Radeon HD 7950 Owner's Thread

[thilanliyan]

I enabled "Unofficial Overclocking Mode = 2" in MSI Afterburner by editing the MSIAfterburner.cfg with Notepad and putting these 2 lines in under [ATIADLHAL]:

UnofficialOverclockingMode=2
UnofficialOverclockingEULA=I confirm that I am aware of unofficial overclocking limitations and fully understand that MSI will not provide me any support on it

Thanks, that did the trick.

Now to worry about the temps lol. At 0.968v and 955MHz while mining, the card is getting up to 72C with 50C idle!! Does ths MSI 7950 TF3 run THAT hot?

At that rate I won't even be able to run stock voltage, which is 1.038v.

Do these values look right...these are while mining. GPU#0 is the 7950.

 

[Rvenger]

Thanks, that did the trick.

Now to worry about the temps lol. At 0.968v and 955MHz while mining, the card is getting up to 72C with 50C idle!! Does ths MSI 7950 TF3 run THAT hot?

At that rate I won't even be able to run stock voltage, which is 1.038v.

Do these values look right...these are while mining. GPU#0 is the 7950.

Mine idles at 32c. Somethings amiss.

 

[kalrith]

Okay I got my card, but is there a way to underclock the memory to less than 300MHz? The lowest I can go in afterburner is 650, but the lowest that it will actually set is about 825MHz.

I'm having the same problem with my other 6950 except that will not actually set any value below 1250MHz.

HELP!

I'm not sure if this has been solved or not, but I had the same problem with my 4870. I had to go into one of the Afterburner config files and change the current memory clocks to 300 MHz. Then it showed up that way in Afterburner and allowed me to save it as a profile.

 

[RussianSensation]

Thanks, that did the trick.

Now to worry about the temps lol. At 0.968v and 955MHz while mining, the card is getting up to 72C with 50C idle!! Does ths MSI 7950 TF3 run THAT hot?

Computerbase tested many HD7950 cards with aftermarket coolers and they tend to idle at 27-37*C. Your card's GPU load temperatures should be closer to 64-65*C, and much lower with an undervolt.

Take a look at your VRM temperatures which are rated up to ~120*C. You are getting 74*C. That's amazing (mine are 93-97*C).

The most reasonable explanation then is that your case has poor airflow. If the card was getting hot, the VRM temperatures would be spiking to 100*C. That means the card can't remove all that heat it dumps into your case and the hot air is being circulated back into the card (i.e., the MSI card may be sitting way too close to your PSU, blocking airflow for at least one of the fans, or it's being obstructed by your 6950's PCB if it's the card in the top PCIe slot). Take a picture and post it here so we can take a look at your case airflow, your case fan setup and how much space you have between the GPUs. The fact that your idle temperatures are 50*C also may be a hint that your case may have insufficient airflow/spacing for 2 cards.

Can you take 3-4 pics and show us your fan / GPU setup?

You can try swapping the 7950 and 6950 places (1-2 to 2-1) and see if your temperatures change. If that doesn't work, remove the HD6950 entirely and put HD7950 into the top most PCIe slot and take new measurements after the case has cooled down for 5-10 min. If your temperatures drop significantly with just the MSI TwinFrozr in the case, then the MSI card isn't getting enough airflow when the 2nd card is inserted.

 

[thilanliyan]

The most reasonable explanation then is that your case has poor airflow. If the card was getting hot, the VRM temperatures would be spiking to 100*C.

Yes I think that may be the problem...it is pretty cramped in there due to the size of the Panzerbox and 2 internal radiators...I do have a 120mm fan I stuck in there to blow from the front to the back of the cards and that air is coming straight from the front intake so it is cool enough, but it probably isn't helping a whole lot.

I can't wait to get it watercooled...hope I have some time this weekend to modify the Maze4 to fit.

i will report back once I've watercooled it. Thanks all for your help!

 

[Binky]

$305 AR at NCIX. It appears to be in stock too. Free shipping.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffi...GD5/OC&manufacture=MSI/MicroStar&promoid=1254

 

[thilanliyan]

I'm not sure if this has been solved or not, but I had the same problem with my 4870. I had to go into one of the Afterburner config files and change the current memory clocks to 300 MHz. Then it showed up that way in Afterburner and allowed me to save it as a profile.

It has been solved. Thanks.
http://forums.anandtech.com/showpost.php?p=33746443&postcount=76

$305 AR at NCIX. It appears to be in stock too. Free shipping.

http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffi...GD5/OC&manufacture=MSI/MicroStar&promoid=1254

Yes that is where I got mine from and my card was the 6+8 pin version as well. Actually, I pricematched Newegg's $309.99 and with the $20 rebate I will (hopefully) have got it for $289.99. Once taxes and shipping were added however it came to $340 ($320 with the rebate).

 

[lehtv]

Such good value... Wish I had similar deals here in Europe :<. Here that card costs 352&#8364; at minimum, equal to 435 USD.

 

[kalrith]

Would this 7970 be a better value at $330 AR: http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffi...u=68334&vpn=HD7970-DC2T-3GD5&manufacture=ASUS

 

[Binky]

Would this 7970 be a better value at $330 AR: http://us.ncix.com/products/?usaffi...u=68334&vpn=HD7970-DC2T-3GD5&manufacture=ASUS

Holy crap. That has to be a price mistake. I'm ordering one now.

Edit: can't order it. That's a $400+ card.

 

[lehtv]

Lolwut? It says in stock, and when you add it to the cart it says it's low stock or out of stock, then you confirm that and it tells you the product is unavailable and fails to add it to the cart.

 

[blackened23]

Thanks, that did the trick.

Now to worry about the temps lol. At 0.968v and 955MHz while mining, the card is getting up to 72C with 50C idle!! Does ths MSI 7950 TF3 run THAT hot?

At that rate I won't even be able to run stock voltage, which is 1.038v.

Do these values look right...these are while mining. GPU#0 is the 7950.

Ack, something is amiss. That isn't normal for TF3 even with auto fan. If I had to guess i'd say you may have to reseat the shroud and re-apply TIM (which is really easy to do)

 

[kalrith]

Lolwut? It says in stock, and when you add it to the cart it says it's low stock or out of stock, then you confirm that and it tells you the product is unavailable and fails to add it to the cart.

Rats! I knew it was too good to be true

Edit: Not to derail the thread, but what do you guys think of the Twin Frozr vs. the PCS+ 7950: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814131458

I've heard Silverforce tout the cooling capabilities of the card and would like to hear others' input on it.

 

[Silverforce11]

There's reviews with this cooler, hardware.fr did a pretty comprehensive review, along with guru and techpowerup, but it was early in the launch without vcore mod.

I was tossing up a MSI vs PCS+ as well and after some research, the clear winner was the PCS+, the best cooler for the series so far. Very happy with it considering how cramped my case is.

 

[Binky]

Toms reviewed the Powercolor card. It did very well in noise (better than MSI), but slightly higher temps than MSI. They seem to similar.

 

[djsb]

If you have multiple monitors, remember that it prevents the memory from downclocking at idle which will cause warm idle temps. The TF3 7950 that I just bought is roughly the same temp at idle (of course my computer is in a super warm room) but then so was my Windforce 6850 because it ran multiple monitors as well. Though my load temps aren't as high as yours...

 

[kalrith]

If you have multiple monitors, remember that it prevents the memory from downclocking at idle which will cause warm idle temps.

Really? Do you mean downclocking automatically using CCC? My 4870 with two monitors will downclock the memory to 200 or 300 MHz using Afterburner.

 

[thilanliyan]

If you have multiple monitors, remember that it prevents the memory from downclocking at idle which will cause warm idle temps. The TF3 7950 that I just bought is roughly the same temp at idle (of course my computer is in a super warm room) but then so was my Windforce 6850 because it ran multiple monitors as well. Though my load temps aren't as high as yours...

If that is intended for me, thanks for the input. I don't have multiple monitors so that wouldn't be my issue. I am going to be watercooling it and hopefully that gets rid of some of the warm air blowing around inside the case. I am hoping it is bad airflow in the case.

 

[zaydq]

Here are some pics of my OCs... will update if i get any higher.

 

[iCyborg]

Just ordered it myself, from Cdn Direct for $310, they have free shipping. With 670 out of my price range and 7870s going for only $10-$20 less, this is definitely a much better deal. There's also $20 rebate, but conditions seem harsh - I have to give all sorts of info to MSI and to AMEX because rebate comes as AMEX gift card with its own restrictions; this ain't worth it to me.

I don't plan to OC it much or at all for everyday purposes, but I'll try see how far it can go for fun

 

[Ventanni]

Looks like the prices on the 7870 are beginning to drop as well. I'm seeing the MSI Frozer 7870 version for $259.99 now after rebate. Oh the dreaming I shall do.

 

[kalrith]

Looks like the prices on the 7870 are beginning to drop as well. I'm seeing the MSI Frozer 7870 version for $259.99 now after rebate. Oh the dreaming I shall do.

I still don't find the 7870 appealing for overclockers. When both are overclocked, the 7870 beat the 7850 by 6%. The lowest price on a Twin Frozr 7850 was $210 AR, so IMO I wouldn't pay more than $223 for the 7870 . Obviously the price of the 7850 has gone up. If I were buying now, I'd wait for the 7850 to drop to $210 or buy the 7950.

The 7950/7970 prices have been very appealing lately, and I've really thought about buying one and setting it up for bitcoin mining. However, I'm not really going to have time to game for a couple months, so I think waiting is a better choice for me. I'm also moving in a couple weeks (hopefully), and I have no clue what my electricity costs will be. I'd hate to buy a card for bitcoin mining and then find that I'm paying 20 cents per kWh.

 

[zaydq]

7950s are the best price/performance out there. I maxed out at 1225/1600. Upping voltage to 1.3 didn't yield any better. Didn't bother getting much more out of my memory either. That's a bit over 50% oc on core clock vs ref clocks and about 28% on memory. For 310 dollars CDN I pretty much have a stock gtx 680

 

[hyrule4927]

Just ordered one of these. I had been planning to get a GTX670 for a while, but I figured I'd rather save $100 since the performance is so similar.

 

[Shmee]

seems the twin frozr is OOS on newegg, but the gigabyte one looks good and is about the same price.