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*** The Official ATI Radeon HD 6950 Overclocking Thread ***

Plenty mate! You can probably put 3 cards in there :)

Did you update your sig? :) I can guarantee that when I asked I couldn't see it.
 
Ok i think im just about there! No where near where some of you may be i might add!

This is my first attempt at a graphics card overclock and its mainly thanks to the help of "tropiclightning"

Got my 6950, modified existing bios to allow the extra shaders and overclocking currently at 975, 1425 for testing purposes,volts are at 1175 (1.175)
System seems to be coping ok running heaven with no problems and the card temps are around 78 tops whilst its been stressed for a little bit?

What settings would people reccomend for gaming?
Do i need to log into afterburner and select profile before doing anything or can it be automactically set overclock to gaming on startup?

Screen shot of my first attempt on heaven, as i say i know its rubbish!!

Untitled.png
 
i received the 6950 but i have a problem, i have lost the other 2 pice cables for my psu. does anyone know where i can get them from??

i don't really want to use the molx to pcie convertor has my psu as 5 separate rails..

edit, just found them, taken all day :(
 
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@Blackhorse

Nice OC! My card can only do 950MHz at 1.175V. Not many can OC like yours. Set your overclock where ever you like it, 1.75V certainly won't hurt the card for 24/7. I run mine at 910 1.1V just because it runs a bit hot at 1.175V. As far as different gaming settings, it really depends on the game and your needs. My primary game is COD4 MP and it needs to run a min constant 125 fps. I can notice a definate difference in the 'feel of the game' with the card card clocked either 950 or 910 as opposed to the stock 800. Nothing a spectator would notice though.

You can use AB to set your OC (OC, V and fan profiles) upon startup with no user intervention. And as you know AB Beta 7 has working PowerPlay so lets the card return to 2D clocks as it should after a 3D session, so no user intervention in or out.

1) When you click the "Apply overclocking at system startup" box on the AB front page it will apply the Profile [1-5](clocks and voltage) you last used in AB but doesn't seem to apply the fan profile (it used to in earlier version). If you don't use an AB fan curve, this is all you need to do. OC will be applied behind the scene silently without AB starting up. Verify this by starting GPU-Z.

2) If you want to also use the AB fan control you will need to go the "Settings" page , under "Properties" and click the "Start with Windows" and "Start minimized" boxes. Also keep the "Apply overclocking at system startup" box checked as above. This will start the AB program will then apply the fan control on startup.


> For either of the two above options you need to first go to the AB folder on your PC and edit the Afterburner.cfg file. Set like this:

StartupDelay = 10000

Each digit is a millisecond so above would be 10 seconds. You can set this where you like, 20000 = 20 seconds, but 10 secs work well for me. This allows AB to start AFTER the ATi driver so avoids conflicts. So when your PC starts go real quick and start GPU-Z, if you get it open before 10 sec, watch the first page for a few secs and you will see the clocks apply.


You can also set AB to Auto Apply 2D or 3D Profiles on startup, but I don't use this because it also starts the AB OSD server and I don't want any more software at startup than necc so I don't use it this way. Without using the Auto Apply Profile from the setting page, on startup AB will still automatically apply the last Profile (same clocks and V) it used the last time it was run, if set as above. And with PowerPlay working in AB B7 it will automatically downclock for 2D.

This lets it run fully automatic on my system (Vista 64). I never have to touch anything. The only thing I have noticed is that once clocks are applied this way and you do open AB and then change something it may not want to change. No big deal though as if set correctly you never need to open AB again anyway.
 
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@Blackhorse

I see your score is a little low for a 975 run...even for a "first run". You should be around ~52 fps. (EDIT: 52 fps is my system @ 1900x1200. You should be even higher at 1080)

It might be your memory is too high. Try 1325 and see if that score doesn't go up.

ATi memory controller (since 5000 series) has error correction. On rendering errors, instead of showing them onscreen, it re-renders the command until it is correct. This kills performance. You have to clock the memory up until the performance starts to drop off then back a little, instead of up until it crashes or visibly errors like the older controllers.
 
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TropicLightning said:
@Blackhorse

I see your score is a little low...even for a "first run"

It might be your memory is too high. Try 1325 and see if that score doesn't go up.

ATi memory controller has error correction. On rendering errors, instead of showing them onscreen, it re-renders the command until it is correct. This kills performance. You have to clock the memory up until the performance starts to drop off then back a little, instead of up until it crashes or visibly errors like the older controllers.
Click to expand...

I think you are right, memory is too high.
 
Also you might want to adjust your Power setting. AB Beta 7 does now work with PowerPlay and allows the GPU to throttle under heavy loads. Just watch that your GPU clocks stay at 975 without dropping.

Prior to AB Beta 7 PP didn't work (disabled by AB) when unofficaloverclocking was enabled so the GPU always stayed fully clocked no matter where the Power settings were.

On my system, with AB Beta 7, I can run the heaven 2.1 bench without throttling with Power setting at 0. Your system may or may not behave differently. Just thought I'd point it out for you to watch for.
 
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See what you's mean.
Dropped the profile to 910/1325

Results are now:

FPS:55.1
Scores: 1388
Min FPS:33.1
Max 135.2

Maybe should play around a little more with it!
Going to try play around with the fan settings too.

Would things like the latest drivers ect effect this much?
 
Not a bad clocker by any means though. Many won't do 950 at all, no matter the V. Many 6970's can't do 950.

Mine is just exceptional, I would say. And Blackhorse's Extra Exceptional...lol. Highest I have seen at 1.175V.


What clocks can you do at 1.1V?
 
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TropicLightning said:
@Blackhorse

I see your score is a little low for a 975 run...even for a "first run". You should be around ~52 fps. (EDIT: 52 fps is my system @ 1900x1200. You should be even higher at 1080)

It might be your memory is too high. Try 1325 and see if that score doesn't go up.

ATi memory controller (since 5000 series) has error correction. On rendering errors, instead of showing them onscreen, it re-renders the command until it is correct. This kills performance. You have to clock the memory up until the performance starts to drop off then back a little, instead of up until it crashes or visibly errors like the older controllers.
Click to expand...

Thanks for all your help again!
Ill let you know how this go's
Time for bed for me as up early in the morning.

Am i right in thinking my card is currently performing as well as 6970? Or do i have a little more tweaking to do as yet?
 
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