[=JLumbs=]

Hey guys just wondering what is a decent 24/7 voltage for my 7970 gigabyte windforce overclocked edition heres the specs...

-using MSI afterburner

-1120 core clock
-1480 memory clock

-core voltage 1225
-power limit 18

my temps never hit 80 usually about 68-70

im just wondering if thats allot of voltage for these chips??

Thanks guys

JLumbs

 

[raghu78]

OP you could try 1150 mhz at same voltage. if not stable try 1.25v. see if you can hit 1200 mhz at 1.25v. that would be a good balance of perf, heat and noise.

 

[=JLumbs=]

so at my current settings ur saying thats its acceptable.....maybe voltage on the higher side but none the less acceptable.......and i never understood power limit..............i never believed that anything should be maxed out.....so thats why i set it to +18

 

[Derpinheimer]

Power limit just says how much more power can be sent to the card vs the expected power consumption. +20=120% TDP. When overclocking, always max it. It will not harm the card.. but hitting the power limit will really hurt framerates and make gameplay choppy.

1.225v is completely safe, 1.3v is recommended maximum - but for air cooling, you will have temperature issues well before that. So, try 1.25v. If it still isnt getting too hot, try pushing it up slowly and see if you can hit 1200 core.

 

[Puck]

Did you try with lower voltage and 20% power limit, or just automatically pump up voltage?

Both my sapphire and my XFX reference 7970s will do 1100/1500 at stock voltage.

 

[=JLumbs=]

i believe i did question what is you guys acceptable temps for 24/7 gaming usuage??????

 

[Bartouille]

1.3V is fine if you have a low ASIC chip and can keep temps below 80c and vrm under 90c. That's what I run mine at and haven't had any problems and with my 1215/1850 overclock at 1.3v and gives me a good 35% increase from the stock 900/1250. Definitely worth it but keep temps under control!!

 

[=JLumbs=]

that reminds me how can i get vrm temps???? i tried to look for info on this before with no luck

 

[Acefire]

You should be able to do those clocks without any voltage change whatsoever. Either they used to make 7970's better, or you may just have a gimped one.

 

[Fulvin]

Not all cards are equipped with vrm sensors afaik, but if yours is, you can monitor them using hwmonitor.

Always set power limit to max when over clocking, so that the card can use all the power it needs and to prevent it from throttling.

1.3V is usually acceptable voltage, provided you can keep it cool, because vdroop will most likely bring it down to 1.25V~ or so. You can see the actual voltage using gpu-z, afterburner or hwmonitor. 80c is what I would consider max safe temp for prolonged periods.

Although, agreed, that's a bit on the higher side for those clocks.

 

[ZealotKi11er]

The voltage is a bit high. You should be able to do 1125Mhz with stock voltage. For me with stock Air Cooler i could not really go more then 1.2v / 1150MHz because of heat problem. Under Water i am @ 1.2GHz @ 1.25v keeping in mind my HD 7970s are not very good overclokers to begin with.

 

[=JLumbs=]

Well under the advise of some on this thread i have been playing around with my oc........so far i got to 1155/1480 with 1.25v and +20 power limit and my temps have not really change maybe a degree here or there cant really tell.....mind u im using BF3 as a heat tester i did run 3Dmark and got the best score yet....of course

temps hovering 65-70 degrees

 

[raghu78]

good. try 1175 mhz and then 1200 mhz on the core. memory can be OC'ed later after you find max stable core overclocks. also stress testing should involve atleast 30min of a game session like BF3 or Crysis 3 so that you can see if the ambient temps in the case build up and affect OC stability. for VRM temps use HWinfo32 or msi afterbuner. make sure VRM temps are below 90c and core temps below 70c. if required set up a custom fan profile to keep temps in safe range. try to achieve a balance of core clocks, temps, heat and fan noise.

 

[=JLumbs=]

where on msi afterburner do i find it i tried could not find anything??/

 

[xIMcCloud29Ix]

What is the supposed range for stock voltage on any 7970? I just got one and it says the stock is at 1025 on AB. Most people say the stock is above 1100 but I don't have a highly overclocked version or anything, just a Sapphire non GHz edition.

Looks like the 1.2 range is pretty standard but that would be a pretty large jump. Just curious