View Full Version : 2900XT Overclocking
Xion X2
06-03-2007, 08:37 PM
All I've been reading on this forum since this card was released is how well it overclocks on good cooling. Guys have been posting 950+ core shots on good water setups on stock voltage. Well, now I'm perplexed.. and more than a bit disappointed.
I'm sitting here w/ an OEM Sapphire 512MB XT topping out at 875 on the core. I haven't tried running the memory much higher than 950MHz, but I was really hoping to get a much higher core overclock than this. Temps aren't a problem; I'm loading at 56C on my watercooling w/ a Maze5 at 875 | 925.
I'm using the AMD GPU tool to overclock with since it's all I've seen people use. Whenever I try to go 900MHz on the core my system freezes. I'm using an 850W Quad-rail Silverstone Zeus PSU w/ two 6-pin PCI-e connectors. One connector has 18A all to itself, the other has around 10A. I've also tried switching to another rail with around the same amount of amps on it to no avail.
From watching the results of Kinc and a few others, it's seemed that an 8-pin wasn't necessary to overclock with. But those were on engineering samples, and I'm wondering if retail models are different or if they simply don't overclock as well as the ES.
Thoughts, anyone? I'm really hoping that I'm missing something easy here, but it's beginning to look like I got a dud overclocker.
I have both AMD cards and retail cards. My retail are from ASUS and they overclock better then the AMD card, about 10MHz core. You absolutly do not need the 8-pin. I have been running well over 1200MHz with the 850W Zeus PSU using two 6-pins. Lets hope Wizzard is out with a beta of R600 ATItool soon, more Voltage will help you for sure.
Xion X2
06-03-2007, 08:52 PM
Man, I just can't believe that mine is topping out on stock voltage at 875MHz.
Is there anything in the BIOS that might be affecting this? Any kind of PCI-E options? Right now I have PCI-E speed set to auto | 16x and PCI-E Latency Timer at 64.
What is that other temp on the GPU tool recording? It's averaging about 56C as well. Is it the mosfets or the RAM? I don't have any heatsinks for the RAM/mosfets right now; I'm just using the stock faceplate/backplate that came on the card w/ the fan still attached.
burton
06-03-2007, 09:04 PM
i know benching with 8800 pci-e usually is set to 120 i dont know if it is the same for ati though
Man, I just can't believe that mine is topping out on stock voltage at 875MHz.
Is there anything in the BIOS that might be affecting this? Any kind of PCI-E options? Right now I have PCI-E speed set to auto | 16x and PCI-E Latency Timer at 64.
What is that other temp on the GPU tool recording? It's averaging about 56C as well. Is it the mosfets or the RAM? I don't have any heatsinks for the RAM/mosfets right now; I'm just using the stock faceplate/backplate that came on the card w/ the fan still attached.
You have to cool the power components and ram. Use the heatspreader that is detachable from the original cooler.
Xion X2
06-04-2007, 01:57 AM
You have to cool the power components and ram. Use the heatspreader that is detachable from the original cooler.
Do you mean the black and red frontplate/backplate? Because I'm using those. The only things I have taken off are the red shield and copper heatsink.
This is what it looks like, except the fan is attached where it is detached in this pic. I also have the black backplate on the back of the card:
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/5397f9681f.jpg
nicepun
06-04-2007, 02:07 AM
56c @ load for watercooled seems a bit warm, mine goes to around 48c @ load and idles around 38c~40c. Don't feel bad, my tops around 890, anything else 3DMark06 crashes and the VPU Recovery (I guess I need to disable this option) kicks in.
You have to cool the power components and ram. Use the heatspreader that is detachable from the original cooler.
So what's better, the stock heatspreader or ramsinks?
RichBa5tard
06-04-2007, 02:08 AM
You probably don't want to hear this, but isn't 875mhz pretty good? Out of 53 samples (http://www.hwbot.org/browseHardwareVideoCards.do?gpuFamilyId=163), the average core overclock on a 2900XT is 833mhz...
875MHz is not bad at all for 2900XT with stock voltage. With 100% fan speed my cards have a loaded temp of 52C (ASUS) and 56C (AMD) running stock clocks and 875MHz. The stock cooler is really powerfull with the airflow provided by the fan spinning at 100%. Are you using a combined loop or a single loop for the graphics´card? As I said before with atitool ou will see higher clocks on water with more voltage.
AbelJemka
06-04-2007, 02:46 AM
My card top at 870 with a crappy waterblock and i think is already rather good. I hope for 900MHz with new top and a little voltage. My ram go rigth to 1100MHz:up: I have better results with 1100MHz than 999MHz. I know that 1100MHz have relaxed timigs but i think that frequency compensate the timings.
macci
06-04-2007, 04:43 AM
Guys have been posting 950+ core shots on good water setups on stock voltage.
Are you sure about this? (the "stock voltage" part mainly)? As I havent seen a single card that can do that (950 w/ default voltage + stock watercooling).
As far as I can tell 875 is pretty much what it should be with normal watercooling + default voltage. You will get 900MHz with higher voltage easily.
In general I think that 133MHz GPU overclock at default voltage is not a horribly bad result?
toddm27
06-04-2007, 05:15 AM
both of my cards top around 880/890 under water (sapphire retail)
gandalfone
06-04-2007, 05:26 AM
mm...I with stock 850/1050.....with wb 890.....but when water is cold
875 is not bad
60073
60074
mascaras
06-04-2007, 05:30 AM
All I've been reading on this forum since this card was released is how well it overclocks on good cooling. Guys have been posting 950+ core shots on good water setups on stock voltage.
they are not with default GPU voltage on that clocks ;)
regards
gandalfone
06-04-2007, 05:41 AM
they are not with default GPU voltage on that clocks ;)
regards
:yepp:
andre X_X
06-04-2007, 08:21 AM
i've been tested this card mem freq... for my card (HIS 2900XT), 999mhz = 695fps nature 2k1, 1160mhz = 725fps nature 2k1, and >1161mhz = 650fps nature 2k1. no matter how high i set the mem freq, it would turn very bad after 1160mhz.
Kunaak
06-04-2007, 11:22 AM
since when did 133 mhz on the core become a bad OC?
a normal card, in the past, barely gave a extra 50 mhz...
let alone 130+.
I think peoples expectations get too high sometimes, from either a lack of experience, or too many screen shots.
Viktor
06-04-2007, 01:12 PM
since when did 133 mhz on the core become a bad OC?
a normal card, in the past, barely gave a extra 50 mhz...
let alone 130+.
I think peoples expectations get too high sometimes, from either a lack of experience, or too many screen shots.
Well you forget the fact that the old cards didnt have as high-clock frequency as the new ones thus the overclocking also became alot lower.
100mhz @ a 350mhz card is alot more than 133mhz on a 750mhz....
Dynasty
06-04-2007, 01:53 PM
lol 875mhz on core is actually quite decent....
I needed atleast 1.25+ vddc for 920mhz &
with stock vddc most I got of my very
1st ati/amd card was only 850mhz on air.
So, 875mhz on core w/stock vddc is actually nice...;)
Xion X2
06-04-2007, 02:47 PM
Well, I was going by the results I saw from Kinc, Sampsa, VR-Zone, and TechPowerUp. All these guys, at least to the best of my knowledge, were claiming 950MHz and up on stock voltage with good cooling. There was also another or two around this place who posted shots of 940MHz on stock voltage.
Oh well.. I guess I can relax now. I just had a completely different perspective before on how well this thing overclocks. Guys were making it sound like 1GHz was a cinch for anybody on watercooling.
I'm running a combined loop, btw. Temps have now dropped to 51C on load when playing F.E.A.R. now that the paste is starting to cure some.
macci
06-04-2007, 04:12 PM
Sampsa got 950MHz with stock voltage, yes, BUT that was with DryIce cooling! (-80C).
Techpowerup (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/HD_2900_XT/14)clearly states in the article that they got 911MHz at 1.36V (default is 1.2V). 850MHz with default voltage.
Vr-Zone (http://www.vr-zone.com/index.php?i=4946&s=18) got 880MHz with improved default cooler + default voltage.
They did reach over 1GHz BUT that was with voltage modding (1.35V) and Cascade cooler (which means around -80C).
I dont think anybody has reached 1GHz with watercooling (with any voltage).
So your result at 875MHz with default volts is pretty good :)
Xion X2
06-04-2007, 04:41 PM
I stand corrected then. Thanks for the explanation.
I guess I also didn't realize that dry ice would give you a higher overclock if temps weren't really a problem on the lesser system. I was only loading at 55C.
Xion X2
06-04-2007, 04:58 PM
56c @ load for watercooled seems a bit warm, mine goes to around 48c @ load and idles around 38c~40c. Don't feel bad, my tops around 890, anything else 3DMark06 crashes and the VPU Recovery (I guess I need to disable this option) kicks in.
My idle has now dropped to 39C and load temps on F.E.A.R. have dropped to 51C.
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/attachment.php?attachmentid=26042&stc=1&d=1180999594
And a few pics of my build:
http://img519.imageshack.us/img519/1676/p1010309dw1.jpg
http://img258.imageshack.us/img258/2293/p1010312bs9.jpg
http://img518.imageshack.us/img518/4420/p1010320kp4.jpg
Eastcoasthandle
06-04-2007, 06:04 PM
Take a look at this thread (http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showthread.php?t=145701) I created. It may explain some things.
STEvil
06-04-2007, 07:49 PM
Sampsa got 950MHz with stock voltage, yes, BUT that was with DryIce cooling! (-80C).
Techpowerup (http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/ATI/HD_2900_XT/14)clearly states in the article that they got 911MHz at 1.36V (default is 1.2V). 850MHz with default voltage.
Vr-Zone (http://www.vr-zone.com/index.php?i=4946&s=18) got 880MHz with improved default cooler + default voltage.
They did reach over 1GHz BUT that was with voltage modding (1.35V) and Cascade cooler (which means around -80C).
I dont think anybody has reached 1GHz with watercooling (with any voltage).
So your result at 875MHz with default volts is pretty good :)
Wasnt Opp @ 950+ with water + volts?
burton
06-04-2007, 09:03 PM
nice setup and nice card :)
Xion X2
06-04-2007, 09:19 PM
Thanks. :)
Lightman
06-05-2007, 01:06 AM
YEAH! I like your 'net' of pipes :D .
This is one big water cooled system. Can I ask what are you using as a radiator?
Xion X2
06-05-2007, 03:19 AM
Black Ice GT Stealth 360. :)
Here's a shot of it at the top:
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/750/p1010317fq6.jpg
850-870mhz with stock Cooler / Voltage is normal i think :
Here is an 3dmark 2k5 , 873/1130 , Stock cooler/voltage:
http://www.pt1t.net/2900XT/2900XT_2K5_873_1130.PNG
LowRun
06-07-2007, 05:26 AM
850-870mhz with stock Cooler / Voltage is normal i think :
Here is an 3dmark 2k5 , 873/1130 , Stock cooler/voltage:
Nice clocks there :up:
oohms
06-08-2007, 08:03 AM
Hey did you take off the shim around the core to mount the waterblock?
Xion X2
06-08-2007, 01:42 PM
Hey did you take off the shim around the core to mount the waterblock?
Nope, works just fine with the shim on.
But be extremely careful, because I damaged my first card installing this waterblock. The maze5 doesn't go on easy, and my guess is that I had the tension too tight and it crushed the GPU core. I was getting artifacts on the Windows screen on startup, and video drivers kept crashing on startup.
So it works, but be extremely careful if you decide to install this one on R600.
CometMan
06-08-2007, 02:08 PM
this card is really very good on benchs, does like a 8800, but in real time gaming, it just doesn`t get along, maybe its youth driver problems
Xion X2
06-08-2007, 09:01 PM
It plays plenty of games very well. Oblivion, DIRT, Rainbow Six Vegas, Test Drive Unlimited.. it plays all of these about on par with an 8800GTX.
rob[GL]
06-10-2007, 01:17 PM
I can only get 840 core with stock volts, so stop complaining about 875...
=)
Kunaak
06-11-2007, 04:59 AM
Well you forget the fact that the old cards didnt have as high-clock frequency as the new ones thus the overclocking also became alot lower.
100mhz @ a 350mhz card is alot more than 133mhz on a 750mhz....
I am not talking about cards from 5 years ago.
I am talking about cards now.
8800GTX - 575 clock - 630 on air average OC.
X1950 650 core - barely hit 700 stable.
same goes for a dozen other cards I've owned recently.
X1900XTX, 7900 GTX, 7800GTX, 7600GT to name a few.
some cooled with water, but most cooled with air for a few weeks to start with. OC's barely change.
currently...
8800 GTX, watercooled. volt modded, 1.40 core, 2.09 mem = 685/1730/1100.
thats only 110 mhz more then stock... and thats with alot of extra work.
card can go alot higher on the core, but thats only for benchmarking and thats only when I turn the voltage up.
theres no way this card would hit 685 + stable at stock voltage.
I am not talking about 9800 pros... or ti 4200's.
I am talking cards now.
ColonelCain
06-15-2007, 06:35 PM
Well, if I get this (I will have H20 cooling), at least I know that it will run cool.
BTW, what is that "network of tubes" in the picture, apparantly where your ram is?
Xion X2
06-15-2007, 07:06 PM
I have a bypass there from the 1/2" tubing to minimize the bottleneck. 1/4" splits off to the RAM block and rejoins the 1/2" later up in the loop.
ColonelCain
06-15-2007, 07:22 PM
Ohhh thats it. Pretty unique looking though.
dnottis
06-15-2007, 07:32 PM
this card is really very good on benchs, does like a 8800, but in real time gaming, it just doesn`t get along, maybe its youth driver problems
And you have one?
:rolleyes:
I really want to get one to play with. I'm tired of the 8800 GTS and Nvidias drivers. I have problems with Vista plus the performance is still not up to par with XP. ATI always has better drivers, they get problems fixed pretty quickly and have been bringing the performance up to par with the GTX pretty quick. To bad the early reviews used such early drivers, I think it's a better product that everyone thought it was at launch.
Daveb2012
06-15-2007, 09:43 PM
i dont like this card
dnottis
06-16-2007, 05:24 AM
i dont like this card
Do you own one?
Xion X2
06-16-2007, 05:40 AM
Test Drive Unlimited benches on the R600:
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1286869&postcount=806
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showpost.php?p=1286876&postcount=807
Morgoth
06-20-2007, 06:41 PM
My best clocks on the HD2900XT using stock cooler is 860/1100 for benching,
Limited by PSU and GPU core voltage, and cooling ofcourse
My best clocks for benching were 880/1030 stock cooling and voltages - speaking of which does anyone have access or be willing to pass on a beta version of ATiTool that does allow voltage change. I have my pot sitting here all dressed up with no place to go.
G H Z
06-21-2007, 02:24 AM
does anyone have access or be willing to pass on a beta version of ATiTool that does allow voltage change. I have my pot sitting here all dressed up with no place to go.
I doubt it - I'm starting to think kinc's hint that there will never be an ATI Tool for this card may end up being right. Add to that ATI's lock-down. There is BIOS editing Tool that is internal to ATI that could do wonders for people who want to push their cards on xtreme cooling - but good luck getting your hands on it. They could at least release a couple of custom BIOS'es for people who need them, I'll sign a waiver or whatever is needed.
I have always preferred benching ATI cards and right now, I'm not sure I will ever buy another one.
G H Z
06-21-2007, 02:41 AM
1Day I just noticed something, in the Techpowerup article the screen cap is showing version 0.27 and there's already a newer beta than that out on the beta forum.
Yeah I downloaded that as well but it seems (or I am having a serious blond moment - and that is certainly possible) there is no voltage option on that version. As to getting my hands on a bios editing tool, I too would be willing to sign a waiver just to have a chance to really play with this card. However looking at the screen shots of some of the posts made on this forum about the HD2900XT, there clearly is a voltage option on a version of ATiTool that has been used ... and if there is one as it seems- that begs the question why has it not been passed around to other over-clockers and bench addicts?
I guess Wayne said it best "We are not worthy" ???
road-runner
06-21-2007, 07:04 AM
1Day I just noticed something, in the Techpowerup article the screen cap is showing version 0.27 and there's already a newer beta than that out on the beta forum.
I tried it also and could not find any voltage adjustments. My 2900 will run on both max settings in overdrive but I am having trouble going much hicher than that. I was thinking about the voltage mods but I think I will wait, hopefully ATI tool will be out soon...
road-runner
06-21-2007, 07:05 AM
1Day I just noticed something, in the Techpowerup article the screen cap is showing version 0.27 and there's already a newer beta than that out on the beta forum.
I tried it also and could not find any voltage adjustments. My 2900 will run on both max settings in overdrive but I am having trouble going much higher than that. I was thinking about the voltage mods but I think I will wait, hopefully ATI tool will be out soon...
road-runner
06-21-2007, 07:06 AM
1Day I just noticed something, in the Techpowerup article the screen cap is showing version 0.27 and there's already a newer beta than that out on the beta forum.
I tried it also and could not find any voltage adjustments. My 2900 will run on both max settings in overdrive but I am having trouble going much higher than that. I was thinking about the voltage mods but I think I will wait, hopefully ATI tool will be out soon...