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Voltage OCing with 7950

post #1 of 16
11/7/12 at 4:06pm
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Alright now Ive read alot of different threads on this and cannot really get an answer to what I want to know. From what I gather from these threads is voltage will decrease the lifespan of your GPU. But by how much? I see people say dont go above 1.3V and some say 1.6 and even 1.8. What is the deciding factor on where to stop? If my cooling is sufficient to keep my 7950 within reasonable limits can I get a OC with 1.3 or even more? These people Ive seen with 1.6V on a 1300 core clock. how long will their card actually last them if they play BF3 every other day for 2 or 3 hours or even more?

Reason for asking is I am apparently very lucky with my card for its cooling..it runs incredibly cool with its OC . I have a 1200/1600 1.26V OC on a Gigabyte 7950 and it runs at 50C GPU / 60C Vram and not higher under full load with fans at 60-65% and no more. If my OCing ability is based on my temps and limits of the card then I would definitely push for higher. I have already ventured to 1250 Core and had it pretty close to stable on 1.29V but did not want to up the voltage anymore into the unknown. I know I can get it stable if I go up a bit more on my voltage and possibly higher as this card seems to be an absolute beast.

Any feedback is welcomed.
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post #2 of 16
11/7/12 at 10:47pm
OP with heavy voltage overclocking the card needs lower temps to run stable. Incredibly your card is running at 50c GPU temps at 1.2 Ghz with 1.26v. And 60c VRM temps . is that right ? Those are excellent speeds / temps for air cooling. Yeah you can go upto 1.3V. there are few users who have gone higher upto 1.35v under watercooling. But beyond 1.35v is very rare and you would actually be risking the chip . I would advise against it. Its not worth pushing your card to the limits for another 3 - 5% perf. 1.2 Ghz HD 7950 kills BF3 and any other demanding game out there . In fact you could even back off to 1.15 Ghz if your monitor is 60 Hz, because even a HD 7950 (1.15 Ghz) will be running at avg 60+ fps in BF3. The only benefit by going for 1.2+ Ghz is better min fps. frankly I think you should stick to 1.2 Ghz and be really happy. thumb.gif
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post #3 of 16
11/7/12 at 11:23pm
I generally shoot for 0.1-0.15 volts over default is safe for 24/7.

But this generation 7950 complicates things because some cards come default with 1.03 volts and some cards get gpu boost up to 1.25 volts.

I would stick with 0.15 volts. If 0.15 isn't enough to get you over 1150, then more volts won't help.
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post #4 of 16
11/8/12 at 2:48am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by homestyle View Post

I generally shoot for 0.1-0.15 volts over default is safe for 24/7.
But this generation 7950 complicates things because some cards come default with 1.03 volts and some cards get gpu boost up to 1.25 volts.
I would stick with 0.15 volts. If 0.15 isn't enough to get you over 1150, then more volts won't help.

Sorry but this is incorrect. I got I believe 1100 with stock voltages and ended up slowly increasing voltages and core clock until I reached 1.26 volts. So I respectfully disagree that after .15 volts wont help.

Quote:
OP with heavy voltage overclocking the card needs lower temps to run stable. Incredibly your card is running at 50c GPU temps at 1.2 Ghz with 1.26v. And 60c VRM temps . is that right ? Those are excellent speeds / temps for air cooling. Yeah you can go upto 1.3V. there are few users who have gone higher upto 1.35v under watercooling. But beyond 1.35v is very rare and you would actually be risking the chip . I would advise against it. Its not worth pushing your card to the limits for another 3 - 5% perf. 1.2 Ghz HD 7950 kills BF3 and any other demanding game out there . In fact you could even back off to 1.15 Ghz if your monitor is 60 Hz, because even a HD 7950 (1.15 Ghz) will be running at avg 60+ fps in BF3. The only benefit by going for 1.2+ Ghz is better min fps. frankly I think you should stick to 1.2 Ghz and be really happy. thumb.gif

Yes the temps are correct on air cooling only to. Im actually fairly shocked myself.... If Im not mistaken with how the card has been handling its temps with OCing so far I would say I could easily hit 1.33V with nothing but air. When I did push to 1250/1800 it was extremely close to stable at 1.29V I think just a couple more small increments would have done the trick. And I was running around 55C at those clocks. How can I get over 1.3V in AB? And as long as my temps are in check can I keep going?
Edited by twitch_alucard - 11/8/12 at 2:55am
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post #5 of 16
11/8/12 at 10:39am
Quote:
Originally Posted by twitch_alucard View Post

Sorry but this is incorrect. I got I believe 1100 with stock voltages and ended up slowly increasing voltages and core clock until I reached 1.26 volts. So I respectfully disagree that after .15 volts wont help.
Yes the temps are correct on air cooling only to. Im actually fairly shocked myself.... If Im not mistaken with how the card has been handling its temps with OCing so far I would say I could easily hit 1.33V with nothing but air. When I did push to 1250/1800 it was extremely close to stable at 1.29V I think just a couple more small increments would have done the trick. And I was running around 55C at those clocks. How can I get over 1.3V in AB? And as long as my temps are in check can I keep going?

Since you mentioned 1.26 is more than 0.15 volts I mentioned, that presumably means your stock voltage is below 1.06.

So you get 1100 core with 1.06 volts. You increase 0.27 volts for only 150 more on the core just illustrates my point that going 0.15 volts above your stock voltage won't help. Or rather you get greatly diminishing returns
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post #6 of 16
11/8/12 at 1:40pm
Thread Starter 
Anyways back on topic. Can I if my cooling is sufficient go up to lets say 1.35V without GREATLY reducing my cards lifespan? If so how can I get past 1.3V in AB?

When I say greatly reducing my lifespan I will say I plan to keep this card for at least 2 years before upgrading. I dont see anything I do requiring an upgrade for before then.
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post #7 of 16
11/9/12 at 3:08pm
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bump
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post #8 of 16
11/10/12 at 12:13am
if you want to push beyond 1.3v install sapphire trixx. but i would advise against going beyond 1.3v for long term safety. Also your card at 1.2 Ghz must be ripping apart the latest games with 12.11 beta 6. frankly which game you play requires more performance. enjoy the 1.2 Ghz. its a fantastic overclock. and the temps are awesome. thumb.gif
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post #9 of 16
11/10/12 at 4:19pm
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Quote:
Originally Posted by raghu78 View Post

if you want to push beyond 1.3v install sapphire trixx. but i would advise against going beyond 1.3v for long term safety. Also your card at 1.2 Ghz must be ripping apart the latest games with 12.11 beta 6. frankly which game you play requires more performance. enjoy the 1.2 Ghz. its a fantastic overclock. and the temps are awesome. thumb.gif

My question still remains though. Im not saying your answer is not good enough but it does not give me the knowledge I seek. If my GPU and VRM temps are in check can I go higher on the voltage than 1.3V. Im not necessarily saying that I will but what determines where to stop? I know I CAN go higher because my temps are so good. Its just lack of knowledge about what would happen if I did. My temps are absolutely golden with my OC. I dont go about 52 in every day use at 1312mV.

And YES SIR it does rip apart all latest games haha. I dont really notice much of a difference to be honest between 12.8 and 12.11 Beta 6..... Maybe 1 or 2 fps but thats it....
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post #10 of 16
11/11/12 at 11:56am
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