Unlocked 7950?

Mackem · 26 Mar 2013 at 15:51

It's a shame the Windforce is voltage locked. I tried to find comparisons of the Twin Frozr III cooler and the Windforce 3 cooler but couldn't find much. Want to know what the temps and noise are like.

imginy · 26 Mar 2013 at 15:54

I just bought the asus 7950 top v2 and confirm the voltage is unlocked

Mine does around 1100mhz core 6000 memory maybe bit more haven't had much chance to mess around.

tommybhoy · 26 Mar 2013 at 17:15

pecnarf said:
well not today it isn't as the IceQ BOOST is currently on offer for £225 where the x2 is £259

imginy said:
I just bought the asus 7950 top v2 and confirm the voltage is unlocked

Mine does around 1100mhz core 6000 memory maybe bit more haven't had much chance to mess around.

Another one on the list of voltage adjustment.

An update on clarification on His warranty from OcUK:

It all depends on the age of the card on how the warranty return is dealt with.

If the card was ever to become faulty if it is within 28 days of purchase we would replace it from our stock as it is in the DOA period.

If the card is outside of 28 days when it becomes faulty it would be sent back to HIS directly. Providing the card is faulty when HIS test it back at the their HQ we would receive a credit and from there we would be able to replace the card.

If the card is No Fault Found or Warranty void they would be returned.

Seems I'm human after all, sorry for any confusion.

Mackem · 26 Mar 2013 at 17:17

tommybhoy said:
An update on clarification on His warranty from OcUK:

It all depends on the age of the card on how the warranty return is dealt with.

If the card was ever to become faulty if it is within 28 days of purchase we would replace it from our stock as it is in the DOA period.

If the card is outside of 28 days when it becomes faulty it would be sent back to HIS directly. Providing the card is faulty when HIS test it back at the their HQ we would receive a credit and from there we would be able to replace the card.

If the card is No Fault Found or Warranty void they would be returned.

Seems I'm human after all, sorry for any confusion.

Yeah, stuff that then.

tommybhoy · 26 Mar 2013 at 17:25

tommybhoy said:
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/radeon-hd-7950-review-benchmark,review-32465-12.html

@Op, play the DCU II first, then play another at the same time, you'll find out what's the quietest easy enough.

They didn't have the WF in the comparison, but I can tell you that the TFIII is a screamer(operating as it should with no Diode problem) head to head with the WF when it ramps up.

Mackem · 26 Mar 2013 at 17:36

Oh dear that is loud

pecnarf · 26 Mar 2013 at 17:48

well the his turbo (later upgrade core and renamed boost) isn't no louder than my 560ti at idle from I can tell from the video and considering I set my 560ti fan to 98% whenever I play game's, so I think it should be fine sound wise. but I know for sure tomorrow when I get my hands on it.

Mackem · 26 Mar 2013 at 17:56

My 560Ti runs at 1860RPM when it's idle (Fan speed 40%, temperature 35 degrees).

TNA · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:06

Geeeezas.... I just ordered one of these. Had a HIS card in the past and never had an issue, but if I do, 28 days....

pecnarf · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:07

Mackem said:
My 560Ti runs at 1860RPM when it's idle (Fan speed 40%, temperature 35 degrees).

when fan on auto it 45-51% but generally at 51% when idle and 1860rpms temps range from 33c to 40c depending on what I'm doing i.e. watching video, surf web, reading email and other desktop stuff.

Mackem · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:15

I dunno whether to just get the GIGABYTE card anyway even though the voltage can't be tweaked. Anyone got any figures to show what the OC levels are like even without unlocked voltage?

imginy · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:54

Mackem said:
I dunno whether to just get the GIGABYTE card anyway even though the voltage can't be tweaked. Anyone got any figures to show what the OC levels are like even without unlocked voltage?

As far as I know the gigabyte is overvolted to 1.25v so you would still get a decent overclock.

You would need to double check that with someone though.

imginy · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:58

tommybhoy said:
I sent the TFIII back and got another 7950 Ice-Q, now sitting on 7950 Ice-Q CrossFire@1200/1550!

That is great overclock

What does the voltage go up to?

My asus will take 1.3v but still seems to fail if I start going much higher than 1100mhz.

Mackem · 26 Mar 2013 at 19:05

OK guys. Someone has offered me a 7 month old GIGABYTE HD7970 OC for £220. It's a blue PCB Rev. 1.0. Does this mean it is voltage locked? Is there any way of getting the guy to check (He doesn't seem to be the most techy savvy guy in the world but then again he does have a high end GPU)

pecnarf · 26 Mar 2013 at 19:24

Mackem said:
OK guys. Someone has offered me a 7 month old GIGABYTE HD7970 OC for £220. It's a blue PCB Rev. 1.0. Does this mean it is voltage locked? Is there any way of getting the guy to check (He doesn't seem to be the most techy savvy guy in the world but then again he does have a high end GPU)

well it might be unlock or at the very least lock by a bio setting via than a hardware lock which gigabyte do now. if it lock by a bio and not hardware lock it can be unlock as their tools to flash it with unlock bios.

ps some site say that rev 1 were black pcb boards and that rev 2 are blue pcb boards. to the best of my knology gigabyte start locking the rev 2 first by a software solution i.e. locking via the bios, when that failed they move to hardware solutions. so if yours is a rev 2 board next step is to check which version it is as the early one were lock by the bios so it can be unlock, if it the later more up2date version then it lock by a hardware cannot be unlock.

tommybhoy · 26 Mar 2013 at 20:35

imginy said:
As far as I know the gigabyte is overvolted to 1.25v so you would still get a decent overclock.

You would need to double check that with someone though.

It depends what the Asic is, if it's a high Asic, unlocked it won't go much further than 1.2v, they don't go to 1.25v iirc.

Low asic boost bios is 1.25v default.

imginy said:
That is great overclock

What does the voltage go up to?

My asus will take 1.3v but still seems to fail if I start going much higher than 1100mhz.

Thanks, they can go a bit further, but it's pointless with 2 of them@1080p even though I game on 120Hz 3D.

They can get silly voltage through His iTool, they go up to 1.375v. :eek:

My 7970 Oc looked feeble at first with it only going to 1165/1600, after taking my time and more effort, it went to ~1220/1900 with voltage on both, but I only ever ran it in game@1100/1400 on stock voltage in CrossFireX with a lazy DD 7950 on the same (max stable)clocks.

On your oc's, take your time and push the core bit by bit +25mh at a time, get to the limit then apply small increments of voltage, when you reach the max, back off a bit, take note and reset it, then move onto the vram, repeat, then apply both.

AsLan · 26 Mar 2013 at 20:59

I bought the WF when it was on offer. The one I got is voltage unlocked, think its the f42 BIOS with 2 x 6 pin connectors. Must have got older stock.

Mackem · 26 Mar 2013 at 21:03

So the guy with the GB 7970 OC sent me some screenshots of benchmarks he did tonight and the card is clocked at 1125/1575, not sure about the voltage though. Here are some of the screenshots he sent me:

http://i.imgur.com/PCjkSmy.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/qpYetL1.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/gfpaPzz.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/DaAWjDG.jpg

EDIT: He did another benchmark and he says that he doesn't think it's voltage locked, he OC'd it to 1200/1650. Do you guys think I should go for it?

Nelly · 26 Mar 2013 at 22:46

If you got plenty of money stashed in the bank, it doesn't really matter which card you go for, if you have to RMA a card you can always buy another, and sell the replacement once it's received.

If warranty turnaround time is a concern, check my list, stick to the top 6 companies listed in Green >> http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18231329

tommybhoy · 26 Mar 2013 at 23:01

Even if it did hit a brick wall at 1125/1575 and was voltage locked, you can't go wrong tbh, especially if it's someone you know and would be willing to help with warranty claims.

The extra 75Mhz@1200MHz on the core will only be noticeable in a bm, not in a game imho.