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Underclocking a 7970

C

Chrisroman

Gawd
Joined
May 29, 2011
Messages
692
Ok, I bet no one has asked this one before...

How low can I take my GPU/Memory clocks for when I am just "working"? To save on heat and energy.

Driving 3x Dell u3011 30" monitors. Spend 80% of my time using them for work, so basically 2D work.
 
These cards don't already have a good power management scheme under your working conditions? I thought that was one of its selling points?

I thought that 2D/idle power consumption had been improving each generation (and aside from actually shutting down portions of the GPU, I thought that dynamic clock control was a part of this).

That sucks if it's not working for you...
 
Your 7970 should be down throttling when required as is. I know mine when just doing desktop work the clock goes from 1000mhz to 350mhz. Similar decrease in RAM speeds as well.
 
The memory clocks will not drop by default in multi-monitor setups, because that might introduce display flicker.
Besides forcing the clock lower, you could also try to undervolt your card to save more power. MSI Afterburner should be able to do that.
 
Chrisroman said:
Ok, I bet no one has asked this one before...

How low can I take my GPU/Memory clocks for when I am just "working"? To save on heat and energy.

Driving 3x Dell u3011 30" monitors. Spend 80% of my time using them for work, so basically 2D work.
Click to expand...

Your card does this already.
 
When available, get a 7970 with 3+ DP ports to run your monitors.

Right now you're probably running 2 via DP and one via DVI and those unsynched ports require the memory to run higher. When all the monitors are running on the same clocks via the same ports, then the card should be able to downclock properly.

This is based on what I've read, but haven't had a chance to test. Waiting on the ASUS Direct Cu II (with 4 DP) to test this on my setup.
 
jackstar7 said:
When available, get a 7970 with 3+ DP ports to run your monitors.

Right now you're probably running 2 via DP and one via DVI and those unsynched ports require the memory to run higher. When all the monitors are running on the same clocks via the same ports, then the card should be able to downclock properly.

This is based on what I've read, but haven't had a chance to test. Waiting on the ASUS Direct Cu II (with 4 DP) to test this on my setup.
Click to expand...


I think your right. It just runs hot with three monitors with current configuration. :(
 
If you want to improve your cooling water cool it.

If I were to buy a HD7970 I would water cool it and OC it for performance in gaming. As other have stated this card has great power saving features built into it when it is not under load.
 
SonDa5 said:
If you want to improve your cooling water cool it.

If I were to buy a HD7970 I would water cool it and OC it for performance in gaming. As other have stated this card has great power saving features built into it when it is not under load.
Click to expand...

My plan was to pickup a 2nd card when a model comes out with 3x display port then watercool them. Wish there was a clean, self contained solution, like the corsair product.
 
I run eyefinity 5760*1080 all the time and use afterburner to reset the clocks to 500/150 0.945volts 40degrees in 2d

This is truly amazing
 
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