Very low 7900GT Overclocks

[firewolfsm]

So, I just got my 7900GT in the step-up program. I installed it and tried out coolbits (84.43) and used the auto detect option, it idles at 50C and doesn't get very high on load. The auto detect left it at 517Mhz and after running 3DMark it detected at 506 (from the heat). I know everyone gets over 550 and eVGA even sells a model at those speeds, I got the CO cooler even though I didn't pay for it (it has the sticker). Is it possible I just got a bad core or will a better cooler fix this? I'm about to buy the VF700CU.

...At least the ram is good, it detected at almost 1.6GHz

I want to do the volt mod but if my core is so bad I won't be able to get to 650 at 1.4V

 

[TheRyuu]

The Auto Detect is sh!t. So don't trust it.

Just overclock it yourself till it fails the "Test Settings" thing, then run ATI Tool to see if there are any artifacts. You might have to back down a little, but you should be able to reach at least 550 on stock vgpu. Same for the ram. You should be able to reach at least 800mhz (1600)

 

[Ika]

ATI Tool can test nvidia gpus? learn something new every day...

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: guoziming
ATI Tool can test nvidia gpus? learn something new every day...

Actually it supposidly can even Overclock nvidia gpu's too, but that doesn't work too well. But it's great for artifact testing.

Also, ATI tool seems to report the memory speed incorrectly. It half's the half. So if your memory is at 1600mhz, before DDR it's at 800mhz, and ATI tool says 400mhz thinking 800mhz it already doubled.

 

[firewolfsm]

If I set it to 530 (that increases the pixel pipes) then the test fails to run. I have to go below 527.
edit: I'm running ATI tool, it's not detecting errors but there are yellow dots I can see. Are they artifacts? I can't get it over 527.

 

[ElFenix]

at 1.1 volts you can't do much overclocking on those. best to try the volt mod up to 1.3 or 1.4.

 

[firewolfsm]

Ya, but people are hitting 550 at stock volts (1.2 actually).

 

[Arkane13131]

your core is fine. coolbits is relative to the heat so idling at 50C is why you get autodetected so low.

once you install the aftermarket cooler it will bring your temps down to 38Cish idle. then coolbits will auto overclock you at 575mhz or something most likley.

 

[firewolfsm]

Thanks for the help, right now I'm at 505/1.6. I scored 9067 in 05. I got under 8000 with a 7800GT at 491/1.2 so this isn't as good as I hoped but an improvement. I'm buying the VF700 soon.

The problem is, without the auto detect, I can't get over 527. The temps are under 75C at all times so that shouldn't hurt stability.

edit: I'm running at 505 because higher core speeds do nothing until 527 then until 554 due to the wierd speed step thing...I know this is for the G70 but does it apply to the G71 to?

 

[tvdang7]

Originally posted by: wizboy11

Originally posted by: guoziming
ATI Tool can test nvidia gpus? learn something new every day...

Actually it supposidly can even Overclock nvidia gpu's too, but that doesn't work too well. But it's great for artifact testing.

Also, ATI tool seems to report the memory speed incorrectly. It half's the half. So if your memory is at 1600mhz, before DDR it's at 800mhz, and ATI tool says 400mhz thinking 800mhz it already doubled.

well it works perfect for my dell 9300 6800go.

artifact tester is buggy it artifacts all the time even stock. but memory reads correctly for me.

 

[firewolfsm]

So, I got my VF700, installed it and did a simple mod to run the fan from the GPU header to control fan speed. It slows down in idle and speeds up in games. So far, my idle temp is 41C and load is under 55C for sure but I haven't had tmie to check, I'm pretty sure it's under 50C. I tried OCing to over 527 but it isn't stable. Once it hits that point and the pixel pipes go up to 540.5 or something like that, it crashes in FEAR. Is is possible that my core is this bad? I thought 560 was the absolute lowest overclock on stock volts. I will try the volt mod to 1.3V but if my overclock is still low...it'll suck.

 

[Munky]

There is no guarantees about overclocking. I once had a A64 3200 Venice that would barely run at 2.2ghz. And I also had an A64 3000 Venice that would run at 2.6ghz w/o problems. As always, YMMV.

 

[crazylegs]

Can i ask out of interest what make card you have...?

i.e. XFX / EVGA / BFG / ASUS / etc...


thanks

 

[firewolfsm]

eVGA non-CO, I'm so dissapointed now, that 1.3V mod better get me to 581.

 

[Extelleron]

There's NEVER any guarantees with overclocking. You must learn that.

 

[firewolfsm]

ok, after a few more expieriments, it looks like I AM stable at 530MHz, the next step up is 554MHz and I doubt I can pull that off but I might try. For some reason FEAR started doing better at 530...maybe the TIM had to cur because I had just installed, but it still loaded at low temps, now it loads at 50C . I got 4700 3Dmarks, that was at low quality obviously. Maybe I'm not so mad, lol. I can run 16xAF and 4x multi-sampling AA with everything but shoft shadows at max without any slowdowns (1280x960 is my LCD's max).

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: munky
There is no guarantees about overclocking. I once had a A64 3200 Venice that would barely run at 2.2ghz. And I also had an A64 3000 Venice that would run at 2.6ghz w/o problems. As always, YMMV.

qft

 

[crazylegs]

Seems like you just got unlucky bud