Difference between 2 models

[extremenovice]

Hi, I have 3 questions about similar models of the Sapphire 7850:

1) What the difference between http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102986

and http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102984?

2) Is it a safe to overclock these cards?

3) How difficult is it to overclock this GPU or any GPU for that matter.

I'm truly a novice. Advice and criticism welcome. Thanks

 

[fantastik250]

1) One Sapphire is Overclocked by 60Mhz. Sapphire 7850 OC.

2) Yes

3) You can overclock the cards. The non overclocked version will be able to overclock. The overclock versions of any card is usually where it is stable by the manufacturer, but it is possible to overclock higher than what the manufacturer did. Also, you need to have sufficient cooling as well as doing stress tests to see if the overclock is working correctly.

 

[ilysaml]

I would have mentioned a different card, but it is not a slap in and play card.

:lol:

 

[extremenovice]

1) One Sapphire is Overclocked by 60Mhz. Sapphire 7850 OC.

2) Yes

3) You can overclock the cards. The non overclocked version will be able to overclock. The overclock versions of any card is usually where it is stable by the manufacturer, but it is possible to overclock higher than what the manufacturer did. Also, you need to have sufficient cooling as well as doing stress tests to see if the overclock is working correctly.

If I may ask what sort of additional cooling is required. My system that I am building w/ assistance from a friend, briefly is as follows:

Case: Corsair 400r
CPU: I5 - 3570k
cpu cooler: cooler master hyper 212 evo
memory: 8gb chronos blackline
ssd: sandisk 120bg
hd: 2gb seagate barracuda
psu: seasonic 620atx 12v

Are separate gpu coolers sold? thanks for helping the clueless and desperate.


Go ahead and mention ilysami and recon-uk -- at the very least I will learn something. I don't want to stay in the cave forever. I'm pretty good at reading and following instructions. At any rate, this won't be my last build, so I might as well get informed.

 

[JackNaylorPE]

You can substantially overclock factory overclocked cards. Here's an example:

Asus 560 Ti DCII TOP
http://www.pureoverclock.com/review.php?id=1201&page=17
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814121425

Reference speed = 820 Mhz
Factory Overclock = 900 Mhz (10% OC)
Reviewer Overclock - 1070 MHz (30% OC)

But don't make the mistake most do and think that any factory OC'd card will do the same thing. That particular card has a modified PCB, beefed up 7 phase VRM (reference is 4 phases) and a very efficient cooler. The off" brands and many of the major brands even (i.e. EVGA) sell factory OC's cards with teh reference PCB and VRM. Some others make improvements but not to the scale of other vendors ......The popular Twin Frozr has a 6 phase VRM on the popular twin Frozr whereas Gigabyte and Asus went with 7......then on the Hawk and lightning MSI, went with 8 and 10 phases.

In short, do ya research....make sure the card you are buying stands up against the competition with regard to cooling, PCB design and VRM. For reference, the 7850 falls right in between the 560 Ti and 900 Mhz 560 Ti "outta the box:.

As for overclocking the card ..... the two tools I recommend are OCCT and MSi Afterburner...... latest versions of which (including betas) can be obtained here:

http://downloads.guru3d.com/Videocards----Overclocking-&-Tweaking_c13.html
http://www.ocbase.com/index.php/download

With the 900Mhz 560 Ti's, I usually start at about 1000 Mhz on 1st attempt with no voltage tweak and run OCCT GPU test. Then boost up 10 Mhz till I see any thermal or artifacts issues....rinse and repeat until ya find ya "happy spot".

 

[extremenovice]

JackNaylor,

Thanks for the response. One last question for you patient and helpful souls: When I look at the stock vs. OC version, they both look the same. Reading the specs, there doesn't seem to be cooler upgrade.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102986 (non OC)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102984 (OC)

If this I'm correct, I'd rather just purchase the stock card, get informed and OC the card myself and save $10.

Is this sound reasoning? Thanks!

 

[fantastik250]

JackNaylor,

Thanks for the response. One last question for you patient and helpful souls: When I look at the stock vs. OC version, they both look the same. Reading the specs, there doesn't seem to be cooler upgrade.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102986 (non OC)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102984 (OC)

If this I'm correct, I'd rather just purchase the stock card, get informed and OC the card myself and save $10.

Is this sound reasoning? Thanks!

The link isn't properly working, it won't go to the right section of newegg.

That is correct. It's better to save yourself the money and overclock the card yourself. Assuming, it's the same cooler you will be able to reach the same as the OC version or higher. You previously mentioned about coolers. You can buy it separately, but some manufacturers have good coolers already. Some of them are Sapphire, ASUS, and MSI. So you don't have to change the cooler.