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Overclocking advice?

F

flooberjobby

Limp Gawd
Joined
Apr 4, 2008
Messages
268
Ok so I have a Core I7-950 currently @ 3.79 on the stock cooler at 61C all 4 cores. HT on.
I have a XFX 6970 @ 925 Core, and 1450 memory.
Room temp 72F degrees

System Specs.
12 Gig DDR3 @ 2200mhz
2x 1TB Raid 0
Asus Rampage III Gene(means the Micro ATX version)
Core I7-950 @3.795 Idle temp 61C (load no more than 88C)
XFX 6970 @950 core 1450 memory Idle temp 60C (load no more than 80C) Voltage set to +20 in CCC

I can't even play CSS at higher settings than 2560X1600 Everything on high/very high. full HDR, color correction, 2x AA, 16 AF, with MLAA on full. No V-sync @ 63.5 FPS in the stress test. Which interestingly enough doesn't dip below 55 in intense situations. Am I hitting a memory limit once I go above 2x AA? I know it wouldn't run as smooth with 2xAA before I OCed my video card.

When I overclock the core on the video card to 950, my games freeze/crash. Any hints on how I can rectify this?

I have a ZR30W(2560x1600 30 inch Monitor) That I game with, as well as work. And I'm just trying to get the most out of my system.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

Note: Nooby overclocker.
 
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Your overclock is possibly too high for your graphics card to handle. What are you using to test your load temps? 60 C seems awfully high for idle temps, especially at room temps of 22 C, and less than 80 C seems too little of a difference between idle and load for a typical graphics card. I know my GTX 275 increased temps by 25+ C when I manually set my fan to 100% under furmark. A less than 20 C delta is typically only seen with large aftermarket cooling or water cooling. Also, furmark is not reliable for testing load temps on a 6970, because AMD throttles down the card if it detects you using furmark (I believe there are ways around this, I don't know them though. Google is your friend here.)

You are almost definitely NOT running into a memory limit. 2gb is more than plenty for 2xAA at 2560x1600. You are more likely running into a processing barrier, where your core is incapable of rendering the picture fast enough. I'm not exactly sure though, it seems like a 6970 should be able to max out CSS at 2560x1600. I wouldn't be sure though, cause I run a 1680x1050 monitor.
 
Your card should easily be able to max it out at 2xAA.

(1) Your load temperatures on your cpu are waaay too high, especially if you game a lot. Why on earth are you running the stock cooler and overclocking that much??

(2) If your overclock on your GPU is making your game crash, then it seems pretty obvious that the OC is too high. Tone it down a notch.

If I were you I'd put everything back to stock and start again. With proper cooling this time.
 
PS. Idle 61 on your CPU? I don't like going over 70 on my CPU LOAD temps....

It's not going to burn your cpu to a crisp but it's not going to be particularly good for it either.
 
Any cooler suggestions? I was looking at the H50/H70.

As for the video card I was waiting until I got the 6990 for water cooling them.

Well it's at max settings at 2xAA I just can't go any higher. Like 4x, or 8x AA. It instantly bogs down.

I'm just running my games to test the temps and stability of the system. I'm not one for benchmarks.

I usually start with CSS, then go to BC2, Crysis, and finally Metro 2033 to test the system. if it makes it through that line up of games it's pretty much solid.

The card runs fine at 925 core and 1450 memory. I just can't go any higher or my games freeze/crash.

I OCed the processor because I was getting even lower FPS before I bumped it to 3.7. But I'll back it down to like 3.3 or something.
 
Well, since you're at 60 FPS at 2x AA, 4x AA will pretty much at least halve the framerate, since the GPU has to render a picture that's twice as big as 2x AA.

Benchmarks give you a good idea of what is stable or not. 925 core may not even be stable for long periods of gaming, especially when the core temps get higher. Games are not a good way to test stability of an overclock, especially on your processor. Game stable does not equal long-term stability.

You definitely cannot push past 925 mhz without a volt mod. And if you're doing a voltage mod, you definitely need to upgrade the cooling on your card NOW. Actually, as it stands right now, with those temps, upgrade NOW. If not, back off on your overclock to 900 mhz or so. 60 C idle does not bode well for load temps, you'll probably hit 100+ in truly intensive gaming. Use Unigine Heaven to really stress out your card. Same with your processor. You are definitely overclocking way too far on just stock.

There are limits you know to overclocking. Once you've hit a limit, there's nothing you can do to push past it, without some serious modding. Don't bother getting the H50 if you're going to go full watercooling anyways.
 
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