Got my 7950!

[SheHateMe]

Does anyone want to help me overlclock with Afterburner? Are there any resources to make sure Im not going to mess up my stuff? Thanks!

 

[Smoblikat]

Firstly GPU-z to verify clocks/volts/temps/fan speeds

 

[VisceralM]

Did Jesus and Russian Sensation personaly appear to help install it?

I kid, I kid.

 

[SheHateMe]

Done

 

[RussianSensation]

1. Congrats on the new system! 3570K is a great CPU. HOw come you have 2 PSUs? Antec 1200 and a 650TX?

2. MSI Afterburner has a later version, 2.2.3.

To enable Unofficial Overclocking in MSI afterburner, follow this post. You can also try UnofficialOverclockingMode=2 if you have trouble underclocking the memory. Save an copy of the altered MSIAfterburner.cfg file somewhere in a folder because every time you reinstall MSI afterburner, it will overwrite that file. Alternative, you'll have to do the unofficial overclocking trick every time you install a new version of MSI afterburner. If you save this file, you can just copy and replace the original in the main MSI afterburner system folder.

3. Here is how to start bitcoin in case you wanted to.

4. Here is a thread for any questions you may have regarding overclocking with your card.

Did Jesus and Russian Sensation personaly appear to help install it?

Jesus said I couldn't come because I wouldn't be able to focus on this task in a house full of young girls.

 

[Protomize]

Watch this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85sox46roxM
And this: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FmEkwV7ec0s

 

[SheHateMe]

What stress test tools can I use to figure out if my overclock is good? Thats what I mainly wanted to know. People say Prime95 but Im confused by the program and MSI Kombuster confuses me too. What should I be doing?

 

[Protomize]

What stress test tools can I use to figure out if my overclock is good? Thats what I mainly wanted to know. People say Prime95 but Im confused by the program and MSI Kombuster confuses me too. What should I be doing?

I recommend a maxed out setting run through of Unigine Heaven 3.0 or just playing the games you'll normally play for about 1-2 hours each. GPU stress testing programs push GPU's so far, they sometimes begin to throttle lowering the chance of them failing due to a faulty OC. My OC HD 7850 can make it through MSI Kombuster and OCCT at higher clocks than I can play Crysis 2 on.

 

[balane]

I recommend a maxed out setting run through of Unigine Heaven 3.0 or just playing the games you'll normally play for about 1-2 hours each. GPU stress testing programs push GPU's so far, they sometimes begin to throttle lowering the chance of them failing due to a faulty OC. My OC HD 7850 can make it through MSI Kombuster and OCCT at higher clocks than I can play Crysis 2 on.

Thank you for explaining that to me because it was driving me nuts. I could get my oc'd card to do just fine in stress testing but then a game like Secret World would start to mess up unless I lowered my card's clock. I never knew why until now.

 

[Protomize]

Thank you for explaining that to me because it was driving me nuts. I could get my oc'd card to do just fine in stress testing but then a game like Secret World would start to mess up unless I lowered my card's clock. I never knew why until now.

Yea, it had me going crazy too.

 

[RussianSensation]

Protomize is right. Sometimes cards pass those synthetic stress tests but crash in games. I run benchmarks of 5-6 games I have (Metro 2033 Benchmark, Crysis 1, Unigine Heaven, STALKER COP, Aliens vs. Predator). Loop them around for 2-3 hours. Unigine Heaven with Extreme Tessellation and 8xMSAA is a great start.

 

[balane]

Is looping a game benchmark the same thing as playing the game as far as the video card is concerned?

In big battlegrounds with a ton of spell-casters there is a lot of stuff happening on the screen. I never see that in game benchmarks. It's situations like that which gives my video card overclock fits.

 

[RussianSensation]

Ya, so if you think Unigine Heaven Extreme tessellation + 8xMSAA isn't demanding enough, you'd just go straight into whatever game you play the most and test that first. There isn't really a one all be all benchmark. Most people use some combination of MSI Kombuster, 3dMark06/11, Unigine Heaven and 2-3 game loops.

 

[SheHateMe]

Uh, I don't know if this is right, but I have it running @ 1065 Core Clock and 1500mhz Memory Clock on stock voltage. I'm actually not even able to change the volatage in Afterburner.

Temps have been like 50 degrees but highest fan speed has only been like 47. Maybe the auto fan control isnt working well?

 

[Termie]

1. Congrats on the new system! 3570K is a great CPU. HOw come you have 2 PSUs? Antec 1200 and a 650TX?

The Antec's a case.

OP - do you get artifacts or crashes above 1065? I think that's pretty solid on stock volts, but the 7950 owners can chime in. Did you make the change to the afterburner config file to unlock voltage control?

Nothing wrong with your fan in my opinion. Those temps are not holding your overclock back.

 

[Silverforce11]

Use Sapphire Trixx, just google it. Don't need to modify the EULA in afterburner to access voltage mod or increased clock speed limit.

 

[zaydq]

Hey man, download Asus GPU tweak, unlock the core and mem frequencies and voltage control. Just run it once, set those settings and it will unlock everything for msi afterburner.

Download Asus GPU tweak from : http://event.asus.com/vga/2012/gpu_tweak/
Install GPU tweak
Go into settings and select clock range enhancement in tuning
press advanced mode button
Close GPU Tweak and close MSI afterburner
Relaunch Afterburner and it should work.



I'll tell ya right now, you should be able to hit 1100-1200 pretty easily with less than 1.175v. Mem clocks can go a long way up too. Is your 7950 with a 6+8 power pin pcb or a 6+6? With GPU-Z check your Asic reading % by right clicking on the GPU-Z window and select "check asic" or whatever.

 

[SheHateMe]

Hey man, download Asus GPU tweak, unlock the core and mem frequencies and voltage control. Just run it once, set those settings and it will unlock everything for msi afterburner.

Download Asus GPU tweak from : http://event.asus.com/vga/2012/gpu_tweak/
Install GPU tweak
Go into settings and select clock range enhancement in tuning
press advanced mode button
Close GPU Tweak and close MSI afterburner
Relaunch Afterburner and it should work.



I'll tell ya right now, you should be able to hit 1100-1200 pretty easily with less than 1.175v. Mem clocks can go a long way up too. Is your 7950 with a 6+8 power pin pcb or a 6+6? With GPU-Z check your Asic reading % by right clicking on the GPU-Z window and select "check asic" or whatever.

6+8 and ASIC is 88.3%

 

[RussianSensation]

Uh, I don't know if this is right, but I have it running @ 1065 Core Clock and 1500mhz Memory Clock on stock voltage. I'm actually not even able to change the volatage in Afterburner.

Either follow zaydq's advice for GPU tweak or, see the link I posted earlier on how to unlock the voltage and sliders in MSI Afterburner. You just have to edit the MSIAfterburner.cfg configuration file in Notepad. Just right click on that file and select Open With...Notepad.

Then go down until you see this line in Notepad:

[ATIADLHAL]

Then right underneath that paste these 2 lines in place of what it has.

UnofficialOverclockingMode=1
UnofficialOverclockingEULA=I confirm that I am aware of unofficial overclocking limitations and fully understand that MSI will not provide me any support on it

Save that file/override the original MSIAfterburner.cfg file in your Program File/MSI Afterburner folder. Then for the future make a copy into another folder as back-up for future re-installations of MSI Afterburner.

1065mhz on stock voltage is perfectly fine. Your ASIC is > 88%, which means a great 7950 chip. This is why I keep recommending the TF3 since it's proven to bin the best 7950 chips. It's not a random drawing but consistently member after member keeps reporting > 80% on the TF3.

Now just download HWInfo64 to read your VRM temperatures and actual maximum GPU voltage being applied via MSI Afterburner. Stay under 120*C VRM and under 90*C GPU temperatures and under 1.175V Tahiti XT stock voltage an you are fine. The only thing left is to find a balance of fan speed and noise levels for yourself once you maximize your overclock.

 

[SheHateMe]

Hey man, download Asus GPU tweak, unlock the core and mem frequencies and voltage control. Just run it once, set those settings and it will unlock everything for msi afterburner.

Download Asus GPU tweak from : http://event.asus.com/vga/2012/gpu_tweak/
Install GPU tweak
Go into settings and select clock range enhancement in tuning
press advanced mode button
Close GPU Tweak and close MSI afterburner
Relaunch Afterburner and it should work.



I'll tell ya right now, you should be able to hit 1100-1200 pretty easily with less than 1.175v. Mem clocks can go a long way up too. Is your 7950 with a 6+8 power pin pcb or a 6+6? With GPU-Z check your Asic reading % by right clicking on the GPU-Z window and select "check asic" or whatever.

Good advice. Im thinking about just copying your setup on your OC and see if I can get it stable at that. I'd be more than satisfied at that point.

 

[Maximilian]

Thought you had bought one of these things:

Came to tell you it sucked nvm then.

 

[RussianSensation]

The Antec's a case.

Brain fart. I thought of Antec 1200W. My brain has been talking videocards but thinking PSUs after this thread and myself exploring PSU upgrade options behind the scenes to support a possible expansion for another 7950/7970.