How to overclock a 7850 past 1050MHz?

pieman109 · 15 Apr 2012 at 16:04

I reckon the 7850 in Xfire with even a mild overclock (max limits in CCC) would comprehensively beat an even overclocked 7950,, BUT, you might have Xfire issues regarding scaling and wether Xfire works in some games at all and you'd need the same psu for either of a around 650w (not sure about psu requirements though, maybe someone better informed than me can confirm that)

555BUK · 15 Apr 2012 at 18:20

two00lbwaster said:
CAT 12.3 with CCC removed, however, notice a couple of things for me.
2D is disabled in the ASUS tool, then look at GPU-Z, no, it isn't.
Look at the voltage, stock in GPU-Z, but maxed out in the ASUS tool.

Whatever is happening, the ASUS tool isn't working correctly on my Win7 install.

In the bottom left corner of GPU Tweak there are three buttons. Try pushing the one in the middle to unlock the advanced settings that include the 2D clocks and extra overclocking headroom. From your screenie, it does not look checked. If you have backup software such as Acronis, try a fresh install to disprove driver gremlins.

chris74 · 15 Apr 2012 at 19:19

Finally got time to play with my new Sapphire 7850 O.C. today.

I have had more crashes than I care to remember. GPU Tweak is buggy as hell but I have managed to run 3DMark2011 Basic and Heaven DX11 Benchmark successfully without crashing at 1200/5800 with 1.176 volts. Anything less leads to unigine crash.

I have yet to play BF3 or any game for that matter and I don't ever clock my cards, but would any of you consider the above stable in your eyes or should I be looking to loop certain tests for a set minimum before you would call it stable?.

pieman109 · 15 Apr 2012 at 19:32

I'd do some gaming to test if the clocks are stable and that temps are ok.

flexy123 · 15 Apr 2012 at 19:46

chris74 said:
Finally got time to play with my new Sapphire 7850 O.C. today.

I have had more crashes than I care to remember. GPU Tweak is buggy as hell but I have managed to run 3DMark2011 Basic and Heaven DX11 Benchmark successfully without crashing at 1200/5800 with 1.176 volts. Anything less leads to unigine crash.

I have yet to play BF3 or any game for that matter and I don't ever clock my cards, but would any of you consider the above stable in your eyes or should I be looking to loop certain tests for a set minimum before you would call it stable?.

I would def. loop those tests for a while - in practice a normal game will never put so much strain on a card as most benchmarks. You should also monitor temps...and closely look for artifacts while you run the benches.

Otherwise,this looks good to me.

chris74 · 15 Apr 2012 at 20:28

Just played a 64 man Metro map for an hour with settings at ULtra, HBAO and the results so far have been fantastic.

The lowest framerate I could see was 85 with the majority between 95 and 110 throughout the games played.

Fan on auto was never more than 49% with maximum temps as reported by GPU Tweak at 71 degrees. That could be improved on with my own settings but I am highly impressed thus far.

OLDCell · 15 Apr 2012 at 20:41

pieman109 said:
I reckon the 7850 in Xfire with even a mild overclock (max limits in CCC) would comprehensively beat an even overclocked 7950,, BUT, you might have Xfire issues regarding scaling and wether Xfire works in some games at all and you'd need the same psu for either of a around 650w (not sure about psu requirements though, maybe someone better informed than me can confirm that)

Thanks for the info. Reading up the power draw would be fine for a HX650 I had crossfire 5770 and they draw more power than these cards so no probs in PSU. Just need to work out if I want crossfire again with possible issues or single card like now. Crossfire would mean getting rid of my gtx240 for physx due to space and heat with having an asus Xonar in there also.

The 7850 looks like great bang for buck!

Twirlywoos · 15 Apr 2012 at 20:43

chris74 said:
Just played a 64 man Metro map for an hour with settings at ULtra, HBAO and the results so far have been fantastic.

The lowest framerate I could see was 85 with the majority between 95 and 110 throughout the games played.

Fan on auto was never more than 49% with maximum temps as reported by GPU Tweak at 71 degrees. That could be improved on with my own settings but I am highly impressed thus far.

Fantastic Results mate. Just keep and eye on the temps and if you have any artefacts over the next couple of days whilst gaming.

Nice to see people in general getting good overclocks, I expect in the next 3-4 weeks "If" the 78x cards go down in price a lot more people will be jumping over this card. Hopefully we'll see some CrossFire benches and speeds from other non reference cards (XFX, MSI, Asus)

flexy123 · 15 Apr 2012 at 21:07

I am not reading so many good things about the XFX cards, while they seem fantastic (they have the second power connector because they use the 7870 PCB!)...i read that the cooling itself (the fans) are supposed to be weak.

I think the 7850 makes only sense as a highly overclockable budget card, for me personally it would defy the purpose to spend more to get a XFX with the 7870 board, otherwise it wouldn't be a budget card anymore

At this point, i'd say the Sapphire OC looks like the most attractive bunch of all of them with the second lowest price (after the Sapphire non-OC), the cooling solution looks alright and the people reporting anything from "ok" to "very good" OC results with it.

pieman109 · 15 Apr 2012 at 21:29

Had I have known earlier , I'd have gone for the MSI versh meself. Exceptional cooling solution and so far most, if not all, seem to be great clockers.

flexy123 · 15 Apr 2012 at 21:49

Pieman, how many people have a MSI? If a couple of people reporting they have a MSI (incl. the OP as far as i know)...this is still not sufficient to make a general assumption..it could as well be a luck-thing?

Edit: I also don't think that heat is an issue with those cards AT ALL, so i don't know what to say about the cooling solution of the MSI.

two00lbwaster · 15 Apr 2012 at 21:53

pieman109 said:
How would going to that site with asus tweak tool cause the system to crash Seems to me theres some issues with some people's system configurations.

I think it was flash, but all I did was remove it and my problem was solved.

two00lbwaster · 15 Apr 2012 at 21:58

555BUK said:
In the bottom left corner of GPU Tweak there are three buttons. Try pushing the one in the middle to unlock the advanced settings that include the 2D clocks and extra overclocking headroom. From your screenie, it does not look checked. If you have backup software such as Acronis, try a fresh install to disprove driver gremlins.

I do have the ability to back up, but advanced mode was activated in that screen shot. If I remember correctly, I got a half filled hexagon if it was in standard mode, and also you couldn't see the voltage panel.

flexy123 · 15 Apr 2012 at 22:37

You guys with the great overclocks,
do your cards have the 7850 boards using only one power connector? Just to clear up some rumors that people might only achieve the good overclocks on older cards which still used the 7870 layout with the 2 power connectors.

psychodil · 15 Apr 2012 at 22:58

what would be faster, a overclocked 7850 or 2 6850's in crossfire wih a realistic overclock? Not too bothered about vram, as i play at 1080p with aero disabled.

pieman109 · 15 Apr 2012 at 23:16

flexy123 said:
Pieman, how many people have a MSI? If a couple of people reporting they have a MSI (incl. the OP as far as i know)...this is still not sufficient to make a general assumption..it could as well be a luck-thing?

Edit: I also don't think that heat is an issue with those cards AT ALL, so i don't know what to say about the cooling solution of the MSI.

Maybe I was being improptu regarding the MSI cards, but they do have a reputation (the Frozr range at least) for very good o/clocking capabilities, plus my son has a MSI 6850 frozr in his pc and that goes like the clappers, plus they always sell for a premium on the MM. The coolers on these cards are very good. Also the coolers on the sapphire would "appear" to be virtually the same, and they seem to overclock extremely well too. Its all a case of giving yourself the best "chance" of a good overclock (as nothing can be guaranteed in this game) and the MSI and sapphires would appear to give the user the best chances of high core and memory overclocks.
Wrt the heat aspect, in my case it is VERY relevant due to having done a fair bit of benching of mine at loads of settings, if my temps go above 75c and up then I'll more than like black screen and crash. when raising the fan speed, to around 50% and keeping everything the same, this doesn't happen and the bench completes. So if I can keep temps low, say around 60c everything fine and dandy and I can give the card a few volts as it were, plus it means I can have a play around with it which I haven't done for a while

555BUK · 15 Apr 2012 at 23:29

flexy123 said:
You guys with the great overclocks,
do your cards have the 7850 boards using only one power connector? Just to clear up some rumors that people might only achieve the good overclocks on older cards which still used the 7870 layout with the 2 power connectors.

Mine had one connector and did 1275MHz (1200MHz 24/7 clocks).

Twirlywoos · 15 Apr 2012 at 23:36

pieman109 said:
Maybe I was being improptu regarding the MSI cards, but they do have a reputation (the Frozr range at least) for very good o/clocking capabilities, plus my son has a MSI 6850 frozr in his pc and that goes like the clappers, plus they always sell for a premium on the MM. The coolers on these cards are very good. Also the coolers on the sapphire would "appear" to be virtually the same, and they seem to overclock extremely well too. Its all a case of giving yourself the best "chance" of a good overclock (as nothing can be guaranteed in this game) and the MSI and sapphires would appear to give the user the best chances of high core and memory overclocks.
Wrt the heat aspect, in my case it is VERY relevant due to having done a fair bit of benching of mine at loads of settings, if my temps go above 75c and up then I'll more than like black screen and crash. when raising the fan speed, to around 50% and keeping everything the same, this doesn't happen and the bench completes. So if I can keep temps low, say around 60c everything fine and dandy and I can give the card a few volts as it were, plus it means I can have a play around with it which I haven't done for a while

From the top of my head the coolers between the Sapphire and MSI are slightly different.

Sapphire has 2 8mm heat dispersion pipes and the MSI has 3 6mm. The fans on the MSI are slightly different/efficient too.

Twirlywoos · 15 Apr 2012 at 23:40

flexy123 said:
You guys with the great overclocks,
do your cards have the 7850 boards using only one power connector? Just to clear up some rumors that people might only achieve the good overclocks on older cards which still used the 7870 layout with the 2 power connectors.

Buy one and let us know how the XFX with 2 PCIE connectors fair against the rest.

I ordered the MSI without knowing or reading this thread properly as it was on advertised in stock at a UK Bargain hunters website. I prefer the additional warranty with MSI; and the coolers are generally more efficient and they produce less sound so I went and bought it without knowing the competition from other brands.

chris74 · 15 Apr 2012 at 23:43

I really, really wanted the MSI one myself but none were in stock or if they were they weren't available for SAT (yesterday) delivery.

I opted for the Sapphire OC edition as I took a gamble after reading something that, just perhaps, they put the better chips in their premium version. The jury is out but mine is perfect and probably capable of more with a little voltage.

I have been playing BF3 for 2-3 hours straight with my card at 1200/5800 @ 1.176 volts with everything at ultra and HBAO enabled and it hasn't missed a beat.

I am pleased I chose one with a better cooler over stock as this one is quiet and has yet to go over 49% fan speed under auto but leads to temps in the higher 60's gaming and 71c under benchmarks.