If you're careful maybe not.
But if you've admitted it to OcUK and on their forum you're a bit stuffed.
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OCUK 6970 TFIII (Lightning) review.
- Thread starter ALXAndy
- Start date
If you're careful maybe not.
But if you've admitted it to OcUK and on their forum you're a bit stuffed.
It has been altered. You have applied your own thermal paste. The fact is, any tom and harry could try doing what you did.. in which case, who is to say it never made the problem worse?
Yeh i read that too, but just wondering is anyone has actually managed to get this card at or over 1ghz?
I'm not fussed as the card works and i'm hoping to get it water cooled in the next month or so. The card is working fine it just getting hot.
If that's the case they're still their to prove what i have done has damaged it anyway, the card is clearly malfunctioning if its getting terribly hot.
Anyhows the cards working well, should have got the proper lightening one but nevermind. Watercooling will solve the problem (or future problem) and credit card company should be able to sort OCUK out regarding dirt 3.
The two were really dogging my overclocks (AB and CCC).
If I disabled overdrive my clocks were not being applied properly (looking at the actual max mhz on the right just showed 880 regardless of what I did in AB) and when I enabled CCC the card was unstable even at 900 and was still throttling.
Apparently you can remove the limiter (TDP apparently) by doing something with the cfg file for AB. I also read that you shouldn't install the CCC at all if you intend to do any serious overclocking because again it limits the voltage.
In the end I just set the card back to the factory settings. No point in all honesty, was just wasted time as it tears through everything even @ 880.
If the cooler wasn't on properly then the card was clearly defective and thus, should have been returned. Infact, you are not obligated to even pay return postage for a defective item that comes down to the person who sold it to you. If they refuse to collect it you keep it and get a refund.
I found that out when I bought a GPU from Amazon and the pleb put it in a padded envelope with no AS bag or anything. It arrived with the PCI plate bent badly and a cap snapped off. I sent him pics, he said "Send it back and I will give you a refund". I refused, dug up the law, he ended up losing the card and I got a refund. Repaired it a week later..
But yes, due to the law being so heavily weighted in your favour taking the card apart and fiddling with it is just suicidal.
I really don't understand why you would do that
If you decide to try and change how the law operates you can't really expect it to rule in your favour.
Ed. What I mean is items damaged in transit. Which it obviously was.
I stated this? as I've said it has not been altered, the thermal paste etc is still the original.
I'm still here so by all means not suicidal, as mentioned it does not state anywhere in the warranty information i cannot reseat the cooler.But yes, due to the law being so heavily weighted in your favour taking the card apart and fiddling with it is just suicidal.
I really don't understand why you would do that
If you decide to try and change how the law operates you can't really expect it to rule in your favour.
Ed. What I mean is items damaged in transit. Which it obviously was.
And please state where i have tried to change how the law operates? I've worked in retail for sometime and am fairly familiar with the basics of the law (not it anymore like)
The law states that if something arrives at your house that your ordered via the internet that is broken (distant selling) that you must inform the person who sent it to you that it is broken. Not defective, broken. If the cooler was seated incorrectly it is damage.
At that point they then have the option of collecting said item but must give you a refund either way. They can not demand that you send it back at your time and cost.
Therefore you should have simply done so, not taken it apart.
It has been shown that your warranty is made void by modifying or changing the item. If you took the cooler off then that is exactly what you were doing.
How's it been shown the warranty is void? The card is still the same card that turned up at my house with no change to it, same parts, same cooler, same thermal paste. Obviously we disagree on the meanings of modifying / changing and I am not going to sit here debating with you any further as it's to no one's benefit.
I have raised it as an issue with MSI directly as they'll have the final say, as I've said I'm not terribly fussed as the card is working fine (and it wouldn't surprise me if it maybe within what they deem acceptable temperatures) and it'll be watercooled in the near future anyhows.
Still trying to get my copy of Dirt3 of them, seems there's little checking that go's on in the warehouse before sending anything out.
Nah the game isn't down to MSI man, OCUK usually send a card/voucher or email.
My BF3 came by email and Deus Ex was on a card in the box. It's OCUK who bundles that stuff man get onto them about it.
I've been missing a game card a couple of times (Mafia II was one on my 470) and a Razer Tshirt that was bundled with my Boomslang. They sent both next day and apologised.. Send them a webnote.
My BF3 came by email and Deus Ex was on a card in the box. It's OCUK who bundles that stuff man get onto them about it.
I've been missing a game card a couple of times (Mafia II was one on my 470) and a Razer Tshirt that was bundled with my Boomslang. They sent both next day and apologised.. Send them a webnote.
I was referring to MSI for the card , you never know..
Yeh i got Deus Ex on a card, i have spoken to them and raised 2 webnotes. Raised a complaint note thing on the site to see if that makes any difference.
I did get this on the 21st of December:
Thanks for the webnote.
'The correct graphics card was sent to you. Also I will create a new order for the Dirt3 code and this will be sent via Standard post therefore it will be with you in the next couple of days.
Regards,
Tanith Venables'
Turned out the card was wrong (they sent the normal 6970 and not the twin frozr one) and the dirt3 code never got dispatched (or they've sent someone walking backwards the 100 or so miles up here to give me it lol.
The reference 6970 only just fits in an antec 300:
http://www.sulphademus.net/compy/HD6970_1.jpg
so I can't see how the Twin Frozr will unles you remove the HDD cage.
Heh, sweet 
So after weeks of searching I finally managed to track down the stock Lightning 940 bios.
To be safe I switched to the performance bios (which was 880mhz also) and flashed it onto there. I wasn't expecting it to be stable, as strangely when I tried to overclock the card to 940mhz with standard volts it would just crash when benchmarking.
However, as bizarre as it seems for some reason the bios loaded on and the clocks appeared.
Note I have circled that the actual clocks are 940mhz (sometimes before that area would stay at 880)
And sure enough
The plot thickens
How come when in Silence mode (on a stock 880mhz bios) it wouldn't overclock to the stock lightning settings without extra voltage, yet, when switched to the performance bios and flashed to a stock proper Lightning bios it flew through with flying colours
I even managed an easy 970mhz on 1220mv but it bombed at 1050 with 1320.
Very strange !
I would upload the bios for you all, but I don't have the means sadly. Shame, 'cos it's a tiny file.
So after weeks of searching I finally managed to track down the stock Lightning 940 bios.
To be safe I switched to the performance bios (which was 880mhz also) and flashed it onto there. I wasn't expecting it to be stable, as strangely when I tried to overclock the card to 940mhz with standard volts it would just crash when benchmarking.
However, as bizarre as it seems for some reason the bios loaded on and the clocks appeared.
Note I have circled that the actual clocks are 940mhz (sometimes before that area would stay at 880)
And sure enough
The plot thickens
How come when in Silence mode (on a stock 880mhz bios) it wouldn't overclock to the stock lightning settings without extra voltage, yet, when switched to the performance bios and flashed to a stock proper Lightning bios it flew through with flying colours
I even managed an easy 970mhz on 1220mv but it bombed at 1050 with 1320.
Very strange !
I would upload the bios for you all, but I don't have the means sadly. Shame, 'cos it's a tiny file.
So lets get this straight.. you switched over the the performance setting on the card and flashed the bios to that? Can you tell us how this was done?
Secondly, i think you lost me a little (probably me!), but you say that it crashed at 940mhz with standard volts? ...but then you go on to say flew through with flying colours ....or are you referring to the standard bios now overclocking with flying colours?
Sorry about the questions, just want to make sure i know what you did before i try the same!
ps. could you upload the file to here: http://www.sendspace.com/ and post the link back to the uploaded bios as i would really like to give this a go!
Secondly, i think you lost me a little (probably me!), but you say that it crashed at 940mhz with standard volts? ...but then you go on to say flew through with flying colours ....or are you referring to the standard bios now overclocking with flying colours?
Sorry about the questions, just want to make sure i know what you did before i try the same!
ps. could you upload the file to here: http://www.sendspace.com/ and post the link back to the uploaded bios as i would really like to give this a go!
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O.K.
When my card was in its stock "Silence" setting I tried to clock it to "Normal" Lightning speeds. This means 940mhz with stock voltage (1174 or what not).
However, when I did it would crash during 3dm11 unless I pushed up the voltage to 1.2v (or 1200mv).
OK.
So today after spending ages looking I finally found a bios dump from an actual Lightning card. This means that at stock clock on the bios the core speed is 940mhz at stock volts.
On the back of your card is a switch. By default it is set to Silence. It has three stages. One click over from Silence is Performance. This, basically, is the second bios on the card for overclocking with and modifying ETC for LN2.
So. I found the bios for the actual lightning (940mhz 1174mv) and flashed it to the second bios that is labelled Performance. If you click to the third setting you will select no bios and the card will not post (mistake on MSI's behalf).
What's odd is that if I clocked the bios that is loaded onto the Silence setting to 940mhz with stock volts it would fail any benchmark or stress test. However, when the actual Lightning bios is loaded onto the card it works perfectly at that clock (940) with stock volts.
You can get the bios from here.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...-crap-on-me-when-i-put-load-on-it-570283.html
You need to create an account, but that's no biggie.
Then do the following.
Download something called Radeon Bios editor. The filename for it is RBE_128.exe and I got it from Techpowerup. This will allow you to verify the bios and show the clock speeds and so on.
Then download ATI Winflash. The latest version is 2.0.1.14. Again, that can be downloaded from Techpowerup.
Then download GPUZ.
O.K now shut down the PC.
Find the white switch, and carefully set it one place across. If you go both two places your GPU will not have a bios to load and your PC will just beep like a piggy.
So once you have set it to bios 2 (or Performance) boot your PC.
EDIT. Load GPUZ and back up the bios on there (880mhz)
Load Winflash, flash on the bios in the link I sent you. Reboot when it tells you to.
Load Afterburner, click "reset" at the bottom. Your AB screen should now look like this.
OK, when it looks like that you are now running an actual Lightning bios, stock clock of 940mhz with the stock voltage.
Run 3Dmark11, see if it passes. If it does compare your score comparatively with your rig vs an I7 950 stock clock w 6gb ram.
Pat yourself on the back, 'cos you just made your card worth £50 more
When my card was in its stock "Silence" setting I tried to clock it to "Normal" Lightning speeds. This means 940mhz with stock voltage (1174 or what not).
However, when I did it would crash during 3dm11 unless I pushed up the voltage to 1.2v (or 1200mv).
OK.
So today after spending ages looking I finally found a bios dump from an actual Lightning card. This means that at stock clock on the bios the core speed is 940mhz at stock volts.
On the back of your card is a switch. By default it is set to Silence. It has three stages. One click over from Silence is Performance. This, basically, is the second bios on the card for overclocking with and modifying ETC for LN2.
So. I found the bios for the actual lightning (940mhz 1174mv) and flashed it to the second bios that is labelled Performance. If you click to the third setting you will select no bios and the card will not post (mistake on MSI's behalf).
What's odd is that if I clocked the bios that is loaded onto the Silence setting to 940mhz with stock volts it would fail any benchmark or stress test. However, when the actual Lightning bios is loaded onto the card it works perfectly at that clock (940) with stock volts.
You can get the bios from here.
http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...-crap-on-me-when-i-put-load-on-it-570283.html
You need to create an account, but that's no biggie.
Then do the following.
Download something called Radeon Bios editor. The filename for it is RBE_128.exe and I got it from Techpowerup. This will allow you to verify the bios and show the clock speeds and so on.
Then download ATI Winflash. The latest version is 2.0.1.14. Again, that can be downloaded from Techpowerup.
Then download GPUZ.
O.K now shut down the PC.
Find the white switch, and carefully set it one place across. If you go both two places your GPU will not have a bios to load and your PC will just beep like a piggy.
So once you have set it to bios 2 (or Performance) boot your PC.
EDIT. Load GPUZ and back up the bios on there (880mhz)
Load Winflash, flash on the bios in the link I sent you. Reboot when it tells you to.
Load Afterburner, click "reset" at the bottom. Your AB screen should now look like this.
OK, when it looks like that you are now running an actual Lightning bios, stock clock of 940mhz with the stock voltage.
Run 3Dmark11, see if it passes. If it does compare your score comparatively with your rig vs an I7 950 stock clock w 6gb ram.
Pat yourself on the back, 'cos you just made your card worth £50 more
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Spot on Has this affected the temps much? i will try this tomorrow, presumably if the bios flashing go's wrong it's just a case of reflashing or switching back to silence mode?
edit - forgot to ask, i presume as this is now the clocks set on the bios of the card the CCC isn't messing with anything ?
Has this affected the temps much? i will try this tomorrow, presumably if the bios flashing go's wrong it's just a case of reflashing or switching back to silence mode?edit - forgot to ask, i presume as this is now the clocks set on the bios of the card the CCC isn't messing with anything ?
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Hasn't affected temps at all. Quite simply because it's on stock volts.
If it goes **** up then yes, just simply switch back to silence and you'll default back to the 880 bios (I think.. Let me try that now and I'll update).
If it goes **** up then yes, just simply switch back to silence and you'll default back to the 880 bios (I think.. Let me try that now and I'll update).
Right. If it goes boobs up simply shut down the PC. Throw the switch back to silence, reboot and click "Reset" in AB. AB stores your clock settings otherwise.
And yes, it goes back to the 880mhz bios
Exactly.
And yes, it goes back to the 880mhz bios
Exactly.
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I've run same benchmarks... but to scared to play BF3 @ that speed
. I'm running 12.1 drivers so not approved by FM apparently.