[H] users 7950 Overclock Results

You said it only gets up to 60C under load mining, which says to me the cooler is working fine. Your problem then from my understanding is specifically with idle temps. Graphics cards in general and AMD cards in particular don't downclock as effectively when running multi-monitor setups*. The card will also pull more power (20W-30W) at idle.

Notice your memory speed goes from a max of 1300MHz to a minimum of...1250MHz in that afterburner screenshot. A card that's properly downclocking itself will usually drop memory clock to 300MHz.

Before you go thinking this might be a bug...it's not, it's intended to prevent another issue. If you lower the memory clock too much when running multiple (ramdac driven) monitors they will start flickering.

*This doesn't apply when running Displayport monitors (or active DP-DVI adapters), you can hook up as many of those as you like (or have ports for) without encountering the typical idle heat/power issues.

Hm.. My 30" IPS is DVI (active link I'm pretty sure, Apple Cinema Display). The HP 24" I have though is HDMI :/

So would using something like an HDMI-DP adapter accomplish anything or absolutely nothing?
 
Hm.. My 30" IPS is DVI (active link I'm pretty sure, Apple Cinema Display). The HP 24" I have though is HDMI :/

So would using something like an HDMI-DP adapter accomplish anything or absolutely nothing?

Absolutely nothing, your card is just failing to downclock on idle. Its not really a bad thing, the card isn't going to die at that temperature, these things are designed to handle 100c without failing (though at a significantly shortened lifespan if run consistently that hot).
 
My Unigine results on my MSI twin frozr III 7950. (didn't luck out with the 7970 pcb)
TvD2k6j.png

Gonna bump it some more tomorrow most likely
ASIC is 61.2
13.5 beta drivers
really need an i7 & new monitor lol
 
Model: Powercolor AX7950 3GBD5-2DHV4 (7950 Version 2 Reference Board)

Mods:
Arctic Cooling Accelero Xtreme 7970
Enzotech MOS-C1 Copper Heatsinks on VRM's
SEKISUI #5760 Thermal Tape
Arctic MX-4

GPU Voltage: 1.3v (1.252v after vdroop)
Max GPU Temp: 62c (26c Ambient temp)
Max VRM Temp: 74c

GPU Clock: 1215 mhz
RAM Clock: 1660 mhz (Elphida, stock 1.6v)

13.5 Beta 2 Drivers
ASIC 63.2%
1uu0Zxj.jpg
 
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Striker that OC/setup is impressive. Can you post more details about what bios you use and how you got afterburner to support 50%?

I have the exact same card as you and I can't get it to go over 1.25 volts or 20% power limit
 
Striker that OC/setup is impressive. Can you post more details about what bios you use and how you got afterburner to support 50%?

I have the exact same card as you and I can't get it to go over 1.25 volts or 20% power limit
Yup, check out my post here, theres a section on it for a reg hack:
http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1756303

Our stock BIOS was surprisingly the best one I could find, it even has its voltages unlocked, I have tried flashing around 20 different ones and had only 2 that worked, a non boost Sapphire one and a Gigabyte one just last night, both were not as good OC wise.

When I use hwinfo and some other tools it also shows the incorrect voltages (shows 1.25 when it is not) I think its getting confused and pulling the info from the wrong place. I found that the only tool that shows the actual voltages for my card is GPU-Z. Interesting though that the only tool that I found that gives me my VRM temps is hwinfo, lol I cant win! Also make sure force constant voltages is checked in Afterburner if you use it, that is very crucial to my OC.
 
I'm a newbie to OC'ing, and just started to OC my MSI Twin Frozr III 7950. Currently have it stable at 1100/1575 at 1.087. Temps under load are around 70-75, with fan never ramping up to more than 60%. GPU-Z shows an ASIC of 89.2.

Not bad methinks, right?
 
Is it normal for a high ASIC score to be hard to cool at lower voltages? I can't make sense of the fact that my card struggles hardcore to cool 1.05v. I have a 7950 950mhz edition. I have to manually set my fan to 80% if I'm playing Crysis 3 (maxed with FXAA), and this is quite noisy. My card reaches 70 degrees and VRM 1 is 80 degrees (the second one under 70). The core is set to 1100mhz. 1200mhz is stable at 1.1v, but the VRMs are just out of control (at 100% fan VRM 1 will go above 100) and the GPU gets hot too.

And I'm reading here that people can run voltages upwards of 1.2 and I struggle very much to cool even 1.05. I bought 4 case fans (I currently only have 1, pulling hot air out the rear in front of my CPU cooler) Arctic Cooling F12s. Apparently they are loud at max, but I will slow them down. I got them for 3 euro 50 each so they were dirt cheap. I understand this will help, but still... It is the nature of having an ASIC score of 90% (90.6 to be exact) to have a tough time cooling such a low voltage?

Thanks! If I could cool 1.1+v on air I'd be rocking 1200mhz + speeds, which would be awesome!!!

Also, I see a lot of people saying the memory is good at stock voltages (1.6v) for 1400 +. Mine crashes at 1400 :( Should I up the voltage if I want to overclock this? (I understand the gains are small usually, but I want to tinker with it).
 
1. I can't really explain the harder to cool lower voltage cards. My old msi twin frozr 7950 boost, ran quite cool for its voltage (64-68c at 1.25v default).

2. One thing you could try, is replacing the video card's paste. It usually lowers my temps by 4-5 degrees or more, if the mount was bad.

3. Upping the memory voltage did help for me, when I was going for high mem clocks.
 
1. I can't really explain the harder to cool lower voltage cards. My old msi twin frozr 7950 boost, ran quite cool for its voltage (64-68c at 1.25v default).

2. One thing you could try, is replacing the video card's paste. It usually lowers my temps by 4-5 degrees or more, if the mount was bad.

3. Upping the memory voltage did help for me, when I was going for high mem clocks.

Thanks. Is upping the voltage of the memory OK? Would anyone have a guideline for a safe voltage for the memory?

It's mounted fine, I have already removed the cooler for another reason, and remounting it lft me with similar temps. Ofc better TIM would probably help, but not as much for theVRMs, would it? I imagine the case fan setup will help, too. Currently, I don't have a side fan blowing cool air onto the card, so imagine that would help a bit.
 
My Sapphire 950mhz Ediiton HD7950 can do 1200mhz at around 1.1v as well. Most of the newer cards that feature boost default to 1.25v even at stock speeds during load.

At those clock speeds, what are your VRM temperatures during a 30 minute run of heaven benchmark? Can you give me your temps? I am really curious of what other people are getting for the 950mhz edition sapphire cards.
 
At those clock speeds, what are your VRM temperatures during a 30 minute run of heaven benchmark? Can you give me your temps? I am really curious of what other people are getting for the 950mhz edition sapphire cards.

I have that card. Here's my answer: On air, they're uncontrollable :D I hope to fix that with some case fans (airflow in my case is quite bad at the moment). But even at 100% fan speed they will be around 100 degress and climbing after 5 mins.

I will give some proper results once I get my case fans sorted out tomorrow. I am using the stock Dualx cooling by the way, though.

Edit: Not totally true. A run of Valley at 1200mhz @ 100% fan speed has the core at 70, and VRM 1 (the hotter one) at 84 degrees. It is still climbing slowly though, I imagine because of poor airflow in my setup. I hope to rectify this soon.
 
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I have that card. Here's my answer: On air, they're uncontrollable :D I hope to fix that with some case fans (airflow in my case is quite bad at the moment). But even at 100% fan speed they will be around 100 degress and climbing after 5 mins.

I will give some proper results once I get my case fans sorted out tomorrow. I am using the stock Dualx cooling by the way, though.

Edit: Not totally true. A run of Valley at 1200mhz @ 100% fan speed has the core at 70, and VRM 1 (the hotter one) at 84 degrees. It is still climbing slowly though, I imagine because of poor airflow in my setup. I hope to rectify this soon.

Thank you for a straightforward answer! At 1200mhz after 30 minutes in my case with really good airflow, i get around the same! Cant wait for your further results
 
Thank you for a straightforward answer! At 1200mhz after 30 minutes in my case with really good airflow, i get around the same! Cant wait for your further results

4 Case fans coming in the post tomorrow :) I'd really like to be able to get near 1200mhz for a stable overclock.

I've a heard a side fan blowing cool air onto the card helps the VRMs quite a bit. I've read quite a bit regarding safe VRM temps. Some say they are good 'til 120 degrees. Another person said 105.
 
I will give some proper results once I get my case fans sorted out tomorrow. I am using the stock Dualx cooling by the way, though.

Edit: Not totally true. A run of Valley at 1200mhz @ 100% fan speed has the core at 70, and VRM 1 (the hotter one) at 84 degrees. It is still climbing slowly though, I imagine because of poor airflow in my setup. I hope to rectify this soon.



Your temps so und about right for stock heat sinks which are decent on this particular card. You can ad some fujipoly thermal pad to help reduce temps mixed with some good air flow is about as good as stock heat sinks will get.


I am water cooling my 950mhz Ediiton and game around 1300/1800 nice and cool all the way around. Good full cover water block is the way to go for cooling HD79XX cards.
 
Your temps so und about right for stock heat sinks which are decent on this particular card. You can ad some fujipoly thermal pad to help reduce temps mixed with some good air flow is about as good as stock heat sinks will get.


I am water cooling my 950mhz Ediiton and game around 1300/1800 nice and cool all the way around. Good full cover water block is the way to go for cooling HD79XX cards.

Where should I put the thermal pads?

How come other card "seem" to cool 1.1v sooo much more easily? Granted, they need that higher voltage for the same clocks, but still, I don't understand how card are pushing 1.2v at stock clocks and I struggle to cool 1.1v :D.

I think the Vapor-x cooler is a bit better than the Dualx one, but not by much.
 
Where should I put the thermal pads?

How come other card "seem" to cool 1.1v sooo much more easily? Granted, they need that higher voltage for the same clocks, but still, I don't understand how card are pushing 1.2v at stock clocks and I struggle to cool 1.1v :D.

I think the Vapor-x cooler is a bit better than the Dualx one, but not by much.

I have the same problem as you buddy. I overclocked my sapphire 7950 950mhz edition to 1200 mhz with a voltage of 1.137 volts and my VRM temps go too high, around 93 degrees celcius during heaven benchmark while others get around 80 degrees with the same overclock but higher voltages at around 1.2v!!!!. I think this is because my 7950 has a 7970 board and is really sensitive to voltage increases.
 
I have the same problem as you buddy. I overclocked my sapphire 7950 950mhz edition to 1200 mhz with a voltage of 1.137 volts and my VRM temps go too high, around 93 degrees celcius during heaven benchmark while others get around 80 degrees with the same overclock but higher voltages at around 1.2v!!!!. I think this is because my 7950 has a 7970 board and is really sensitive to voltage increases.

I'm stable 1200 at 1.1v (well stable enough for a 20 mins of benching until I have to stop for fear of damaging my VRMs). Try 1200 at 1.1v.
 
I'm stable 1200 at 1.1v (well stable enough for a 20 mins of benching until I have to stop for fear of damaging my VRMs). Try 1200 at 1.1v.
so at 1200mhz 1.1v what are your vrm temperatures?
 
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I have the Sapphire ref boost card 4L , TRIXX reports VDDC as 1168 and it will run stable for me at 1002/1502 at that VDDC 1168

gpu-z heaven load reports VRM 1 56C max and VRM 2 45C max

gpu 63c max at 52% fan speed VDDC was 1152 and MVDDC was 1.62v at those clocks
 
Waited for the 770 GTX review, then made decision for a 7950 ($280 price tag w/games didn't hurt).

So I've been looking through this thread and have a few questions...
1. For now, I have it at 1020/1500 haven't touched voltage or tried higher, just set it and depending on answer below, will probably call it a day. No long term testing but an hour of gaming temps ~68c
2. Mine is the Powercolor single fan and says boost on it.... does that mean it ups the voltage on demand? i.e, if I attempt 1200 o/c will it auto overvolt to 1.2 or whatever?
3. Anyone else out there lazy like me, set it for a (what I assume) is a midrange o/c and press on?

Thanks for thoughts and feedback.

Edit: Having Tomb Raider & Bioshock Infinite dumped into my steam account doesn't hurt either. And yeah, I'll play Crysis 3 considering the price. Blood Dragon will be fun, not liking UbiSoft app but will deal since the price is right. This AMD games reloaded thing made this deal so sweet !!
 
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Waited for the 770 GTX review, then made decision for a 7950 ($280 price tag w/games didn't hurt).

So I've been looking through this thread and have a few questions...
1. For now, I have it at 1020/1500 haven't touched voltage or tried higher, just set it and depending on answer below, will probably call it a day. No long term testing but an hour of gaming temps ~68c
2. Mine is the Powercolor single fan and says boost on it.... does that mean it ups the voltage on demand? i.e, if I attempt 1200 o/c will it auto overvolt to 1.2 or whatever?
3. Anyone else out there lazy like me, set it for a (what I assume) is a midrange o/c and press on?

Thanks for thoughts and feedback.

Edit: Having Tomb Raider & Bioshock Infinite dumped into my steam account doesn't hurt either. And yeah, I'll play Crysis 3 considering the price. Blood Dragon will be fun, not liking UbiSoft app but will deal since the price is right. This AMD games reloaded thing made this deal so sweet !!

We have the same card from the sounds of it, assuming yours is this:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131478

1) Surprised you are running that low in the temps, whats your ambient temp when you did that? Also are you sure its not throttling? I had a huge issue with that card and it not keeping a stable clockspeed. It wouldn't throttle in benchmarks but Bioshock, Crysis and Sleeping Dogs it would. For more info check out my post here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=1756303

2) It will go to 1.25 volts when boosting. Please don't try 1200 unless you have an aftermarket heatsink/fan on it, you will not succeed lol.

3) Thats what I originally did, but needed more for 1440p. If you need more out of the card check out my mod here: http://hardforum.com/showthread.php?p=1039861524&highlight=#post1039861524
 
I have a MSI TF3 V2 that will do 1325/1850 for benchmarks. The Memory will clock us to 1910 stable on certain benchmarks. I usually play games @ 1250/1650

I also have a Arctic Xtreme 7970 cooler with the stock MSI Vrm/Memory plate with fujipoly pads for the vrms.

I have some videos here http://www.youtube.com/user/NCHardwareReviews
 
Striker444 yes that's my card and thanks for the reply and info.

So far running TR & Blood Dragon it has not been throttling. Blood Dragon makes this card crazy hot though, I was in the low 80c range!! I think I will just leave it at 1050/1500. *appears* it will do north of 1100/1500 24/7 but a) I don't want mid 80c temps and b) too damn lazy to do extensive testing, easier to set and forget.

Quick question what gpu/mem do you have to be running to equal stock 7970Ghz Edition speed?

Still, I did not expect a solid 1100 considering stock was 850. I only o/c'd my 6950 from 800 to 840 lol
 
I have a MSI TF3 V2 that will do 1325/1850 for benchmarks. The Memory will clock us to 1910 stable on certain benchmarks. I usually play games @ 1250/1650

I also have a Arctic Xtreme 7970 cooler with the stock MSI Vrm/Memory plate with fujipoly pads for the vrms.

I have some videos here http://www.youtube.com/user/NCHardwareReviews
SIck OC man. I read a comment on a vid of yours. You said thermal pads helped you a lot with the VRM temps? This is my weakness at the moment. I am stable at 1200mhz at 1.112V but my VRM temps will be fairly hot (80 - 85 degrees after 20 mins, slowly climbing). I am improving airflow with a new case and some more fans, but I don't think this will help much.

Where could I source some thermal pads in the EU and how much would they be?? Thanks :)

PS DO you find the Accerlero Xtreme is a much better cooler than your stock MSI one? I have the Dualx cooler on my Sapphire.
 
SIck OC man. I read a comment on a vid of yours. You said thermal pads helped you a lot with the VRM temps? This is my weakness at the moment. I am stable at 1200mhz at 1.112V but my VRM temps will be fairly hot (80 - 85 degrees after 20 mins, slowly climbing). I am improving airflow with a new case and some more fans, but I don't think this will help much.

Where could I source some thermal pads in the EU and how much would they be?? Thanks :)

PS DO you find the Accerlero Xtreme is a much better cooler than your stock MSI one? I have the Dualx cooler on my Sapphire.


I find the Accerlero Xtreme is worlds better than the MSI Twin Frozr III. I have a 89.1% ASIC chip so it runs hot even @ stock voltage 1.093 (In the low 70's) The Xtreme allowed me to overclock to the clocks you see and stay below 60c. The VRMs are tricky - Take a look at this thread over @ Overclock.net I created. It explains how I brought the VRM temps down. As far as getting the Fujipoly pads in the EU...? In not quite sure. Maybe check eBay?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1372912/the-msi-tf3-vrm-project-with-accelero-xtreme-7970/0_20
 
I find the Accerlero Xtreme is worlds better than the MSI Twin Frozr III. I have a 89.1% ASIC chip so it runs hot even @ stock voltage 1.093 (In the low 70's) The Xtreme allowed me to overclock to the clocks you see and stay below 60c. The VRMs are tricky - Take a look at this thread over @ Overclock.net I created. It explains how I brought the VRM temps down. As far as getting the Fujipoly pads in the EU...? In not quite sure. Maybe check eBay?

http://www.overclock.net/t/1372912/the-msi-tf3-vrm-project-with-accelero-xtreme-7970/0_20

Very cool, thanks man! It's just teasing me. I know I have so much potential left in my card. I can game at 1175 mhz core at 1.09v which is insanely low. (My stock voltage is 1.013v at 950 mhz, I actualy have undervolting headroom too, which is cool; my ASIC is 90.6%). With some better airflow with some better fans, better case + fujipoly thermal pads, I am optimistic of obtaining a gameable 1250+ which is insane on stock cooling. I'm pretty sure that's faster than a stock 680, too.

The 7950 is such a sick card!!!
 
Very cool, thanks man! It's just teasing me. I know I have so much potential left in my card. I can game at 1175 mhz core at 1.09v which is insanely low. (My stock voltage is 1.013v at 950 mhz, I actualy have undervolting headroom too, which is cool; my ASIC is 90.6%). With some better airflow with some better fans, better case + fujipoly thermal pads, I am optimistic of obtaining a gameable 1250+ which is insane on stock cooling. I'm pretty sure that's faster than a stock 680, too.

The 7950 is such a sick card!!!

My 3dmark FireStrike results put a 7950 at 1200e/1600m at 8288 graphics score, compared to 6967 for a GTX680 (and 10,234 for a Titan). Stock score is 6477 for me.
 
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My 3dmark FireStrike results put a 7970 at 1200e/1600m at 8288 graphics score, compared to 6967 for a GTX680 (and 10,234 for a Titan). Stock score is 6477 for me.

Thanks for the numbers! I'll try to get numbers of my own for my gaming clocks and compare.
 
The power of effective water cooling on a Vapor X HD7950 is awesome.

Here is temps under 3dMark11 load with min and max info.

VXcooled.jpg


The VRM temps are sweet.
 
Wow. Sick clock speeds man. I have a friend who games with his Vaporx at 1215mhz core/1400mem on air (Vaporx is superior to Dualx in cooling and sound by a smidge), but of course it's nowhere near as cool as yours :p. If I'm correct, you are hitting voltages limits at GPUZ is reporting almost1.4v, what is it set to in Trixxx? How high would you game at? It seems it won't clock as highly as your 950mhz Edition :p
 
Wow. Sick clock speeds man. I have a friend who games with his Vaporx at 1215mhz core/1400mem on air (Vaporx is superior to Dualx in cooling and sound by a smidge), but of course it's nowhere near as cool as yours :p. If I'm correct, you are hitting voltages limits at GPUZ is reporting almost1.4v, what is it set to in Trixxx? How high would you game at? It seems it won't clock as highly as your 950mhz Edition :p

I think the BIOS is keeping it from going faster. Hopefully Sapphire will fix the BIOS as right now it seems locked a bit.


The ASIC score of my Vapor X HD7950 is around 58% and as such it requires good cooling and higher voltage to go fast. My 950mhz Ediion HD7950 on the other hand has almost 90% ASIC score and it clocks faster and doesn't require much voltage to go fast.
 
SonDa5 - I thought you had a 7950 that would do 1370 on the core? I would love to watercool my card, but I probably will sell it before I do that :) My card won't go past 1325 - It even starts to artifact at those speeds now @ 59-60c

Also Gumbi10 @ 1250 core you are singing past a 7970GE and well past a GTX 680. Of course those cards can overclock as well :) The 7970 vs. 7950 is roughly 5% difference clock for clock.
 
Anyone know somewhere with 7950 waterblocks in stock? I don't see any at FrozenCPU or Sidewinder.
 
SonDa5 - I thought you had a 7950 that would do 1370 on the core? I would love to watercool my card, but I probably will sell it before I do that :) My card won't go past 1325 - It even starts to artifact at those speeds now @ 59-60c

Also Gumbi10 @ 1250 core you are singing past a 7970GE and well past a GTX 680. Of course those cards can overclock as well :) The 7970 vs. 7950 is roughly 5% difference clock for clock.

Your card is fast and with water cooling your card will operate alot cooler and probably go faster. Take care of that card, it is golden.

I have 2 HD7950s. 1 is a Vapor X and the other is a 950mhz Edition. Both of them are water cooled.

My 950mhz Edition will do 1370 on the core for benchmarks and I am experimenting with chilled water and hope to get it to at least 1400mhz for some benchmarks.



My Vapor X is the card that I am having a hard time over clocking to 1300mhz. The Temps are great. I really think the BIOS needs to be revised by sapphire to get it to go faster.
 
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