Overclocking my 5870

[lostatneverseen]

Hi i have a Sapphire 5870 Non vapour X i think its a reference edition it wont let me change voltage

but using MSI Afterburner i have it clocked at 910/1220 and it works perfectly temps on load are about 55, owever when i take it further it crashes in bc2, so im wondering can itake this card further without voltage increase, other people have got there up to 960 on stock voltage.

 

[Kasc]

That's because these cards were not designed to be overly friendly to overlockers. For example, my i7 has a hissy fit past 3.5Ghz.

Also, why are you wanting to overclock, what game are you playing that's sub 60 fps?

 

[RavenXXX2]

My 5870 is at 1000 core with 1.27 volts in MSIafterburner, this with an i7920 at 4.3Ghz and it's 100% stable.

Don't be afraid to up the volts, as long as temps stay below 90c all will be fine, the reference 5870's have over volt protection and high quality volt regulators, there would be no problem even if the max 1.35 volts available in afterburner is used.

 

[area512003]

I have a non reference 5870 from HIS that has no voltage adjustment (greyed out in Afterburner) or sensors for voltages.

They sadly cannot improve OC's without a little extra voltage charge so I looked at changing the BIOS.

I tried every bios going but to no avail!

Then like a bolt of lightning, MSI brought out their "lightning" 5870 and a new Bios (which I flashed my 5870 to) and voltage adjustment became possible in Afterburner

However, another person on this forum stated that sapphires and powercolours voltage cannot be adjusted but you could have a go with this "lightning one"??

Note: FLASHING IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND COULD BRICK THE 5870.
REMEMBER TO BACKUP YOUR ORIGINAL BIOS FIRST

 

[oweneades]

That's because these cards were not designed to be overly friendly to overlockers. For example, my i7 has a hissy fit past 3.5Ghz.

The HD58XX series overclock very well (especially with voltage bumps) - most will hit 1000/5000 without much trouble.

I don't understand why you have stated your i7 won't overclock very well (again odd), it bears no relevance to the topic at hand.

Also, why are you wanting to overclock, what game are you playing that's sub 60 fps?

Because its fun / interesting to see how far you can push your own setup?

To the op:

Assuming you are seeing decent temperatures (which based on your post you are) you card simply won't overclock past 910 on stock voltages (the crashing is a result of the card failing at the OC). Remember overclocking is not a definate, my HD5870 for example hits 940 on the core on stock voltages, and 1000 on the core with a voltage jump yet others might be able to go further.