Changing GPU clock speed often

[Saad93]

Hello,
I have a XFX 7850 2GB, I have overclocked it slightly from the stock 860MHz to 1050MHz and Memory clock from 1200MHz to 1300MHz, now that its summer my GPU Temps are at their high points of 73-79C under max load, now the first thing is, that are those temps too high, I know the cut off point is around 100C but Im still weary of getting high temps, also the thing is; in more graphically demanding games like The Witcher 2 and Crysis 3 it will get to the max of 79C so I reduce the clocks from 1050MHz to 900MHz and the temps drop to around 71C, but for games like Hawken where the max temp is close 69C at I push it back up to 1050MHz for the extra FPS, I notice on 900MHz Avg FPS are 50 on High at 1080 and on 1050MHz Avg FPS are 65 on High at 1080 with a very slight change in Temp, maybe a degree so it is worth the extra 150MHz for Hawken but Im not comfortable with 1050MHz when on The Witcher 2 as the Temps can get high, will this regular changing of Clock speeds damage my GPU more than If I just leave it at 1050MHz at Max temps of 79C or should I just not bother and leave it at the more safe option of 900MHz or even no overclock, if anyone is going to be buying a 7850 anytime soon, DO NOT get the XFX version, its more expensive and the cooler is god awful, I dont know why I got sucked in by their ghost thermal technology, go for the Sapphire, way better option.

Thanks

 

[ihog]

Changing the clock speeds won't cause harm, unless it causes temperature issues. People do this all the time.

 

[madcratebuilder]

AfterBurner allows you to save four profiles, so you can have four different OC's, have fun with it.

 

[MagR]

Hi

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I use an Nvidia card at present but have used Radeons in the past. I agree the Sapphire's are good for cooling and noise. As regards your temperatures I agree anything over 80 degrees is excessive even though the are rated to go higher. Nvidia's latest 700 series are designed to throttle at 80 degrees to prolong their life. In addition if temps get very high the noise becomes unbearable.

I'd suggest you take The Witcher 2 and Crysis 3 and see what clock speeds you can set to keep the maximum temps below 80 degrees. These games are about as demanding as it gets so there is no point using a higher clock for less demanding games - you are probably getting pretty good framerates anyway. This means you won't have to keep switching profiles in future.

Incidentally it was The Witcher 2 that made me go with watercooling. It is the only way to get the highest clock speeds at low temps with no noise but is costly.

Hope this helps

Mag

 

[Saad93]

Hi

Sorry to hear you are having problems. I use an Nvidia card at present but have used Radeons in the past. I agree the Sapphire's are good for cooling and noise. As regards your temperatures I agree anything over 80 degrees is excessive even though the are rated to go higher. Nvidia's latest 700 series are designed to throttle at 80 degrees to prolong their life. In addition if temps get very high the noise becomes unbearable.

I'd suggest you take The Witcher 2 and Crysis 3 and see what clock speeds you can set to keep the maximum temps below 80 degrees. These games are about as demanding as it gets so there is no point using a higher clock for less demanding games - you are probably getting pretty good framerates anyway. This means you won't have to keep switching profiles in future.

Incidentally it was The Witcher 2 that made me go with watercooling. It is the only way to get the highest clock speeds at low temps with no noise but is costly.

Hope this helps

Mag

I would try water cooling but as you said its costly and Im on a student budget, noise isnt a problem as i wear headphones but I will try your solution, I forgot to mention Im using Trixx which has profiles so changing isnt difficult rather its actually too easy which has lead me into this situation, I think ill stick to the medium overclock and keep the max overclock for winter when the ambient temperatures will be around 15C