overclocking 7900gtx 512mb

xirokx · 19 May 2006 at 03:14

Hi,

Just got me evga 7900gtx 512 its a monster....its huge....sorry as im going from nvidia 4600ti i cant but help notice the difference....

I have installed the latest nvidia drivers but now need to change the settings within the nvidia software....can someone guide me as to what the best or optimal settings would be please?

also....

is it true if i wish to overclock this card, i **** download coolbits and then basically set "detect optimal frequencies" and it will overclock the card for me?

Please help this n00b

thanks in advance..

marv_1 · 19 May 2006 at 03:46

You got it, just get coolbits. Cant help on settings as I am working nights so not at mine. Just be wary of overclocking your 7900 as there are a few issues with the overclocked versions of these such as locking up and artifacting. Usual forums, nv news, guru 3d and here have got a lot of posts about this. If I was u I would just leave it at stock as its a monster at default clocks. Not worth the hassle getting another 5fps

easyrider · 19 May 2006 at 09:06

Rubbish!

Gt that 7900 GTX overclocked!

Run auto detect in the manual clock settings and run 3d mark 05 and 06.
Run a few games check for anything abnormal and if not enjoy.

I have mine running 690/1800 without issue

xirokx · 19 May 2006 at 12:28

in 3D mark 05 + 06 are there any specific tests I should run? if yes which ones? I have never used that program so would like to double check....

if i do have to run a specific test please specifiy which one?

thanks in advance....

marv_1 · 19 May 2006 at 19:15

Well u must be one of the lucky ones as there are a lot of places where people are having issues. Google 7900gtx lock ups and see the results, all boils down to overclocked cards. So really its not rubbish when people are having issues. If I had a £300 plus card or two and knew about this problem I would have it at stock. People are saying that it seems to be a problem with 7900 series as the 7800 series is ok.
Just found this thread at hardocp as well
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1052934&page=1&pp=20

Happy reading and enjoy your card

[ui]ICEMAN · 19 May 2006 at 19:17

marv_1 said:
Well u must be one of the lucky ones as there are a lot of places where people are having issues. Google 7900gtx lock ups and see the results, all boils down to overclocked cards. So really its not rubbish when people are having issues. If I had a £300 plus card or two and knew about this problem I would have it at stock. People are saying that it seems to be a problem with 7900 series as the 7800 series is ok.
Just found this thread at hardocp as well
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1052934&page=1&pp=20

Happy reading and enjoy your card

The very reason why I run my 2 XFX's below their retail clocks at the stock reference speeds. I've had 5 of these now, all of them locking up when used in SLI at their rated speeds.

marv_1 · 19 May 2006 at 19:29

Glad to see that someone else isnt saying its rubbish. Was seriously thinking about upgrading from mine to 2 7900gtx and knew that I would only buy the stock speed ones and no overclocked ones. Waiting out now to see what comes of the 7950.

easyrider · 20 May 2006 at 00:53

marv_1 said:
Well u must be one of the lucky ones as there are a lot of places where people are having issues. Google 7900gtx lock ups and see the results, all boils down to overclocked cards. So really its not rubbish when people are having issues. If I had a £300 plus card or two and knew about this problem I would have it at stock. People are saying that it seems to be a problem with 7900 series as the 7800 series is ok.
Just found this thread at hardocp as well
http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1052934&page=1&pp=20

Happy reading and enjoy your card

you compare the 7900 against the 7800 series?

i'm confused

I base my facts on on first hand ..

maybe there was a bad batch,You make it out as the 7900 GTX has issues when overclocking.

I tell you IT doesn't with my card.And thousands of others.

my gtx clocks great with no issue

easyrider · 20 May 2006 at 01:02

marv_1 said:
Glad to see that someone else isnt saying its rubbish. Was seriously thinking about upgrading from mine to 2 7900gtx and knew that I would only buy the stock speed ones and no overclocked ones. Waiting out now to see what comes of the 7950.

If you did some research you would know that that the 7900 use the the same PCB.

Stop making flippant statements with no backgroud pls

do you actually know what the 7950 is?

speeduk · 20 May 2006 at 01:05

http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=235

The official quote from NVIDIA:

In working with our board partners we discovered the cause of the random slowdown and temporary lockup problems experienced by various users of certain overclocked 7900 GTX graphics boards. Essentially, it was a case where the core and/or memory clocks were driven a bit too high, and the overclocking margins weren't available on those specific boards. For users who experience the problems, the graphics card vendors will work with those individual users to fix the problem. We have learned from our board partners that the situation is now under control.

easyrider · 20 May 2006 at 01:06

[ui]ICEMAN said:
The very reason why I run my 2 XFX's below their retail clocks at the stock reference speeds. I've had 5 of these now, all of them locking up when used in SLI at their rated speeds.

then you need to RMA.

that is a SLI problem ..not the cards.

You need to run below stock speeds?

send them back.

easyrider · 20 May 2006 at 01:12

speeduk said:
http://www.pcper.com/article.php?aid=235

Thats to do with pre overclocked cards and bios rev.

bad quality control.

nothing to do with buying a 7900 GTX.

pay extra to have a factory overclocked card?

why?

just do it yourself

speeduk · 20 May 2006 at 01:23

easyrider said:
Thats to do with pre overclocked cards and bios rev.

bad quality control.

nothing to do with buying a 7900 GTX.

pay extra to have a factory overclocked card?

why?

just do it yourself

I dunno just throwing info at the guys with problems. Calm down.

marv_1 · 20 May 2006 at 01:41

I do know that the 7800 uses the same pcb as 7900. What I am talking about is that there doesnt seem to be issues with oc 7800 and people think it is to do with the 7900 series as a whole.

Oh yeah I do know what a 7950 is.

As speeduk has said just throwing out info that people are having probs.

fornowagain · 20 May 2006 at 01:47

Just accelerate the MTBF. The best way to know for sure is to soak test the card with the OC. From what I've read, the way to accelerate any failure is to run the last test of 3Dmark06 "Deep Freeze" with max settings for 3 or 4 hours and see if it starts to artifact.

[ui]ICEMAN · 20 May 2006 at 09:39

easyrider said:
then you need to RMA.

that is a SLI problem ..not the cards.

You need to run below stock speeds?

send them back.

Yes I need to RMA but i'm a little sick of having to do it, there's no point denying it, I don't base my info on random "hearsay", I've worked as a hardware reviewer long enough to know that and have my contacts. Don't deny that there is a problem, there *is* a fundamental problem with a very large amount of the 7900 GTX's shipped to this date. I've had 5 BFG's, all suffer this issue it is NOT an SLI problem, the problem is just accentuated in SLI due to the extra heat in the case causing them to freeze quicker than they would on their own.

If you think it's BFG's only then you're sadly mistaken, check out the 40 page long NVNews thread on the subject, the amount of people that have given up and just clocked down to stock. My NVidia contacts also confirm this issue, it is one that is most prevalent in the early release boards but still to this day it's luck of the draw if you get a card that will overclock and be reliable, the freezing can take hours to manifest itself. I should have mentioned that as well as the 5 BFG's, I've had my hands on about 15 other cards from various manufacturers, some stock clocked, some very highly clocked, guess what? Some of those cards exhibited the same problem and had to be replaced.

As for the reason why my own personal cards aren't working, to be honest I'm sick of having to RMA them for the sake of 5% performance, it's just far easier to settle at the stock speeds and be happy.

no_1_dave · 20 May 2006 at 09:45

The problem comes from the Delta Clock. The Delta clock runs the vertex units 50Mhz faster then the core/memory. So when you overclock your 7900GTX you're also overclocking the delta clock. Thats what becomes unstable in the pre overclocked cards, the delta clock cant run at those speeds. To fix it, you can just modify your bios & set the delta clock from 50 to 0 & that'll make it keep to it's safe speed

EDIT: Just read the links above, so... you already know all this. Dammit!

easyrider · 20 May 2006 at 10:56

marv_1 said:
I do know that the 7800 uses the same pcb as 7900. What I am talking about is that there doesnt seem to be issues with oc 7800 and people think it is to do with the 7900 series as a whole.

Oh yeah I do know what a 7950 is.

As speeduk has said just throwing out info that people are having probs.

No mate the the 7800 does not use the same pcb as the 7900...

The 7800 is a completely different card in terms of architecture.

brightside_ · 20 May 2006 at 12:41

from this

easyrider said:
If you did some research you would know that that the 7900 use the the same PCB.

Stop making flippant statements with no backgroud pls

do you actually know what the 7950 is?

to this?

easyrider said:
No mate the the 7800 does not use the same pcb as the 7900...
The 7800 is a completely different card in terms of architecture.

so what are you on about? lol You sound like a fanboy tbh, all gfx cards have their issues. Just because yours doesn't, means you might have been lucky with your specific card

easyrider · 20 May 2006 at 13:00

brightside_ said:
from this

to this?

so what are you on about? lol You sound like a fanboy tbh, all gfx cards have their issues. Just because yours doesn't, means you might have been lucky with your specific card

I meant that all the 7900 GTX use the same PCB.Just different bios's and badges on coolers.

There is no point IMO getting a pre clocked card.That was my point.