Sapphire HD7970 Vapor-X - first impressions

[dkm777]

So I received my HD7970 yesterday. When I unpacked it I thought - what a beast. It runs extremely cool and the fans are nearly inaudible until 40%. But i got a rather crappy sample - ASIC quality is only 68% and I only managed an overclock of 100MHz over stock without touching the voltage. But I don't really feel I need to OC this card more than it already is - the temps rise sharply and the fans spin up and make a noise that is a lot like MSIs Twin Frozr Propeller Blade coolers. In other words - they get on my nerves pretty quick. Under stock settings I managed to reach no more than 60 degrees while playing Skyrim with ENB and HD texture pack. The game was absolutely smooth after loading completely. So far my only gripes are a slight buzz coming from the VRM circuit and the sheer weight of the thing - I'm afraid it'll break my PCIe slot . More to come as I test the card.

 

[netxzero64]

The buzz that you hear may just be normal as this happens most of the time on brand new cards. If problems persist, I think you can do an RMA of the card.

 

[dkm777]

Played around with overclocking some more and ran 3DMark 11. Got 1200MHz on the core, 1600MHz on the memory and P9749 score.

 

[3DVagabond]

Are you using 12.11's? That score seems a bit low.

 

[dkm777]

I'm using 12.11 beta 7. Should I install stable?

 

[3DVagabond]

I'm using 12.11 beta 7. Should I install stable?

No. I've just seen higher 3DMark scores (10K+) from 1200MHz 7970's.

I just noticed though that you are running X58 @ 4.0GHz on your CPU. Maybe that's holding it back a bit compared to X79 w/higher CPU overclocks?

You might try a "burn in" for a bit with Unigine, or something else stressful, to see if it clears up the "buzz". Sometimes that will work. Nice rig though. :thumbsup:

 

[dkm777]

No. I've just seen higher 3DMark scores (10K+) from 1200MHz 7970's.

I just noticed though that you are running X58 @ 4.0GHz on your CPU. Maybe that's holding it back a bit compared to X79 w/higher CPU overclocks?

This very well might be true, since the physics tests ran at really low FPS.

You might try a "burn in" for a bit with Unigine, or something else stressful, to see if it clears up the "buzz". Sometimes that will work. Nice rig though. :thumbsup:

Will do. I was playing games every evening since I got the card and I don't know if I'm just getting used to it or the buzzing is slightly changing its character. I hope it goes away or at least becomes really quiet.

 

[dkm777]

Looks like the buzz subsided significantly not to bother me. But I made a saddening discovery - my card is just about on its limits under stock clocks and voltages. Played some Guild Wars 2 and it would artifact almost immediately if the clocks were raised even slightly over stock. I downloaded Sapphire TriXX and played with the voltage but that didn't bring any improvements, only more heat and noise. The funny thing is that this card can run Heaven for hours at 1200MHz, but launch GW2 and it just gives up. Never had an idea that GW2 engine would be this demanding.

 

[dkm777]

got to the bottom of my overclocking problems - my card is voltage locked...

 

[3DVagabond]

[H]OCP added voltage to theirs using Trixx 4.3.0

 

[dkm777]

I also use TriXX 4.3.0, but even when I set 1.3V, GPU-Z reports 1.18-1.20V under load and I still get the same glitches. It must be either a driver or BIOS issue. I tried switching to "overclock" BIOS by pressing the button on the card, but everything is the same. I suspect Sapphire had way too many RMAs from people who fried their cards and decided to lock the voltage in the latest BIOS. Oh well.

 

[3DVagabond]

gpu-z isn't always correct. You said in a previous post that it increased heat and noise. Sounds like you are getting a voltage increase, if it was doing that.

 

[dkm777]

I'll try MSI Afterburner. Maybe it will at least report the right voltage. Also - what is the right way of updating AMD drivers? Do I have to uninstall the old ones and then install the new ones, o can I do it Nvidia way - install new ones over the old ones? Maybe I need to do this in Safe Mode?

 

[dkm777]

OK, wiped and reinstalled the drivers, installed MSI Afterburner and it was the same shit. Conclusion - Sapphire really did nerf this card with the latest BIOS. DO NOT BUY!

 

[Shmee]

This is most unfortunate. I suppose you could try a support ticket, see what they say, or try an earlier bios?

 

[96Firebird]

I tried switching to "overclock" BIOS by pressing the button on the card, but everything is the same. I suspect Sapphire had way too many RMAs from people who fried their cards and decided to lock the voltage in the latest BIOS. Oh well.

I am not entirely familiar with this "button", but is it similar to the old cards where the "second" BIOS is just what you switch to when you want to flash the card with another BIOS? This ensures the original is untouched, but you can try other versions with ease. Have they changed this with the newer cards?

 

[dkm777]

I am not entirely familiar with this "button", but is it similar to the old cards where the "second" BIOS is just what you switch to when you want to flash the card with another BIOS? This ensures the original is untouched, but you can try other versions with ease. Have they changed this with the newer cards?

There are indeed two BIOSes, but according to the box, the first one is "normal" while the other one is "boost mode" (the button lights up blue). But I tried them both and they are absolutely the same. I'll look into flashing a different BIOS sometime. This experience made me quite bitter towards Sapphire - Vapor-X is supposed to be top of the line, gets all the glowing reviews and I get a dud. Maybe I should try to RMA it because of coil whine? Although it is so mild that I'll probably get charged for diagnostics and get the same card back.