AMD 7970: Can't OC ram

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Pavlik

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Apr 8, 2013
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Hello guys,

i recently bought Sapphire's HD 7970 Dual-X OC with Boost (blue PCB) and after some testing and OCing i stoped at 1170 MHz on Core ( VDDC 1,23). Problem is that i wanted also OC ram, but every time i increase frequency even by 1 MHz i get some strange monitor behavior (on pics under this post). I even tried increasing MVVDC to 1.7, but it didn't help...card is still not stable if i OC ram. So i have to run ram on default which is 1450 MHz. I tried both boosted bios and default bios, im using latest CCC and OCing was done with modded Trixx. So question is: should i return this graphic card and buy a new one, what would you do guys?

Thanks !

Pics:
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/Chickencz/IMG057_zpsa39b0a16.jpg
http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/Chickencz/IMG056_zps900b6fe1.jpg
 
Solution
slicedtoad
Pavlik, this only happens with both a vram oc and 2 monitors, right?
The easy fix is to turn the vram oc off. The performance gain is only a couple of fps at most anyway.

If you want to try some more things, I've read around and there are several common problems with 7970s (and the rest of the lineup).

-Change your OC software. Turn off all CCC ocing, uninstall trixx and install MSI AB. It's generally a stabler platform and at least one person solved their 7970 oc crashing problems with it. They also both handle voltage and clocks at idle differently.

-The alternative to both trixx and MSI AB is to oc via ccc profiles. Uninstall both trixx and AB and follow this guide to change profiles. The guide isn't really doing what you...
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Pavlik

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Apr 8, 2013
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First and Second: I know all of this i just wanted to know what you guys would do.
Third: I have problem with monitor freezing even if i OC ram only.

Im just little bit troubled cos if RAM running on its maximum, will card last long enough? And also its bit weird that i can't OC even by 1 MHz.
 
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slicedtoad

slicedtoad

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This is a 1GHz card at stock, right? IMO, a 17% increase on the core clock is respectable enough to keep the card, even without a vram oc.

Something you could try is setting the core clock back to stock and trying to OC the ram first. Then move the Core clock up and see if you can find a nice balance. You might find that an 1150MHz core (does it oc in increments that small?) will allow you a significant boost in memory clock.

Another thing you could do is play with the power control settings. For 69xx cards, I've found this sometimes makes a larger difference than the oc. CCC has an option for it and so does MSI AB. Not sure about trixx. And MSI AB is another thing you could try if you wanted. Different OC software will sometimes achieve different results, but it's not likely to be much different. And don't run them at the same time.

Finally, you could venture into the more dedicated world or ocing and start playing with VRAM timings and all the other mostly invisible settings. I believe this requires bios modding though (don't know of any software that will let you do it on the fly) and the risk is higher as well as the difficulty. If you're interested I could dig up some rudimentary guides but it probably would be more work for you than it's worth.

If you bought it at a local store, I guess you could play the return game, but it's not worth it if you bought it online.

Edit:
to your latest post: no, it doesn't mean the card won't last. Low max clocks is not usually a sign of a dying chip (unless the clocks are declining).
 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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When referring to video card memory, its referred too as VRAM. Just makes it less likely to be confused with system memory.

Are you getting that while under load or does it also happen at idle?
I'm having similar issues with my machine and its only started happening recently (I made and validated the overclock the GPU is running ages ago). I find that its only happening at idle.
Is the 2nd monitor also connected to the GPU, or the iGPU of the CPU. Also is the display that's having the issue the Primary monitor?

We might end up having the same problem.
 
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slicedtoad

slicedtoad

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@manofchalk
I might have a fix for your problem. I had a 5670 i bought for a htpc that after a few months started crashing but only at idle.
After much troubleshooting and a failed RMA attempt (they wanted $60 for shipping and the card is only worth about that much), I found a fix.
The problem was that the automatic down-clocking at idle clocked the card too low and caused instability (freezes, artifacts, color problems and crashes). The fix was to do a simple bios mod with RBE that changed the minimum clock rate to about 50% higher (and added some vcore). It's been running for a year and a half now with no problems.
 
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Pavlik

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Apr 8, 2013
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First of all thanks for your replies !

To describe problem properly: If i OC VRAM only (with everything else default, only +20% Board Power Li) to lets say 1500 MHz and i run tests like 3D mark 2011 and FurMark even 1 hour...everything works fine, no artifacts nothn (so i presumed that VRAM OCing was fine). But i figured out that if i run game or 3D mark and after this i run youtube video or any movie on my HDD then middle monitor will go instantly crazy, PC still runs for a minute or so, on left monitor i can normally work, but after another minute "blue death". I tried different monitors on different connectors (HDMI, DVI, DP) problem is every time with primary monitor.
 
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Pavlik

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Also if i restart PC and i have OCed VRAM and i didn't run any game or benchmark...then youtube or movies runs fine. So i have this problem only if i OC VRAM and run movie/video after playing game or benchmark.
 
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slicedtoad

slicedtoad

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hmm, could you turn gpu logging on and recreate the above scenario? I prefer logging with HWMonitor since it tends to be the most accurate. I'm interested specifically in what clock rate and voltages you get before a game, after a game and at the moment of the crash, so mark down the crash time.
 
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Pavlik

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So i recreated a scenario, i OCed only VRAM plus 20% power control in CCC. For logging i used shots from latest GPU-Z if its not a problem. There are 3 gifs, first one is before 3D mark, scnd one is after 3D mark and third one is in moment of crash.

1.: http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/Chickencz/1-10_zpse5d9f68b.gif
2.: http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/Chickencz/2-9_zps56797a22.gif
3.: http://i96.photobucket.com/albums/l180/Chickencz/3-4_zps4488de9b.gif

If u need anything else, just say a word and i will post it. Thanks mates!
 
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Pavlik

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OK so i tried another thing: I unplugged left monitor (so i run only on 1 only) and then even with OCed VRAM problem is gone...so what the hell?

Thing is i need 2 monitors i cant just unplug it if i want to watch movies or somtn.
 
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manofchalk

manofchalk

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I'v noticed that as well, the issue isn't apparent if only one monitor is connected to the GPU.
Are you using Eyefinity to control the screens, or the inbuilt windows utility or some other software. I'm using a 3rd party program, maybe Catalyst doesnt play nice with it on occasion.
 
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Pavlik

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I simply using CCC, i never run into similar problem before with my old Gforce 8800 Ultra. So what are u suggesting, different CCC version, or another program? Please i need advice :)
 
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slicedtoad

slicedtoad

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Pavlik, this only happens with both a vram oc and 2 monitors, right?
The easy fix is to turn the vram oc off. The performance gain is only a couple of fps at most anyway.

If you want to try some more things, I've read around and there are several common problems with 7970s (and the rest of the lineup).

-Change your OC software. Turn off all CCC ocing, uninstall trixx and install MSI AB. It's generally a stabler platform and at least one person solved their 7970 oc crashing problems with it. They also both handle voltage and clocks at idle differently.

-The alternative to both trixx and MSI AB is to oc via ccc profiles. Uninstall both trixx and AB and follow this guide to change profiles. The guide isn't really doing what you want to do but the xml file is fairly easy to understand. It may look different too, since the guide is a 6950 guide. Anyway, try playing around with voltage and clock settings. To start with, I would try changing all clock and voltage settings to the same thing (your target OC) for idle and non idle modes. Also back up the XML file first.

-Are you able to use displayport (or a displayport to dvi adapter) for either monitor? The 7xxx series cards had some multi-monitor problems when using both the hdmi and dvi ports. Using a DP and either the hdmi or dvi ports on the card fixed that problem. I believe the problem may have been fixed with a driver update quite a while ago though, so don't go out and buy an adapter. But it's worth trying if you have one. What are you using currently, btw?

-Roll back to the drivers that were provided with your card (uninstall current ones first). This is only a temporary solution though since it will likely decrease the performance of your card more than running your card at stock clocks. It will tell you if the problem is likely to be fixed in a future driver update though.

Anyway, try all, some or none of those. It's up to you. And if it's a local purchase, it might be worth replacing (but I wouldn't RMA since the problems only happens when OCed).
 
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Solution
P

Pavlik

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Apr 8, 2013
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10,510
Thanks for your input slicedtoad. I will try all of that :) I will also try reinstalling Windows, cos i used Nvidia before this card. About ports: I tried like all possible configurations (i have also DP monitor) and every time same problem.

What im doing right now: I have VRAM OCed and if i wanna play game, i just disable left monitor in CCC and after playing i enable it again. It works :). Dunno how i will do this upon buying third monitor for eyefinity tho...well i will figure it out somehow. As u said i can left VRAM on default :)

Thanks all of u!
 
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slicedtoad

slicedtoad

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You can re-install windows if you want but 99% of the time uninstalling and then running driver sweeper will remove everything. Just be sure to uncheck all the nvidia software in driversweeper. Also, running CCleaner (both the cleaner and registry cleaner) after uninstalling will clean up the last few reg files and temp files lying around. Always use their reg backup feature when cleaning the registry (it prompts you).
 
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