Unlocked 6950 OC issues?

[vollman1]

Hey,

I have an unlocked 6950 but for some reason OCing the card seems to be a PITA.

Seems I can be stable on benches, but crash in games. Even with a mild OC.

Is it possible that these OC programs are able to detect if shaders have been unlocked and somehow interfere with OCing those cards that have been unlocked?

If anyone has an unlocked 6950 that is able to hold an OC, could you please tell what software/versions you are using?

I have been trying with CCC 12.2(3), Asus SmartDoctor 5.8 and MSI AB 2.1 and 2.2 with no success.

I really think that AMD did something here with their software to curb the unlocks....

 

[MrK6]

The shaders that were locked on your card could indeed have been faulty and were therefore locked for a reason. The easiest way to confirm this is to flip your BIOS switch (or flash back) and try overclocking again. If it does overclock then, then the shaders are indeed faulty.

 

[xxslay3rxx]

The shaders that were locked on your card could indeed have been faulty and were therefore locked for a reason. The easiest way to confirm this is to flip your BIOS switch (or flash back) and try overclocking again. If it does overclock then, then the shaders are indeed faulty.

Post above is dead on the money, have seen a few cards with unlocked shaders not liking overclocks very well, return to stock 1408 shaders and see if itll oc

 

[Binky]

From what I've seen, the overclock is generally better than the unlocked shaders. If you can only have one, you might want to re-lock the shaders and live with the overclock only.

My own MSI 6950 unlocked and overclocked to a 6970 with no problems. I use the MSI afterburner utility and I unlocked with the tweak-your-6950 bios method. If you installed a 6970 bios, that may be your issue.

 

[vollman1]

I flipped bios switch and was able to run my OC stable in-game.

Then, I decided to go back to the unlocked bios and experiment.

I first uninstalled the OC software (latest version of SmartDoctor) that I had DL'd from the Asus site and replace it with the version that came in the box.

I disabled the Overdrive in CCC and opened SmartDoctor.

I reset the OC that before crashed in-game and left SmartDoctor running.

The OC held stable in-game.

Is it possible that AMD and/or the manufacturers modified their software to recognize and block Unlocked Cards from OCing?

 

[vollman1]

From what I've seen, the overclock is generally better than the unlocked shaders. If you can only have one, you might want to re-lock the shaders and live with the overclock only.

My own MSI 6950 unlocked and overclocked to a 6970 with no problems. I use the MSI afterburner utility and I unlocked with the tweak-your-6950 bios method. If you installed a 6970 bios, that may be your issue.

Which version of CCC and AB are you using?

I just unlocked shaders, not 6970 bios flash.

 

[vollman1]

Did another test:

1) Overdrive in CCC disabled
2) Clean install of OC software from disk (old version of SmartDoctor).
2.5) reboot
3) Set OC in SmartDoctor
4) set OC to 950/1350 @ 1.206v
5) tested in-game (Shogun2, Oblivion engine)

results: no artifacts no crashing (ran around for 10 min or so)

6) opened CCC and enabled Overdrive
7) set power to +20% and applied
8) reset SmartDoctor clocks to 950/1350 (CCC overrides the OC software clock settings!)
9) Ran Oblivion engine

results: artifacts not more than 2 min into game

10) exit and open CCC
11) disabled Overdrive
12) reset clocks in SmartDoctor (CCC once again overrides other OC settings!)
13) ran Oblivion engine

results: same artifacts as after originally enabling CCC Overdrive about same time in game/same place

14) uninstalled SmartDoctor
15) fresh install of SmartDoctor from disk
16) reboot
17) ran Oblivion engine

results: no artifacts or crashes

This is repeatable over and over again!

Seems that enabling the Overdrive in CCC forces your OC to route through it, even if you are using other OC software. And it is interfering with the OC.

 

[vollman1]

And another test:

1) uninstall old version of OC software (Smartdoctor)
2) clean install of newest version of SmartDoctor (5.8)
3) reboot

and a very funny thing happens...

After loading this newest version, Windows detects a new "device" and starts looking for a driver...

Finds something called EIO Driver and installs it.

4) CCC Overdrive is already disabled
5) set clocks to 950/1350 in SmartDoctor 5.8 and apply
6) run Oblivion engine

Result: Artifacts approximately where they were when CCC Overdrive was enabled.

Is this all coincidence? Anything else that I can test to prove or disprove that CCC Overdrive and/or newer versions of OC software are messing up unlocked 6950 OCs?