7970 overclocking woes

[moriz]

I'm having trouble overclocking my 7970.

It's fine on stock voltages, hitting 1100/1575 with no problems. However, trying to go past that proved to be difficult. Using afterburner, I tried 1150 core at 1.25v. It seems to run furmark just fine, but ctd with any game. No artifacts, just a straight crash with the "driver stopped and has restarted" message.

Did anyone else encounter the same behavior?

 

[Absolute0]

If it runs furmark, it should be able to run games. Might be some kind of software issue, a conflict between afterburner and the driver perhaps.

I'm not sure. I did get that message when I crashed out of 3dmark when overclocked too far.

Maybe try changing the drivers?

 

[CitanUzuki]

Furmark is a terrible test for an overclock. If it can't pass 3d mark it isn't stable.

 

[moriz]

Would sapphire trixxx work better? Maybe I'll try using that instead.

AB is using the /XCL switch to extend the overclocking limits. I dint think it affects it, but who knows.

 

[thilanliyan]

Temps?

 

[moriz]

Temps?

Decent, topping out around 80C in furmark. Had a custom fan profile going.

 

[Absolute0]

1100 core with stock means you should get 1150 with 1.25v, they shouldn't scale THAT poorly with voltage

Temps could be culprit if crash occurs well into the benchmarking session.

Edit: 80c is kinda hot, shouldn't cause a crash though, try a more aggressive fan profile and 3dmark again

Also if you just jumped straight to 1.25v, try lowering, to 1.2, 1.15 etc. If you do 1100 with stock then you dont need much more to do 1150. When I was trying my card with 1.25v vs. 1.3v, 1.3v didn't help at all.

Also after a failed overclock you might have to restart. I had this issue, although for artifacting.

 

[Jhatfie]

I personally was able to get better OC's using Trixx. So it might be worth a try to see if you have better luck.

 

[moriz]

The crashes occur within minutes of starting the game, so it's probably not temp based.

I also have a gt240 running two displays (total 3), but I don't think it would affect anything.

 

[thilanliyan]

The crashes occur within minutes of starting the game, so it's probably not temp based.

I also have a gt240 running two displays (total 3), but I don't think it would affect anything.

Disable or take out that card and see if that fixes the problem.

 

[AdamK47]

Furmark is a terrible test for an overclock. If it can't pass 3d mark it isn't stable.

It's a great test for an overclock. If it doesn't past the most strenuous tests at a certain overlclock, I won't use it. Unigine demos work well too. Tropics and Heaven.

 

[Tempered81]

Weak PSU? GT240 Conflicts? you have nvidia and amd drivers, dont see that going smoothly

 

[CitanUzuki]

It's a great test for an overclock. If it doesn't past the most strenuous tests at a certain overlclock, I won't use it. Unigine demos work well too. Tropics and Heaven.

No, it's ok for preliminary testing at best. I can't tell you how many times I've had a "stable" overclock in furmark only to get artifacts/crashes during 3dmark or some other benchmark.

 

[AdamK47]

Timedemo 1 for Unreal. Let it loop. That's how I tested the overclocks on my TNT.

 

[superjim]

80C isn't bad at all for Furmark load temps (provided the fans aren't at 100%). My old 6970 would easily hit 90C in most games, let alone a stress test, with fans at 47%. I'd like to hear what the power supply is. OCing GPUs even on stock volts (PowerTune +20%) eats up watts fast (see AT 7950 review). OCCT is sucking down the watts.

 

[Absolute0]

If it can furmark then it shouldn't be the PSU.

I had an issue with insufficient PSU (using a stupid 2x 12v rail @ 20 amps each) and when i had tried to furmark my GTX275 I got instant computer shutoff

The problem in the case of insufficient PSU is, as I have read, the load will drag the 5v rail down too much which restarts the computer.

Anyway, if it can run furmark, PSU can supply enough juice to graphics card at least.

 

[skipsneeky2]

If it runs furmark, it should be able to run games. Might be some kind of software issue, a conflict between afterburner and the driver perhaps.

I'm not sure. I did get that message when I crashed out of 3dmark when overclocked too far.

Maybe try changing the drivers?

LOL i like the furmark comment,i had my gtx560 non ti at 945 core,2225 memory at 1.037v,it was 3dmark fine as well as furmark and occt fine,i ran all three multiple times but every 15 minutes into a BC2 game round i would have a lovely system hard lock.

Eventually had to settle at 925 core,2100 memory before i was fully stable but yeah i'm removing occt and furmark as testing programs,all i need to do is load up BF3 or BC2 to max settings,let the vram usage jump and i will get my crash guaranteed if unstable.

 

[moriz]

I have an ax750 psu, so that's fine. I really don't think it's the mixed video cards, either.

I'll exhaust the software side first before going something drastic like pulling the second card. I kinda need it. Next step: sapphire trixxx and 3dmark11. Or maybe heaven bench.

 

[Grooveriding]

Weak PSU? GT240 Conflicts? you have nvidia and amd drivers, dont see that going smoothly

Doubt it is the PSU, but is almost certainly the bolded.

 

[MrK6]

Furmark is a near useless stability test, use modern games isntead. Remove all the drivers, then re-install AMD's only. Also keep your vRAM at stock (1375MHz) and focus on overclocking your core alone.

 

[badb0y]

I agree Furmark sucks for stability testing, 3D Mark 11 is pretty effective though.

 

[moriz]

If there's a conflict due to drivers, why is it that it only manifests when I overclock by a certain amount? Shouldn't it manifest regardless of any overclocks?

 

[moriz]

Update: I've fully uninstalled the Nvidia card and started to use trixx. No change in overclocking ability. I'm going to try to go back to driver 12.1 and see if it's any better.

 

[Tempered81]

RC11 Jan 20th is probably the most used driver atm.

 

[moriz]

That's the one I'm on right now actually.

And it made no difference. The card simply do not go to 1150mhz, even with 1.275v. I'm really hesitant to try 1.3v, and I'm not sure if it can make a difference anyhow.