Is my 7970 Dual-X locked ?

[Olivon]

Hello guyz,

Since 1 month I got a 7970 Dual-X card but it seems that software voltage changing doesn't work very well.

I use MSI AB but also TriXX and the result seems the same. When I change the voltage in AB (1.3v for example) and then I look in GPU-Z, I see 1.18v during high loads.
I have tried different BIOS but the problem is still there. (I use HIS 1180/1500 BIOS right now)
When I force constant voltage, that's a little better but GPU-Z reports low value too, something like 1.21-1.23v

Is my card voltage locked ? Somebody has an idea where the voltage reading points are on this card ?



And, yeah, the card coil-whine like a b*tch but it's another problem

[Olivon]

Bump !

Nobody has a tip ?

[kklownboy]

That is because gpuz doesn't read the correct voltage.I Haven't found any app other than AB to give the same over-voltage as AB... That said, 1.2+v is good enough for me to play Arma3 at 1330hz for hours with out a crash!

[Andi64]

GPUZ reads the actual voltage, but there is some heavy vdrop, AFAIK. My XFX HD7950 does the same, when I set 1.22v for 1250Mhz, GPUZ reports 1.16V-1.18V and it's rock stable.

[Olivon]

Thanks for your answers guyz.

With 1.3v set on AB, I can go 1200-1225MHz but after I begin to see artefacts and the card needs more juice.
Only hardmod can suppress Vdrop ? Is a way to give more than 1.3v ?
Thanks in advance.

[Olivon]

Finally, I found a solution to my problem.

I used a Vapor-X BIOS from july 2012 found on TPU.
With this BIOS, voltage went up (+0.12v @stock). With TriXX 4.40b mod, gpu voltage can be pushed to 1.381v and 1.8v for the RAM.
Vdrop is really massive though but I can put ~1.3v @load.
Unfortunately, my card seems like a bad clocker and 1250MHz is no go.
I will try with a better cooling solution in order to see some improvements or not.

1200/1650 H24 is not so bad and for 300? with 6 good games, I won't complain

[Andi64]

How's the max load temperature? I've gained A LOT of headroom by lowering the full load temps to the mids 50c/60c (depending on test).
Also, what's your ASIC quality? It seems to be a pretty accurate measure of how good it will OC. Mi card has 87% ASCI quality, 1250Mhz 1.22v, but with the stock cooler it hit 92?C on Furmark.

[Olivon]

My ASIC is 71.2%.
I don't use Furmark but I'm at 65-70 degrees @1200/1650 1.23-1.24v VRM1 82 degrees VRM2 80 degrees during 3D load, cooler is not so bad at ball and TIM replacement gives 1-2 degrees (cheapo Zalman TG-o2).
Card is warm on the metallic parts though. I need a copper shim and maybe a bracket to mount a Seidon 240M on it.
We'll see if things go better with ocing or not.

[Andi64]

Hey, nice cooler. 1200Mhz 65-70c is pretty good for stock cooling. My card heats up really quick plus the stock cooler was crap so I had to change it.

Is the Seidon 240M made by Asetek? Look at this: http://triptcc.com/product/basic-bracket/ and this: http://triptcc.com/product/fan-bracket/

I've used the H60/H80 version to mod mine, and it works perfectly. On Starcraft 2 at 1250/6400 it's at 55c core and 60c VRM

Edit: Something bothers me. I've got used to it, but I want to know if your card does the same. I overclock with MSI Afterburner, and set it at 1250Mhz, 1.22v. With everything closed I open GPUz to monitor temps and voltages. The VDCC goes from 0.800v idle, to 1.16v load. But sometimes you can see it spiking to 1.5, 1.6v.

I was scared at first, but it's been working for a while now, without problems.

[Olivon]

Hello Andi,

Right, Dual-X cooling solution is not so bad at all and i got a good old HAF-932. Past 55% fanspeed, card is a little bit noisy but IMHO this standard cooling is really good.

It's the Seidom 240M form Cooler Master (made by Asetek though, 55€ only used) and i have tested bracket from Dwood with my good old H50 and results were great with GTX 470 SOC and GTX 580 DCUII (see screens below):



http://www.3dmark.com/3dm11/5560687



I'm waiting for Dwood's answer for 2 more brackets and 1 copper shim right now.

I've banned AB from my AMD system, it works really bad with my 7970 and I use TriXX which works great, no more voltage spikes, no more corrupted HDMI when overclocking ...

TriXX + GPU-Z do the job well

[Ket]

Are you sure you want to use a HIS vBIOS on that DualX? The PCB designs are totally different which means the programming of the VRMs will be completely different. Also from what I know the HIS card doesn't use Hynix memory like most Sapphire cards so memory timings in that HIS vBIOS will be different as well. I totally understand your plight though, I categorically showed Sapphire where they f|_|ked up in the vBIOS of their cards but they still swore blind they hadn't done anything wrong even though every blind man and his dog could see they have. GPU-Z would also seem to misread VRM temps hugely on Sapphire cards so you might want to use a proper temp gun.