7900GT: Unlocking the Beast Within

[dman918]

So... anyone wanna sell me their conductive pen yet?

Also, what is the consensus? 1.4v or 1.5v when the 7900gt is paired with a VF700, most likely in silent mode?

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: dman918
So... anyone wanna sell me their conductive pen yet?

Also, what is the consensus? 1.4v or 1.5v when the 7900gt is paired with a VF700, most likely in silent mode?

I would say stick with 1.4v core. Heat doesn't build up too much with these cards but I just don't wanna risk it with 1.5v since the first time I tried it, I started getting BSODs. But YMMV.

 

[samusaraniv]

I agree with Sharigan, I'm not going to attempt 1.5V.

I'd also like to say that after messing with the card for a couple days, I am only (lol) able to get the GPU clock up to 658 and mem clock up to 1860 w/ a VF700 in silent mode and copper OCZ ramsinks. The temps get around 67C full load. The card will run at clocks right around 700, but it sometimes caues games/3D apps to freeze momentarily, but never fully crash.

What kind of cooling do you use for your card, Sharigan? You must have a golden card to be stable at 700; most people I've talked to can only get their card stable around 650 @ 1.4 using air cooling.

Also, I reran 3Dmark '06 at 658/1860 w/ High Performance IQ and got 5222.

 

[dman918]

Yeah, with those temps at 1.4v, I probably wouldn't want to go higher. I should try hooking the VF700 in the NON-silent mode though, and see how NON-silent it is. Hmmm... interesting experiment for me to try.

Now to just get that conductive pen...

 

[samusaraniv]

Originally posted by: dman918
Yeah, with those temps at 1.4v, I probably wouldn't want to go higher. I should try hooking the VF700 in the NON-silent mode though, and see how NON-silent it is. Hmmm... interesting experiment for me to try.

Now to just get that conductive pen...

It's actually not too bad, but I prefer my computer to be a little more quiet. Temps drop by about 5-7C in load if you keep it in normal mode, though.

 

[inveterate]

I've never used Conductive pen before,, but it looks "errrrm" not reliable,, do these mods work with like a wire. I feel much better soldiering a wire to the 2 contact points. And how did that guy in the first post Put that giant ass heatsink onto the 79gt,, like is it glued on ?

 

[Slitherythesnake]

Originally posted by: inveterate
I've never used Conductive pen before,, but it looks "errrrm" not reliable,, do these mods work with like a wire. I feel much better soldiering a wire to the 2 contact points. And how did that guy in the first post Put that giant ass heatsink onto the 79gt,, like is it glued on ?

Even if you made a mistake with the conductive pen, using some alcohol or acetone will remove the ink and revert your card back to normal voltages. The guy at VR-Zone tied that heatsink to the card using cable ties.

 

[inveterate]

I doubt i'd make a mistake soldiering wires, my problem is with reliability of a product i've never used before,, over "TIME"

 

[firewolfsm]

Is there a way (other than temps) to check the voltage, some people made accidents with the pen and didn't know.

 

[cubalis]

I have had good results so far. Got my step up 7900GT CO SC today and did the 1.5v mod. I'm not new to volt modding, and this was a breaze. I am completely stable at 710/1900, and havn't even pushed for more yet lol. I am cooling my card with the Thermalright V1-ultra and 2 quiet fans. I idle at 36c and don't break 52c load. I love this cooler... if only it was quicker to install... Got 6675 in 3dmark06 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=225890

cheers

 

[TheRyuu]

Originally posted by: cubalis
I have had good results so far. Got my step up 7900GT CO SC today and did the 1.5v mod. I'm not new to volt modding, and this was a breaze. I am completely stable at 710/1900, and havn't even pushed for more yet lol. I am cooling my card with the Thermalright V1-ultra and 2 quiet fans. I idle at 36c and don't break 52c load. I love this cooler... if only it was quicker to install... Got 6675 in 3dmark06 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=225890

cheers

So, just one more question before I give it a go (finally got my conductive pen too).

Is 1.5 volts considered safe? I'm looking for a 24/7 safe kinda thing. Should I go 1.4 or 1.5v?

BTW, I'm on Water Cooling (or will be very shortly)

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
So, just one more question before I give it a go (finally got my conductive pen too).

Is 1.5 volts considered safe? I'm looking for a 24/7 safe kinda thing. Should I go 1.4 or 1.5v?

BTW, I'm on Water Cooling (or will be very shortly)

1.5v should be safe if you're gonna be using water. I'm not worried about the GPU not able to handle 1.5v I'm more worried about the 7900GTs voltage regulators (which are designed for lower voltage than on the 7900GTX), which is why I'm not gonna attempt 1.5v . . .

 

[inveterate]

V regulators Ehhh,,, can't we just swap those out too?

Oh,, movie quote from this Indian movie I saw at my Indian friend's house..

Girls don't think based on logic. They're logic switch is permanently Turned off. EVEN if u some how turn that switch on, the regulator stays at ZERO. ___________LOLOLOLOL

 

[nib95]

Ok, so let me get this straight.

To volt mod a 7900 GT you have to volt mod both the Vcore AND the memory?
So I cant just do that conductive pen line vcore mod and leave it at that?
I need to also mod the memory?

I'm confuzzled!

 

[inveterate]

IMo the most wise would wait for the pioneers to test the land for habitability. See what happening to California,, yea,, it's gonna fall off .

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: nib95
Ok, so let me get this straight.

To volt mod a 7900 GT you have to volt mod both the Vcore AND the memory?
So I cant just do that conductive pen line vcore mod and leave it at that?
I need to also mod the memory?

I'm confuzzled!

The conductive pen methods only volts mods the core, NOT the memory. You have to use the pencil method and a voltmeter to mod the memory.

 

[nib95]

Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1

Originally posted by: nib95
Ok, so let me get this straight.

To volt mod a 7900 GT you have to volt mod both the Vcore AND the memory?
So I cant just do that conductive pen line vcore mod and leave it at that?
I need to also mod the memory?

I'm confuzzled!

The conductive pen methods only volts mods the core, NOT the memory. You have to use the pencil method and a voltmeter to mod the memory.

Can someone please link me to the memory volt mod.
That earlier picture I saw is SO confusing and I have no idea about this.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Is anyone else having a problem with coolbits/powerstrip not utilizing 3D clock speeds even when in 3D mode? It seems I have to force my 2D speeds to 3D speeds in order to get my games and benching programs to run at the correct speeds . . .

 

[imported_ST]

Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1
Is anyone else having a problem with coolbits/powerstrip not utilizing 3D clock speeds even when in 3D mode? It seems I have to force my 2D speeds to 3D speeds in order to get my games and benching programs to run at the correct speeds . . .

I am also getting very inconsitent results in 3DMark...can vary as much as 1000 points in 3D05...Gonna try to see if your 2D/3D sync will correct it...btw> I'm also getting a slight whine from the mosfet area.

 

[TheRyuu]

Just wondering, whats the stock voltage for the RAM?

Cause I know the overvolt will bring you to 2.2v, but I still don't know what stock it?
Taking a guess, 2.0v?

And is the overvolt to 2.2 considered safe? I'm not afraid to do it (almost fried a different card doing a mod to it, but that worked out ok), just wondering if the community considers it to be "safe". (and I relize that "safe" can vary from person to person, so just give the general consencus <-oooh, big word )

 

[samusaraniv]

Originally posted by: wizboy11
Just wondering, whats the stock voltage for the RAM?

Cause I know the overvolt will bring you to 2.2v, but I still don't know what stock it?
Taking a guess, 2.0v?

And is the overvolt to 2.2 considered safe? I'm not afraid to do it (almost fried a different card doing a mod to it, but that worked out ok), just wondering if the community considers it to be "safe". (and I relize that "safe" can vary from person to person, so just give the general consencus <-oooh, big word )

*ConsenSus ;D

I think 1.4/2.2 should be safe. As I stated in another post, I'm no expert, but I believe that raising the voltages could possibly shorten the lifespan of the card. How much is the question to be asked. And remember, if your memory gets too hot the card will not throttle the memory clock rate, so you can fry your ram by setting the clock rates too high. GPU will throttle or freeze.

 

[1Dark1Sharigan1]

Originally posted by: samusaraniv
And remember, if your memory gets too hot the card will not throttle the memory clock rate, so you can fry your ram by setting the clock rates too high. GPU will throttle or freeze.

I think that's only an issue if no heatsinks at all are put on the ram, or if you go crazy with overvolting.

 

[samusaraniv]

Originally posted by: 1Dark1Sharigan1

Originally posted by: samusaraniv
And remember, if your memory gets too hot the card will not throttle the memory clock rate, so you can fry your ram by setting the clock rates too high. GPU will throttle or freeze.

I think that's only an issue if no heatsinks at all are put on the ram, or if you go crazy with overvolting.

Ya, sounds plausible. You will see mad artifacting before you actually burn your mem chips up, I think.

 

[nib95]

can anyone post pics/links to the memory volt mod?

 

[Muhadib]

Update:

Card: EVGA 7900 GT 500 / 750 stock version
Core Cooling: VF700-Cu AS5
Memory Cooling: 1/2 of the modules have ram sinks on them
Mod: Vcore 1.5v conductive ink pen
Temp: Max 61C

3Dmark 2006 runs fine at 675 / 900. But games will crash after a while and do genraly bad things when I ALT+TAB out of them sometimes.

Im playing it safe at 550 / 850 right now. I plan on buing a multimeter to see if I'm getting the voltage I think im getting. More ram sinks may be on my shoping list too.