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Sapphire driver or AMD? OC questions

Tags:
  • GPUs
  • AMD
  • Sapphire
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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September 22, 2013 12:04:20 PM

I have just built a new gaming rig. I'm using a Sapphire 7870GHz OC 2GB for my GPU.

I've noticed the driver on the Sapphire site is version 13.5 and the latest WHQL driver at AMD is 13.9.

I've just started OC'ing the card, rather mildly I might add (note that default speeds on this card are 1050/GPU and 5GHz memory) and experienced some BSODs. I'm wondering if the driver might be holding me back? I'm currently using the 13.9 from AMD.

I've used the Trixx utility from Sapphire to clock the card up to 1250/GPU and 5600/memory; this was stable in SiSoft Sandra benchmarks, but locked up in Far Cry 3.

I dropped it to 1150/5300 and it ran fine in FC3, but BSOD'd in 3DMark11.

I tried the same settings with Trixx removed in the CCC and had similar issues, no BSOD but locked up twice now. Running ANY benchmark at stock works just fine.

I've tried mildly increasing the voltage (max on this card is 1.3V; I've had it as high as 1.28V). Reading the BSOD error code indicates code a0000001, which is a driver fail.

Any input and suggestions are welcome, especially from owners of this card - PLEASE note your stable overclocks so maybe I can test them, too - please also note if you're using Trixx or CCC as I'd like to do the same.


I've been a reader of Tom's for YEARS but have never posted here, so I guess this is my virgin post lol!

More about : sapphire driver amd questions

September 22, 2013 9:52:23 PM

I haven't found a REAL solution to this yet; the basic problem being that I can't seem to overclock this card.

However, I have identified that there was probably a conflict in the BIOS of the card caused by having both the Trixx utility and AMD Overdrive active at the same time.

I've wiped the drivers as well as all installations of C++ Dist (used in a bunch of games) as I thought a game crash could have corrupted these in some way.

I've removed Trixx as well, and re-flashed the BIOS to the stock (thank God I made a backup).

So far, perfectly stable @ stock in FC3 and Eve Online.

The other thought was that the Synapse software for my Razer mouse had somehow conflicted with the AMD driver- the mouse kept locking, then everything else locked, then the video driver crashed - so I've remove this, as well and am just using the standard Win7 driver for the mouse w/no issues (suprisingly, this works better than Synapse so far, with a little tweaking).

The Razer was the newest addition, so I had to rule it out.

Any ideas?
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October 7, 2013 10:46:30 PM

Even though *no one* responded to this, I'm still posting the solution:

I had a Thermal Take TR-2 600W PSU. It was not 80+ rated, and in fact I found it was rated at about 72%; meaning under load it was not supplying sufficient power for my system.

I have since RMA'd it to Newegg and purchased a Seasonic G-Series 650W. It's 80+ Gold and all of my tests show it performs as advertised.

I've been able to get a stable OC on the Sapphire with GPU at 1150 and memory clock @1275 (5100) with just a 3% boost in voltage.

I'm sure I could get a bit higher, but I don't like to tweak voltage too much from stock.

FWIW, I'm also running a 3570K at 4.0GHz with just a 15mV boost, which is hardly anything.
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