How to get the most out of my Sapphire 7870 XT

claytonlemons

Honorable
Mar 25, 2013
22
0
10,510
Without overclocking, I was hoping to gain some insight on how to get the most out of my new video card, the Sapphire 7870 XT.

Really I'm looking for simple Catalyst Control Center setting manipulation as well as in-game setting manipulation. I have been playing Bioshock Infinite and my framerates will sometimes drop from 60 fps to 30 fps which will cause unwanted screen stutter. I am playing on Very High settings on 1920x1080 resolution with an ASUS VH236H monitor, which has a vertical refresh rate of 50-75 Hz. Is it my monitor that is limiting my framerates? Is there anyway I can avoid such a drop in FPS without dropping below Very High settings?

Additionally, according to MSI afterburner, my card temperatures float around 60-65 Celcius. Is that normal? I feel as though that may be a bit hot.

Thank you for your help.
 

claytonlemons

Honorable
Mar 25, 2013
22
0
10,510


I have the i7 3770k at X.M.P. with my G.Skill Ripjaws 16GB CL9 right now. The processor is currently at stock speeds, but I feel even those speeds should be enough to handle Bioshock. What do you believe is causing the drop?

I just received an email from the Sapphire tech saying that overclocking my graphics card WILL NOT void the warranty if I use the Trixx Software. I may test that out. What are some core clock and memory clock speeds I should try to achieve?

Thank you for your help.
 

claytonlemons

Honorable
Mar 25, 2013
22
0
10,510
I read that Vsync, or "Wait for Vertical Refresh" in the Catalyst Control Center, causes my framerates to be halved if they drop below 60 fps, while my monitor is rated at 60 Hz refresh rate. Should I turn off Vsync and OpenGL triple buffering? But then my card will output higher framerates that I won't take advantage of, thus causing unnecessary heat generation. Any suggestions? I just want a smooth game on Very High settings.

My core clock is now at 1150 and my memory is at 1600, I honestly don't notice a difference.