The Radeon 7850 is an overclocking beast

[Red Hawk]

Query: Is the MSI Twin Frozr 7850 with a factory overclock to 900 MHz a good purcahse at $209.99 MIR?

 

[neonguy]

i think so. i got mine from a guy on craigs list for 200. 2 weeks ago.
clock to 1100-1150 easy easy.
gtx 570 performnace. i think 1175-1200 oc is gtx 580 perfomance.
smaller , cooler, and less watts.

 

[chengda85]

I'm new to overclocking and dont really know what I'm doing, what should I watch out for? do the clock speeds need to be specific numbers or just anything that is stable?

I used the asus gpu tweak tool and set the GPU to 1050mhz and memory to 5000 mhz with default voltage of 1.138v and after playing BF3 for 5 minutes the graphics driver stopped responding. is that because of temperature or low voltage?? how do people get such high clocks and low temperature.
the temperature gets really high when I'm playing, like over 80 degrees, even when the clock is merely 920+ mhz, is that normal? my room is not really cool though cuz its summer. also should i be using auto fan speed or user defined?

 

[3DVagabond]

I'm new to overclocking and dont really know what I'm doing, what should I watch out for? do the clock speeds need to be specific numbers or just anything that is stable?

I used the asus gpu tweak tool and set the GPU to 1050mhz and memory to 5000 mhz with default voltage of 1.138v and after playing BF3 for 5 minutes the graphics driver stopped responding. is that because of temperature or low voltage?? how do people get such high clocks and low temperature.
the temperature gets really high when I'm playing, like over 80 degrees, even when the clock is merely 920+ mhz, is that normal? my room is not really cool though cuz its summer. also should i be using auto fan speed or user defined?

We need to know more. Make/model of card, make/model of PSU, case, and ambient temps? Also, what does your card run temp wise when stock?

 

[buklau]

After months of tweaking and fine tuning, finally settle down to 1100mhz core 1375mhz memory at 1.155v +5% power limit. I guess I got a bad card to begin with since others can easily achieve 1150-1200 with 1.15-1.25v while mine can't even be stable pass 1135mhz at 1.25v +20% power limit...

 

[neonguy]

you need to set your fan profile .
so it start running like 60 -70 % at 60c and 80% or 90% at 70 c
put you memory back to stock and only oc the gpu 25mhz mhz at a time . each time test it. then oc 25mhz more,.. lather rince repeat.
untill you find max for stock volt.
. i recommend tho just finding max oc on stock volts and getting a fan profile set up. untill you learn more about ocing.
[ i test with heaven benchmark and l4d2]

 

[chengda85]

We need to know more. Make/model of card, make/model of PSU, case, and ambient temps? Also, what does your card run temp wise when stock?

powercolor radeon HD 7850
corsair 550W PSU
antec sonata iii case
not sure about ambient temp, mayve 26 or 27 C
when stock it is about 73 when playing BF3 on ultra at 1650x 1080

 

[chengda85]

you need to set your fan profile .
so it start running like 60 -70 % at 60c and 80% or 90% at 70 c
put you memory back to stock and only oc the gpu 25mhz mhz at a time . each time test it. then oc 25mhz more,.. lather rince repeat.
untill you find max for stock volt.
. i recommend tho just finding max oc on stock volts and getting a fan profile set up. untill you learn more about ocing.
[ i test with heaven benchmark and l4d2]

when i set custom fan profile does it increase with temperature or only when temp reaches the thresholds I set? for example if I set it at 60% at 60c and 90% at 80c, does that mean anywhere from 60 to 79 it will be remain at 60% until it reaches 80c? or does fanspeed still increase from 60 to 79c?

 

[neonguy]

this is somewhere to start. run s 30% until gpu hits 50c then it runs 50%
60c runs at 70%. 70c at 80% . you have to play with it. i dont know how loud your fan is or what card it is..anywho at least 70-80% at 60c and your trying to keep the card at under 70c, my 7850 wont even go above 60c but it has a fat heatsink on it. and im @1260/5500 1.210v

 

[zaydq]

Avoid Gigabyte's 7850 as i and a few others have near 0 overclocking potential. They oc'd it to 975mhz/4800mhz but i want more

 

[chengda85]

silly question but does the clock need to be in increments of multiples of 5 or any number

 

[(sic)Klown12]

silly question but does the clock need to be in increments of multiples of 5 or any number

Any number. The reason you see most clocks a multiple of 5 is because it's quicker to raise clocks by 5 MHz at a time. Few people have the time or patience to get every last single MHz out of their chips.

 

[chengda85]

one more thing i set a custom fan profile using Asus gpu tweak but it seems like asus gpu tweak has to be running or else the fan speed will remain the same?? I didnt know this and thought once i set it I can turn gpu tweak off, and ended up with almost 100 C on my card with fan speed sitting at 40%, luckily i found out in time....

so asus gpu tweak needs to be running 100% of the time?

 

[3DVagabond]

I'm assuming it's just the standard Powercolor 7850? If so, it's not the best cooler for O/C'ing. Especially considering your ambient temp is fairly high. You'll have to experiment with custom fan profiles. You've got good gear though, PSU/case so that shouldn't be causing any issues.

 

[neonguy]

set your fan profile and also check the user define option on tweak oc page and in tunning page check keep setting for next start on close aplication. and make sure you hit apply.
now test for 1 - 2 mins of heaven benchmark and listen for your fan to spin up. if it gets louder its set right. reboot and make sure its is applying..

 

[ladydub]

Hello guys, I have a question. I have a PowerColor PCS+7850 overclocked to 1250/5600 (didnt try more, though sure its possible), but I'm not sure what voltage it has. ASUS GPU Tweak says its 1.219, but TPU GPU-Z says its 1.098 under load in Unigine DX11 test. (ASIC is 92.5% if it has to do anything..)Which reading is true? MAX temp is 66 C. Also is it safe to run the core overclocked that much and is it safe toverclock memory since it's not cooled like the core, and I'm not really sure what temps memory has? Also seems like my FPS in the benchmark doesnt go up after 1350 (5400) memclock.

 

[Protomize]

Hello guys, I have a question. I have a PowerColor PCS+7850 overclocked to 1250/5600 (didnt try more, though sure its possible), but I'm not sure what voltage it has. ASUS GPU Tweak says its 1.219, but TPU GPU-Z says its 1.098 under load in Unigine DX11 test. (ASIC is 92.5% if it has to do anything..)Which reading is true? MAX temp is 66 C. Also is it safe to run the core overclocked that much and is it safe toverclock memory since it's not cooled like the core, and I'm not really sure what temps memory has? Also seems like my FPS in the benchmark doesnt go up after 1350 (5400) memclock.

Check GPU Tweak's monitor while the GPU is under load and look at the voltage. I find that to be the most accurate. It is safe to run the core and memory overclocked that much at up to 1.225v. The clock speeds don't matter, the card will just crash if it's too high and after a reboot, it'll be back to stock speeds. Voltage and temperature is what kills GPU's. Just make sure you don't go over 1.225v. I've heard 1.3v being the maximum. As far as I know, no HD 7850 PCB's have temperature probes on the VRM's. Overclocking the core clock is much more significant than the memory clock. Eventually, it will get to a point where the memory and even core clock offers little to no improvement as you increase them within a stable environment.

 

[ladydub]

Thanks for info! Also, while "playing" with AMD control center I found a Power Control Setting slider in GPU Overdrive, after making it +10% I've got +1.5 fps in the benchmark. I've read it has smth to do with how much power card can draw before failing in extreme situation? Or maybe I didn't understand it right.. Anyway, is it safe to touch that slider or is it better left alone?

 

[3DVagabond]

Thanks for info! Also, while "playing" with AMD control center I found a Power Control Setting slider in GPU Overdrive, after making it +10% I've got +1.5 fps in the benchmark. I've read it has smth to do with how much power card can draw before failing in extreme situation? Or maybe I didn't understand it right.. Anyway, is it safe to touch that slider or is it better left alone?

It's safe to move use the slider. It limits the cards max power draw to meet a predetermined TDP amount. It's common practice to just max it out when O/C'ing.

 

[sberganini]

Don,

You emphasize using TriXX. On the Sapphire web site the latest version of TriXX (version 4.3.0) doesn't appear to include overvoltage support for the 7850 series. So, what is your recommendation for adjusting voltage when using TriXX for overclocking the HD 7850?

 

[neonguy]

dont !
use gpu tweak.
gputweak is better.

 

[sberganini]

As a novice overclocker I'd appreciate understanding why. Is this just an honest difference of opinion between two o/c wizards, or are there legitimate technical reasons why you and Don disagree?

 

[neonguy]

if i rememeber right when i used trix it didnt allow cloking down when not gaming.
i forget the specifics. wait i take that back it might have been not having fan profiles..
either way its a good reason to use gputweak instead. try em both and see what one you like best.

 

[sberganini]

Thanks. I just received my Sapphire HD 7850 (non overclocked). I've read several posts here about installing small heatsinks on some of the components on the PCB, such as VRM. Are these the small, finned heatsinks (say 15 mm x 15 mm) often sold on e-bay? If so, what is the procedure for temporarilly removing the dual-fan shroud (not the GPU heatsink itself) to expose the PCB surface? I took a look at my card and can't see any obvious approach.

 

[neonguy]

I recommend not to alter it in anyway. Ive been oc for years and it sounds like your kinda new at it.. I would run it as is. tweak fan settings to run faster[ may be louder].
. find what you can clock the gpu to under stock volt. then for ram.
once you reached max come back and we can walk you through adding volts.
use gpu tweak or trix, use heaven 3.0 for benchmark and run a benchmark then then i also use l4d2 for an hour. set to max 1050/what ever ram will go to for stock limits.
a good start for fan profile [ 30% /40c ][50c 50%][60c 75%] [65c 85%] [70c 90%] u wont break 65c since your not oc much anyways probly around 45c-50c in a game.
might be loud but your gaming remember. I like afterburner from msi but its not working with my diamond 7850it [wont allow me to change volts ]. see if msi afterburner works for u its better than trix or gputool. I see your down by la. Im in concord up north. call me if you have any questions.
925-348-5462