How to overclock MSI 7950

Joshua Omote

Honorable
Mar 16, 2013
27
0
10,530
Hey guys. I wanted to know the steps to overclock this card. I am kind of new to overclocking and wanted to know if its cool to max out the gpu voltage. Any other tips are welcome and even your results. Thanks in advance
 
Solution
OK wait wait wait ALL... LOL

I own 2 HD7950s and you barely have to add voltage.
What exact model do you have? A link would be best.

Download and install the latest MSI afterburner, temp monitor and a stressing program(unique heaven really works great for me).

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm
http://unigine.com/products/heaven/download/
http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/hwmonitor/1.21-setup.exe
OK so start by unlocking your voltages. You will need to edit a file.
Follow the below instructions after you have installed MSI afterburner

Locate the folder where MSI Afterburner installed to, open it, and locate the CFG file named MSIAfterburner. When you 1st dbl click this file it will ask you what program you want to use...

imomun

Honorable
Feb 17, 2013
914
0
11,660
With out the power/ voltage increase your overclock mileage will be very short. Every Card/chip is differnet some clocks better others dont. Use MSI afterburner and increase 25mhz core clock and then another 25MHz. Memory 50MHz than another 50MHz so you will know your limit. Each time Play very high quality games for few hours see if it last. Run Vantage/ 3dmark etc. If fails give the power target voltage a little bump see what chane it brings ( if the volt / power slider goes to full doesnt mean all card can use that. ) This should give a better understanding of your particular cards overclocking capability. Goodluck
 
OK wait wait wait ALL... LOL

I own 2 HD7950s and you barely have to add voltage.
What exact model do you have? A link would be best.

Download and install the latest MSI afterburner, temp monitor and a stressing program(unique heaven really works great for me).

http://event.msi.com/vga/afterburner/download.htm
http://unigine.com/products/heaven/download/
http://www.cpuid.com/downloads/hwmonitor/1.21-setup.exe
OK so start by unlocking your voltages. You will need to edit a file.
Follow the below instructions after you have installed MSI afterburner

Locate the folder where MSI Afterburner installed to, open it, and locate the CFG file named MSIAfterburner. When you 1st dbl click this file it will ask you what program you want to use to open it, choose "Notepad" and click "ok" Once you have the MSIAfterburner CFG file open in notepad you need to change a couple of settings near the bottom:

UnofficialOverclockingEULA = I confirm that I am aware of unofficial overclocking limitations and fully understand that MSI will not provide me any support on it
UnofficialOverclockingMode = 1 (to keep PowerPlay active (may not work on old ASICs), 2 to traditionally disable PowerPlay or to 0 to temporary disable unofficial overclocking path)<--Do not type this, just for reference I have mine set to = 1

After you have made these changes, DO NOT forget to click "file" and "save" before exiting notepad, or your changes will not take into effect!

Now its time to OC, first of run a bench of Heaven and see what score you get and what the max temps you reach.

Get back here and post when you are done.

DO NOT MAX OUT VOLTAGE! See what clocks you reach on the card BEFORE you raise voltage.
 
Solution

Joshua Omote

Honorable
Mar 16, 2013
27
0
10,530


Thanks. Here is mine http://www.msi.com/product/vga/R7950-Twin-Frozr-3GD5-OC.html Will get back with results
 


You have a very nice card there. It should OC and keep cool VERY well.

Post the temp results and we can start getting some epic performance from you card.
I would prefer to guide you step by step to avoid damage to your card instead of just posting a step-by-step.
 

Joshua Omote

Honorable
Mar 16, 2013
27
0
10,530


I unlocked the voltage and managed to get 1245 MHz on the core at 1.25 V. I also got 1650 MHz on the memory. Nice performance boost but heat output increased. Thanks for your help.