Disappointing 5870 Overclock

[Law&Order]

Got a XFX (reference) 5870 a couple weeks back.

I flashed the bios to ASUS unlocked, then set out to see if I could hit 1000mhz core.

Not only can I not stay at 1000mhz stable in Furmark (or games, and at any voltage, I've tried 1.3/1.35), but 950mhz takes far too much voltage (1.35) to stay stable in Furmark.

Any other 5870 owners with the same experience? Not sure what to make of it, but I suspect that 1000mhz is not attainable with this chip

 

[mentok1982]

Overclocking is a bonus, so don't get upset if your card does not overclock like you expect.

 

[shansoft]

you are SOL.....

 

[Blazemore]

It's the gamble you take, some cards can oc higher than others. Have a feeling 5870 run out of steam anyway with higher overclocks.

 

[Rizen]

I have had three 5870s. One would not overclock at all (any voltage, any speed would GSOD). One hits around 960MHz at 1.26v before I run out of cooling. The other I haven't maxed out yet.

What are your temps? Try improving your airflow and cooling the GPU better. Also, make sure your fan is locked at at least 60-70% if you are running that much voltage.. a lot of these people attaining 1000MHz overclocks are locking the fan at 100%.

 

[vanilla_guerilla]

overclocking vid cards does not scale well anyway. a 10% overclock on core and memory speed might give you a 1 or 2% bump in frame rates. its really not worth running a vid card way out of spec (voltage, timing, speed) for the meager benefits involved. another thing, once i stopped screwing around with my vid cards a few years back, i havent had a single one break in any way. if your card happens to shit the bed whilst using an asus bios, you are probably fekt, as far as your warranty goes. you can use afterburner to adjust speed, fans and voltage of any brand 4*** or 5*** series card, iirc, and its only software.

 

[Copyright]

My Power Color could hit 1000mhz but my XFX only got stable to 975mhz. I run it at 950mhz 1.187V 24/7 and game for hours no issues.

 

[shansoft]

overclocking vid cards does not scale well anyway. a 10% overclock on core and memory speed might give you a 1 or 2% bump in frame rates. its really not worth running a vid card way out of spec (voltage, timing, speed) for the meager benefits involved. another thing, once i stopped screwing around with my vid cards a few years back, i havent had a single one break in any way. if your card happens to shit the bed whilst using an asus bios, you are probably fekt, as far as your warranty goes. you can use afterburner to adjust speed, fans and voltage of any brand 4*** or 5*** series card, iirc, and its only software.

You sure about that? 1-2% in fps?

without Overclocking

726Mhz Core

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1680 x 1050 AA 0x
==> Framerate [ Min: 33.96 Max: 53.50 Avg: 44.51 ]

After Overclocking

860Mhz (18% Increase of Core Clock)

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1680 x 1050 AA 0x
==> Framerate [ Min: 40.93 Max: 63.29 Avg: 52.80 ]


a 18% increase in core gives you 18% of performance boost.. you see it already..

its nearly 10fps boost there...

 

[ELox]

You sure about that? 1-2% in fps?

without Overclocking

726Mhz Core

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1680 x 1050 AA 0x
==> Framerate [ Min: 33.96 Max: 53.50 Avg: 44.51 ]

After Overclocking

860Mhz (18% Increase of Core Clock)

DirectX 10 ENTHUSIAST 3X @ Map: ambush @ 0 1680 x 1050 AA 0x
==> Framerate [ Min: 40.93 Max: 63.29 Avg: 52.80 ]


a 18% increase in core gives you 18% of performance boost.. you see it already..

its nearly 10fps boost there...

Does an OC make the same amount of difference at 1920x1200 with some AA on? I was considering OCing my 5870 but I picked it up used for $315 so no warranty. I probably won't risk it but just wondering if the OC from like 850-950 core on a 5870 would make that much of a difference?

 

[shansoft]

Does an OC make the same amount of difference at 1920x1200 with some AA on? I was considering OCing my 5870 but I picked it up used for $315 so no warranty. I probably won't risk it but just wondering if the OC from like 850-950 core on a 5870 would make that much of a difference?

all 5870 I have used can reach 950 easily, almost all on stock voltage..

I don't have 1920*1200 monitor right now with me, not planning to get that huge because I am on single GPU setup right now.. want to enjoy more eye candy

but I do believe even on high resolution should have same increase, except lower resolution which could be CPU bottleneck.

 

[pedophilekiller]

The difference is psychological more than anything else since you won't be consistently switching back and forth between two profiles. Our eyes don't notice average frames but rather framedrops. Overclocking isn't going to get rid of framedrops but perhaps dimish it. If you can't hit 1000mHz that's normal because that's the ceiling on these cards. Especially if you're still using the stock cooler. I'm not sure why you flashed your cards since all the reference cards can overvolt.

 

[shansoft]

The difference is psychological more than anything else since you won't be consistently switching back and forth between two profiles. Our eyes don't notice average frames but rather framedrops. Overclocking isn't going to get rid of framedrops but perhaps dimish it. If you can't hit 1000mHz that's normal because that's the ceiling on these cards. Especially if you're still using the stock cooler. I'm not sure why you flashed your cards since all the reference cards can overvolt.

our eye do notice avg fps..

it was completely unplayable when I put up 4xAA in Crysis but after OC its smooth as silk.

and no, 1G is not the ceiling for 5870, I have many cards that hit at least 1030Mhz.

a lot of people hits even further..

 

[ELox]

all 5870 I have used can reach 950 easily, almost all on stock voltage..

I don't have 1920*1200 monitor right now with me, not planning to get that huge because I am on single GPU setup right now.. want to enjoy more eye candy

but I do believe even on high resolution should have same increase, except lower resolution which could be CPU bottleneck.

Good to know. The used card I have was apparently an Engineering Sample so it would be reference as far as I know. What utility can I use for overclock that would allow me to increase voltage? I did a quick search and only came up with overvolting on Asus cards and I don't want to risk a BIOS flash that would brick my card that has no warranty.

You seem to know your way around these 5870's so if you have any links or personal experience in best tools to overclock it would be greatly appreciated.

I've overclocked a few cards before, the best one being the x800pro that I was able to flash the bios and overclock to x850xtpe speeds.

 

[shansoft]

Good to know. The used card I have was apparently an Engineering Sample so it would be reference as far as I know. What utility can I use for overclock that would allow me to increase voltage? I did a quick search and only came up with overvolting on Asus cards and I don't want to risk a BIOS flash that would brick my card that has no warranty.

You seem to know your way around these 5870's so if you have any links or personal experience in best tools to overclock it would be greatly appreciated.

I've overclocked a few cards before, the best one being the x800pro that I was able to flash the bios and overclock to x850xtpe speeds.

MSI Afterburner will be your best choice..

but you have to flash the BIOS in order to get pass over the limit..

 

[ELox]

The difference is psychological more than anything else since you won't be consistently switching back and forth between two profiles. Our eyes don't notice average frames but rather framedrops. Overclocking isn't going to get rid of framedrops but perhaps dimish it. If you can't hit 1000mHz that's normal because that's the ceiling on these cards. Especially if you're still using the stock cooler. I'm not sure why you flashed your cards since all the reference cards can overvolt.

Do you have any link on how to overvolt a reference OEM 5870?

MSI Afterburner will be your best choice..

but you have to flash the BIOS in order to get pass over the limit..

I think I'll play it safe if I have to flash the card to increase the voltage. Apparently this used card I have in an engineering sample (found this out based on a weird driver issue that only affected ES's) so I have no idea if it might brick because of flashing.

 

[Law&Order]

Overclocking is a bonus, so don't get upset if your card does not overclock like you expect.

Disappointed =! Upset

Don't get me wrong, I am perfectly aware that if the chip isn't going to OC very high, it just isn't, and I know I can't do anything about it. Not a big deal ultimately.

Just trying to get some feedback to make sure that I'm not doing something wrong here, really. I've seen a lot of 1000mhz and higher overclocks with the 5870 but I wasn't sure if 1ghz was a guaranteed peak with patience or if a lot of them peaked significantly lower (like mine seems to be doing.)

On that note, thanks to all the replies!

Edit: Not sure whether people wanted to know why I flashed my 5870 or why another guy did it, but in my case it was simply to make changing the clocks with afterburner a lot easier. With the stock XFX bios, I was having trouble with afterburner and didn't want to have to use ATT (or something else) to alter the clockspeeds.