MSI TF3 7950 overclocking

Discussion in 'Videocards - AMD Radeon' started by Titan29, Feb 10, 2013.

  1. Titan29

    Titan29 Master Guru

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    GPU:
    Vega 64 | 7900XTX
    I got these 7950s in July last year. They came with 7970 pcb (6+8 pin). I assumed that with improved power circuitry they would have overclocked much better. However, I have only been able to overclock upto 1050/1575 (default voltages), and that too with 12.8 WHQL drivers. With the current 13.2 beta 5, 1025/1575 only.

    I know they can do much more than that, as people have been doing 1100 core pretty easily. I tried 1075 MHz with 1.25 V (using AB) but it was not stable. So, I am wondering if anyone having the same card is able to overclock higher than that.

    Some interesting information about my hardware:

    1. ASIC quality, GPU1 86.6, GPU2 88.7
    2. Idle voltage reported by GPUz (VDDC): ~.8 V
    3. Default Core voltage in MSI AB: 1.031 V
    4. Max VDDC reported by GPUz (during builtin render test): 1.48V!! (Isnt that a bit high?)
    5. Max Temp reached during render test (1050/1575): 78C (also seems to be on the higher side, goes above 80C with furmark). I have already taken apart the heatsink and cleaned/re-applied thermal grease (AS5).
    6. The 7950s are sitting inside CM Storm Trooper, 2 slots apart. 2 120 mm fans on the side panel blow directly over them. There are 4 other 120 mm intake fans and 1 140 mm rear exhaust and 1 200 mm top exchaust, so airflow is not an issue. Ambient temp is around 20-21 C.
    7. GPU bios: 113-C3861300-X01
    8. Currently on 13.2 Beta 5 (Win8 Pro x64)


    If anyone has some nice tips on how to overlock the gpus higher, I would appreciate it. I am aiming for 1100/1575 at the moment.
     
    Last edited: Feb 10, 2013
  2. Hardware Killer

    Hardware Killer Member Guru

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    GPU:
    7970 Lightning Quadfire
  3. Agent-A01

    Agent-A01 Ancient Guru

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    GPU:
    4090 FE H20
    Well id say your max voltage is going to be 1.3 volts provide temps are 85ish or below. with that voltage youd want to be on water but your temps dont seem to be so good for that high of voltage. Not all cards clock the same. What i would do is take 1 card out, and test each individually at 1.25 volts, see what your max OC is. Also you might want to disable ULPS. Run both of them at your weakest cards speed. But my guess is you just got below average cards
     
  4. Titan29

    Titan29 Master Guru

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    GPU:
    Vega 64 | 7900XTX
    Thanks. I will try this in the morning. If I understand this correctly, disabling ULPS will prevent the second card from going to sleep. i.e 0/0 clocks and fans off?
     

  5. Titan29

    Titan29 Master Guru

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    I just noticed the newer batch of cards are back to 6+6 pins but overclocked higher by default, i.e 960 core (mine are 880). Also, some guy mentioned he was able to overclock to 1200/1575 on default voltage (newegg reviews). I guess newer batch are able to clock higher?
     
  6. Agent-A01

    Agent-A01 Ancient Guru

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    They might have perfected making those chips so it is possible, but generally getting a good chip is completely silicon lottery. No two chips are the same
     
  7. Titan29

    Titan29 Master Guru

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    GPU:
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    ok looks like I am able to hit 1100/1575 stable on both GPUs at 1.075V with ULPS disabled. So looks like ULPS was the culprit here.

    Also, the new 3D Mark seems to be very good at telling if the overclock is stable or not, as it would cause a TDR within 10s of first demo. So I fiddled around with the voltages until it was able to run properly. Looks like no issues at 1.075V so far.
     
  8. Agent-A01

    Agent-A01 Ancient Guru

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    thats good.. Good luck for going higher
     
  9. Hardware Killer

    Hardware Killer Member Guru

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    Nice results, glad you got your desired clocks:)

    ULPS really plays havoc with Xfire setups
     
  10. Titan29

    Titan29 Master Guru

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    GPU:
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    From what I understand, ULPS causes 2nd GPU to sleep and MSI AB is not able read its stats/info (same as CCC). Thus when we set voltage in AB, it is only set for main GPU. Correct?

    Apart from not able to set voltage manually, I have had no issues with CF setup with ULPS enabled.
     

  11. PNeV

    PNeV Guest

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    GPU:
    MSI GTX 1070 Armor
    I can get 1100/1575 at 1056mv. These cards have SO much more headroom to hit 1200Mhz but the Fan speed at those levels is just too loud for me. If it doesn't bother you go for gold!
     
  12. Titan29

    Titan29 Master Guru

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    I havent tried overclocking them individually. May be one of them might be able to hit 1100/1575 at less than 1075vm. I agree with you that fans on these things are just too loud. Anything above 50% fan speed is no-no. A better cooler (AC accelero?) will make them fly.
     
  13. Fox2232

    Fox2232 Guest

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    Be warned, Accelero is 3 slot cooling solution. And it's pretty bad at cooling memories/VRMs.

    I know it perfectly, so I unwelded bottom plate from reference heatsink for better cooling of memories/VRMs. And then it requires some minor cutting to fit to gpu big heatsink.
    (This is dangerous thing to do, vapor chamber has to be opened 1st = toxic. Otherwise you risk it's explosion at high temperature. And you do not want to be anywhere near if that occurs.)

    While OCing always take care of your VRMs. Just because GPU sits at 62°C under full load does not mean rest of card is not getting fried.
     

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