XFX Radeon 6950 2gb Terrible OC Ability?

[Dolph]

Hey guys, a week ago i got my 6950 2gb in, just tried to OC it last night.

I see some people getting like 940/1475 on stock... are other people getting these kinds of oc as well? Highest stable core i can get is 880/1365. Id prefer to not change stock voltages.

my 6950 is stock at 800/1250 btw. The oc i did get gives me an extra 180 points on 3dmark11 (performance), i am getting alittle more but... not the kinds of oc's i see others getting. Is my card just bad for overclocking or am i doing something wrong?

 

[cadaveca]

Hey guys, a week ago i got my 6950 2gb in, just tried to OC it last night.

I see some people getting like 940/1475 on stock... are other people getting these kinds of oc as well? Highest stable core i can get is 880/1365. Id prefer to not change stock voltages.

my 6950 is stock at 800/1250 btw. The oc i did get gives me an extra 180 points on 3dmark11 (performance), i am getting alittle more but... not the kinds of oc's i see others getting. Is my card just bad for overclocking or am i doing something wrong?

Sounds normal. Temps are really the big factor..if you got the single-fan model, temps for sure.

 

[Dolph]

Interesting, even at the OC im at currently Furmark only brings it to 81ish. Which i know its high but.... its also furmark. You think the instability is to do with my temps?

 

[cadaveca]

Interesting, even at the OC im at currently Furmark only brings it to 81ish. Which i know its high but.... its also furmark. You think the instability is to do with my temps?

Yeah, I mean, this is the same core as 6970, so it's definitely capable of much more itself. However, there is a couple of things that can cause issues.

I found a combination of watercooling and stock got me 925 MHz/1400 MHz.

Votlage boost to 1.2v gets me up to 1000 MHz, but only under water.

Under stock cooling, 850/1375 is kinda doable, but not 100%.

The way I look at it, it's really the TDP cap that is the issue, and by lowering temps, you lower power consumption a bit, which allows for higher clocks. You can also try teh RacerX mod for higher PowerPlay limits in CCC, and see if that has any effect, of course.

 

[Dolph]

Awesome, yeah. Well im either going to try for 2 x 6950's or save that money, for 2 680's (kinda a nice present for myself) then watercool them.

 

[manofthem]

My xfx didn't OC as well as my gigabyte, both reference. Gigabyte would hit 1ghz @~1.21v on air but the xfx wouldnt hit 1ghz even all the way up to 1.3v.

Like Dave said, those numbers sound decent, similar to my own. I couldn't hit 880/1375 at default 1.1v.

With watercooling I hit 900/1400 @1.1v, but again under water.

 

[Dolph]

My xfx didn't OC as well as my gigabyte, both reference. Gigabyte would hit 1ghz @~1.21v on air but the xfx wouldnt hit 1ghz even all the way up to 1.3v.

Like Dave said, those numbers sound decent, similar to my own. I couldn't hit 880/1375 at default 1.1v.

With watercooling I hit 900/1400 @1.1v, but again under water.

Ahh, that makes me feel better thank you. I figured it had something to do with my specific xfx but. If that sounds good to you guys im happy.

 

[manofthem]

Ahh, that makes me feel better thank you. I figured it had something to do with my specific xfx but. If that sounds good to you guys im happy.

I'd be happy. Since you're stable at 880/1365 @1.1v, that's plenty to be happy with.

But why not bump the voltage a little bit and push the clocks a little further?

 

[Dolph]

I'd be happy. Since you're stable at 880/1365 @1.1v, that's plenty to be happy with.

But why not bump the voltage a little bit and push the clocks a little further?

Ive honestly never Touched video card voltage before. I overclock the shit out of my e6400, but ive always heard bad thigns about touching video card voltages. Im a safe overclocker but... not sure im experienced enough to touch the voltages yet. Furmark brings it to almost 84 degrees topend. How much more could my card take? And would it be worth it?

 

[manofthem]

Ive honestly never Touched video card voltage before. I overclock the shit out of my e6400, but ive always heard bad thigns about touching video card voltages. Im a safe overclocker but... not sure im experienced enough to touch the voltages yet. Furmark brings it to almost 84 degrees topend. How much more could my card take? And would it be worth it?

With regard to temps, I take it that you're using the default fan profile. I would suggest you select a more aggressive fan curve with whatever OC utility you are using, trixx or AB. Doing that will bring your temps down significantly, though it does mean a more noise.

Before watercooling, I ran my cards at about 1.2~1.22v with clocks ~930-950/1425-1430ish, and with my fan curve, temps got up to high 70's. Just saying its doable, but whether or not it's worth it, that's up to you

 

[Dolph]

from an 880 -> 940 core and 1365 -> 1425, what expected % gains would i expect to see? I absolutely do not care at ALL about the fan noise. I play games either watching a tv on my 42" Beside me, or headphones on. It could sit at 100% for all i care. I just dont want to ruin my card, because i also know that not all damages come from heat... But i can't see it really doing much with .1 volt increase.. not sure id go higher but. I supposed i can push it abit

 

[Dolph]

Kind of offtopic, but still my thread, how do i unlock the voltages for MSI Afterburner? I have the unoffical overclock EULA set, obviously. But i dont have control over the voltages.

 

[BlackOmega]

Kind of offtopic, but still my thread, how do i unlock the voltages for MSI Afterburner? I have the unoffical overclock EULA set, obviously. But i dont have control over the voltages.

Click settings, then in the general tab click unlock voltage control.

EDIT: I also wanted to add, the on some of the XFX cards (non ref), the coolers can be pretty bad. I had an XFX 5850 that there was no cooling for the RAM. Literally, the only cooling it has was the air passing over it.

Remember not all GPU failures come from the GPU itself. IT's best to open up GPUz and see all of the reported temps when overclocking.

 

[Dolph]

Hmm, not the best cooling at all eh... jeeze. MSI You can make your own fan curve correct? GPUz showed one of the temps at 98.... im pretty sure i shouldn't increase the voltage at all.

 

[Henrytvu]

Anyone here have experience with the xfx hd 5870 eyefinity 6?
I have a faulty 5870 eyefinity six and xfx wants to replace it with
an hd 6950 2gb. All the reviews and research that I have done
and based on the specs, the 5870 eyefinity is a higher performance card.
The support person keep telling me that it's the new design and therefore it's better.
However, to me it doesn't make sense. Anyone with experience on 5870 and 6950, please shine in.

 

[moocow0463]

They are comparable in performance, maybe you can swindle them into a 6990 tho lol

 

[Dolph]

They are comparable in performance, maybe you can swindle them into a 6990 tho lol

Rofl, if you can pull that off, that will be deemed company ripoff of the year.

 

[crazyeyesreaper]

6950 2gb is far superior to the 5870 i dont know what or who told you they were comparible in DX11 titles the difference can be night and day. It comes down to a per game basis but a 6950 2gb is slightly faster to a great deal faster depending on the game tested.

roughly stock vs stock its 5% difference across the board DX 9 10 and 11 combined

In Batman Arkham City 6950 manages a 35% lead over the 5870

so depending on title youll see a 5% to 35% performance jump from a 5870 to a 6950, add in overclocking the 6950 will pull ahead further as its design seems to be less limited by the ROPs

the big improvement really comes into play when looking at minimum frame rates which is where a 6950 takes the cake, the minimum fps is more stable on hte 6950 then the 5870 in a majority of benchmarks i noticed it myself when switching from 2x 5850s to 6970s to 6950s both 6900 series cards offered far better minimums in single and multi gpu.

 

[Darkleoco]

I dont quite recall if it is only the MSI Twin Frozr series of 6950's or not, but they have a stock voltage of 1.21 so that could be another factor for people getting such high clocks @ stock,

For example with my crossfire 6950's I have an OC of about 940/1420 (check my sig for exact OC stupid school computer wont load system specs) and I have temps that dont even come close to breaking 65 degrees when gaming for extended sessions. Also this was just a simple OC I used, I have never really tried to push past my current OC and have never tried to up the voltage over my 1.21v stock voltage.

End rambling lol

 

[Henrytvu]

I'm not sure I follow understand why the 6950 2gb is superior against the 5870 2gb eyefinity 6?
Here is the quick technical spec:

5870 2gb eyefinity six:
-----------------------------
1600 stream processors
850 Mhz core speed
6 display ports output (6 active 2650 * 1600 monitor)
1200MHz memory speed / 256 bits
Price Range (450 - 550) - I bought it for $469

6950 2gb
-----------------------------
1408 stream processors
800 Mhz core speed
2 display port, 1 hdmi, 2 dual-dvi (4 Active monitor)
1250 Mhz memory speed / 256 bits
Price $269


I'm puzzled why the 6950 would be better, what I'm I missing?

 

[AsRock]

My 6970 does 940 with out issue with out touching the voltage. Don't the 6950's run a slightly lower voltage ?..

And don't you have the option in CCC to up the voltage 20% ?.

 

[Dolph]

Hey there guys, GOOD NEWS!! Since i started this thread, im going to address my original issue. Just got the HAF X Case, and oh my god. Card dropped like.... 15-20 degrees. Here are a few pic.

Card idols at 39.5 and now load at 57 degrees C. So i was able to up the voltage to 1.2v, and reach a stable 925/1440 Overclock , Achieved another 325 points in 3dmark 11, with idol at 42, load at 78 degress C. This is still, being .... UNBELIEVABLY bottlenecked by my current CPU: e6400 @2.933ghz.

All in all - more pleased than i originally was

 

[NdMk2o1o]

I'm not sure I follow understand why the 6950 2gb is superior against the 5870 2gb eyefinity 6?
Here is the quick technical spec:

5870 2gb eyefinity six:
-----------------------------
1600 stream processors
850 Mhz core speed
6 display ports output (6 active 2650 * 1600 monitor)
1200MHz memory speed / 256 bits
Price Range (450 - 550) - I bought it for $469

6950 2gb
-----------------------------
1408 stream processors
800 Mhz core speed
2 display port, 1 hdmi, 2 dual-dvi (4 Active monitor)
1250 Mhz memory speed / 256 bits
Price $269


I'm puzzled why the 6950 would be better, what I'm I missing?

It is a newer generation of card and as such even with slightly less shaders and lower clocks it is a lot more efficient because of the newer architecture and is as someone already stated 5-35% more powerful. It's a worthy replacement.

 

[FreedomEclipse]

I'm not sure I follow understand why the 6950 2gb is superior against the 5870 2gb eyefinity 6?
Here is the quick technical spec:

5870 2gb eyefinity six:
-----------------------------
1600 stream processors
850 Mhz core speed
6 display ports output (6 active 2650 * 1600 monitor)
1200MHz memory speed / 256 bits
Price Range (450 - 550) - I bought it for $469

6950 2gb
-----------------------------
1408 stream processors
800 Mhz core speed
2 display port, 1 hdmi, 2 dual-dvi (4 Active monitor)
1250 Mhz memory speed / 256 bits
Price $269


I'm puzzled why the 6950 would be better, what I'm I missing?

the 6xxx series is based/built on entirely new and more efficient architecture then the older 5xxx series.

performance is 'better' for the same reasons that a 1.6Ghz Athlon XP is beat down by a 1.6Ghz Semperon even though they are running at the same clock speeds.

Though the only technical correlation between the 5xxx and the 6xxx series is that they are both still based on 40nm fabs.

 

[cadaveca]

Hey there guys, GOOD NEWS!! Since i started this thread, im going to address my original issue. Just got the HAF X Case, and oh my god. Card dropped like.... 15-20 degrees. Here are a few pic.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b94/Dolphian/IMAG0119.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b94/Dolphian/IMAG0115.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b94/Dolphian/IMAG0113.jpg

Card idols at 39.5 and now load at 57 degrees C. So i was able to up the voltage to 1.2v, and reach a stable 925/1440 Overclock , Achieved another 325 points in 3dmark 11, with idol at 42, load at 78 degress C. This is still, being .... UNBELIEVABLY bottlenecked by my current CPU: e6400 @2.933ghz.

All in all - more pleased than i originally was

So it WAS temps?