XSPC 4870X2 Delrin block mini-review

[binormalkilla]

Nope stock Diamond OC Bio.

Do the Diamond cards run at 1.2625 as well? I don't have a steady enough hand to volt mod a card.....I may attempt sometime, but it will be tough. I have a little experience with a soldering iron.....but not enough to be confident at soldering such small components.

[binormalkilla]

Ok I have my PC stable at 475 with the Rampage Formula BIOS. I checked my old CPU scores with the stock 4870X2 and they are slightly lower, IIRC 300 points or so. Every little bit counts, so I'm going to get this RAM sorted out.
I was planning on pushing it, but you reminded me to get on the ball!

[Overgloc]

GPUZ report VDDC @ 1.06

[binormalkilla]

GPUZ report VDDC @ 1.06

That's the 2D voltage. What you can do is set the option to log to file, then check the box to monitor the sensors while GPU-Z is in the background. Select the file path for the log and run any game/3dbench. It should show your 3d voltage in the log file.

[The-Fox]

I had walked the path of OC with the 4870X2 as well.
I managed to OC it very well I think, both cores benched 3DMARK06 and Vantage @ 880/1080.
The slave core was quite stunning alone and managed to bench @ 907/1125, but when both cores were OCed I had to lower the clocks as it wasn't stable.

I own the Sapphire card, flashed it with the 900/1000 limit using the RBE tool (not the ASUS Top bios).
I tried to raise the voltages to 1.35v, as it uses 1.25v (GPU-Z shows 1.265) in 3D mode, and 1.05v (GPU-Z shows 1.06v) in 2d mode.
Unfortunately that didn't do it and the card was still getting 1.25v, so it appears to have no effect in reality.
I then Overclocked the card using rivatunner, each component at it's own time, meaning GPU#0 memory, GPU#0 Core, GPUE#1 Memory and at last, GPU#1 core.
After all that I gave the card a few runs with 3D 06' and eventually came down to some stable and benchable clocks.

I use the EK block to cool the card, so far it has amazing temps (below 40c) even under OC.

binormalkilla, you need to disable CCC at the startup (use msconfig) as sniiipe suggested.
Otherwise you won't be able to Overclock beyond the bios limit (800/1000), CCC checks for the clocks in realtime and if you go above those clocks you get the card unstable/artifacting.

[binormalkilla]

I had walked the path of OC with the 4870X2 as well.
I managed to OC it very well I think, both cores benched 3DMARK06 and Vantage @ 880/1080.
The slave core was quite stunning alone and managed to bench @ 907/1125, but when both cores were OCed I had to lower the clocks as it wasn't stable.

I own the Sapphire card, flashed it with the 900/1000 limit using the RBE tool (not the ASUS Top bios).
I tried to raise the voltages to 1.35v, as it uses 1.25v (GPU-Z shows 1.265) in 3D mode, and 1.05v (GPU-Z shows 1.06v) in 2d mode.
Unfortunately that didn't do it and the card was still getting 1.25v, so it appears to have no effect in reality.
I then Overclocked the card using rivatunner, each component at it's own time, meaning GPU#0 memory, GPU#0 Core, GPUE#1 Memory and at last, GPU#1 core.
After all that I gave the card a few runs with 3D 06' and eventually came down to some stable and benchable clocks.

I use the EK block to cool the card, so far it has amazing temps (below 40c) even under OC.

binormalkilla, you need to disable CCC at the startup (use msconfig) as sniiipe suggested.
Otherwise you won't be able to Overclock beyond the bios limit (800/1000), CCC checks for the clocks in realtime and if you go above those clocks you get the card unstable/artifacting.

Right, that's why I flashed the TOP BIOS, which set the CCC limits to 900/1000. I may try disabling CCC if I can get it stable past 900 in Vantage, but I'm not 24/7 gaming stable at 862. I would like to raise the memory OC limit though, as the TOP BIOS only allows 1000 in Overdrive.

I wonder if a BIOS flash past the Overdrive limit will cause instability?

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

I wonder if a BIOS flash past the Overdrive limit will cause instability?

no, only raising clocks beyond the supplied voltage limits causes instability

[binormalkilla]

no, only raising clocks beyond the supplied voltage limits causes instability

So this isn't true?

binormalkilla, you need to disable CCC at the startup (use msconfig) as sniiipe suggested.
Otherwise you won't be able to Overclock beyond the bios limit (800/1000), CCC checks for the clocks in realtime and if you go above those clocks you get the card unstable/artifacting.

BTW last night I went ahead and flashed my board to the Rampage Formula and it's fully stable at 475*8 DDR2-950. I'm going to try for higher frequencies tonight and see how it goes.


So Snipedogg, what sort of voltages/frequencies have you achieved with that volt-mod?

[Broken]

Hey, run furmark for me. Under furmark all my temps look good but man does my vddc temps shoot up, into the 80's. Curious as to what the XSPC block gets.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

So this isn't true?



BTW last night I went ahead and flashed my board to the Rampage Formula and it's fully stable at 475*8 DDR2-950. I'm going to try for higher frequencies tonight and see how it goes.


So Snipedogg, what sort of voltages/frequencies have you achieved with that volt-mod?

I am still waiting on fittings to finish my build, you guys should have some example clocks by next Friday (in my build log).

on the 4870, a voltmod with 30ohms of resistance got me to 900 core clock, but I didn't push it because I was using fixed resistors.

[binormalkilla]

I am still waiting on fittings to finish my build, you guys should have some example clocks by next Friday (in my build log).

on the 4870, a voltmod with 30ohms of resistance got me to 900 core clock, but I didn't push it because I was using fixed resistors.

Nice. I've seen a few modded 4870X2s around. I'm really not skilled enough with a soldering iron (yet) to be comfortable soldering such small components.

[HESmelaugh]

Thanks for posting this test! I think the XSPC blocks are very interesting but as you mentioned, it's hard to find reviews.

[binormalkilla]

Thanks for posting this test! I think the XSPC blocks are very interesting but as you mentioned, it's hard to find reviews.

You're welcome

[Jonni Nitro]

Nice block and nice benchies, I am looking hard at a x2 before I go through all the trouble building a watercooled system.

[binormalkilla]

Nice block and nice benchies, I am looking hard at a x2 before I go through all the trouble building a watercooled system.

I'm very pleased with the performance of this block. It keeps all of the components much cooler than the factory cooling solution (as you can see by the graphs.)
I normally go with the GPU block and RAMsinks, but this is much easier.....plus it's only $99.

[binormalkilla]

Does anyone know of a workaround to make Furmark work with Crossfire? I only get GPU1 loaded when I run it. I wonder if renaming to something like Oblivion.exe works. I would post the temp data for this bench but it's not going to be very accurate due to 1 GPU being loaded.
I normally don't even bother with it for this very reason, but it has been requested...

[Splave]

have you tryed full screen mode?
As a past owner of this block, I agree 100% with your mini-review.
The thing is just such a beast in your hand all that copper

[Manicdan]

i really would be careful with furmark, weve all seen the problems it can cause. but when u run it for the one card, do you still get the temp readout properly? thats all that was asked

[binormalkilla]

have you tryed full screen mode?
As a past owner of this block, I agree 100% with your mini-review.
The thing is just such a beast in your hand all that copper

Yes, I have to manually type in the screen res for 1920x1080. It only loads one core.

i really would be careful with furmark, weve all seen the problems it can cause. but when u run it for the one card, do you still get the temp readout properly? thats all that was asked

Well I suppose you're right, but it really just seems like a moot point since the other core and VRMs are adding heat to the block. I guess I'll run that and post results.

[NaeKuh]

wait HD4870X2 by itself has crossfire option in CCC? I thought that PLX chip did all the Xfire communication.

Because i dont see it in CCC until i dropped in my second HD4870X2.

[SNiiPE_DoGG]

4870x2 single has no CCC CF option, I just confirmed with permafrost up and running

[binormalkilla]

wait HD4870X2 by itself has crossfire option in CCC? I thought that PLX chip did all the Xfire communication.

Because i dont see it in CCC until i dropped in my second HD4870X2.

You're right, there is no CF option, but when I run furmark I only see 1 GPU being loaded. I monitor this on my G15.

[Broken]

Yes, had the same problem myself. You need to disable Catalyst AI to get it to load both cores. Kind of a pain but...

[binormalkilla]

Ok I apologize....I forgot to upload the Furmark results! I'll have them up in a few.
Well I tried disabling Catalyst AI and it still only loads on 1 GPU. I renamed the .exe file to prevent the driver-leve throttling. Keep in mind that my ambient temp is a few degrees lower than the previous tests. According to my infrared thermometer it's ~19C