Radeon HD 7950 Owner's Thread

[WaTaGuMp]

Thank you all for your answers!! I won't do overclocking, so this wont bother me. I just picked the cheapest one, with a good cooling system so it wont get hot.

I will go with this solution.

Well done, going for price when you are not going to overclock is the way to go.

 

[3DVagabond]

I have this one:
http://www.pcplanetsystems.com/abc/p...p?item_id=3528

The other parts are: core i7 3770k, maximus v formula, 8gb corsair vengeance 1866Mhz, 1xHDD 120GB WD @10.000rpm and 1x700GB WD @ 7500rpm.

I'm not familiar with Tagen, but that looks like a Superflower manufactured unit. A 900W Superflower PSU can easily handle 2x7950's. I'd run trifire and feel confident.

 

[3DVagabond]

Ok - i read a little and it is confirmed - the last revision GB 7950 WF3 cards with FX0 and FW0 bios versions are hardware voltage locked. Even if someone succeed reflashing the bios, the voltage will remain locked.

What's the voltage control module they're using?

 

[psolord]

Ok - i read a little and it is confirmed - the last revision GB 7950 WF3 cards with FX0 and FW0 bios versions are hardware voltage locked. Even if someone succeed reflashing the bios, the voltage will remain locked.

Oh well!

Thank you all for your answers!! I won't do overclocking, so this wont bother me. I just picked the cheapest one, with a good cooling system so it wont get hot.

I will go with this solution.

You're welcome mate.

I made two short fraps recorded clips of Crysis 3 and Tomb Raider, mostly to see and show to people how microstutter fairs in 79XX crossfire.

Here's the Crysis 3 clip

http://www.multiupload.nl/7XAMIRVZNI

The settings are shown at the beginning of the clip. As you can see, when the game hits 60fps, which does most of the time and only drops when it hits cpu limits, it is perfectly smooth. No microstutter in sight.

On the other hand, we have Tomb Raider.

http://www.multiupload.nl/1LZLWBUVCI

It does stutter a bit, even with 60fps vsynced. The good thing is that if you tone down the settings a tiny bit, you can still get 60fps with one card and no stutter.

I will try Radeon Pro's and MSI AB's frame capping later to see how these fair.

 

[Belkov]

What's the voltage control module they're using?

I don't know - don't have one of those...

 

[deanx0r]

I installed the MSI AB and noticed that no matter what I set my GPU voltage, it still shows 1.25V under load (even stock). Is this due to boost? I got an MSI 7950 TwinFrozr if that matters.

 

[BallaTheFeared]

I had the same problem with current and beta 3.0 with AB.

I also couldn't change it with Trixx 4.4.0 Mod.


You can however change it with Trixx 4.6.0, which is the latest however you can't change vram with it but both the two aforementioned programs can...

lol >.<

 

[bigmen 2007]

Oh well!





You're welcome mate.

I made two short fraps recorded clips of Crysis 3 and Tomb Raider, mostly to see and show to people how microstutter fairs in 79XX crossfire.

Here's the Crysis 3 clip

http://www.multiupload.nl/7XAMIRVZNI

The settings are shown at the beginning of the clip. As you can see, when the game hits 60fps, which does most of the time and only drops when it hits cpu limits, it is perfectly smooth. No microstutter in sight.

On the other hand, we have Tomb Raider.

http://www.multiupload.nl/1LZLWBUVCI

It does stutter a bit, even with 60fps vsynced. The good thing is that if you tone down the settings a tiny bit, you can still get 60fps with one card and no stutter.

I will try Radeon Pro's and MSI AB's frame capping later to see how these fair.

Thank you very much my friend for your videos. I don't think that there is so much problem in Tomb Raider. You went me one step further of buying those two.

If it can run crysis 3 @ 60fps, it can do it in a lot of games!! And in games that will come.

 

[Face2Face]

1250/1650 Gaming Stable with 1.175v on the core. Sticking with this, Unless something chokes - Maxes out @ 55c. VRMS are under 70C
I love this cooler :wub:
Crysis 3 is running very good

 

[Belkov]

Don't use this clock for 24/7 - this is my advice...
But it's awsome performance i must say... One of the best i've seen.

 

[Face2Face]

Thanks. Yeah this PC stays off most of the day and I never game more than 2hrs at a time, so it should be ok. Well.... unless it blows up



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[Belkov]

I hope it won't... It will be very sad.

 

[Face2Face]

I hope it won't... It will be very sad.

Yes, yes it would. I guess we should be happy because we can at least we can adjust our voltages. I really hate how AMD partners are locking down voltages as of late. I understand why they are doing it, but it still sucks. You should be happy though you have the best Gigabyte 7950 Windforce 3 on the forums

 

[Belkov]

You're not right - it's very poor clocker. I can achieve high clocks like 1200/1800 but only for benchmarking. For 24/7 clock is 1100/1500MHz.

 

[Face2Face]

Just be glad you can hit 1200/1800. I'm sure most voltage locked WF3's cannot.


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[Belkov]

I can't play games with such a clock so what is the point i can hit it?
However i have the best temps with stock cooler i've ever seen so i'm very glad. And by the way my VRM temps are lower than yours...

 

[Face2Face]

Does it artifact when you play games or freeze? I could get my vrm temps lower with the arctic heatsinks, but they are not really that high. Well within spec.


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[Belkov]

Well if i don't increase too much the memory there are no artifacts. Usualy when the voltage is not enough - it freezes.

And i said that my VRM temps are lower only to make a point how low my temps are...

 

[Face2Face]

My bad . The WF3's are some awesome coolers. Pixelation is usually what I see if the memory clocks are to high. Artifacts and freezing usually from overclocking the core from what I have seen.


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[Belkov]

That's strange because artefacting is connected with the memory usually...

 

[3DVagabond]

Don't use this clock for 24/7 - this is my advice...
But it's awsome performance i must say... One of the best i've seen.

Why not? 1.175v is well within everyday tolerance for Tahiti. Some cards are shipped at 1.25v stock.

 

[zaydq]

Why not? 1.175v is well within everyday tolerance for Tahiti. Some cards are shipped at 1.25v stock.

1.175v is safe, as you said. The card shouldn't suffer from an increased rate of degradation.

By the way, 1250 on the core is flippin' amazing!!

 

[Belkov]

Why not? 1.175v is well within everyday tolerance for Tahiti. Some cards are shipped at 1.25v stock.

Because he don't need this extra performance for usual stuff... But of course - there is no problem to keep it.

 

[Face2Face]

1.175v is safe, as you said. The card shouldn't suffer from an increased rate of degradation.

By the way, 1250 on the core is flippin' amazing!!

Thanks! The card only runs these clocks when playing games, other than that it's stock speeds all of the time. 1300 is stable on the core @ 1.25v. I may be able to go lower on the volts to keep it stable? But at 1.25v the VRMs are getting too hot - in the 90's.

Now that I have Crysis 3, it's a great game to test a cards stability while overclocked. I usually run through Unique Heaven and Valley , 3DMark11 and them play FC3 and Crysis 3 for awhile. I guess I can try BF3 as well..

 

[zaydq]

Thanks! The card only runs these clocks when playing games, other than that it's stock speeds all of the time. 1300 is stable on the core @ 1.25v. I may be able to go lower on the volts to keep it stable? But at 1.25v the VRMs are getting too hot - in the 90's.

Now that I have Crysis 3, it's a great game to test a cards stability while overclocked. I usually run through Unique Heaven and Valley , 3DMark11 and them play FC3 and Crysis 3 for awhile. I guess I can try BF3 as well..

You could try and tweak the voltage to make it as efficient as possible, but you'd be OCD to bother.

I honestly think i could ho higher than 1200 on mine, but the TF3 cooling aperture is already at it's end's wits keeping mine stable at 1.168v. Might have to replace the TIM and see where it takes me.

Honestly, at 1.25v you're at the standard voltage the card was designed to run at, and i wouldn't bother with the hassle of tweaking it, you won't save much in heat or power, but you'll definitely gain in frustration as the card artifacts or hard locks



Oh! And as a side note, thank you all for keeping this thread going!! 1100+ replies and 85000+ views is amazing! And nearly everybody has achieved some amazing overclocks making 7970ghz/680 speeds pretty much a near definite for the majority of 7950s(atleast as far as the tf3 and wf3 unlocked voltage cards go)