Need a little help (6970)

[Habs]

Okay, I already maxed the clocks on CCC with my 6970 and had no issues with a very low temp 55 celsius or something, i have only been ocing the gpu clock i think the default is 875. Anyway i was slowly progressing it and checking the temps to see how high i could get it before i hit a temp i wasn't confortible with. To do this i had to unlock CCC so i could clock it higher then 950 mhz. I got all the way to 990mhz no problems than i tried 1000mhz and ran 3dmark11 this time about 3 quarters through it crashed, like my whole screen went green so i restarted instantly. The computer works fine now and i have it clocked at 990mhz also when i checked the records of the temps i was getting. The 1000mhz clock was getting lower temps then the 990 mhz gpu clock. So i'm very new to overclocking but using my logic i'm guessing that i have to increase the voltage? Does the card just need some more juice? I'm aware increasing the volts will increase the temps, but by how much? If someone could help me out it would be fantastic.

P.S. If this is the wrong way to overclock please tell me before i damage my card

and is 3dmark11 a good way to test if the oc is stable?

Thanks for your time. ;D

oh almost forgot, the max temp i ever hit was 60 celsius.

Merry Xmas!

 

[thestepster]

install MSI afterburner mate and overclock with that

 

[Habs]

install MSI afterburner mate and overclock with that

Ya i have that i'm just a little hesitant, is a green screen normal when there isnt enough volts?

 

[alienware]

The 1000mhz clock was getting lower temps then the 990 mhz gpu clock.

I would be cryptic and tell you to have a think about why that is happening, but I won't.

Your card is hitting a thermal throttle. Basically yeah, the clocks show and all that, but what's going on is under the hood when you try to run a benchmark or app the card is basically slowing itself down.

So, you are going to either need to disable the throttle and risk blowing your card to smithereens, or just find a safe clock that is stable at acceptable temps.

I can tell you now that 1035mhz is hard enough on an MSI Lightning or Power Color Devil 13, so I wouldn't ever dare attempt it with a stock card.

You'll kill it, man. You're going to need, in the very least, 1.3v to achieve a stable 1ghz OC and the power stages on a stock card simply aren't good enough mate.

 

[Habs]

I would be cryptic and tell you to have a think about why that is happening, but I won't.

Your card is hitting a thermal throttle. Basically yeah, the clocks show and all that, but what's going on is under the hood when you try to run a benchmark or app the card is basically slowing itself down.

So, you are going to either need to disable the throttle and risk blowing your card to smithereens, or just find a safe clock that is stable at acceptable temps.

I can tell you now that 1035mhz is hard enough on an MSI Lightning or Power Color Devil 13, so I wouldn't ever dare attempt it with a stock card.

You'll kill it, man. You're going to need, in the very least, 1.3v to achieve a stable 1ghz OC and the power stages on a stock card simply aren't good enough mate.

Sorry to sound noobish but is a XFX a stock card? Also do you mean at 990 mhz it's slowing down? because im getting a better score when i use 3dmark11 and My temps never surpassed 60 celsius. Thanks for the replys btw.

 

[alienware]

OK quick back story.

After the GTX 480 "It's stupid hot" debacle Nvidia and AMD decided to stop people using Furmark to display how hot a card gets.

Firstly people were blowing up cards and sending them back (which costs money) and also using Furmark to unfairly display how hot a card can get.

What I mean by that is Furmark uses a GPU in a way that nothing ever will, so was nothing more than torturing a card to show how hot you can make it get.

So for the 5 series Nvidias and the 6 series Radeons both companies put a thermal throttle in place.

Basically, when you overdo the voltage or clocks the card will sense this, start getting hot and then simply downclock itself to save it from going bang, or, from letting you see just how hot it can get when you thrash it.

Failure is for the most part caused by failed solder, but as I said if you want that core to be stable at 1ghz you will also need 1.3v minimum. Thus, at that stage you start to stress out the voltage regulator modules that are responsible for supplying a nice clean load to the core. If one of those fails, even momentarily, you get a whopping great surge of amps and volts to the core and it's pop goes the weasel.

Now. As I said. Firstly a stock Radeon 6970 just does not have the power stages to deliver 1.3v to the core. Look at a stock card.

Making a visual note of what's going on to the right side of the card past the GPU core. See the little lumps on there? those are the power delivery stage components. Now, look at a card designed to take 1.35v

Firstly it's longer and higher. But, most importantly look at all of the components on there. They are all military grade parts, designed to take serious voltages and amps. Your card is not, so if you push your luck you will destroy it, along with many other components (no doubt your motherboard would get a nice juicy surge also).

So how do you get past this hidden throttle? you disable it. Now on a top end card designed solely to thrash the crap out of a 6970 core you have numerous switches. Once you throw them you walk alone. On a stock card, however, there are no such switches, so you need to load in a bios that has been fully unlocked.

Personally mate if you are even using the word "noobish" here I would pack it up and call it a day. I really don't think you understand what you are doing, and that's not a good idea when you are playing with electricity. It's not very forgiving should you make a booboo.

 

[Habs]

I appreciate the long reply and I completely understand (thanks for the pictures). Too be honest everyone starts as a beginner and i am interested in overclocking, i was in a rush to write that because i had to leave, although i don't see any relevance of saying "noobish" and overclocking. Again, you helped me out a lot and you didn't need to so thanks so much and i took your advice and ill stay at 990 mhz. Last question, would liquid cooling be more safe to hit 1ghz?

 

[thestepster]

I appreciate the long reply and I completely understand (thanks for the pictures). Too be honest everyone starts as a beginner and i am interested in overclocking, i was in a rush to write that because i had to leave, although i don't see any relevance of saying "noobish" and overclocking. Again, you helped me out a lot and you didn't need to so thanks so much and i took your advice and ill stay at 990 mhz. Last question, would liquid cooling be more safe to hit 1ghz?

as was said up there u would need 1.3v minimum to get 1ghz ur cards not designed to take those kinda volts watercooling doesnt change internal component quality

 

[alienware]

Have you benchmarked it at 990mhz?

What voltage?

I'd be interested to see a 3dmark 11 result at those clocks. Should be pushing well over 6000 points.

 

[Habs]

Have you benchmarked it at 990mhz?

What voltage?

I'd be interested to see a 3dmark 11 result at those clocks. Should be pushing well over 6000 points.

I havn't touched the voltage. I'm on vacation right now but I remember my 3d mark 11 x score.

With 4 gigs 1333 MHz ram, i7 860 @ 3.4 GHz, and my 6970 at 990 MHz and 1450 MHz for memory clock, i got a score of x2011. My temps on the GPU never passed 60.

 

[Habs]

as was said up there u would need 1.3v minimum to get 1ghz ur cards not designed to take those kinda volts watercooling doesnt change internal component quality

I understand that, but isn't the reason why it can't take those volts also because it increases the heat?

 

[alienware]

I havn't touched the voltage. I'm on vacation right now but I remember my 3d mark 11 x score.

With 4 gigs 1333 MHz ram, i7 860 @ 3.4 GHz, and my 6970 at 990 MHz and 1450 MHz for memory clock, i got a score of x2011. My temps on the GPU never passed 60.

Your overclocks were not working then. It's as simple as that.

They were being disabled and over ridden by CCC.

Trust me, as soon as you go from 880mhz to 940 on stock volts you will crash the card when a load goes on. You absolutely must up the volts.

The problem is that the voltage and mhz are being over ridden by the CCC to stop you overclocking. You can enable it there, but there is no way you would have EVER gotten your card to 990mhz on stock voltage and stable. Unless you write for the Guinness book of records.

So when you're at the PC holler and I will show you how to basically stop CCC over riding your settings. Otherwise? your overclocks are not real.

 

[Habs]

Your overclocks were not working then. It's as simple as that.

They were being disabled and over ridden by CCC.

Trust me, as soon as you go from 880mhz to 940 on stock volts you will crash the card when a load goes on. You absolutely must up the volts.

The problem is that the voltage and mhz are being over ridden by the CCC to stop you overclocking. You can enable it there, but there is no way you would have EVER gotten your card to 990mhz on stock voltage and stable. Unless you write for the Guinness book of records.

So when you're at the PC holler and I will show you how to basically stop CCC over riding your settings. Otherwise? your overclocks are not real. Whats the best way to test for stability?

But every time i raised the clocks, the score rose? My score beat TTL's devil 13 and he also has a better cpu. I should be on the PC Tomorrow. Also when i went for 1Ghz what was it that made my screen completely green?

 

[alienware]

Then you are the first person I have ever met that has gotten a 6970 stable at 990mhz on stock volts.

However, as I said a few posts back, your card will be throttling any way because you haven't disabled the TDP limit (I did some reading the other night).

Apparently you can do it via Afterburner's config file.

 

[Niz406]

Guys,

I don't mean to thread jack, so my apologies now.... but my query is similar to that of Habs, only I have two 6970's in crossfire that I am considering watercooling and OC'ing.

The difference is, mine are both Rev 2's with Cayman cores and voltage tweak switchable bios's, will these be able to reach 1ghz clocks and 1.3 volts stable or should I forget the watercooling and move over to 7 series GPU's in 2012?

 

[Habs]

Guys,

I don't mean to thread jack, so my apologies now.... but my query is similar to that of Habs, only I have two 6970's in crossfire that I am considering watercooling and OC'ing.

The difference is, mine are both Rev 2's with Cayman cores and voltage tweak switchable bios's, will these be able to reach 1ghz clocks and 1.3 volts stable or should I forget the watercooling and move over to 7 series GPU's in 2012?

I was going to watercool mine, but there isn't a point in wasting your money on a 6970 to be honest. Also, Zombie i will message you tomorrow and we can disable the throttle. Maybe i just got really lucky and ended up with a beast card? I hope that's the case

 

[alienware]

Guys,

I don't mean to thread jack, so my apologies now.... but my query is similar to that of Habs, only I have two 6970's in crossfire that I am considering watercooling and OC'ing.

The difference is, mine are both Rev 2's with Cayman cores and voltage tweak switchable bios's, will these be able to reach 1ghz clocks and 1.3 volts stable or should I forget the watercooling and move over to 7 series GPU's in 2012?

Do you need more power?

If you want to switch just for the sake of it don't bother. ONE 6970 can run any game in the world at 1080p on ultra settings, so it would be pointless unless you want to wave your willy really. Same goes for overclocking if I'm honest. Sure, it's a bit of fun, but it doesn't really do much. Maybe 5 FPS extra.