How to overclock a 7850 past 1050MHz?

555BUK · 5 Apr 2012 at 16:23

Okay, 1290MHz is stable @ 1.2v. Maybe I should start a new ">50% GPU overclock club thread"

.

Here's the P score. Note that my CPU is only a 2500K @ stock, and my mobo is a crappy H61.

HeX · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:13

Mine takes 1.225V for 1290

50% OC, chuffed ^_^

555BUK · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:28

Here you go guys. 7024 P Score 1325MHz / 6000MHz @ 1.215v. That's a 54% overclock on the reference air cooler. With a decent CPU/mobo I may have gained a few more points, but as this is currently the fastest 7850 on Futuremark, I am content.

These cards are frecking awesome overclockers. Probably the best GPU headroom ever.

Jerry64 · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:30

HeX · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:33

P7296 @ 1290/5800 @ 1.225V. 50% OC on air. CPU @ 4.2GHz.

Jerry64 · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:36

So really is looking like the 7850 is the best perf/price card ?

HeX · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:37

By a considerable margin IMHO

555BUK · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:38

HeX said:
P7296 @ 1290/5800 @ 1.225V. 50% OC on air. CPU @ 4.2GHz.

Good score. I need a mobo that can overclock. My graphics score is a tiny bit higher than yours but my CP @ stock lets me down. We're beating stock 7950's for half the price

.

Two of these in crossfire would absolutely murder a 7970 or GTX680 for less money.

Jerry64 · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:39

And on only one 6 pin power

HeX · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:39

Yeah i'm only ahead because of CPU score. That OC on your card is mad

I don't think mine has that much in it, i've already had to use a tad more volts than you for 1290.

Time to see if 6000mem works

Jerry64 · 5 Apr 2012 at 17:41

555BUK said:
Good score. I need a mobo that can overclock. My graphics score is a tiny bit higher than yours but my CP @ stock lets me down.

Two of these in crossfire would absolutely murder a 7970 or GTX680 for less money.

^
This

555BUK · 5 Apr 2012 at 18:12

HeX said:
Yeah i'm only ahead because of CPU score. That OC on your card is mad I don't think mine has that much in it, i've already had to use a tad more volts than you for 1290.

Time to see if 6000mem works

1325MHz is good for 3DMark11 but will not complete Heaven. The highest my card will complete Heaven at is 1300MHz, but that is obviously not a 24/7 clock.

I think safe 24/7 clocks for my card will be 1200/6000 @ 1.125v. Safe benching is likely to be 1250-1275/6000. For the odd pants-down run, 1300-1325/6200 is just about possible, but I do not pretend that will be stable.

I think most reference cards should do 1200MHz easy with a little voltage bump. Two of these cards in crossfure will be a good 30-40% faster than a 7970 clocked at the same speeds.

I cannot remember any card from either side ever clocking as well as these do. No wonder AMD has tried to restrict overclocking these to just 1050MHz. Sales of 6950's, 6970's 7870's and maybe even 7950's will slump if people ever find out

. Anyone buying these cards should probably download ASUS's GPU Tweak tool quick before someone at AMD makes them "fix" it.

edit: Just read some more of the release reviews and it seems clock for clock these are only 6-10% slower than the 7870's which cost 40% more. As the 7870's no longer overclock better, 7850's are where the smart money goes.

RavenXXX2 · 5 Apr 2012 at 18:29

Great GFX score. Must admit I'm tempted to pop for one of these and clock it silly, will think on it.

Masterdeadly · 5 Apr 2012 at 18:54

Extremely tempted by a 7850. 555BUK what is your Stable 24/7 7850 at? What scores do you get with Unigine 2.5 with the stable Overclock not the benching ones ?

LtMatt · 5 Apr 2012 at 19:23

555BUK said:
1325MHz is good for 3DMark11 but will not complete Heaven. The highest my card will complete Heaven at is 1300MHz, but that is obviously not a 24/7 clock.

I think safe 24/7 clocks for my card will be 1200/6000 @ 1.125v. Safe benching is likely to be 1250-1275/6000. For the odd pants-down run, 1300-1325/6200 is just about possible, but I do not pretend that will be stable.

I think most reference cards should do 1200MHz easy with a little voltage bump. Two of these cards in crossfure will be a good 30-40% faster than a 7970 clocked at the same speeds.

I cannot remember any card from either side ever clocking as well as these do. No wonder AMD has tried to restrict overclocking these to just 1050MHz. Sales of 6950's, 6970's 7870's and maybe even 7950's will slump if people ever find out. Anyone buying these cards should probably download ASUS's GPU Tweak tool quick before someone at AMD makes them "fix" it.

edit: Just read some more of the release reviews and it seems clock for clock these are only 6-10% slower than the 7870's which cost 40% more. As the 7870's no longer overclock better, 7850's are where the smart money goes.

Why dont the 7870's no longer overclock better?

MORE SPEED · 5 Apr 2012 at 19:50

Which cards is everyone using for these overclocks?

555BUK · 5 Apr 2012 at 20:12

Masterdeadly said:
Extremely tempted by a 7850. 555BUK what is your Stable 24/7 7850 at? What scores do you get with Unigine 2.5 with the stable Overclock not the benching ones ?

I have been testing exactly this for the past hour. It seems that 1200MHz core / 5800MHz mem @ 1.125v will be my 24/7 clocks. This offers the best balance of performance vs heat, power and noise. The card can do 1275 / 6000 stable, but it takes 1.2v to do that and things start getting too hot for the reference cooler without cranking the fan up to unbearable levels. Perhaps the Sapphire or MSI Frozr coolers could handle it quietly but mine cannot.

So, 24/7 = 1200 / 5800 @ 1.125v (just 0.05v above stock). At this speed Heaven benches 57fps, and scores 1435 @ 1080P 4xAA, 4xAF, Tesselation=Normal.

LtMatt said:
Why dont the 7870's no longer overclock better?

Before the ASUS GPU Tweak tool was available, 7850's could not overclock past 1050MHz (CCC & BIOS limits), but 7870's were allowed to go up to 1300 (if the GPU's could reach it). Now the 7850's can go just as high as the 7870's, meaning the 7870's no longer overclock better. The only performance difference between the cards is that the 7850 has 20% fewer shaders.

Like with the 6850 vs 6870 and 7950 vs 7970, shader counts alone do not majorly affect performance. Clock speeds, ROP's, Memory bandwisth etc mean that a few missing shaders make little real difference.

Many reviewa show a 7850 overclocked to 1050MHz equalling a stock 7870 @ 1000MHz. That mean clock for clock a 7870 is only very slightly faster.

Stock speeds
Stock 7870 = 1000/4800
Stock 7850 = 860/4800
difference = ~20%

before GPU Tweak allowed unlocking average overclocks
OC 7870 = ~1250/5600
OC 7850 = ~1050/5600
difference = ~25%

with GPU Tweak unlocked overclocks
OC 7870 = ~1250/5600
OC 7850 = ~1250/5600
difference = 6-8%

It is not that 7870 no longer overclocks better, it is more that 7850 now overclock just as well. The 7870 is not worth 40% more money for just 6-8% performance.

MORE SPEED said:
Which cards is everyone using for these overclocks?

I have a bog standard VTX/Powercolor reference card like this. I paid £169 for mine.

Geeman1979 · 5 Apr 2012 at 20:19

555BUK said:
I have been testing exactly this for the past hour. It seems that 1200MHz core / 5800MHz mem @ 1.125v will be my 24/7 clocks. This offers the best balance of performance vs heat, power and noise. The card can do 1275 / 6000 stable, but it takes 1.2v to do that and things start getting too hot for the reference cooler without cranking the fan up to unbearable levels. Perhaps the Sapphire or MSI Frozr coolers could handle it quietly but mine cannot.

So, 24/7 = 1200 / 5800 @ 1.125v (just 0.05v above stock). At this speed Heaven benches 57fps, and scores 1435 @ 1080P 4xAA, 4xAF, Tesselation=Normal.

Before the ASUS GPU Tweak tool was available, 7850's could not overclock past 1050MHz (CCC & BIOS limits), but 7870's were allowed to go up to 1300 (if the GPU's could reach it). Now the 7850's can go just as high as the 7870's, meaning the 7870's no longer overclock better. The only performance difference between the cards is that the 7850 has 20% fewer shaders.

Like with the 6850 vs 6870 and 7950 vs 7970, shader counts alone do not majorly affect performance. Clock speeds, ROP's, Memory bandwisth etc mean that a few missing shaders make little real difference.

Many reviewa show a 7850 overclocked to 1050MHz equalling a stock 7870 @ 1000MHz. That mean clock for clock a 7870 is only very slightly faster.

Stock speeds
Stock 7870 = 1000/4800
Stock 7850 = 860/4800
difference = ~20%

before GPU Tweak allowed unlocking average overclocks
OC 7870 = ~1250/5600
OC 7850 = ~1050/5600
difference = ~25%

with GPU Tweak unlocked overclocks
OC 7870 = ~1250/5600
OC 7850 = ~1250/5600
difference = 6-8%

It is not that 7870 no longer overclocks better, it is more that 7850 now overclock just as well. The 7870 is not worth 40% more money for just 6-8% performance.

I have a bog standard VTX/Powercolor reference card like this. I paid £169 for mine.

Card looks good value for the money.

555BUK · 5 Apr 2012 at 20:44

My 24/7 clocks (1200/5800) 3DMark11 P Score of 6621 comfortably beats my old GTX580 P Score of 5356. With the GTX580 overclocked to it's absolute unstable max (930MHz core / 4400mem), it still only scored 6989. I have already posted 7850 max overclocked scores above 7000 above, so this cheap card can kick it in the big league.

GTX 580 @ stock vs 7850 @ 24/7 1200/5800 comparison. The 7850 is a fair bit faster.

RavenXXX2 · 5 Apr 2012 at 20:46

What temps you getting at max overclocks and are you setting manual fan speeds, if not does fan get loud.