding back your 6850, especially if you are overclocking it.

Btw, what FPS are you getting for Dirt 2?

i have not played any games yet on my new machine, i was saying my old i7 with the HD5770 struggled.

 

[paradisiac]

No worries, I also thought he was talking about his 6850s until he clarified in his last post that he hasn't actually played any games on his new system with 6850s.

sorry for the confusion. due to work and all, and my new monitor only arriving yesturday i havent had chance to play as the kids and wife have been hogging the tv in the evenings. hopefully tonight i will be able to give some games a quick test to see how it handles, and IF the new drivers come out today then will give them a bash too.

 

[paradisiac]

didnt get home til late so didnt manage to test it, although did run LP2, SF IV, Stalker CoP benchmarks (couldnt get the dirt 2 one, think i need to do first race for that to unlock) and although with EVERYTHING maxed on 1920x1080 it was only achieving 20-30FPS it did seem to be smooth benchmarks, no jumping or stalling, and in game i never have things like AA maxed out so it should be more than capable of running games just need to find some time to install them and have a play

 

[paradisiac]

ok, again, was a hectic night last night, but got weekend off so will play then
did manage to do a 3dmark 11 test though

Extreme Settings 775MHz 1920x1080 (stock)

Extreme Settings 850MHz 1920x1080 (CCC Max OC but no ram OC)

a slight improvement, and from a quick bash on need for speed hot pursuit this morning there seemed to be no ill effects of the OC and temps went no higher than 52 degs.

 

[paradisiac]

LP2 is quite taxing on the GPU so 20-30fps sounds about right. If you want gain another 20+ fps on that game, run it in DX9 and looks just as good as DX11 IMO.

You should be getting well over 60fps on SF4 as the game engine isn't especially taxing and Stalker sounds about right maxed out.

The most important thing is there is no jumping or stalling.

It'll be interesting to see what fps you get on Dirt 2.

my lovelly wife bought me an xbox 360 controller today so finally got a bash at the first race of dirt to unlock the benchmark. set to ultra on 1920x1020 i get an average of 33FPS which is ok. playing the first race with those settings i didnt really notice any performance hinderance, but to be honest, my driving was awful anyways . also ran the batman AA benchmark with everything maxed on 1920x1080 and got an average of 68fps, with gfx settings still on stock settings, so pretty happy.

 

[paradisiac]

the last card in this build was a 7200GS so yes, is a lot better. but in my last pc (which i sold last summer) i had an i7 @ 4GHz and 2xHD5770 and to be honest, in gaming i would say this one feels a little smoother than the 5770s were but as it was sooo long ago i cant really remember. all i can say is, even maxed out, it feels like its out performing my ps3 on the games i can compare side by side.

 

[paradisiac]

Again, on my 4850 @ 1980, my average FPS on Batman AA benchmark is 60fps but that is running the game at max but without any anti-aliasing and physX disabled.

Have you noticed a worth while improvement over your previous graphics cards?

i had EVERYTHING on and at its max i just wanted to see how it ran, would not game with everything maxed out normally as i know it wont handle it, but for the benches it cant hurt.