Gigabyte 7950 WF3 Bios - What did yours come with?

[Nelly]

Specification says 900MHz on every website... but, looks like mine came with a boosted bios with default 1.25v under load.

The thing is - say I wish to use the normal 900MHz bios, how do I know which one to use, if it didn't come with the initial bios?

 

[Nelly]

looked on techpowerup bios archive? they usually list the speeds or the core/memory just make a backup of current bios and can use winflash to flash it

I've submitted it to Techpowerup, to add to their database. All I can see on the website is one bios for the Gigabyte 7950, GV-R795WF3-3GD/F2.

I'm tempted to just try the bios on the Gigabyte website, 3 to choose from.

F2, F21, F41 on the Gigabyte website >> http://uk.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=4121#bios

Would rather clock my card up, instead of having 1.25v going through it.

 

[Nelly]

if your handy with rbe bios editor you can set the load clock voltage to what you want and flash it(current bios)

Never used it before...

Just switched to Bios 1, just incase their was a different bios, but it's the same.

 

[Nelly]

Stock settings - Max Temp @ 1.25v = 61°C

 

[Nelly]

I guess Gigabyte are selling 7950 GHz editions now, dare I try the other BIOS on the Gigabyte website, maybe these are locked at 1.25v.

It's not a major deal, but would be nice to try run at 1200MHz on lower volts thats all.

It's kinda boring me now... lol, just tried RBE Editor, and this comes up.

 

[Nelly]

Mine came with Bios F42, bought 19\11\12. 900\1250 @ 0.967v runs Heaven, 51c 35%fan, vrms 55\56c. Max voltage was 1.090v until unlocked with Msi AB which gives me up to 1.3v. Maxes at 1250core @ 1.25v. Got 1301core @ 1.29v in Heaven for 22secs before it bugged out. Hope this info helps some of you guys.

Thats great info, thanks just what I was looking for.

I'm tempted to try F42, what do you run daily for gaming?

 

[Nelly]

Sorry to disappoint but I run my card at stock 24\7 and only overclocked for a few days when I got the card, what I always do when I get a new card, never keep a card long enough to need to overclock.

lol, well if it runs all your games okay for you, guess no need, I like to run my cards on the mininum amount of voltage with the best clocks... no choice at the moment lol.

I would probally need the clocks if I splash out on a Dell UltraSharp U2713HM 27", I'll just keep my current screen I think, it's far far superior than the DGM/Dell 27" for input lag anyway.

last time i used rbe was with my 5870,might need a new update for it to work on latest cards? not sure

Yeah maybe so, last update March 2011.

 

[Nelly]

Just tried to Flash F42, said BIOS versions do not match.

I guess the very newest batches of Gigabyte 7950 WF3 are locked at 1.25v, like the 7970 GHz Editions.

Maximum available - Core 1200MHz, Memory 1575MHz, that's in AMD Overdrive, and MSI Afterburner.

 

[Nelly]

Had mine just under a week, it has F42 Bios and is not Voltage locked.

Awww why me!

Just tried 1200MHz on the core, memory left at stock - artifacts in Heaven 3.0, got to the end of the bench and crashed.

This card would be great for those with abit extra without the need for further clocks...

Look what I've just found behind me...

 

[Nelly]

F42 Bios wont make your clocks any better, mine tops out at 1150 at 1.218v, might be able to go higher with more voltage but its already getting too high temps at this voltage.

Just tried 1150MHz @ 1.25v, heaven ran okay.

Have you tried unlocking the voltage in Afterburner or Gpu Tweak.

It's unlocked, not tried increasing voltage yet - will see if it's really locked in abit... can't reduce voltage anyway...

Gigabyte 7950 WF3 @ 1150MHz, on the right Gigabyte GTX 670 WF3 @ 1350MHz, back in June this year.

 

[Nelly]

Definitly voltage locked @ 1.25v, unlocked in MSI Afterburner, set it to 1.256v. but when running Heaven 3.0, kept at 1.25v.

I must be the first person to get a voltage locked Gigabyte 7950 WF3 lol.

 

[Nelly]

What are you monitoring the voltage with, gpu-z consistently showed lower voltages than I was putting in. Should be ok to go up to 1.3v though you do so at your own risk. Mine was 'locked' at 1.09v for load until I ran AB and it opened voltage to 1.3v, that is usually the max.

Was using Afterburner, wont reduce or increase voltage - stays at 1.25v, the thing is I know it's from a totally new batch of cards, because where I bought it from was out of stock 3 days ago, then had 60+ in stock.

The new batches coming through are voltage locked, should be okay if buying from OcUK, until they run out of current stock.

 

[Nelly]

Are they the same model number as Ocuk, GV-R795WF3-3GD

Yep exact same model, except with a bios that even isn't on the Gigabyte website - FZ0

I just did a serial number check here >> http://ggcs.gigabyte.com/service/CheckWarrantyStatus_IN.aspx

Warranty coverage starts from 19th November 2012, so that must be the date of manufacture.

 

[Nelly]

Thanks for that I just checked mine, warranty 15\10\12- 14\12\15, bought on 19\11\12.

Hehe no problem, quite useful - not many people know about the Gigabyte Warranty Status tool I guess, can use for motherboards, graphics cards, etc.

As for this Gigabyte 7950 WF3, an extra 100MHz core speed, so 1000MHz out of the box will be most welcome by those who just plug the card in, and don't overclock.

I bought it hoping I would have a card I could play around with, tweak the voltage, use low voltage to overclock, feel robbed lol.

 

[Nelly]

I've got the same as you. Got the card a few days ago, and it has got the FZ0 Bios on it too and 1GHz at 1.25v seems to be stock.

The card doesn't seem voltage locked though. In Afterburner settings, if you check force constant voltage, the voltage slider works fine and I've verified 1.3v and tested mine at 1.275GHz there.

The trick is you have to click that force constant voltage option, otherwise none of the core voltage selections work.

Damn I didn't tick that box.

Can you also reduce voltage? Also does the GPU voltage drop down to 0.806v when the card is just in desktop still when you use force constant voltage?

I boxed mine ready to send back! lol, would appreciate the info.

 

[Nelly]

Reducing voltage works fine when forcing constant voltage. I have just now used GPU-Z whilst changing the voltages in Afterburner and I am able to reduce or increase voltages and they are setting correctly and showing in GPU-Z.

The GPU voltage isn't dropping down to 0.806v when force constant voltage is enabled though - I think it breaks that but atm, this seems the only way to get voltages up/down and actually applied.

Thanks for the info, I really appreciate it.

I assumed that if I used 'Force Constant Voltage' it would break powerplay settings, not really any good to me if it does that. I don't want 1.2v+ pumping through it constantly.

I've tried Trixx and that doesn't work too well either. Did you try the Gigabyte OC Guru II utility? That seems to let you decrease (not increase) from 1.25v, though not sure if it breaks Powerplay or not.

I didn't try Gigabyte OC Guru II, I did when I had a Gigabyte GTX 670 back in June, but it didn't work very well was buggy - Gigabyte have released newer versions since then, so guess they ironed out some bugs.

 

[Nelly]

No problem

If you want, I can try OC Guru II later today and let you know? I'm wondering if it might not break Powerplay and let you reduce voltage, which is seemingly what you want to do.

Saves me unboxing, and installing again. Would be interesting to see if that works. Thanks.

What is the maximum core clock you can get at 1.25v? I tried 1200MHz, but artifacts in Heaven 3.0, 1150MHz seems fine, didn't try 1175MHz. At least Powerplay works with locked voltage @ 1.25v

 

[Nelly]

Changing the voltage in OC Guru II does nothing, so it appears that Afterburner and forcing constant voltage is the only way to adjust the voltage up or down with BIOS FZ0.

So in a sense these are voltage locked, have to sacrifice power saving features for the luxury.

No worries, give me an hour and I will try it out and let you know.

At 1.25v, 1.2GHz is stable here. I've tested it in Heaven 3.0 and a couple of games. 1.275v gets me 1.25GHz and then 1.3v seems mostly alright at 1.275GHz.

I haven't played with the memory yet

Looks like you have a good card there, I would have probally kept mine if it was stable at 1200MHz, I'm kinda fickle to having a good overclocking card.

Thanks for doing the checks, was interesting to know your results.

 

[Nelly]

You're welcome

Yeah, I think you're right. Will see if another BIOS comes to light and as more get this new batch, will be interesting to see if there are any developments or workarounds.

I'm WCing mine so even at 1.3v, it's barely getting passes 40 degrees Celsius. I kinda wish there was a way to get a bit more than 1.3v so I could push further to see how far it would clock, but it seems like a solid card and I'm having fun with it

Sounds awesome. I've got a decent motherboard, I don't want mediocre clocking cards for it, but it is a silicon lottery as they say... I just seem to get bad luck usually when trying to aquire decent o/c cards lol

What are you monitoring the voltage with, gpu-z consistently showed lower voltages than I was putting in. Should be ok to go up to 1.3v though you do so at your own risk. Mine was 'locked' at 1.09v for load until I ran AB and it opened voltage to 1.3v, that is usually the max.

I've just checked half the world on Gigabytes site for your bios and there is no trace. Very strange and there is no card with 1000 core stock that I can find.

Did you have to 'Force Constant Voltage' to enable voltage increase, with your Bios versio of the 7950? If so, did it break power saving features when in desktop etc?

 

[Nelly]

Yeah, just noticed. You have the same mobo as me too

Just out of curiosity, what driver version are you using, if it's beta, which beta version?