Asus HD7970 DirectCU II

[CornerJack]

This new cart is @Home
Pictures and soon tests !

All pictures : http://www.overclex.net/news/labo-as...0-directcu-ii/

[HuffPCair]

Dang that is a beast. Hopefully performs like one.

[donmarkoni]

Can you please share BIOS?

[Ziwro]

Is this card retial or sample ? I'm very wondering about Temps and fan noies :P

[Sailindawg]

How's the build quality in regards to the fan cooler? The European sites have indicated an issue of the stock cooler not making good contact because of use of sub par fasteners. Newegg seems to list the card as discontinued at the moment.

I liked where ASUS was going with this card. The DP connectors were a very good addition. It was something I had hoped the reference cards would come out with.

Interesting to see it pulled apart. Please let us know how it performs, especially temp wise.

[CornerJack]

It's a press sample.
There was a problem with the first 7950 DirectCU II, but not with 7970.
I started testing and temperatures are normal.

For bios, no problem but it's not a reference design.

[dasa]

7970 DirectCU II cores run cool and quiet but there vrm can hit 100c fairly easy and overclcoking seems to be worse than reference with most topping out at ~1200mhz and extra v often doesnt help

CornerJack
i will be interested to see how that card scales for you if you use better cooling and play with the pll solder points on the card

[CornerJack]

7970 DirectCU II cores run cool and quiet but there vrm can hit 100c fairly easy and overclcoking seems to be worse than reference with most topping out at ~1200mhz and extra v often doesnt help

CornerJack
i will be interested to see how that card scales for you if you use better cooling and play with the pll solder points on the card

Yes, VRM is hot... but passed 3DMark11 1250/1800MHz @1.175v vcore
HotWire OK

[dasa]

very nice teaser

with 1162mv-set 1134-vdrop my 7970 dc2t can do 1200mhz before artifacting and extra v only seems to help with stability not artifacts with 100% fan gpu temp 50c vrm 80c
memory reaches 1900mhz before artfacting but may become unstable around 1700mhz 1584mv
pll seems to run between 880-888mv
unfortunately i dont have that very nice mb to play with

[kintaro]

looking forward to buy one of those babes...

[anzial]

CornerJack, what's the ASIC on this particular card?

Also, if possible, could you test the voltage droop under load? Someone tested it and it shows .05v droop under load

[Ziwro]

And results :P

[tijgert]

I wonder, this card has those solder points already laid out. Wouldn't it be easier for people that don't have R4E boards to use those solder points as well? I'm thinking about removing the OCP...

I also wonder why the overclocking of this card is supposedly sub-par compared to reference... Does something draw too much power? (and I actually only saw 1 guy saying it didn't OC too well... But not dozens).

[Reflex1]

Where did you purchase it? I cannot find any shops that have it in stock

[tijgert]

I don't think it's in stock anywhere, but they get a shipment now and then which is then distributed between all the pre-orders. It'll be quite some time before they're shelved anywhere.
I also pre-ordered mine and got it about 10 days after, they're still not 'in stock' though...

[dasa]

there is some in stock in australia but there probably wouldnt be if they went asking $800+ for them
newegg has had stock a few times but apparently its only lasted around half an hour

my 7970 dc2t has a gpu block on it now but despite being cooler its not clocking any better
anyone know if i can solder some 10k vr or something to the solder points on this card to play with pll since i dont have a asus x79 mb


any updates CornerJack?

[tijgert]

I'd *LOVE* to know how I can (ab)use those solder points without a RIVE board...

[anzial]

grabbed a couple of these. Disappointed with implementation of dual-link dvi port (one enabled by flipping the switch) - garbles dark colors at resolutions above 1680x1050 from the dvi port. Since I don't have a dp port on my 30" monitor and didn't get the adapter, I think I should return these back to seller.

[Khaotic]

The 7970 in this model is one of the few cards I've been kicking around if I'm going to go single card.
If the VRMs are that hot, how much longevity will they have?!

[Riska]

You only need a 20 ohm VR to mod gpuv on the solderpoint to ground and roufly the same to memv

[dasa]

You only need a 20 ohm VR to mod gpuv on the solderpoint to ground and roufly the same to memv

thanks so if those are the same as for the reference pcb im guessing the pll would also be ok with 20k vr

i think asus claimed that the vrm are incorrectly reporting the temp as higher than it is and others are saying that the vrm are rated to handle 130c

[tijgert]

Eh.. Riska says 20ohm, dasa says 20Kohm... it's a factor 1000 difference... someone care to be a little bit more clear on what to do?

[dasa]

ah he did say 20 ohm cant say i have seen any vr rated that low or used in gpu vmod before typo? or dose asus vga hot wire need that level?
my guess is when earthing the wire using a higher resistance vr just means that a 20k vr may not make much different to the v except maybe once you get to the other end of its adjustment and and then adjustment would then become way to sensitive if ~20 ohm is the target
but if we use 20 ohm vr and 10-20k should be used the card is likely to go pop like my 8800gt did when i bumped the vr and it shorted sending full power to the gpu not a nice feeling

100ohm Multiturn Cermet Trimpot may do the job if i cant find something as low as 20ohm?
some clarification on pll would be nice to as extra software gpuv over 1.15v actual makes stuff all difference and maxing it out makes the card less stable so pll really is my last hope of getting past 1200mhz
mem already does 1800-1900mhz with just 1.6v
sorry for the confusion

[CornerJack]

any updates CornerJack?

Yes, soon, LN2 tests this week-end
I test actually MSI Lightning 7970.

[Riska]

I have the CU II Top and yes 20 OHM!! to ground if you are using the modding holes at the top of the card