UPDATED: My 7950 OC is hitting 80*......

[dmoney1980]

So I finally got around to downloading afterbburner last night to do some OC'ing on my Sapphire 7950. The model I have (pic below) is considered to be a pretty bad overclocker which I thought was the case because I tried OC'ing it thru CCC and it froze at anything over 900mhz.

Going into afterburner showed me that the card was actually running undervolted (1.032v). So after digging around the net I decided to start with a core clock of 1ghz, memory up from 1250 to 1325, raised the voltage to 1.093 and the power slider up 20%. I ran a Heaven benchmark at the card topped out at 80*, so I'm wondering if this is a safe temp? The fan speed never got above 60%. so I may have to bump that up. Thoughts / tips?

the ONLY review of this card I found on the web: http://www.tweaktown.com/reviews/46...eo_card_tested_with_catalyst_12_2/index1.html

update:so it turns out my initial OC had too much voltage. I adjusted it down to 1.080v , core up to 1020, 1320 RAM. Ran the Heaven benchmark at the hottest it got was 71*. I left all fan settings on auto.

 

[zaydq]

85 degrees is as far as you want to go. You're safe. Mind you the cooler on your card isn't the greatest so keep an eye on it. Those temps are high for such a small oc. Try to bring down the voltage, the lower it is the cooler it'll be. Find where your oc works at the lowest voltage.

 

[Hatisherrif]

Is this only the rule for the HD7xxx series or I should be worried when my HD4890 reaches 105C?

 

[thilanliyan]

You don't want any card touching 105C...try to get your 4890 down to about 80-85C as well.

 

[Jaydip]

I feel uncomfortable when my card reaches beyond 80c.Can u add some side fans to ur case?

 

[Despoiler]

80C is completely normal for these cards. It will start throttling at 90-95C.

 

[dmoney1980]

I'm going to bump the fan speed to 65% and see what that does to the temps. I'll update this tonight....

 

[aaksheytalwar]

With a 7970 you should stay below 65-70c max to max

 

[Rvenger]

With a 7970 you should stay below 65-70c max to max

Well, then that would mean that all my cards as of late are running too hot at stock. Quit spreading misinformation. 80c is fine.

 

[supremor]

Is this only the rule for the HD7xxx series or I should be worried when my HD4890 reaches 105C?

My 4870 has been hitting 100-105c under load and it's been that way for a long time and it runs just fine. There is no arbitrary thermal limit for a GPU and each generation of GPU's have their own limit. So even if 100c while not ideal is acceptable for a 48XX family card it doesn't mean that it is for anything else.

Personally I wouldn't worry about 80c on an OC 7950 especially with the cooler you have on it but I wouldn't let it go much higher either.

 

[JohnnyChuttz]

FWIW, My 670 FTW struggles to hit 60c at full load on air.

/trollpost

 

[dmoney1980]

FWIW, My 670 FTW struggles to hit 60c at full load on air.

/trollpost

LOL, cool story bro!

 

[reallyscrued]

I'd say it's okay.

My 4890 used to hit 105 in gaming.
The I took it apart and whoa, the heatsink was completely clogged with dust.

Cleaned it out with a toothbrush and now it doesn't go higher than 75. It must have been throttling itself before too because games ran faster after, and the fan didn't hit 80% during gaming.

 

[SickBeast]

80C is completely normal for these cards. It will start throttling at 90-95C.

This.

80C really holds back your overclock though. I just saw a link to an Arctic Cooling Twin Turbo 2 for $27 shipped; I think it's in Hot Deals. I have one on mine and now I'm at 50C under full load overclocked to 1200mhz on the core.

 

[chimaxi83]

FWIW, My 670 FTW struggles to hit 60c at full load on air.

/trollpost

Oh man, if only everyone was as helpful as you

Anyway, make sure the heatsink is on properly, as in no loose screws. I always replace the TIM a card comes pre-applied with too, and usually see an improvement as does everyone else who does it.