Radeon HD 7970 Ghz running hotter & artifacts

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mcross162

mcross162

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Mar 16, 2013
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Hey guys, so I just got my Sapphire Radeon 7970 GHz edition Vapor-X. My friend has the identical card and he recommended it to me. So I put it in my computer and went into Crysis 3 with my MSI AB OSD to test the FPS and Temps. Not overclocked or anything, it was hitting 67 degrees, which I know isn't very high but still a little high compared to my previous card.

So I decided I'd overclock it and worked my way up to 1200/1650 which is what my friend runs his at. At this OC it began artifacting heavily and hit up to 71 degrees. Out of suspicion I decided to swap out the card with my friend's since he said he'd never had any issues with artifacting.

The results were clear, at 1200/1650 that card maxed out temperature at 64 degrees, which is cooler than mine even was at stock. Also it has absolutely no artifacting what-so-ever..

So did I just get a bad card? It is literally the exact same card, same model and everything. Should I return it..?

Thanks guys.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Aug 27, 2011
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OCing is different on every single card. You can not expect it to OC the same, BUT you can expect close to the same thermal results. Anything under 90C is nothing to worry about. I think that the thermal paste may not be as well applied on your card as on his.
BUT reapply it just so you get better temps is not worth voiding the warranty.

My suggestion : Try improving airflow in your case.

About the OCing. What method did you use to OC the GPU?
 
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mcross162

mcross162

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Mar 16, 2013
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Yeah I wouldn't be too worried about the temperature since even the 70s are alright, I'm just concerned because it is artifacting. I used MSI Afterburner to OC and to check the temps. My case has really good airflow, I've personally never had a card hit the 70 degree mark until now.
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Aug 27, 2011
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The temps really are perfectly fine. Artifacts however after a OC is nothing strange.

Again what method did you use to OC? Did you increase voltage, that may be neccessary?
What testing methods have you tried to confirm the card is stable at those clocks?
 
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mcross162

mcross162

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Mar 16, 2013
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I used MSI Afterburner and also Sapphire Trixx for voltage. I think I need to play around with the voltage a little more since I haven't dug into that really. I've been testing with just games like Crysis 3 and Farcry as well as Heaven Benchmark 4.0. As far as voltage is concerned, what is a typical increase? How much should I start of with?
 
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Novuake

Novuake

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Aug 27, 2011
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Start by increasing the "board power" slider to max.
Then if that still does not help, start by increasing the voltages in increments until you reach stability.

Overclocking is a process. Start at a decent Core speeds and start increasing it until you lose stability, then increase voltage until stability is achieved again, then increase core speed again, continue until you reach desired OC or until temps and/or voltages are too high.

Stick to under 95C under max load and also if you are new to OCing keep the voltage under 1.3v.
 
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