Upgrade for my gaming computer

[R4in]

Are the XFX possible to flash?

Here ya go man, check out these couple of links

http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=137252

The first one tells how to do it, the 2nd one tells which cards can be unlocked. It looks like XFX was a good choice as it comes with good warranty.

 

[R4in]

It's mostly the part where you OC the 6950 that brings it near the 6970 in terms of performance and power consumption.

Hes right here, the 6950 uses ~169w, with all shaders unlocked it uses ~202, then if you unlock and OC it ~252w.

 

[Veriitas]

Hes right here, the 6950 uses ~169w, with all shaders unlocked it uses ~202, then if you unlock and OC it ~252w.

So 750watt will not be enough?

btw thanks for the links man, appreciate it

 

[R4in]

So 750watt will not be enough?

Well if the figures from that link are correct your looking at ~500w just from your GPUs ( you did get 2 of them correct). Now whether it is enough or not, it could be enough but if you are running lots of extras (sound cards, fan controllers, extra fans) then im not sure how lenient it would be for headroom.

I would wait for lehtv to check it and get his opinion on that matter.

btw thanks for the links man, appreciate it

Anytime man, im getting lots of help form these forums so I give back where i can (and not be misleading lol)

 

[lehtv]

Hes right here, the 6950 uses ~169w, with all shaders unlocked it uses ~202, then if you unlock and OC it ~252w.

What? No. With shaders unlocked and overclocked, it uses about the same as a 6970, so around 200-210W. With just the shaders unlocked it uses much less, probably 165 or so (i remember seeing the figures somewhere)

 

[R4in]

Curse you techpowerup for giving me wrong info!!

 

[lehtv]

Curse you techpowerup for giving me wrong info!!

Just to clarify (I'm not sure if your above comment is sarcastic :/)

We see that even when modded, the HD 6950 (at HD 6970 shaders and clocks) runs into the PowerTune limit earlier than the regular HD 6970 which results in reduced power draw but also reduced performance in Furmark. With a power consumption of 202 W, the modded HD 6950 is well below the 225 W specification limit of the HD 6950 power configuration.

My emphasis. The power consumption of 202W refers to the 6950 with unlocked shaders and at 6970 clocks. The "+20%" part refers not to an overclock, but to an increase in the PowerTune setting which controls max. power consumption. Techpowerup did not reveal how much the power consumption increased solely from the unlocked shaders.

The figures I was referring to were someone's own measurements, posted here or at guru3d forums, I can't find them...

EDIT: also it should be noted that power consumption and performance in furmark does not accurately represent power consumption and performance in actual games (because the powertune limit is reached before there's a chance to really take advantage of faster clock speeds and unlocked shaders)

 

[Veriitas]

Just to clarify (I'm not sure if your above comment is sarcastic :/)



My emphasis. The power consumption of 202W refers to the 6950 with unlocked shaders and at 6970 clocks. "+20%" refers to a 20 percent increase compared to stock 6970 clocks. Techpowerup did not reveal how much the power consumption increased solely from the unlocked shaders.

The figures I was referring to were someone's own measurements, posted here or at guru3d forums, I can't find them...

So how much watt is enough to handle it all? with overclock/flash on CrossFire 6950 and i5 @ 4.5ghz

 

[R4in]

The "modded +20%" part refers to a 20 percent increase compared to stock 6970 clocks

Oh I see, i read this as "If you flash the 6950 and OC it 20%, then it will use 252w". Seems I just misinterpreted what they were saying.

So how much watt is enough to handle it all?

I would still say at least a 750w.

 

[Veriitas]

I would still say at least a 750w.

Ok thanks! You agree with this lehtv?

 

[lehtv]

Sorry, I had to edit that post. You're quoting bits that are incorrect

Ok thanks! You agree with this lehtv?

Yes, 750W should handle unlocked 6950's fine, but if you want to OC them to 6970 performance you should get 850W

 

[Veriitas]

Sorry, I had to edit that post. You're quoting bits that are incorrect



Yes, 750W should handle unlocked 6950's fine, but if you want to OC them to 6970 performance you should get 850W

Thanks!!!

I got a problem though.. I got a bluescreen today... No idea where that came from.. can this be because my core voltage is too low?

 

[lehtv]

Yeah. When overclocking a CPU, a BSOD is the most common symptom of instability. But BSODs can result from a ton of other causes as well (including outdated drivers, outdated motherboard BIOS, some installed programs can also cause them). If the BSOD screen said "a clock interrupt was not received from a secondary processor within the allocated time interval" then I'm pretty sure you're looking at an unstable OC (I'm not a hardcore overclocker )

What kind of stress testing did you do to determine you had a stable overclock in the first place? You should go here http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2195063 and stress test your setup with LinX and Prime95. If you can reach, say, half of the gold standards for Linx and Prime95 at your current settings, you can be fairly sure the BSOD was not caused by an unstable overclock.

 

[Veriitas]

Yeah. When overclocking a CPU, a BSOD is the most common symptom of instability. But BSODs can result from a ton of other causes as well (including outdated drivers, outdated motherboard BIOS, some installed programs can also cause them). If the BSOD screen said "a clock interrupt was not received from a secondary processor within the allocated time interval" then I'm pretty sure you're looking at an unstable OC (I'm not a hardcore overclocker )

What kind of stress testing did you do to determine you had a stable overclock in the first place? You should go here http://forums.anandtech.com/showthread.php?t=2195063 and stress test your setup with LinX and Prime95. If you can reach, say, half of the gold standards for Linx and Prime95 at your current settings, you can be fairly sure the BSOD was not caused by an unstable overclock.

I used Prima95 for about 3,5 hour.. not problems detected..

So I should also try LinX?

 

[lehtv]

According to Idontcare in that link, LinX is better for testing the stability of "CPU core logic". So it might detect errors that you don't detect in Prime95

Also running Prime95 for longer than 3.5h can detect errors that don't come up within 3.5h

 

[Veriitas]

According to Idontcare in that link, LinX is better for testing the stability of "CPU core logic". So it might detect errors that you don't detect in Prime95

Also running Prime95 for longer than 3.5h can detect errors that don't come up within 3.5h

Oke thanks, I'll try LinX first thing tomorrow. For now: good night! or day..
And thanks againnn!! for helping this nooby out!

 

[R4in]

Sorry, I had to edit that post. You're quoting bits that are incorrect

Lol, i quoted it correctly, i just left a bit out.

 

[mfenn]

So how much watt is enough to handle it all? with overclock/flash on CrossFire 6950 and i5 @ 4.5ghz

750W should be fine.

Oh, and I should mention that you some 6950 2GBs will unlock and others will not. The manufacturer doesn't matter, you have to look at people's experiences with the specific model of card that you're planning to get.

The original reference-model 6950 2GBs were pretty much guaranteed to unlock be they were literally the same card as a 6970 with a different BIOS. Now that those have pretty much dried up, it is a bit more tricky. This is one place where Newegg reviews are actually helpful. The MSI Twin Frozer II/III will unlock I believe.

 

[Veriitas]

750W should be fine.

Oh, and I should mention that you some 6950 2GBs will unlock and others will not. The manufacturer doesn't matter, you have to look at people's experiences with the specific model of card that you're planning to get.

The original reference-model 6950 2GBs were pretty much guaranteed to unlock be they were literally the same card as a 6970 with a different BIOS. Now that those have pretty much dried up, it is a bit more tricky. This is one place where Newegg reviews are actually helpful. The MSI Twin Frozer II/III will unlock I believe.

Thanks for your input. Lehtv told me any of these will do the trick: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

BTW is this good? Test run without problems, but are the (max)temps oke?

 

[lehtv]

Lehtv told me any of these will do the trick: http://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/159

I don't believe I've said anything about which card can be unlocked and which cannot... The ones listed in that article are the reference 6950's of the early days

BTW is this good? Test run without problems, but are the (max)temps oke?

Max temps look fine

You might also want to do the HCI memtest to make sure your memory isn't causing problems

 

[Veriitas]

I don't believe I've said anything about which card can be unlocked and which cannot... The ones listed in that article are the reference 6950's of the early days

Oh my bad, sorry! Must have read that in the other thread..

I will do the HCI memtest now.

 

[Veriitas]

No errors in Memtest. I put the voltage from +0.020 to +0.035 yesterday, maybe that helped!

 

[lehtv]

Nice. If you get any more BSODs, go to www.sevenforums.com/crashes-debugging/96879-blue-screen-death-bsod-posting-instructions.html

 

[Veriitas]

allright, thanks

 

[mfenn]

I don't believe I've said anything about which card can be unlocked and which cannot... The ones listed in that article are the reference 6950's of the early days

Max temps look fine

You might also want to do the HCI memtest to make sure your memory isn't causing problems

Agree on both counts. Unlocking is a bit more risky than it was in the early days when everything was a reference card and unlocking was practically guaranteed. It's still possible if you are careful about which card you pick.