Potential monster clocker - not enough cooling, GRRRR!!!

humbug · 4 May 2013 at 14:22

Powercolor 7870 MYST (Tahiti LE) 1200Mhz on stock volts and i haven't found the celing yet, i took it up in 25Mhz increments and had to stop there as it was getting to hot, it reached 76c on the core and 75c on the VRM's @ a high fan rate.

It feels like it could do a lot more with some better cooling, especially once overvolted, it is unlocked With Trixx and Powercolor's own tool, sadly not in MSI AB.

Its a crying shame the cooler isn't up to it :mad:

i haven't even started on the memory yet.

Stock (975 / 1500)

LtMatt · 4 May 2013 at 14:24

Have you got a new 7870?

You need one of these.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-062-AR

humbug · 4 May 2013 at 14:26

LtMatt said:
Have you got a new 7870?

You need one of these.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-062-AR

Oh... that is tempting, i think this thing would clock into the stratosphear with that on it.

Edit- yes i have, spotted it for £174 with the never settle 4 games thingy. my wallet was sitting next to me and i thought "i shouldn't".....oop...uh....um....i just did! :eek:

LtMatt · 4 May 2013 at 14:29

humbug said:
Oh... that is tempting, i think this thing would clock into the stratosphear with that on it.

Edit- yes i have, spotted it for £174 with the never settle 4 games thingy. my wallet was sitting next to me and i thought "i shouldn't.....oop...uh....um....i just did!"

Nice so now you have xfire? You clearly haven't been listening to pcper.

Kaapstad · 4 May 2013 at 14:34

humbug said:
Oh... that is tempting, i think this thing would clock into the stratosphear with that on it.

Edit- yes i have, spotted it for £174 with the never settle 4 games thingy. my wallet was sitting next to me and i thought "i shouldn't".....oop...uh....um....i just did!

LtMatt said:
Nice so now you have xfire? You clearly haven't been listening to pcper.

Can we have some xfire benches please.

Enjoy your new card.

humbug · 4 May 2013 at 14:36

Thanks, ^^^ i have an Email report from my Vally thread, i will catch up with it

LtMatt said:
Nice so now you have xfire? You clearly haven't been listening to pcper.

A-haha.... no. of-course not. But Pitcairn and Tahiti don't xFire, though i will get another Tahiti LE, that was the intention.

LtMatt · 4 May 2013 at 14:41

humbug said:
Thanks, ^^^ i have an Email report from my Vally thread, i will catch up with it

A-haha.... no. of-course not. But Pitcairn and Tahiti don't xFire, though i will get another Tahiti LE, that was the intention.

Ah my mistake i didn't realise you had just got the LE.

arc@css · 4 May 2013 at 14:49

Looking forward to some benchmarks.

Gibbo3771 · 4 May 2013 at 15:46

I pushed my 7870XT to 1200 on stock volts as well, problem is, soon as you do something other than end the benchmark it crashes the driver and I need to force restart.

Runs fine in games at 1200, for about 5 minutes, not due to heat.

humbug · 4 May 2013 at 16:04

Gibbo3771 said:
I pushed my 7870XT to 1200 on stock volts as well, problem is, soon as you do something other than end the benchmark it crashes the driver and I need to force restart.

Runs fine in games at 1200, for about 5 minutes, not due to heat.

Are you keeping your eye on whats happening with the boost?

I don't know about Sapphire but some others, including Powercolor have, or have had a dodgy BIOS, the boost and base clocks spike up and down, no matter how high you clock them the BIOS reads a TDP or Thermal limit and throttles back to 925Mhz, i don't know if that might also cause the driver to poo its self.

I know VTX and Powercolor (same) fixed it with a new BIOS, lucky for me mine is not one that does it.

You can tell by running MSI AB monitor while benching, the GPU clock records up and down up and.... if you have OSD running watch that too as it may show up there.

And in your scores, it will be pretty sporadic and never actually get any higher.

Suarez7 · 4 May 2013 at 16:19

Have you tested it on a game for a long period of time? I've had cards I thought were monster clockers due to benchmarking at high clocks but they were unstable in games.

Tonester0011 · 4 May 2013 at 16:31

Suarez7 said:
Have you tested it on a game for a long period of time? I've had cards I thought were monster clockers due to benchmarking at high clocks but they were unstable in games.

Who cares?

Monster clocker for benchmarks is all that matters, you can turn settings down in games.

Kaapstad · 4 May 2013 at 16:50

Tonester0011 said:
Who cares?
Monster clocker for benchmarks is all that matters, you can turn settings down in games.

I don't think I have ever played a game with an overclocked graphics card.

I have been known to do a little bit of benching though.

Davedree · 4 May 2013 at 17:06

humbug said:
Are you keeping your eye on whats happening with the boost?

I don't know about Sapphire but some others, including Powercolor have, or have had a dodgy BIOS, the boost and base clocks spike up and down, no matter how high you clock them the BIOS reads a TDP or Thermal limit and throttles back to 925Mhz, i don't know if that might also cause the driver to poo its self.

I know VTX and Powercolor (same) fixed it with a new BIOS, lucky for me mine is not one that does it.

You can tell by running MSI AB monitor while benching, the GPU clock records up and down up and.... if you have OSD running watch that too as it may show up there.

And in your scores, it will be pretty sporadic and never actually get any higher.

What is your v-core at stock though???
you are right about the throttling, but increasing the power limit stops that throttling. but my 7950 a ridiculous 1.18v at stock !!!!!
I bought a 7950 powercolor to replace my 6950. http://www.powercolor.com/us/products_features.asp?id=455
for £210 new.

max clock is 1175 @1600 and its really quiet and pretty cool

humbug · 4 May 2013 at 17:21

Davedree said:
What is your v-core at stock though???
you are right about the throttling, but increasing the power limit stops that throttling. but my 7950 a ridiculous 1.18v at stock !!!!!
I bought a 7950 powercolor to replace my 6950. http://www.powercolor.com/us/products_features.asp?id=455
for £210 new.

max clock is 1175 @1600 and its really quiet and pretty cool

Its 1.25v, thats high.

I'm going to undervolt it later, try and find a suitable balance.

I just got back from BF3 @ 1100 / 1600, Temps = 70c, which isn't bad, but..... will see later what it will do on lower volts.

Nice catch that 7950

Davedree · 4 May 2013 at 17:27

Thanks humbug that's why I bought it and thought take a chance on it. A lot of people turn their nose up at power color. Yeah 1.25 for that is very high. But did you find trixx or afterburner won't alter the voltage. I had to use power colors power up tuner. Be interesting to how much of a gap there is between mine and yours, enjoy it and look forward to your results

kmetek · 4 May 2013 at 17:38

on what settings are you guys benchmarking?

Gregster · 4 May 2013 at 17:43

Very impressive and even beating a 7970 in the Valley thread. Get it under water (easier than those fiddly Arctic coolers) and let it stretch its legs

Tonester0011 · 4 May 2013 at 17:53

Gregster said:
Very impressive and even beating a 7970 in the Valley thread. Get it under water (easier than those fiddly Arctic coolers) and let it stretch its legs

No fullcover blocks for the Myst card

Also pretty expensive, unless you can source second hand parts buying new for all your bits adds up...quickly

If you've got the money and the case, seriously consider WCin though Humbug, most things go for peanuts on the MM.

Edit: Does the 7870 LE even have FC blocks?

Davedree · 4 May 2013 at 18:13

Here's mine Humbug, you aren't far off !! If you can beat that with your 7870 tahiti i'll buy you one of these.

http://www.cadburygiftsdirect.co.uk/products/856-gb-dairy-milk-1kg-bar.aspx