Everyone's Experience on OCing a 5870, or 5850.

[jay2tall]

So I have an Asus 5870. I tried my hand at overclocking this card from 850GPU to 900GPU and 1200Mem to 1300Mem. The memory OC is fine, however the GPU fails. I did this per an article on Tweaktown (http://www.tweaktown.com/articles/2948/sapphire_radeon_hd_5870_1gb_overclocking_tests/index.html) I ended up bringing it back to stock. One thing I noticed was that when you do any overclocking in the CCC the idle clocks increase from 157MHz GPU to 600MHz. (I think it was) This created more heat and obviously more power usage in 2D mode.

What ever everyone's experiences with OCing this card, or the 5850?

 

[nitros85]

I don't see the point in OCing video cards.

For one, you barely get any performance boost.

Two, you barely can OC in the first place.

Three, even at best you'll get no more than a handful of frames.

Unless you're trying to OC the #1 most powerful one (like this thread) I dont even see why to even try. With the money people spend on video card cooling, they could have just bought a better video card in the first place. Except if it's the #1 best, like your 5870.

But still... anytime you need to OC a top-end card, the game/software is the problem, and you will need much more (like a time machine, to get a 6-7 series card)

 

[obsidian86]

with a bios change the 5870 is a very impressive clocker
http://i.imagehost.org/0369/209778_screen_03.jpg

 

[jay2tall]

I'm an enthusiest, not a normal user. I like to OC everything if I can, and within reason. If I can squeeze a few extra frames out of a card, sometimes that is all you need. Lets say I'm playing FarCry2 and i get 55 FPS, but if I got 60FPS the Vsync would work much better. A little bit is all you need sometimes.

I have OC'ed virtually every video card I have had in the last... 10 years. It's a hobby, please don't rain on my parade. haha.

By the way, the 5970 came out today and it just BEGS to be overclocked. Even AMD is providing the tools to do it.

 

[jay2tall]

with a bios change the 5870 is a very impressive clocker

Yeah..... I'm not intending to let my GPU get to cook over 127C, and that was what it was reading AFTER the test. Geez. with the CPU at that speed I am guessing there was some Nitro used in this setup. It isn't a real world usable situation.

I like to get a solid, stable, and non damaging overclock. 900MHz seems reasonable. but I am guessing at stock voltage it doesn't fly with my card. I was hoping for some first hand experience on what people are getting.

 

[jennyh]

I got my 5850 to 910 clock/5000 memory stable, unfortunately it had another issue. I hope my returned card...if it ever arrives...goes to the same clocks.

The temps rocketed however, as you might imagine so I'd probably be happy with stock 5870 speeds.

 

[jay2tall]

^ a 5850 from a stock 725MHz to 910 is pretty impressive. I'm having a hard time getting 50Mhz extra.

 

[hawkes505]

I've managed to get my 5870 to 920 OC'd on stock cooling and the temps were bearable at around 60c with fan set on manual control and 41%. This was when I was playing AION online which was the only load on the card. I suspect using benchmarking programs and the OC tester in CCC may put considerably more strain on the card than just using it normally. I am using the ASUS version which has allowed me to go past 900 in the CCC utilities.

 

[obsidian86]

asus has voltage tweak ware you could look at that

 

[jay2tall]

Hawkes505, Did you use the Asus tool at all or just in CCC?

I saw somewhere there is an ATI Voltmod tool from AMD. Anyone familiar with this?

 

[daedalus685]

Hawkes505, Did you use the Asus tool at all or just in CCC?

I saw somewhere there is an ATI Voltmod tool from AMD. Anyone familiar with this?

Far as I know the volt mod only works for 5970s. As the max voltage you can set on it is stock 5870 values.. that being the case it woudl only help you lower the voltage .

 

[jay2tall]

^
Darn. There is an Asus tool, but its pretty crappy.

 

[jennyh]

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1128/AMD_GPU_Clock_Tool_v0.9.8.html

Caution is advised, as always. (you can change the voltage)

 

[hawkes505]

I only used CCC to modify my gpu clock settings. I really don't like the asus software that came bundled with the card. I slid the slider up to 920/1300 with no ill effects on my system. I had it up to 930 at one point but a random crash made me decide against staying up there. The thing that lets me oc that high is the bios in the card I believe. Not any special software.

 

[jay2tall]

Yeah i get a crash when i go to 900MHz. I find it odd that the idle core speed jumps from 157 to 600 if you have any OC settings.