HIS IceQ 7950 memory problem

[poecilotheria]

Hi, so I just upgraded from a GTX 460 and up to the stunning HIS IceQ 7950, now the problem I've been noticing is this, as soon as I touch the memory clocks I get performance decrease in 3dmark11, to the point I'm hitting only 5500k in 3dmark11, however when I leave the memory alone and only overclock the core to 1.1Ghz the performance increases a lot (http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5582370 you guys can tell me if this is good or not) ... Any ideas what's happening here? I've tried upping the memory volts by .25 and it does nothing, ideas?

This is not just in 3dmark11 but in BF3 I notice it and it also crashes my pc with a coloured screen and vertical lines. I think it actually happened once while on stock speeds when I first gave it a spin in BF3. Dodgy card?

I'm just confused why upping the memory speeds is hitting my fps the wrong way?

edit: the card runs super cold and very quiet btw

 

[spoffle]

Error correction is kicking in on the memory at the higher speed thus reducing its performance.

It basically means that at the current memory voltage, it's got very little overclocking headroom.

 

[poecilotheria]

Just to add, the card seems very very random with it's speeds Doesn't matter if I add 100mhz (1100mhz) to the core I will usually still have the same fps if not 1 fps more than stock, but about 3-4 times out of 20 on the exact same core overclock speed it sometimes adds 20 fps on 3dmark11 what is going on? I ain't happy with the card as I bought it partly because of it's overclock capability and I've only seen it kick in once...

also in Kombuster I have only gotten 106 fps, but 1 time when I fired it up after I added 100mhz (1100mhz) to the core the fps shot up to 150 average, and since I haven't been able to get to 150, It's just staying on 106 no matter if I have the same exact clock speeds I had them on to achieve the 150 on kombuster.

even if I put CCC power to +1,+2,+3 it does not help.

specs
xfx 650w
i7 920 3.5ghz
patriot blue ram ddr3
ex58 ud3r

 

[LtMatt]

Have you increased the power slide in CCC to +20% to ensure that the card is not throttling to stay within its TDP?

 

[poecilotheria]

I haven't went above 5% as I didn't know how much the % adds to the volts, but why would it throttle 1 minute then not throttle the next? I was getting an extra 20fps in 3dmark without touching the volts and left on 0% same with kombuster fps... I'll give it a try and see.

Here is some pics just to show kombuster

106 fps same clocks/volts
http://i48.tinypic.com/10shyiv.jpg

150fps same clocks/volts
http://i47.tinypic.com/255rjsz.png

 

[LtMatt]

I haven't went above 5% as I didn't know how much the % adds to the volts, but why would it throttle 1 minute then not throttle the next? I was getting an extra 20fps in 3dmark without touching the volts and left on 0% same with kombuster fps... I'll give it a try and see.

Here is some pics just to show kombuster

106 fps same clocks/volts
http://i48.tinypic.com/10shyiv.jpg

150fps same clocks/volts
http://i47.tinypic.com/255rjsz.png

If you're going to overclock always leave the power slide at +20%. It could well be that your card was throttling, especially if you were using the power virus that is kombuster.

Ditch that and use Unigine Heaven to bench the core, use 3DMark 2011 to bench the memory. Once your 3dmark score starts going down you dial back the memory overclock a tad.

Finally use the latest 3d games to seek 100% stability.

 

[poecilotheria]

If you're going to overclock always leave the power slide at +20%. It could well be that your card was throttling, especially if you were using the power virus that is kombuster.

Ditch that and use Unigine Heaven to bench the core, use 3DMark 2011 to bench the memory. Once your 3dmark score starts going down you dial back the memory overclock a tad.

Finally use the latest 3d games to seek 100% stability.

You are correct, I'm getting the high fps again, thanks for your help mate that must have been the problem, is it safe to use 20% all the time then? how much more volts is that adding?

 

[skyjawa]

You'll be well lucky to get a stable 1100 core on stock volts with the slider at 20%. 1050 is the max usually. More you need to play with the voltages manually.

 

[LtMatt]

You are correct, I'm getting the high fps again, thanks for your help mate that must have been the problem, is it safe to use 20% all the time then? how much more volts is that adding?

The power slider only increases the amount of current the card is allowed to draw before it hits the limit (TDP) and throttles, it has nothing to do with voltage which is something you can increase separately using a third party application such as mss afterburner/trixxx etc. Just set it at 20%, fire and forget.

 

[wazza300]

from what ive read it doesnt add any volts it just raises the thermal limit tdp of the card

 

[poecilotheria]

Thanks guys for ya help, 1 last question, no matter how much voltage I add to the memory it just won't go further than 1340mhz, and I'm seeing people hitting 1500mhz on stock voltage... Grr have I just got bad luck with this card? and how much fps would 1300mhz to 1500 mhz memory give me?

is this a good score for my system? http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5614553

cheers guys

 

[LtMatt]

Thanks guys for ya help, 1 last question, no matter how much voltage I add to the memory it just won't go further than 1340mhz, and I'm seeing people hitting 1500mhz on stock voltage... Grr have I just got bad luck with this card? and how much fps would 1300mhz to 1500 mhz memory give me?

is this a good score for my system? http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5614553

cheers guys

Is your card using Hynix memory or did they cheap out on the memory? Whats the max voltage you can add to the memory? Memory overclocking is not as important as the core, but it does help. 1500 is ghz edition speed and would be a nice minimum. Personally i use 1563 as that provides exactly 300gb of bandwidth on a 7970. It just sounds like a good number.

 

[poecilotheria]

Is your card using Hynix memory or did they cheap out on the memory? Whats the max voltage you can add to the memory? Memory overclocking is not as important as the core, but it does help. 1500 is ghz edition speed and would be a nice minimum. Personally i use 1563 as that provides exactly 300gb of bandwidth on a 7970. It just sounds like a good number.

The maximum voltage I can add is 1.7, default is 1.6, tried max voltage and still won't let me go above 1380mhz really thinking of sending it back and spending a little more on something else

 

[LtMatt]

The maximum voltage I can add is 1.7, default is 1.6, tried max voltage and still won't let me go above 1380mhz really thinking of sending it back and spending a little more on something else

Sounds like its the proper memory then, i guess you just got unlucky with a bad clocker on the memory.