GPU Overclocking Help Thread

[Otis11]

Ok, Since I didn't see anything over here about GPU overclocking, I'm starting this from my post over at the GPUGrid section- this is going to be continually under construction to compile as much knowledge as we can about how to get the most out of our cards. So here it goes, please feel free to add/make suggestions to this:


Notes Before Starting:

For WCG, core clocks (???) have the largest impact on points. Memory makes no difference. Dedicated crunchers can actually drop the mem. freq. to keep temps down/save power. Doing so may impact gaming performance though. Effects of shader speeds have not been determined, but are slight at best. (???)

Although graphics cards (105C) tend to be rated higher than CPUs (with some exceptions - 70C), we recommend bumping up the fan speed also. These chips were designed for high temps, but not to hold those temps 24/7. (IMO - Temps below 80C are acceptable, but opinions vary). Also, we've found over at GPUGrid that it is well worth cranking you fan as high as is bearable - CPU temps have a significant impact on power draw, especially for higher end cards! Lower your temps, Lower your power consumption!

As long as Temps are kept in check, hardware longevity should not be an issue.

WCG Stable OCs:
(please give these a week to let your RAC settle and make sure it is stable- aka no errors. Also, please note 24/7 or not)


Numbers after card are PPD/Avg Price= ppd/$
HD7970:930k/$369 = 2.52k
1125 core/1425 mem - pirogue ~930K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 8 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: XFX DD Black Edition.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 55% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 55°C

HD7950:750k/$290 = 2.58k
850/1000- Bun-Bun ~750K PPD WCG (200w @ wall 2600k @ 4.5GHz)
.......... Tasks: 8 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 43°C

HD7870:540k/$230 = 2.35k

HD7850:325k/$175 = 1.86k
860/925- Bun-Bun ~200K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus/Sapphire.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ auto% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 50°C
960/1200- kjeldoran ~325K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 4 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Visiontek.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 55% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 70C

HD5870:140k
900- OldChap ~127K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: xfx.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 48°C
900- OldChap ~127K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: ati?.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 60°C
1000- OldChap ~145K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: asus.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: 1.275.......... Temp: 43-60°C
1000- OldChap ~145K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: asus.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: 1.275.......... Temp: 40-55°C

HD5850:??k/??k
800/1000- Jaco ~??K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks:?? .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Sapphire.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 43% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 55°C
850- OldChap~96K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Sapphire.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 39-45°C

GTX 670:??k/??k
1050/1215- Bun-Bun ~100-200K PPD WCG
.......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 75% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 49°C

GTX 460:??k/??k
850/1133/1800- Otis11 ~55K PPD WCG (This points value is not accurate yet)
.......... Tasks: 1 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 41-51C

Please help me build this - The more info we have the better we can do. Please post your info in this format in the PHP bracket if possible. Makes my job easier.

GPU - GTX 460
850/1133/1800- Otis11 ~55K PPD WCG
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 1 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 41-51C [/SIZE] 

Tools:
Voltage Tuner Thread - Thanks Ikiller123
EVGA Precision
RivaTuner
CUDA mem test - Thanks PG

Also, If you have any tools or just other suggestions - please, sound off in the comments. Let's do this!

[pirogue]

The memory speed/power/temp formula may apply to nvidia cards, but it makes no noticeable difference on my 7870.

For AMD cards, MSI Afterburner is a nice little utility.

[werdwerdus]

I like Afterburner better than Precision. There was a time or two that Precision wouldn't detect all things correctly but Afterburner did. Good to hear that Afterburner works for AMD too! I have a 7850 yet to install..

[Jaco]

What programs do you recommend for testing GPU stability ? Don't want to waste hours testing you see

My 5850 is at 750Mhz core (original 725Mhz) but I'm sure it can go higher.

[Conquistador SW]

What programs do you recommend for testing GPU stability ? Don't want to waste hours testing you see

My 5850 is at 750Mhz core (original 725Mhz) but I'm sure it can go higher.

Most of the time I let furmark run for ~30min and run 3dmark one time and declare it stable. However, I don't know **** about overclocking/testing GPU's, so there might be better ways.

I have my 5870 at 900Mhz now (highest I could select in OverDrive) and it seems stable so far. Card did 88000 WCG points yesterday (reported 22h runtime, second day running) and it should average ~95000 ppd.

[Mydog]

What programs do you recommend for testing GPU stability ? Don't want to waste hours testing you see

My 5850 is at 750Mhz core (original 725Mhz) but I'm sure it can go higher.

Furmark is one way to test but I don't recommend that as nothing you'll throw at your GPU will come close to that load.

Use MSI Afterburner and start low just running the GPU WU's, not sure what the stock volts are on your card but you should be able to increase it while forcing fan at 50% or more.

[Otis11]

How high can you push the Voltage on a GTX460? It's staying plenty cool, but I'm at 850 MHz core and think it'll need more to get much higher...

[OldChap]

What programs do you recommend for testing GPU stability ? Don't want to waste hours testing you see

My 5850 is at 750Mhz core (original 725Mhz) but I'm sure it can go higher.

I have a 5850 that cannot adjust volts, even so it does 850 OK ... I have heard of others getting 870-880 but my experiences folding make me keep away from the bleeding edge.

My 2 no volt adjust 5870's have always run at the max 900. My 2 adjustable cards currently running 24 hours at 980 and 1.25v and will stay there for a few days before I look at this further. I will report in a week or so Otis

[Jaco]

Thanks for the info , my HD 5850 is now running 800Mhz core on stock volts
I've ran Furmark for 7 minutes or so , seems stable. No WU's in errors so far.

Otis , you can add me to the list. Sapphire HD5850 , stock 725/1000 now 800/1000Mhz, stock volts , cpu fan automatic (43% max) . GPU 55°C max. Win 7 ultimate.

Could anyone try if lower ram clocks makes any difference in performance? Less heat , less noise would be good. And maybe the core can be pushed higher with lower ram clocks.

[OldChap]

GPU - Radeon 5870
900/1200- OldChap ~255K PPD WCG combined so circa 127Kppd each

Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: xfx 5870......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: ??-48C

Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: ati? 5870.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: ??-60C

_______________________________________

GPU - Radeon 5870
1000/1200- OldChap ~290K PPD WCG combined so circa 145Kppd each

Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: asus 5870.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: 1.275 .......... Temp: 43-60C

Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: asus 5870.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: 1.275 .......... Temp: 40-55C

_______________________________________________

GPU - Radeon 5850
850/1000- OldChap ~96K PPD WCG

Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: sapphire 5850.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 60% .......... Voltage: stock .......... Temp: 39-45C

[Otis11]

OP updated!

Sorry I'll be a little hit and miss for a bit, but promise to update it asap!

[haschioz]

once i receive my 7950 i will look into ram/core clocks and if bandwidth does matter at all.

[my87csx481]

I've got a dumb furmark question....is there a way to test the other gpu in ones system? I have two. I seem to be able to only run the benchmark on the gpu that is currently driving the display, even though it detects and shows both gpus. Is the work around to plug the monitor into the other card?

Sorry for my newbness.

Edit: To answer one of my questions, yes. Plug the monitor into the other card and you can test that one. Still can't find how to test both simultaneously. The reason I need to do this is I have a few invalids but, there is no usable information shown when clicking on "invalid" for me to know which card is producing them, or both. So I need to test both overclocks.

[artemm]

could we add an optional watts@the wall reading before and after OC? I can do this on my cards when I post results. it would be worthwhile to see what kind of point/watt ratio you get from overclocking.

[kjeldoran]

GPU - Radeon 7850
960/1200- kjeldoran ~??K PPD WCG
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 4 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Visiontek.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 55% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 70C [/SIZE] 

Not sure on PPD as I have only been running 4 tasks for a bit over a day. I pulled 44k boinc yesterday and looks like I am going to pull 40k+ boinc today. Given that I have 4 threads of CPU work for HCC included, I would just subtract 2750 boinc from the total. So maybe 40k boinc ppd (~280k WCG) on average from a radeon 7850 alone? Possibly more since I use my GPU for about 2-3 hours a day (boinc is gpu suspended during that time.)

Also, I have some power consumption numbers as well. Numbers are from the wall. System is in my sig.

Idle:
Standard 2d clocks 300/150 - 94W
860/1200 - 126W
960/1200 - 128W

Load:
CPU 8 threads with standard 2d clocks - 186W
860/1200 GPU 4 threads + 0 CPU threads 166W
960/1200 GPU 4 threads + 0 CPUs threads 170W

960/1200 1 GPU Thread + 0 CPU threads 148W
960/1200 1 GPU Thread + 7 CPU threads 227W
960/1200 4 GPU thread + 4 CPU threads 221W

So, with a minor overclock of 100mhz, you gain a negligible amount of power consumption. However, increasing your 2d clocks from 300/150 to 860/1200 increases idle power consumption of 30W. So, just basing power consumption on my figures, it seems that power consumption will be 40-55% of rated TDP. Which does make some sense since we are not using the memory and only stressing the core.

[Bun-Bun]

GPU - Radeon 7850
860/925- Bun-Bun ~200K PPD WCG
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus/Sapphire.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ auto% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 50°C [/SIZE] 

GPU - Radeon 7950
850/1000- Bun-Bun ~750K PPD WCG (200w @ wall 2600k @ 4.5GHz)
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 8 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 43°C [/SIZE] 

GPU - GTX670
1050/1215- Bun-Bun ~100-200K PPD WCG 
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 75% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 49°C [/SIZE] 

[OldChap]

My post updated for ppd

[Otis11]

could we add an optional watts@the wall reading before and after OC? I can do this on my cards when I post results. it would be worthwhile to see what kind of point/watt ratio you get from overclocking.

Give me the info and I'll update it!

GPU - Radeon 7850
960/1200- kjeldoran ~??K PPD WCG
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 4 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Visiontek.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 55% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 70C [/SIZE] 

Perfect copy paste format!
Will update power numbers soon.

GPU - Radeon 7850
860/925- Bun-Bun ~200K PPD WCG
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus/Sapphire.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ auto% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 50°C [/SIZE] 

GPU - Radeon 7950
850/1000- Bun-Bun ~750K PPD WCG (200w @ wall 2600k @ 4.5GHz)
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 8 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus/Sapphire.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 43°C [/SIZE] 

GPU - GTX670
1050/1215- Bun-Bun ~100-200K PPD WCG 
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 2 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Asus.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 75% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 49°C [/SIZE] 

Thanks for formatting!
And those were just the numbers I needed!

My post updated for ppd

Thanks for the update - but I think those numbers seem a little off - why such a big variance between them???

[Bun-Bun]

Just noticed an error. My 7950 is an Asus. Copy paste error

I fixed my original post.

I am also currently working on pushing my 7950 further. 1100 wasn't stable at stock voltage but I think it can take more!

[kjeldoran]

Um, I just want to point out that you put my info under 7970 and my card is a 7850 .

[OldChap]

Give me the info and I'll update it!



Perfect copy paste format!
Will update power numbers soon.



Thanks for formatting!
And those were just the numbers I needed!






Thanks for the update - but I think those numbers seem a little off - why such a big variance between them???

The overclocked cards (asus x2) are in the MVGene with 3770K@4.8 and ram @2133 9,10,10,21

The standard cards are in Giga z68ud4 with 3770K@3.7 (no overclocking bios available) 1600 ram @7,8,7,20

Otherwise I have no Idea

[Otis11]

Just noticed an error. My 7950 is an Asus. Copy paste error

I fixed my original post.

I am also currently working on pushing my 7950 further. 1100 wasn't stable at stock voltage but I think it can take more!

Fixed! Keep us posted!

Um, I just want to point out that you put my info under 7970 and my card is a 7850 .

Thanks for pointing that out - I shouldn't do this so sleep deprived.

The overclocked cards (asus x2) are in the MVGene with 3770K@4.8 and ram @2133 9,10,10,21

The standard cards are in Giga z68ud4 with 3770K@3.7 (no overclocking bios available) 1600 ram @7,8,7,20

Otherwise I have no Idea

Hmm... we'll have to get some more data from others and start looking at it more.

[Otis11]

Hey, if someone will help me find all the details I'll make this into "everything you need on GPUs" thread as it seems all scattered. Unfortunately I don't have time to dig through the 4 threads on GPUs and haven't been able to keep up with the process of the new information - so if someone who know's what they're doing will step up and either send me the info, or at least point me in that direction (without making me dig TOO much...) I think that could really help those new to GPUs and WCG.

[WFO]

Ummm... something very basic that hasn't been mentioned. I've had my 7970 forever because it was the only single gpu card that would support 3 monitors. I got it running with 6 WUs stock clocks on the 21st. After several hours of running I bumped the core clock from 925 to 1000. WUs were completing and Boinc indicated no errors. I thought I was good.

I added a 2nd 7970 last night. I had a couple "driver stopped working" errors that led to computation errors. When I got home from work the PC was at the login screen as I had a BSOD. I finally checked for invalid WUs and had 29 pages going back to when I first OCed the first card on the 22nd. I should go back to stock clocks on both cards. Being stubborn as a mule I upped the power on both cards 3% and am watching for new invalid WUs like a hawk.

Sooo... make sure you are error/invalid free before tinkering.

Edit: My invalids just dropped from 29 pages to 26. After all this time I have no idea WTF WCG is doing.

Edit: Invalid now dropped to 23 pages. Apparently they are still figuring out how to process all the data.

[kjeldoran]

GPU - Radeon 7850
960/1200- kjeldoran ~325K PPD WCG
[SIZE="1"].......... Tasks: 4 .......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Visiontek.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 55% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 70C [/SIZE] 

Just updating my PPD for my entry. Seems a 7850 will pull at least 325k WCG with a 2600k @ 4.5ghz and 4 threads. Possibly more since I use my GPU during the day.

Thanks for pointing that out - I shouldn't do this so sleep deprived.

No problem, but I just want to point out that it was put under the 7950 instead of a 7850 for the correction . I added the PPD above for the new code if you want to copy and paste .