Overclocking XFX HD 7850

[GaMe II Ov3r]

Hi,

I have a some questions regarding overclocking.

I have recently purchased a hd 7850 and I am looking to over clock it to get extra fps on skyrim and crysis 2. The card I have is here:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/2gb-xfx-radeon-hd-7850-core-edition-4800mhz-gddr5-28nm-gpu-860mhz-1024-cores-dvi-hdmi-mdp

I am using an Asrock z77 Extreme 4 mobo woth an intel i5 3570k.

My questions are:

1. Will my gpu OC well on its stock cooler?
2. Will it be worth overclocking?
3. Will the life of the GPU be shortened?
4. What will the safe max temp be?
(I ran Furmark with gpu @ stock speed on 1920 x 1080 with 4X MSAA and maxed a gpu temp of 69C)
5. Should I use bios or Software?
6.What should I use to test stability?
7. Can you point me to a good tutorial?

Sorry for all the questions, Never OC'd b4

Thanks

 

[chain220]

I'm not quite sure how to like track the thread, so I'm posting this reply so the forum will do it automatically for me. I'm literally in your exact situation though. Interested to see the answers you get. I've got my card up at 985 core/1400 memory and it's still only running around 55 celsius under load. I'm not sure if I should keep going, if there's some other component of this I should be looking at or if I'm even missing anything about it.

 

[JJ1217]

I'm not quite sure how to like track the thread, so I'm posting this reply so the forum will do it automatically for me. I'm literally in your exact situation though. Interested to see the answers you get. I've got my card up at 985 core/1400 memory and it's still only running around 55 celsius under load. I'm not sure if I should keep going, if there's some other component of this I should be looking at or if I'm even missing anything about it.

To track a thread, click on the envelope button above the "Add a Reply" button.

Anyways moving on, I want to tell you that Skyrim pretty much runs like crap, only utilising two CPU cores out of your 4. It has terrible frame rates for the reason that the GPU basically never reaches 100% usage -- I myself have a 7850 and I get around 66%-80% GPU usage. That is why this game is known as being very CPU based.

1. The XFX core edition fan, while it looks a little bit different to a reference 7850 blower fan, is pretty much the same thing, except it blows air everywhere else. Its basically a reference cooler with non reference disadvantages.

2. Its definitely worth overclocking, just be mindful that you don't excessively increase the voltage. It increases performance quite a bit if you manage to get to the 1.2 GHZ mark.

3. While it does reduce the lifespan, its common knowledge that the GPU would probably be useless for gaming by the time it does die -- you'll most likely replace it with a newer one before you have to worry about it.

4. On some other 7850 overclocking thread with 40+ pages, they said that you wouldn't want a 7850 going past 90 degrees -- while GPU's can go up to 105 ish degrees celcius, its not good for their life. Keep it under 90 and your safe. Just remember Furmark tests GPU FAR past what they would normally do in games, that is why its called a stress test. Also I've noted turning on MSAA greatly reduces temperatures, it happened to me on MSI Kombustor.

5. Use software, MSI Afterburner is the most popular, however for my 7850 it doesn't allow me to change voltages, because it depends on the card you have. I use GPU Tweak, and although I hate it, its the only software that allows me to change the voltage.

6. I use OCCT, unlike other stress testers it allows you to check for errors, so it'll pick up any mishaps that you might not notice.

7. I have no idea really where to find one.

No problem with the questions, just make sure you know the dangers and not to go too overboard with overclocks when it comes to dangerous voltages.

 

[chain220]

I thought the envelope might've been it, but I was convinced it was part of the ad next to it.

I did a bit of google'ing and have been benchmarking and overclocking my card using Trixx and Heaven as well as 3DMark11. I've gotten a pretty comfortable clock setting of 1100 MHz core and 1400 MHz memory. My temperature still stays well under 90. I'd be scared to get it up that high. I think I've got the concept of overclocking under control now though.

My only problem - does this card have a voltage control through software available? Everything I've used has it basically locked. The only bad thing about that is I'm limited to a 1.1 GHz OC, which isn't too big of a deal. I'm not sure I could get much higher anyway.

 

[Lord Tumnas]

I thought the envelope might've been it, but I was convinced it was part of the ad next to it.

I did a bit of google'ing and have been benchmarking and overclocking my card using Trixx and Heaven as well as 3DMark11. I've gotten a pretty comfortable clock setting of 1100 MHz core and 1400 MHz memory. My temperature still stays well under 90. I'd be scared to get it up that high. I think I've got the concept of overclocking under control now though.

My only problem - does this card have a voltage control through software available? Everything I've used has it basically locked. The only bad thing about that is I'm limited to a 1.1 GHz OC, which isn't too big of a deal. I'm not sure I could get much higher anyway.

as JJ1217 said, a lot of programs do not allow voltage adjustment of the 7850, however asus GPU tweak does allow these changes

 

[chain220]

I'm not sure if it's just because I have an XFX card or what, but even Asus's GPU Tweak won't even allow voltage adjustment for me.

 

[Lord Tumnas]

i have a powercolor card and asus GPU tweak allows voltage adjustment up to 1.225 volts for my card... it is possible that the 1GB cards do not allow voltage adjustment

 

[JJ1217]

Yeah I have the same of up to 1.225 volts.

 

[chain220]

This is the model I have: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150609&nm_mc=AFC-C8Junction&cm_mmc=AFC-C8Junction-_-na-_-na-_-na&AID=10446076&PID=3938566&SID=

and GPU tweak is still locked at whatever the default is. I'm not on that PC right now, so I can't check.

 

[JJ1217]

Oh, if you haven't changed any settings, this is what you are meant to do.

1. Open GPU tweak, click on settings
2. Click on Tuning,
3. Tick GPU voltage,
4. Click on Tune settings under tuning, and click on Overclocking range enhancement.

 

[chain220]

Right. That's what I was told to do originally. None of those settings are even listed.

 

[JJ1217]

Oh sorry I think I screwed up a bit, I'll edit my post, I forgot a step

 

[chain220]

Yeah, I still don't see GPU Voltage. I have GPU Clock, Memory Clock, Fan 1, and Power Target. I feel as though Power Target would be it, thinking about it now.. I've got version 2.2.9.9

 

[Lord Tumnas]

power target is not voltage, it is a precaution to limit maximum power draw, 120 allows for 20% more power draw to prevent throttling, while 100 allows no extra power draw (150w on a 2gb model, not sure about the 1)

 

[chain220]

Yeah. That makes more sense. Though, that still leaves me at a loss for the voltage.

 

[Lord Tumnas]

your card probably doesnt allow voltage adjustment

 

[chain220]

That was the only conclusion I could come to. It's not really a huge deal, as I probably wouldn't see much of a performance increase anyway since my CPU is a G860.

 

[Lord Tumnas]

That was the only conclusion I could come to. It's not really a huge deal, as I probably wouldn't see much of a performance increase anyway since my CPU is a G860.

that cpu would probably bottleneck a 7850 at stock...

 

[chain220]

Yeah, you're right. I was mostly trying to OC for the experience and knowledge as I'll probably end up with a system in the future which would be better off OC'd.

 

[Murderotica926]

if your card is voltage locked, you can always look around for a compatible 7850 BIOS that allows voltage tweaking, and flash it to your card. The thing is, if your card doesn't have a dual BIOS switch, that's obviously really risky and ill-advised. But if you do have a dual BIOS, there's hardly any risk at all and it's worth a shot. Voltage locks are sometimes simply in the BIOS, it's rare to see a GPU that has voltage limitation built into the hardward

As for temperatures, I would never go above 90. For daily use, I'd stay under 85. Just to prolong the life of the card and avoid degradation.

 

[Agiel]

i have xfx HD 7850 1GB ... i test it stable at 1050/1300 at 1.225V used MSI afterburner, Asus GPU Tweak and Trixx all of them alowed me to tweak voltages ... i dunno wgy your's doesn't ...

old post ?? any way i don't see any finall conclussions ...

 

[chain220]

Final conclusion was I was satisfied with the performance I had pre-overclock and just gave up on it.

 

[Shamar Holtz]

I can't increase my voltage AT ALL in MSi afterburner, it's at 1138 and if I change it even by one point my PC would crash.

 

[Zalphor]

I hate to revive a mostly dead thread but i just got done trying to push my XFX HD7850 1GB to 1100MHz. i cant push my memory past 1260 because it has no cooling and increasing the core clock litterally means that the ram gets toasted.

Unfortunately in heaven i crash about half way through with core at 1100MHz. although i really seem to benefit the most at 1080MHz. which is a 1.1 avg fps more than at 1060MHz and from what i can tell is just overall better avg than other clocks.

Unfortunately i cannot increase the voltage in MSI Afterburner because if i do, i get a BSOD. anyone know how to handle the BSOD issue? i swear the other day i had one of my two cards at the voltage that gave me the BSOD this time, so im not sure why it did it now...