The Radeon 7850 is an overclocking beast

[etamin]

Scored 6800, 6750 on graphics. The max voltage is about 1.21v. ASIC score 72% from gpu-z.

I will try the lower ram speeds. I don't notice a big difference going from 1250 to 1400 anyways.

Cool your card is like identical to mine.

 

[skipsneeky2]

After nearly 2 weeks and hours of gaming and tweaking,1100/1450 is the most my msi twin frozr 3 7850 will give out at 1.21v while being stable.

I even installed asus gpu tweak,ramped up the core to 1.225v and put it to 1200/1450 and i just was not stable getting game and system lock ups,perhaps a dud?

Seems almost 7850 is sure to hit 1200 core with 1.225....could it be the memory causing a problem?Or should i try going lower to like 1180/1450?

 

[3DVagabond]

I'd put the memory at stock then see what the core can do. After you've established the max core O/C, then increase the memory.

 

[SlowSpyder]

I'd put the memory at stock then see what the core can do. After you've established the max core O/C, then increase the memory.

Yea, one at a time. I'd start with the core first, establish where you can get stable with the memory at stock settings. Once you have that nailed down, start tweaking the memroy.

I too have a habit of seeing what other cards do and just jumping to those settings. But, sometimes it takes a little more effort.

 

[zaydq]

I don't own a 7850, used to though. What I found on my 7950 is that the memory overclock would be more problematic than the core clock. I would fiddle with the memory OC before you discredit being able to achieve a 1200 core clock speed.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Currently running the card at 1150/5800,have played a couple rounds of BF3 without a issue.

Unless i run into stability issues,i think i will settle at these clocks,i doubt the extra 50mhz is gonna offer me even 1fps extra in BF3 for the hassle i will be going through.

 

[buklau]

The fan on my asus radeon 7850 is beginning to make a bearing noise, so I just went ahead and got an arctic cooling mono plus cooler on ebay for $42.99+shipping.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Arctic-Cool...US_Video_Card_GPU_Cooling&hash=item5d339b4700

I received it yesterday, put it on with fresh layer of MX-2 and the result was pretty good.

O/c setting 1125/5500 @ 1.185v +15% power
Stock cooler = 28c idle, 70c load (fan @ 50% pretty loud)
Mono plus = 27c idle, 63c load (fan @ 38% silent and even at 100%, it's as loud as my stock cooler running at 35%).

I tried to run 1150mhz @ 1.2v +20% power, but I will always get either grey screen or my game freeze. Maybe I got a bad card?

2500k @ 4.5ghz 1.328v
16gb samsung 30nm 1866 9-9-9-24 1t 1.425v
asus p8p67 pro board
corsair cx400 psu

 

[i5dude]

I'm having an issue where my 7850 is reverting back to stock clocks, and I then need to restart Battlefield 3 in order for the overclock to set back in again. I am running a Sapphire and overclocking with Asus GPU Tweak.

Anyone have this issue?

 

[humanoidal]

Hello everyone, my firts post on anantech boards


Encouraged by your reviews of HD 7850 and it's alleged OC potential I went ahead and replaced my trusty HD 6870 with this card: http://www.asus.com/Graphics_Cards/AMD_Series/HD7850DC1GD5/

One thing I have to admin, the card is silent, even at load. Props to Asus for designing the cooler and bios like this, silent video card was what I was looking for.

BUT I'm extremely dissapointed with its overclocking potential. Literally everybody here gets stable 1100Mhz+, some of you even 1200Mhz+.

My card crashes in games at 1050Mhz with core voltage set to 1,228V and power target at +20% in GPU-Z. The benefits of overvolting are so small that I sticked with Catalyst and estabilished a stable overclock of 960Mhz there.

I mean come on, I was expecting at least 10% more performance out of this card. Any advice would be much appreciated.

 

[hodgenutts]

Hello. I'm assuming I would get quite a gain going to the 7850 from my current 5850. Can someone tell me which would be the better value?

this XFX with 1 gig memory and 2 free games at $179:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814150617

or this ASUS 2 gig memory with now free games at $189:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814121623

Didn't know what ASUS cards where like as I've never owned one. I've owned several xfx cards. Didn't know which one would have the better cooler, and if the 2 gigs made a big difference on this card...

 

[blastingcap]

What is the rez of your monitor? If you are on 1024x768 then obviously 1GB is enough. If you're on 2560x1600 definitely 2GB. If in between, someone else can help you. Me? I would get the ASUS 2GB due to the +1 GB VRAM and ASUS quality vs XFX's declining build quality.

Also I see $170 vs 178 so prices may have gone on sale after rebate etc. (though no free games with the ASUS now?) in which case I would definitely pay $8 extra for the ASUS. Even at 1024x768 and lack of free game. But make sure your case can fit the ASUS, which is quite long for a midrange card.

 

[SickBeast]

I'm having an issue where my 7850 is reverting back to stock clocks, and I then need to restart Battlefield 3 in order for the overclock to set back in again. I am running a Sapphire and overclocking with Asus GPU Tweak.

Anyone have this issue?

I've had similar issues. What fixed it for me was editing the .cfg file for MSI Afterburner. You need to set it to have this line:

UnofficialOverclockingMode = 2

 

[skipsneeky2]

I am trying to figure out if my card is crapping out,or if i got the typical piece of crap 7850,,cause i was stable at 1100/1450 for weeks on end,especially in BF3,but in Hard Reset today,i crashed 4 times in like 2 hours with system lock ups even at 1050/1450,i was crashing till i put it to 900/4800 default which was bullcrap.

I trying to figure out if the small time frame being less then 2 days my msi twin frozr 2 was at 1.225v at 1150/1450 ruined my system or this card?

Wanted to keep it at 1100/1450 for the lower temps and voltage and all of a sudden i am getting system crashs at 1050/1450,which every card can do now besides mine?Damn close to trading up to a gtx660ti/gtx670.

 

[i5dude]

I've had similar issues. What fixed it for me was editing the .cfg file for MSI Afterburner. You need to set it to have this line:

UnofficialOverclockingMode = 2

Afterburner doesn't work with my Sapphire 7850. TRIXX lowers my core overclock to 1200 every time I restart my computer. I'm not sure if TRIXX has the issue where my GPU goes back to stock while playing BF3 like GPU Tweak does on occasion. Meh

 

[skipsneeky2]

Afterburner doesn't work with my Sapphire 7850. TRIXX lowers my core overclock to 1200 every time I restart my computer. I'm not sure if TRIXX has the issue where my GPU goes back to stock while playing BF3 like GPU Tweak does on occasion. Meh

Trixx for me would always set my oc back to default,even when i enabled the oc at bootup,i just manually enabled the oc profile each time i booted,which isn't often.

Gpu tweak does the same thing,but msi afterburner 2.2.4 has been excellent on holding my oc profile.

 

[i5dude]

Overclocking doesn't work on MSI with my Sapphire 7850. I tried maxing out the Power Target, in GPU Tweak, but it is still resetting my core and memory to stock in BF3 at times. I'll have to see if Trixx does the same. I'd rather set the OC at every startup rather than having to restart BF3 every time my overclock resets to stock.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Overclocking doesn't work on MSI with my Sapphire 7850. I tried maxing out the Power Target, in GPU Tweak, but it is still resetting my core and memory to stock in BF3 at times. I'll have to see if Trixx does the same. I'd rather set the OC at every startup rather than having to restart BF3 every time my overclock resets to stock.

For some reason,gpu tweak despite its little flaws has been good to me,after hours of benching and stress testing my 7850 today,i am back at 1150/1450 at 1.225v despite the issues MSI was giving me in my earlier posts....

Msi Afterburner 2.2.4 kept crashing my system even at 1050/1450 for the oddest reason out of the blue and the only game to give me issues meaning hard resets and system lock ups was Hard Reset ironically,not BF3 as i would have expected.I never seen anything like it before but all is fine now that gpu tweak is my default ocing utility.:thumbsup:

Not sure why your getting these issues,mine only resets the clocks when i reboot....weird how one thing works for someone,and not for someone else.

 

[i5dude]

Yeah it's really frustrating. If there is one lesson I've learned from it: never buy a card if it needs to be overclocked to play at the settings you want.

 

[skipsneeky2]

Yeah it's really frustrating. If there is one lesson I've learned from it: never buy a card if it needs to be overclocked to play at the settings you want.

Yeah,i have had plenty of different video cards,heck not to long ago i had 2 gtx670 cards and a 3770k till my gaming setup got stolen when i was away out of town.:'(

Back on a i5 and the 7850 just is a amazing card,almost every 7850 is gonna do 1150/1450 and i could have gotten another gtx670,but the small form factor of the twin frozr 2 7850 and its overclockability wins me over.

Can certainly say its the most beautiful card i have had the pleasure of toying with,even more so then the cheap reference gtx670s i had,and that i am not kidding about.

 

[therealtoe]

I've had my Sapphire 7850 OC for a few months now, and I'm largely happy with it, but sometimes, it just doesn't seem to perform like I thought it would.

I'll use Battlefield 3 as an example, because it is such a demanding multiplayer game: I just purchased the Premium service, and I enjoy the new maps a lot, but the framerate on them can get really bad. With everything maxed out minus AA, I can get drops to the low 30s. Turn down the settings, you say? Well, when I change everything to its lowest, while staying in those same areas at those same moments, I still only get around 40. Furthermore, as I'm currently on an old CRT, this is happening at its standard resolution of 1280x1024. Is this normal for a 7850? Like I said, this is on the expansion maps. The stock maps do not give me the same heavy FPS drops, but I'm not always entirely pleased with the framerate on those either, and the same goes for some other games.

Drivers are 12.9 Beta (with CAP 1, although I'm not sure if those needed to be installed). And while I do think my other PC specs are up to scratch:

Motherboard: Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P rev 1.0 (BIOS up to date)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550, unlocked to X4 B50 @ 3.7 GHz (well cooled, no errors in two 12 hour sessions of Prime95)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 CL9
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 3TB
PSU: Corsair VX450W
OS: Windows 7

Finally, I might add that I have posted here before regarding poor overclocking performance, in case that could provide some clue.

 

[Elfear]

I've had my Sapphire 7850 OC for a few months now, and I'm largely happy with it, but sometimes, it just doesn't seem to perform like I thought it would.

I'll use Battlefield 3 as an example, because it is such a demanding multiplayer game: I just purchased the Premium service, and I enjoy the new maps a lot, but the framerate on them can get really bad. With everything maxed out minus AA, I can get drops to the low 30s. Turn down the settings, you say? Well, when I change everything to its lowest, while staying in those same areas at those same moments, I still only get around 40. Furthermore, as I'm currently on an old CRT, this is happening at its standard resolution of 1280x1024. Is this normal for a 7850? Like I said, this is on the expansion maps. The stock maps do not give me the same heavy FPS drops, but I'm not always entirely pleased with the framerate on those either, and the same goes for some other games.

Although I do think my other PC specs are up to scratch:

Motherboard: Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P rev 1.0 (BIOS up to date)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550, unlocked to X4 B50 @ 3.7 GHz (well cooled, no errors in two 12 hour sessions of Prime95)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 CL9
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 3TB
PSU: Corsair VX450W
OS: Windows 7

Finally, I might add that I have posted here before regarding poor overclocking performance, in case that could provide some clue.

I think the bolded is your issue. BF3 loves a fast processor for MP and your GPU overclock won't net you much if your CPU is the bottleneck.

 

[kalrith]

I finally bought one of these cards! I got the HIS IceQ 7870 for $200 AR with Sleeping Dogs (deal is still live, but without the game: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814161404). It's supposed to be delivered today.

I perused the thread, but didn't see a solid consensus for the best way to overclock and overvolt these now (assuming I have a chip with voltage control). Is MSI Afterburner all I need? Is the latest version the best, or should I go with an older version?

Thanks!

 

[skipsneeky2]

I've had my Sapphire 7850 OC for a few months now, and I'm largely happy with it, but sometimes, it just doesn't seem to perform like I thought it would.

I'll use Battlefield 3 as an example, because it is such a demanding multiplayer game: I just purchased the Premium service, and I enjoy the new maps a lot, but the framerate on them can get really bad. With everything maxed out minus AA, I can get drops to the low 30s. Turn down the settings, you say? Well, when I change everything to its lowest, while staying in those same areas at those same moments, I still only get around 40. Furthermore, as I'm currently on an old CRT, this is happening at its standard resolution of 1280x1024. Is this normal for a 7850? Like I said, this is on the expansion maps. The stock maps do not give me the same heavy FPS drops, but I'm not always entirely pleased with the framerate on those either, and the same goes for some other games.

Drivers are 12.9 Beta (with CAP 1, although I'm not sure if those needed to be installed). And while I do think my other PC specs are up to scratch:

Motherboard: Gigabyte MA770T-UD3P rev 1.0 (BIOS up to date)
CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 550, unlocked to X4 B50 @ 3.7 GHz (well cooled, no errors in two 12 hour sessions of Prime95)
Memory: Corsair Vengeance LP 2x4GB DDR3 PC3-12800 CL9
Hard drive: Seagate Barracuda 3TB
PSU: Corsair VX450W
OS: Windows 7

Finally, I might add that I have posted here before regarding poor overclocking performance, in case that could provide some clue.

I game at the same resolution at this current time,got a 7850 at 1150/1450,I run a i5 2500 and i run all medium with hbao enabled and msaa@ 2x,i never dip below 60fps minimum on the vanilla maps minus gulf of oman which hits mid 50's,if you dip below 60fps with my exact same settings,i would look into a higher overclock,or consider a new chip.

I look to sustain 60+ at all times,hence why i run medium,i care more for fluid gameplay over graphics,hope my post helped you out.

 

[therealtoe]

Elfear: Hm. Perhaps, but I wasn't under the impression that modern CPUs were all that much faster than somewhat older ones in games. Take, for example, this comparison between a Phenom II X4 955 and an i5 2500, which skipsneeky2 here says gives him 60+ FPS. Not a huge difference, is there? Of course, I don't know exactly how my particular CPU performs, as it's in a bit of a weird spot, but I can't imagine it's far below the 955.

skipsneeky2: That's more like the performance I was expecting. And yeah, Gulf of Oman is the most demanding.

 

[Powermoloch]

So...I joined the club and grabbed MSI TF3 HD 7850 at a nutty price @ $110 ebay. It ran (thank god!), pass 3dmark 11 with a Graphics score of 5437 compared to 3407 HD 5850 toxic. By the looks of it, the card is smaller, much more quieter, and produced less heat. I'm going to test it out to its glory when I finished downloading skyrim into my HTPC haha!

it's on stock settings with 31 C Idle/ 53 C Max @ 900/1200 mhz.