VisionTek 7970 Poor OC Results

Eureka

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
3,822
1
81
So I picked up one of the VT 7970 GHz from the deal last week... looks like I'm OCing pretty poorly?

I can't seem to get it to stabilize past 1100 Mhz at any voltage. Stock is 1.175V. At 1100 MHz, around 1.225-1.250 will get it to run Heaven without any noticeable artifacts. At 1150 MHz, nothing will run artifact-free; I maxed out Trixx with 1.381V and it still artifacts noticeably. My GPU-z ASIC quality is 66.8%. Am I doing something wrong or did I just lose the silicon lottery massively?

If it matters, I got VRAM at 1650 Mhz without any problems using stock core clock and voltage.
 

p_monks33

Golden Member
May 22, 2011
1,292
5
81
To make you feel better I've had 3 7970s the best asic I had was 71% in an xfx dd edition
I was able to run 3dmark11 at 1185/1550 with that card. I have now a visiontek reference and a xfx dd that I got as an RMA that are both under water and rarely see 45c on the vram or core. They both top out around 1150/1500 I run them stable at 1050/1450. I think the chances of a stable 1200 core 7970 aren't as good as some.made it out to be. Yes you can bench once at crazy clocks, but to be 24/7 stable in all situations is another animal.
 

Mir96TA

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2002
1,950
37
91
This is Mine with No O.C.
1Gig7970.png
 

Eureka

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
3,822
1
81
This is Mine with No O.C.
http://i64.photobucket.com/albums/h184/Mir96ta/BenchMark/1Gig7970.png[IMG][/QUOTE]

What about 16x and at 1920x1200?

Right now I'm pulling around 45 under those settings with no OC, and 49 with OC.
 

Rvenger

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator <br> Video Cards
Apr 6, 2004
6,283
5
81
Be careful on your memory overclocks. There are no ram sinks on that card. Did you try overclocking the GPU without overclocking the memory?


An ASIC rating of 66.8% means you have a higher leakage chip but doesn't necessarily mean that it won't overclock well, it will just need higher voltage to remain stable. I wouldn't go past 1.25v.
 
Last edited:

Eureka

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
3,822
1
81
Be careful on your memory overclocks. There are no ram sinks on that card. Did you try overclocking the GPU without overclocking the memory?


An ASIC rating of 66.8% means you have a higher leakage chip but doesn't necessarily mean that it won't overclock well, it will just need higher voltage to remain stable. I wouldn't go past 1.25v.

That's the thing, at 1.25V I'm still not overclocking more than 50 mhz. Seems like that's the limit for this chip. Still amazingly snappy at 1100mhz, but I thougth the whole point of AMD is to "never settle". :D
 

Arzachel

Senior member
Apr 7, 2011
903
76
91
That's the thing, at 1.25V I'm still not overclocking more than 50 mhz. Seems like that's the limit for this chip. Still amazingly snappy at 1100mhz, but I thougth the whole point of AMD is to "never settle". :D

Try lowering memory clocks, that might do the trick.
 

jacktesterson

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
5,493
3
81
I had a Diamond 7970 with a poor ASIQ and an Asus one with a great ASIC.

It showed.

Asus could hit 1200 core on stock voltage, while Diamond could barely hit 1125 at any voltage

Ive downgraded big time as my gaming days seem behind me due to time constraints, but my Diamond 7770 overclocks like a champ.

It really is luck of the draw.
 

Eureka

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
3,822
1
81
I'll lower the memory clocks next, won't get to it until next week though (away from desktop this weekend). IIRC, I did start off with just core OC but it was still bad. Then I did no core OC but mem OC, which got me to 1650. Thanks for all the responses.
 

Rvenger

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator <br> Video Cards
Apr 6, 2004
6,283
5
81
I had a Diamond 7970 with a poor ASIQ and an Asus one with a great ASIC.

It showed.

Asus could hit 1200 core on stock voltage, while Diamond could barely hit 1125 at any voltage

Ive downgraded big time as my gaming days seem behind me due to time constraints, but my Diamond 7770 overclocks like a champ.

It really is luck of the draw.


Wait.. I thought you had an IceQ 7870 that you swore you were going to keep? :p
 

notty22

Diamond Member
Jan 1, 2010
3,375
0
0
Wait.. I thought you had an IceQ 7870 that you swore you were going to keep? :p


He is a new father or is going to be? Purchases and gaining weight (sympathy pregnancy) is common for new fathers. At least in my experience. :)
 

chimaxi83

Diamond Member
May 18, 2003
5,457
63
101
I bought the same card and it was bad out of the box :-( picked up a Sapphire Dual X from Superbiiz for $379 AR.
 

Mir96TA

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2002
1,950
37
91
Don't know what F is going on this linking File
Here is the result
FPS 59.7
Score 1504
Min FPS 27.6
Max FPS 149.8

Shaders are High
Texture is High
Filter Trilinear
Anisotrophy 16x
Occlusion Enable
Refration Enable
Volumetric Enable
Tessekkation Extreme
 

Eureka

Diamond Member
Sep 6, 2005
3,822
1
81
That's actually really high. I'm only getting 45 on the same settings with 12.11 drivers. What could be limiting it? Is AA all the way on?

EDIT: Legitreviews seems to have the same numbers as mine. Mir96TA, is everything maxed out? That would be extremely high if it is.
 
Last edited:

jacktesterson

Diamond Member
Sep 28, 2001
5,493
3
81
He is a new father or is going to be? Purchases and gaining weight (sympathy pregnancy) is common for new fathers. At least in my experience. :)

haha

wow. Can't believe how much of my info sticks here haha. I haven't been that active here lately either.

Yeah Im going to be a father soon, and yes money is being spent right now like its going out of style.

I have also changed smartphones 1/2 dozen times this year.

Bottom Line - Never believe me when I say I'm keeping something. My wife told me that. :)




The 7870 was traded for the 7770 and cash. This 7770 o/c's like a champ, much better than my previous MSI 7770 I had for a bit. I lost my "man cave", so one of my TV's had to go. I actually prefer my 1366x768 LG Plasma TV over my 1080p LCD, so I kept the Plasma, making the 7870 overkill, since I game using my TV.

I have had the 7770 for a few weeks now though :)
 

Mir96TA

Golden Member
Oct 21, 2002
1,950
37
91
That's actually really high. I'm only getting 45 on the same settings with 12.11 drivers. What could be limiting it? Is AA all the way on?

EDIMir96TA, is everything maxed out? That would be extremely high if it is.

Well look into post 16
or you give me setting i will use that setting
 

skipsneeky2

Diamond Member
May 21, 2011
5,035
1
71
The 7870 was traded for the 7770 and cash. This 7770 o/c's like a champ, much better than my previous MSI 7770 I had for a bit. I lost my "man cave", so one of my TV's had to go. I actually prefer my 1366x768 LG Plasma TV over my 1080p LCD, so I kept the Plasma, making the 7870 overkill, since I game using my TV.

I have had the 7770 for a few weeks now though :)


My mancave lacks a small t.v and a better monitor for movies over my 17'' lcd 1280x1024 monitor.

I am considering just purchasing a 19'' 720p led t.v,buying a blu ray player+netflix in one system and hook up both my pc and the player to the t.v as well as picking up a ps3 or xbox controller for some racing games.

The 7850 i currently have flys at 1280x1024 and i know at 720p it would too for a good few years without needing or wanting a single upgrade,over buying like a 1600x900 20'' or 22'' 1080p monitor and always wanting to upgrade my card for that.:awe:

720p didn't look to bad on my 32'' insiginia at 3 feet away and my gfs 14'' notebook with its 720p was borderline acceptable for its size at the same distance as well as quality so i think a 19'' 720p t.v would be alright.:)
 

Rvenger

Elite Member <br> Super Moderator <br> Video Cards
Apr 6, 2004
6,283
5
81
haha

wow. Can't believe how much of my info sticks here haha. I haven't been that active here lately either.

Yeah Im going to be a father soon, and yes money is being spent right now like its going out of style.

I have also changed smartphones 1/2 dozen times this year.

Bottom Line - Never believe me when I say I'm keeping something. My wife told me that. :)


The 7870 was traded for the 7770 and cash. This 7770 o/c's like a champ, much better than my previous MSI 7770 I had for a bit. I lost my "man cave", so one of my TV's had to go. I actually prefer my 1366x768 LG Plasma TV over my 1080p LCD, so I kept the Plasma, making the 7870 overkill, since I game using my TV.

I have had the 7770 for a few weeks now though :)



As long as you keep your wife is what counts :D. Earlier this year when I was swapping out parts like crazy in my rig, my wife (Fiancee then) at the time asked me if I was going to ever trade her in HAHA.


Ok Adam, Ill be waiting for that 7970 back in your sig later on :p