Radeon HD 7950 Owner's Thread

[3DVagabond]

I'm not interested in 7970, but i can confirm that rev.1 7950 are not hardware voltage locked. Some of them come with locked voltage bioses, but they can be reflashed... 7950 GB rev. 2 for now are hardware voltage locked. About 7970s - all i know that most of them are voltage locked irrespective of the kind - oc or not.

Most 7970's are not voltage locked. AFAIK the Gigabyte is the only one that is, and I don't know that even that one is for certain. For example, people were reporting that the Sapphire V2 was voltage locked and it turns out that you just need the latest version of Trixx to access the voltage control.

 

[Belkov]

Most 7970's are not voltage locked. AFAIK the Gigabyte is the only one that is, and I don't know that even that one is for certain. For example, people were reporting that the Sapphire V2 was voltage locked and it turns out that you just need the latest version of Trixx to access the voltage control.

I was talking only for gigabyte 7970s. The question of the guy i quoted was about GB 7970s and that's why i didn't specified the exact brand.

 

[3DVagabond]

I was talking only for gigabyte 7970s. The question of the guy i quoted was about GB 7970s and that's why i didn't specified the exact brand.

Sorry. When you said "kinds" I interpreted that as brands. My bad. The Gigabytes do appear to be voltage locked. It might be that the software hasn't been updated to work with the newer V2 bioses, but until, or unless, they come out with new tweaking hardware that would work with their V2 cards, it's all academic because the end result is you can't adjust voltage.

 

[Belkov]

don't worry mate - it happens. By the way i can't understand why the new gb 7950s are with 1*6 and 1*8 pins whan they are voltage locked. Very stupid i think. What's the point with voltage locked?!

 

[Face2Face]

Its a tf3 on a 6+8 pin 7970 pcb. Don't know the exact model number. When running 1200 on the core and 1.168v. It hits 83-85 degrees and locks up/ this is with a 70% fan setting. Right now im running 1100 on the core at 1.04v and with the fan at 49% and it runs extremely cool, topping out at 60 degrees.

We have similar cards. Except for mine never ran in the 60's with the stock clocks and voltage. My card would always run in the low to mid 70's when gaming, even after a TIM change. If your GPU temps are that high @ 1200 you can image what your VRM temps are... A lot of the High ASIC quality TF3 7970 PCB cards can do high clocks with minimal voltage, but since there is minimal chip leakage, they tend to run hot.

I have found a cure though for the High GPU temps


Still working on VRM temps though. I am going to buy some Fujipoly Thermal Pads for the VRM's. My card seems to have a slight gap between the stock thermal pad and VRM's.

The stock thickness of the thermal pad should be 1.0mm so I am going to order some in this thickness. I have heard the pads cannot be compressed and going to a 1.5mm would not work.


I will let you know if it helps. As it stands I can game for long periods of time @ 1200/1650 with max GPU temp of 60c and my VRM's will get in the 80's.

 

[Stuka87]

Its a tf3 on a 6+8 pin 7970 pcb. Don't know the exact model number. When running 1200 on the core and 1.168v. It hits 83-85 degrees and locks up/ this is with a 70% fan setting. Right now im running 1100 on the core at 1.04v and with the fan at 49% and it runs extremely cool, topping out at 60 degrees.

wow that is hot. Mine barely hit 70C at 1200. I did not stick with 1200 as the voltage needed to be a bit higher than I liked. So lowered it and run it at 1100. Although even at 1200 my voltage was lower than a stock boost card.

 

[Burpy]

I will be getting my Sapphire 7950 3L today. Hopefully it will be a noticeable improvement over my 6950.

 

[Belkov]

It will be, don't worry. Even if it can't clock very well, 7950 is far better than 6950...

 

[Zargon]

I will be getting my Sapphire 7950 3L today. Hopefully it will be a noticeable improvement over my 6950.

I originally went from 6950 XF to one 7950 and was fairly pleased

 

[Durvelle27]

It will be, don't worry. Even if it can't clock very well, 7950 is far better than 6950...

i went from a HD 6950 2GB OC'd @900/1400 to a HD 7870 OC'd @1200/1450 and the performance leap was pretty good so i think you won't be disappointed

 

[zaydq]

We have similar cards. Except for mine never ran in the 60's with the stock clocks and voltage. My card would always run in the low to mid 70's when gaming, even after a TIM change. If your GPU temps are that high @ 1200 you can image what your VRM temps are... A lot of the High ASIC quality TF3 7970 PCB cards can do high clocks with minimal voltage, but since there is minimal chip leakage, they tend to run hot.

I have found a cure though for the High GPU temps


Still working on VRM temps though. I am going to buy some Fujipoly Thermal Pads for the VRM's. My card seems to have a slight gap between the stock thermal pad and VRM's.

The stock thickness of the thermal pad should be 1.0mm - this pad is 1.5mm and can be compressed some if needed.

http://www.frozencpu.com/products/1...x_15_x_15_-_Thermal_Conductivity_110_WmK.html

I will let you know if it helps. As it stands I can game for long periods of time @ 1200/1650 with max GPU temp of 60c and my VRM's will get in the 80's.

Yeah, let me know. My vrm temps are in the 90's when running 1200/1800. Just can't keep the core temps low. Its not overly concerning, i just want the e-peen of running 1200 every day.

 

[Rvenger]

Well guys I just purchased a Sapphire 4L HD 7950. I am selling my Titan, I can't justify it's price since I don't game that often anymore. I keep going back and forth but I need new AC and Heat in this house. That's more worth it than 25% more performance.




EDIT: Cancelled the order, probably will go with a 7970 when a good one comes.

 

[WaTaGuMp]

Well guys I just purchased a Sapphire 4L HD 7950. I am selling my Titan, I can't justify it's price since I don't game that often anymore. I keep going back and forth but I need new AC and Heat in this house. That's more worth it than 25% more performance.




EDIT: Cancelled the order, probably will go with a 7970 when a good one comes.

Oh come on, do a give away and make sure I win it. :biggrin:

 

[zaydq]

Well guys I just purchased a Sapphire 4L HD 7950. I am selling my Titan, I can't justify it's price since I don't game that often anymore. I keep going back and forth but I need new AC and Heat in this house. That's more worth it than 25% more performance.




EDIT: Cancelled the order, probably will go with a 7970 when a good one comes.

May i ask why you're going 7970 > 7950? Just buy a reputable overclocker and pocket a few extra bucks. Obviously, the 7970 can overclock if you get one that isn't voltage locked. Just curious.

 

[Rvenger]

May i ask why you're going 7970 > 7950? Just buy a reputable overclocker and pocket a few extra bucks. Obviously, the 7970 can overclock if you get one that isn't voltage locked. Just curious.

The 4L 7950 did go on sale for $269.99 AR so I did end up buying it. I am coming from a Titan, even a 7970 is a breath of fresh air.

 

[Face2Face]

The 4L 7950 did go on sale for $269.99 AR so I did end up buying it. I am coming from a Titan, even a 7970 is a breath of fresh air.

I am interested to hear you input on the change. It's not often a Titan owner goes to a HD 7950

 

[KingFatty]

You can buy a lot of cans of compressed fresh air for ~$600

 

[hokies83]

Nah just get a data vac for 55$ XD

 

[Belkov]

I would never give so much money for video card so i think Rvenger was right to sell this titan. There are always newer and better cards and by the way there are very few games for now that are so demanding to need something better than 7950 or 660ti. After all there are a lot of other stuff for wich a man can spend so much money...

 

[Montsegur97]

How much can you OC this model on air with just the one fan? (without going to ridiculous temps) http://www.canadacomputers.com/product_info.php?cPath=558&item_id=059130#

 

[Rvenger]

I am interested to hear you input on the change. It's not often a Titan owner goes to a HD 7950

I bought this Titan expecting it to be extremely smooth single GPU gaming. BF3 stutters unless I run a frame limiter, Crysis 3 looks and feels the same as my HD 7970 did when I ran it at 1050mhz, its choppy in high traffic areas. Hawken PhysX is broke and dips down to ~20fps. (Known bug) Since I run at 1080p, I really don't notice a difference between the 2 cards and if I upgrade my display I am just going to add another card once AMD fixes CFX issues. For a $1000 card, I am not waiting for driver/bug fixes because I would be really pissed if they dropped the price while I was waiting.

The Titan is a really nice card but if it cost me $600 I would keep it... it cost me $1017.00 and I feel ripped off.



So what is more important to me at this point?

GTX Titan

or...


Furnace
Air Conditioner
Kitchen Remodel
New Car

:hmm:


Once the AMD 8970 or whatever it is we all know that it will match or nip at the heels of the Titan so expect a price drop sooner or later.

 

[hokies83]

How is everybody doing in Crysis 3 / Tomb Raider max settings?

Crysis 3 needs work.. i get 18 = 30 fps maxxed out at 2560x1440 with 60% gpu use.

Tomb raider runs better 35 = 60 fps Maxxed out at 2560x1440 100% gpu use and 5.4gb on Vram @_@ <-- Guess i should turn off 4x smaa =p

This is tri fire 7950s 1225mhz/1550mem

 

[Face2Face]

How is everybody doing in Crysis 3 / Tomb Raider max settings?

Crysis 3 needs work.. i get 18 = 30 fps maxxed out at 2560x1440 with 60% gpu use.

Tomb raider runs better 35 = 60 fps Maxxed out at 2560x1440 100% gpu use and 5.4gb on Vram @_@ <-- Guess i should turn off 4x smaa =p

This is tri fire 7950s 1225mhz/1550mem

I think it would be hard to compare my single to your triple

Crysis 3 framerates are all over the place. When you first start the game, the framerates are pretty horrible, as the game progresses the framerates get much better. I am only on 1080P, so I play @ High setting w/VH textures and SMAA 4X - 40-60FPS most of the time. This is with a single 7950 clocked @ 1250/1650 -

 

[Xarick]

How is everybody doing in Crysis 3 / Tomb Raider max settings?

Crysis 3 needs work.. i get 18 = 30 fps maxxed out at 2560x1440 with 60% gpu use.

Tomb raider runs better 35 = 60 fps Maxxed out at 2560x1440 100% gpu use and 5.4gb on Vram @_@ <-- Guess i should turn off 4x smaa =p

This is tri fire 7950s 1225mhz/1550mem

I think your only using 1.8 actually.
tomb raider on ultimate only uses 1.4 single gpu.

 

[Belkov]

Something new i just understand about - owners of rev.2(wich are voltage locked) GB 7950 WF3 cards can decrease core voltage with GB Guru... So if you don't want to reflash your bioses, just try this Gigabyte software.