hd3870 512mb max core and memory!

Psycho Sonny · 2 Dec 2007 at 18:45

paradigm said:
I did the BIOS mod, but at the moment I'm back on stock BIOS.

Secondly, I'm on hotfix drivers and rivatuner works fine.

Thirdly, you don't install the hotfix over 7.11's, you install them on their own.

could you please test what i said above? see if your fan is actually changing speed or does the program just say it does, listen to the actual noise, if it is changing in speed you should be able to hear a difference between 60% and 70%, i can only hear differences between 50 to 75 and 75 to 100

Psycho Sonny · 2 Dec 2007 at 18:50

my ram maxes out at 1188 got it running at 1179 and core maxes out at 860 like everyone else but got it running at 843

so im running 843 and 1179
if needed i could run 860 and 1188

doubt there would be any difference but im running it slower to avoid killing it pre maturely, fan speed at 50% constantly

load is 74C max and idle is around 42C maybe lower cant be bothered waiting for it to cool down further - fan speed at 50%

Psycho Sonny · 2 Dec 2007 at 22:15

got rivatuner working, same problem, the 3870's fan only works on 5 different settings, this has been posted on other sites too, the fan only has 5 different speeds, 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% or 100%, by running at any other speed it simply reverts to the lower nearest match, so 68% would run at 50% and 49% would run at 25%

TheRealDeal · 2 Dec 2007 at 23:03

My fan reports its running at 60% atm on rivatuner. So if what you are saying is true it will be running at 50%. When i reboot it still says its running at 60% though not 50.

Psycho Sonny · 2 Dec 2007 at 23:53

TheRealDeal said:
My fan reports its running at 60% atm on rivatuner. So if what you are saying is true it will be running at 50%. When i reboot it still says its running at 60% though not 50.

the software is lying, whatever you have it set to it will report that, but it isnt actually running that, do my tests, this has been confirmed by para too and on other forums, the fan on the card can only run on 5 different speeds, 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, there is no way possible just now unless you do a bios mod or a mod to the card to maybe make it run at different speeds, i have tried changing the speed in rivatuner and ati tool to other settings and they dont work, 75% is too loud for me so i run it at 50%, so your card should be fairly silent if its supposedly running 60% move it up to 70% there should be no increase in sound, then move it to 75% and hear it blow like a hairdryer - test all the speeds for yourself if you dont believe me

TheRealDeal · 2 Dec 2007 at 23:57

Psycho Sonny said:
the software is lying, whatever you have it set to it will report that, but it isnt actually running that, do my tests, this has been confirmed by para too and on other forums, the fan on the card can only run on 5 different speeds, 0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%, there is no way possible just now unless you do a bios mod or a mod to the card to maybe make it run at different speeds, i have tried changing the speed in rivatuner and ati tool to other settings and they dont work, 75% is too loud for me so i run it at 50%, so your card should be fairly silent if its supposedly running 60% move it up to 70% there should be no increase in sound, then move it to 75% and hear it blow like a hairdryer - test all the speeds for yourself if you dont believe me

Yea i did try it on 75 and for me it was to loud 50 keeps it pretty cool anyway i think my load temps are around mid 60's with core clocked to 830.

Psycho Sonny · 3 Dec 2007 at 00:07

the ram is supposedly rated to run 1200 but mine runs 1188 which is 12 short, might be poor contact of the stock cooling, but would spending £20-£30 on a decent cooler be worth it, it might be due to the problems built into the 3870 regarding its fan speeds and controls and having to set the speed yourself, plus i might get better clocks, personally ill stick with it now until a decent bios mod comes out which can push the core well over 900, a guy on XS has hit over 1GHZ on the core with volt mods and the new bios, ill wait for more results before i decide on what to do

VortexA1 · 3 Dec 2007 at 07:05

Ahh...the fan speed is only at set points.

That would explain the fans not sticking at in-between settings .etc 30%

So..0%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100%.

I have ati tools run the fan at 50% once the core goes up to a certain temperature.

That bios mod sounds the way to go then. Is the bios mod at an early stage - is there going to be a final release?

:rolleyes:

VortexA1 · 3 Dec 2007 at 07:06

Interesting posts .

Scougar · 3 Dec 2007 at 07:31

It is not black magic you know Vortex, the 'bios mod' is just an updated bios that ATI released to solve a clock multiplier issue. Bios editing tools for Nvidia have been around for years, but for some reason ati still seem closed off to modified bios's. Hopefully this will change with this card.

Matthew

gareth170 · 3 Dec 2007 at 09:54

Scougar said:
It is not black magic you know Vortex, the 'bios mod' is just an updated bios that ATI released to solve a clock multiplier issue. Bios editing tools for Nvidia have been around for years, but for some reason ati still seem closed off to modified bios's. Hopefully this will change with this card.

Matthew

i don't think it'll change with this card... maybe on the next upcoming cards it may change...

but its like the beta drivers they seem to keep them between themselves. i would have thought a public beta would be better

Scougar · 3 Dec 2007 at 11:13

At present, it doesn't even seem worth swapping out your pro for the newer 3870's gareth. At higher res's with AA on, looks like you'll be doing better anyway (and looks like they can't clock higher than the overclocks of the pro/xt anyway at the moment).

Matthew

Psycho Sonny · 3 Dec 2007 at 11:52

Scougar said:
At present, it doesn't even seem worth swapping out your pro for the newer 3870's gareth. At higher res's with AA on, looks like you'll be doing better anyway (and looks like they can't clock higher than the overclocks of the pro/xt anyway at the moment).

Matthew

maybe you never read my post fully, a guy hit over 1GHZ on the core over at XS, which is over a 230mhz overclock which is a 1/3 of the original core speed, a 33% overclock on the core is definetely something to shout about, and the guy was using air cooling, an accelero s1 with a 140mm fan strapped to it, he had to upgrade the bios and do a volt mod to get to this speed, as for swapping his pro, i would, the 3870xt uses less than half the power when idle and probably half when at load, also it runs a lot cooler and quieter and can be overclocked further and he could sell his pro for £120 ish which would make it a cheap upgrade

Scougar · 3 Dec 2007 at 12:07

I had assumed that was a 'lucky' run as I thought there were problems with clocking the 3870/50's even with the modified bios (The first version released, as I don't know of any other).

People also seemed to be reporting crashes after not a lot of overclock.

Matthew

Psycho Sonny · 3 Dec 2007 at 12:21

Scougar said:
I had assumed that was a 'lucky' run as I thought there were problems with clocking the 3870/50's even with the modified bios (The first version released, as I don't know of any other).

People also seemed to be reporting crashes after not a lot of overclock.

Matthew

you need to volt mod to go over 870 and you need to bios mod to go over 860 in the first place, so if your going to bios mod, its only worth doing so if your gonna volt mod and vice versa, so either dont touch the card at all or do both, theres no point in doing one because it doesnt help at all

gareth170 · 3 Dec 2007 at 12:30

Psycho Sonny said:
maybe you never read my post fully, a guy hit over 1GHZ on the core over at XS, which is over a 230mhz overclock which is a 1/3 of the original core speed, a 33% overclock on the core is definetely something to shout about, and the guy was using air cooling, an accelero s1 with a 140mm fan strapped to it, he had to upgrade the bios and do a volt mod to get to this speed, as for swapping his pro, i would, the 3870xt uses less than half the power when idle and probably half when at load, also it runs a lot cooler and quieter and can be overclocked further and he could sell his pro for £120 ish which would make it a cheap upgrade

one person hit 1ghz tho. thats nothing to say wow it's great.. must people can't even overclock past 890. that guy is/was lucky. not everybody would get the same results..

i wasn't even asking about should i get a 3870.. i know 100% it'll be a waste of money because its around same performance at my 2900 at xt speed.. i know its 50% less power but im not worryed about that... maybe the 3870 as less noise but my 2900 isn't noisy because the temp at 68c underload at xt speed so the fan speed stays at 31%..

Scougar · 3 Dec 2007 at 13:52

Do you build your own machines Gareth?

Matthew

gareth170 · 3 Dec 2007 at 14:57

Scougar said:
Do you build your own machines Gareth?

Matthew

yes m8 , me and my girlfriend build them...

why?

londonbairn · 3 Dec 2007 at 15:51

I think it's worth it if you can break even at least. I got a Sapphire 3870XT for £x and sold my HIS 2900XT for more. It's more svelt (the cooler is not as huge and it is slightly smaller) and only one power connector won it for me. Not sure if UVD is helping as movies look and play the same, but nonetheless I am happy.

TheRealDeal · 3 Dec 2007 at 16:52

gareth170 said:
one person hit 1ghz tho. thats nothing to say wow it's great.. must people can't even overclock past 890. that guy is/was lucky. not everybody would get the same results..

i wasn't even asking about should i get a 3870.. i know 100% it'll be a waste of money because its around same performance at my 2900 at xt speed.. i know its 50% less power but im not worryed about that... maybe the 3870 as less noise but my 2900 isn't noisy because the temp at 68c underload at xt speed so the fan speed stays at 31%..

Its not luck gareth if he can get over 1ghz on the core with air many more people will be able to reach that with water or decent cooler. Some may not get so lucky to get to that speed but i bet they would still get in the high 900s. If you are happy with what your card can do then wait for something better to come along but as it stands if wanting to overclock the 3870 seems to be a good bit better than the 2900 with the bios flash and the volt mod.