ASUS 7970 DirectCU II available now

Yes... we all know the VRAM on the DC2T cards are f*cked... but here is confirmation straight from the horse's mouth.

E-Mail sent:
I have the latest bios for the card, I am using dual link dvi. I am
experiencing artifacting and display crashing(black screen), quite often.

I can play games for hours...no crash
I can be idle, browsing the internet, I will get a white screen (or
whatever the gradient my background is at the moment) and lines --
ultimately resulting in a hard shut down/reboot.
I can be playing games and it will crash within 5-10 mins of gameplay, or
instantly.
The black/gray screen is the most common, usually happens when I am gaming.

I've been logging my gpu-z and it shows that the card is not under any
stress and temps stay fairly low(avg 65~c). It is very inconsistent when
the crashing happens or artifacting begins.

I've tried *every* suggestion in the post I provided you. I do like the
card, because it does stay extremely cool... it just crashes A LOT.



Response from ASUS:

Dustin,

I would think that the VRAM is going bad on your card. That is, unless you have overclocked your card past stock settings. Especially since you have the DC2T model, any further overclocking may result in instability.

If you have clean drivers and you haven't overclocked, then it is most likely the VRAM and you would need to get the card replaced.

I can set you up with an RMA if that is what you would like, just let me know.
 
So I was thinking of getting this card tomorrow, but after skimming this thread and reading Newegg reviews... between poor VRM contact/temps and voltage lock...

Is this card absolute shit now?
 
don't get this card! ever since i got this card, never ending black screen crashing with audio stuttering issues!!! don't believe me, said i had overclock and newb with driver setups? go ahead...buy it!!
 
This is a pretty good card if you don't mind the triple slot solution.
It's probably one of the coolest and quietest 7970's right now. I prefer it over my Windforce 7970 because of better cooling, VRMs and just overall noise profile.
 
Agree but they are voltage locked now :(

Maybe, but I bought mine when they first came out, so it may not be voltage locked, either way, I'm happy with the OC I get since in a CFx setup, you don't need as high an OC to run games with max performance.
 
Maybe, but I bought mine when they first came out, so it may not be voltage locked, either way, I'm happy with the OC I get since in a CFx setup, you don't need as high an OC to run games with max performance.

I understand, i would buy this card instantly if they are not locked, they are offer amazing build quality and great VRM design, and also great cooling.
 
It would be interesting to know if anyone has tried accelero on 7970 cu2? And to be more specific, did it help with the overclocking and vrm temps?

Anyway im also letting you know that ill try that, planning to get accelero soon. Is the heatsink that comes along with other accessories supposed to cool vrm? it would come in handy as i wouldnt have to buy more vrm heatsinks.
 
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It would be interesting to know if anyone has tried accelero on 7970 cu2? And to be more specific, did it help with the overclocking and vrm temps?

Anyway im also letting you know that ill try that, planning to get accelero soon. Is the heatsink that comes along with other accessories supposed to cool vrm? it would come in handy as i wouldnt have to buy more vrm heatsinks.

No, don't waste your money, the cooling on this cards is already great, but they are voltage locked :rolleyes:

I would never spend $500+ bones on a voltage locked card - just wouldn't.

+10000
 
No, don't waste your money, the cooling on this cards is already great, but they are voltage locked :rolleyes:

I already have this card, and the voltage is unlocked. Vrm's are getting so hot under load so that is whats intriguing me. Does the accelero provide better vrm cooling in order to reach higher clocks. Mine's pretty lousy oc'er and it cant handle much voltage. default is 1.112 and max stable oc is 1.137 1150/1600. Extra voltage doesnt help overclocking as it gets very unstable which will result in an artifacting. Even 1.151v gives artifacting while staying at those max clocks which are completely stable on lower voltage. :mad:
 
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I already have this card, and the voltage is unlocked. Vrm's are getting so hot under load so that is whats intriguing me. Does the accelero provide better vrm cooling in order to reach higher clocks. Mine's pretty lousy oc'er and it cant handle much voltage. default is 1.112 and max stable oc is 1.137 1150/1600. Extra voltage doesnt help overclocking as it gets very unstable which will result in an artifacting. Even 1.151v gives artifacting while staying at those max clocks which are completely stable on lower voltage. :mad:

What software are you using to monitor the VRM temps? im pretty sure its false reading, dunno what version it was, but there was one GPU Tweak version which read the real temps.

Other thing you could do is to chek with thermal gun, point being there are to much conflicting results with this cards about VRM temps i don't know what to think anymore lol! :rolleyes:

When did you buy your card?

And did you try to manually increase the fan speed, lets say at 70% ?
 
I already have this card, and the voltage is unlocked. Vrm's are getting so hot under load so that is whats intriguing me. Does the accelero provide better vrm cooling in order to reach higher clocks. Mine's pretty lousy oc'er and it cant handle much voltage. default is 1.112 and max stable oc is 1.137 1150/1600. Extra voltage doesnt help overclocking as it gets very unstable which will result in an artifacting. Even 1.151v gives artifacting while staying at those max clocks which are completely stable on lower voltage. :mad:

Its a false reading, full load the VRM's are actually at around 60-70C tops, even with insane overvoltage, they just use non-standard sensors, which no GPU program can read cause they don't use non-standard settings

There is a GPU monitoring program that has been modified to read the non-standard sensors, but its a fan built program, and not distributed through asus
 
About the voltage locked thing, the voltage adjustment can be unlocked.

its really not hard to do.....
 
flash the bios with previous version, OR you can mess with hard wiring.

Can you be a little more specific bro? many people tried alot different vBIOS versions, and it didnt work, are you 100% sure about this? can you link me where did you get this info? thanks alot!
 
Can you be a little more specific bro? many people tried alot different vBIOS versions, and it didnt work, are you 100% sure about this? can you link me where did you get this info? thanks alot!

I cannot be 100% certain, Asus didn't revise the card and change it, but the model i had the ability to play with, just flashed the bios to the oc bios and was able to adjust voltage to up 1.4 volts.

http://www.overclock.net/a/getting-started-with-radeon-hd-7970-overclocking

that bios can be found here.

If anyone wants to try on their card feel free. Worked for me.
 
What software are you using to monitor the VRM temps? im pretty sure its false reading, dunno what version it was, but there was one GPU Tweak version which read the real temps.

Other thing you could do is to chek with thermal gun, point being there are to much conflicting results with this cards about VRM temps i don't know what to think anymore lol! :rolleyes:

When did you buy your card?

And did you try to manually increase the fan speed, lets say at 70% ?

Bought this when dc2 launch was so its couple of months old, rev 1.0.

I used hwmonitor. When it comes to maximum game stable oc ive always used automatic fan profile, it doesnt raise core temperatures past 70c and it stays quiet. Of course i have also tried manual fan, up to 100 and it does help a little. Vrm's stay a little cooler using 80 or 100 fixed fan speed but as soon as they reach 107, artifacting begins. So its definitely a temperature issue.
 
I cannot be 100% certain, Asus didn't revise the card and change it, but the model i had the ability to play with, just flashed the bios to the oc bios and was able to adjust voltage to up 1.4 volts.

http://www.overclock.net/a/getting-started-with-radeon-hd-7970-overclocking

that bios can be found here.

If anyone wants to try on their card feel free. Worked for me.

But you got Gigabyte 7870 or your sig is not updated? also if you got 7970 DCII when did you buy it?
 
Bought this when dc2 launch was so its couple of months old, rev 1.0.

I used hwmonitor. When it comes to maximum game stable oc ive always used automatic fan profile, it doesnt raise core temperatures past 70c and it stays quiet. Of course i have also tried manual fan, up to 100 and it does help a little. Vrm's stay a little cooler using 80 or 100 fixed fan speed but as soon as they reach 107, artifacting begins. So its definitely a temperature issue.

Pretty sure its a false temp read out, your chip is not good enough for that kind of oc, i think, vrm temps are not the issue, it has been proven like few times till now with thermal gun that VRM temps on this card aint go over 85c~ even with big overclocks.
 
Pretty sure its a false temp read out, your chip is not good enough for that kind of oc, i think, vrm temps are not the issue, it has been proven like few times till now with thermal gun that VRM temps on this card aint go over 85c~ even with big overclocks.

Yep, but explain to me why this card cannot handle voltage above 1.137? 1.2v at 1125/1600 is not stable even with fixed fan speed(core under 70c) and those clocks are completely benchmark and game stable with default voltage of 1.112 .

1.137 is stable at 1150/1600, those clocks are not stable with 1.151v. Weird:rolleyes:

Im pretty sure accelero would help me with my overclocking and im too tempted not to try it. ill report back when its done.
 
But you got Gigabyte 7870 or your sig is not updated? also if you got 7970 DCII when did you buy it?

yes i have 7870 crossfire. I never owned the 7970 asus direct cu personally. My buddy has one. I was helping him getting more performance out of it for his triple 1080 setup. Well that and we both nerds and enjoy that kinda stuff.
 
http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showpost.php?p=2661155&postcount=9

Anyone willing to try this out? i think we got the problem solved :D

Buddy of mine has the locked cu2 also. It is revision 1.0 which cannot handle extra voltage well, so i bet they locked the voltages for a reason. Im willing to guess that even with an unlocked voltage you wont be able to oc it much further. (like my card, can oc it about 20-30mhz more with extra voltage)

I havent seen rev. 2.0 with a locked voltage yet. The ones with backplate vrm cutouts.

edit: my accelero will arrive tomorrow, ill report back if it helps with vrm temps and max oc.
 
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I don't know that I've ever seen anyone so stuck on Asus products, even when they have problems and simply don't perform properly, you still cling to them. Glad I don't wear your shoes.
 
And i never seen anyone so much obsessed with someone. As you can see i don't answer your post, does this means something to you? and just FYI i'm getting GTX680 Windforrce most likely im just giving DCII last chance, and i want to see what will happen when someone does flash the vBIOS, where i live custom cards are very hard to get, is this good enough for you? now let me talk with other users will you?
 
edit: my accelero will arrive tomorrow, ill report back if it helps with vrm temps and max oc.

Having hard time trying to install the cooler.

This site succesfully installed it on cu2 7970.. Dvi ports are too damn big and blocking proper mounting. :D

Ill try again later but for now ill leave original cooler on, since i ran out of thermal tape. More to come, pictures too.
 
Took the card apart again just to test if theres any way to properly install it. There isnt, only way to succeed would be to remove 1 one the dvi connectors or shortening heatpipes. I dont see that happening though, so thats that. Time to get rid of dc2 and install accelero on refererence card which btw clocks way higher than dc2.
 
Is anyone still having issues with these? Or have they been mostly resolved?

AKA - Asus reported that close to 95% of 7970 Direct CU II TOP editions returned actually worked perfectly fine, they just were not installed correctly etc, or hooked up to bad hardware. Most if not all cases I have read with people switching out their, lets face it, piece of fucking shit power supplies for good ones, had all their issues fixed. The remaining stragglers was people hooking up 120hz monitors to the DVI-D plug and -NOT- flipping the bios switch to get 120hz mode, and the rest of them with "FUCKING UP MONITORS!" was people forgetting that literally -ALL- monitors these days work in Reduce DVI frequency and Use alternate DVI mode, and have been since 2007 for the most part
 
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