Which 7970's are unlocked

Suarez7 · 25 Mar 2013 at 13:59

I'll be purchasing a new system on Thursday and I'm going with a 7970, are any of these unlocked or is it only some of the ghz edition models?

Yaayuh! · 25 Mar 2013 at 14:03

Pretty much certain with these:
MSI 7970 OC
MSI 7970 Lightning
HIS 7970 Reference (Non-Boost)
Asus 7970 Matrix Platinum
Asus 7970 DCUII TOP (via a bios change)
Sapphire HD 7970 (Non-Boost)

eagle2508 · 25 Mar 2013 at 14:04

I didn't know any are locked....... You should be able to overclock any 7970, if you use the official AMD drivers OC options are on there....

Yaayuh! · 25 Mar 2013 at 14:06

eagle2508 said:
I didn't know any are locked....... You should be able to overclock any 7970, if you use the official AMD drivers OC options are on there....

Some are voltage locked (i assume that's what the OP is talking about).

Suarez7 · 25 Mar 2013 at 14:07

Yes voltage locked I meant, sorry.

LtMatt · 25 Mar 2013 at 14:27

Suarez7 said:
I'll be purchasing a new system on Thursday and I'm going with a 7970, are any of these unlocked or is it only some of the ghz edition models?

Rossi~ said:
Pretty much certain with these:
MSI 7970 OC
MSI 7970 Lightning
HIS 7970 Reference (Non-Boost)
Asus 7970 Matrix Platinum
Asus 7970 DCUII TOP (via a bios change).

Nice one Rossi.

This should be a helpful thread as its not immediately clear which cards are locked and which are not.

Yaayuh! · 25 Mar 2013 at 14:28

LtMatt said:
Nice one Rossi.

This should be a helpful thread as its not immediately clear which cards are locked and which are not.

Indeed. I'm sure there are more, but those are all good at the moment.
It's annoying when manufacturers change their cards, locking the voltage out without notice... I'm looking at you Gigabyte.

Geeman1979 · 25 Mar 2013 at 14:31

Rossi~ said:
Pretty much certain with these:
MSI 7970 OC
MSI 7970 Lightning
HIS 7970 Reference (Non-Boost)
Asus 7970 Matrix Platinum
Asus 7970 DCUII TOP (via a bios change).

Add these to that list http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-311-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

Yaayuh! · 25 Mar 2013 at 15:08

geeman1979 said:
Add these to that list http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-311-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

Nice, one. Done.

Suarez7 · 25 Mar 2013 at 15:10

Cheers guys, now just choosing which one!

Yaayuh! · 25 Mar 2013 at 16:15

Suarez7 said:
Cheers guys, now just choosing which one!

You might want to check MM if you don't mind a second hand one, save a few bob a pick up a bargain.

Suarez7 · 25 Mar 2013 at 16:30

Rossi~ said:
You might want to check MM if you don't mind a second hand one, save a few bob a pick up a bargain.

I won't have access to late next month, I'd prefer to get everything new for once, save me any possible RMA troubles.

Suarez7 · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:14

Is this one voltage locked?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

LtMatt · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:19

Suarez7 said:
Is this one voltage locked?

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-063-HS&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

Tommy might know as he has the 7950 version i believe. Pretty sure he can change voltages with HIS Tool but i don't think the card has any vrm temp monitoring.

MOOGLEYS · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:22

geeman1979 said:
Add these to that list http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-311-SP&groupid=701&catid=56&subcat=938

This card has voltage control and VRM temp monitoring. It uses 2 x 8 pin but is not the greatest overclocker.

Geeman1979 · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:36

MOOGLEYS said:
This card has voltage control and VRM temp monitoring. It uses 2 x 8 pin but is not the greatest overclocker.

They come in two guises! 6/8 pin and 2x8 pin. I have both versions! The 2x8 pin one I've got will do 1265/1750. Probably do more with better cooling.

MOOGLEYS · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:40

geeman1979 said:
They come in two guises! 6/8 pin and 2x8 pin. I have both versions! The 2x8 pin one I've got will do 1265/1750. Probably do more with better cooling.

I have been having a nightmare trying to get a decent clock on the one I have just used for a build. Anything over 1075 on the core and it crashes no matter how much voltage you throw at it. It also has quite bad coil whine, not as bad as my reference card but very noticeable especially on 3d mark.

Geeman1979 · 26 Mar 2013 at 18:46

MOOGLEYS said:
I have been having a nightmare trying to get a decent clock on the one I have just used for a build. Anything over 1075 on the core and it crashes no matter how much voltage you throw at it. It also has quite bad coil whine, not as bad as my reference card but very noticeable especially on 3d mark.

Sounds like a stinker!

The weaker of my two is the 6/8 pin power one. That one does around the 1175/1750 mark ish!

Proto · 26 Mar 2013 at 20:36

MOOGLEYS said:
I have been having a nightmare trying to get a decent clock on the one I have just used for a build. Anything over 1075 on the core and it crashes no matter how much voltage you throw at it. It also has quite bad coil whine, not as bad as my reference card but very noticeable especially on 3d mark.

Could be a very high ASIC Quality card, these will often not go very high on the core but will run pretty cool and quiet due to the lower voltage required for stable clocks.