XFX Black edition 7970 V3.1 voltage locked...

[Garage1217]

Ok well sucks, I finally pulled the trigger and picked up a 7970 this last week... however this V3.1 xfx black edition version I have - Bios date 5-21-12 is for sure voltage locked. Darn those guys... Tried everything, and every version of OC software. Close as I can get is to read the voltage at 1.175 however it never changes so I do not think that is accurate. I tried tonight to flash it to an earlier bios version that is listed on here dated 2-6-12 but it locked the card up... took a little to recover it to stock bios but nothing crazy and all back to normal. It is a total PCB revision which looks like their cheaper version with dual DVI - not the single DVI it was pictured as having.

Very irritated and of course wife jumped on the mail in rebate so I cannot return it without a ridiculous 25% re-stocking fee from tiger. And... she sent the rebate to corsair, and corsairs to xfx lol so yeah. What fun.

Any thoughts or advice on this?

Bios 015.016.000.001.000000

She overclocks OK... 1100/1700. Was surprised that performance kept increasing until 1700... no error correction drop so that was decent. Stuck pretty hard at 1100 though. Much past that and she artifacts bad.

[Black Flag]

Same problem here, I ordered it after your complaints on 28th. Mine isn't stable even after 1050 MHz. A piece of crap, I only bought it, because with reference PCB, this Black Edition GPU achieves very easy the 1200 MHz without any voltage increase.

[INSTG8R]

Still not a bad overclock tho. I am only running mine at 1100/1500. Not tested it's limits TBH heck not even sure my voltages are unlocked either :P Not seen any reason to push the card any higher it's chewing up games just fine.

[Iactus]

join the Asus Direct CU II 7970's owners in this Locked out club

[Black Flag]

DC2 owners have problems with overclocking?

[Garage1217]

Yeah have been reading on the asus camp being locked out as well now. Crazy for such a darn fine card. I sold my xfx card on ebay today. It is visually well built, very nice aluminum cover and so forth but I LOVE to tinker, overclock and mod so this card is not for me. Just ticked me off they advertised it on the XFX site as having a dual bios switch / built for overclockers blah blah. LIES! Doubt I will ever consider them again. If you do not care to overclock or really push a card, it is a very fine card and well built.

Found one of the last holy grail(s). Still uses a dual bios switch reportedly, and overclocks like a champ. Never thought I would buy an ugly blue PCB gigabyte lol but she has the goods I am looking for so placed the order through newegg today.

GIGABYTE GV-R797OC-3GD
GIGABYTE GV-R797OC-3GD Radeon HD 7970 3GB 384-bit ...

Got a stellar review at HARDOCP. They hit 1305mhz @ 1.274 / 1605mem. Just hope I get that lucky to have a card that stable at those speeds
http://hardocp.com/article/2012/02/0...card_review/10

[INSTG8R]

Mine has a Dual Bios. Heck I flip to the 2nd BIOS and I'm already doing 1000/1450 and gets a more aggressive fan curve to go with it. Has higher Memory Clocks out of the box than the Gigabyte as well.

Hope you have better luck with the Gigabyte

[Garage1217]

Was a hard choice between the two for sure! I went back and forth on both models. Great card!

And I never worry about out of the box clocks

[Iactus]

yea its a shame that two of the BEST built 7970's have the voltages locked...

[INSTG8R]

Originally Posted by Garage1217

Was a hard choice between the two for sure! I went back and forth on both models. Great card!

And I never worry about out of the box clocks

Yeah I hear ya. I'm getting lazy in my old age. If it's gonna give me "A Head Start" I'll take it

[rampage]

i cant be much help to the OP

but i have just got my 7970 in today.

Gigabyte HD7970 GHz Edition 1100mhz/6000 ( GV-R797TO-3GD )

have not played with the voltage, still at stock 1.2v (im at work now so i cant check for another 5 hrs) im still yet to see if its voltage locked.

overclocks ok to 1225 BF3 stable (still working out max oc) and the ram does not OC for shit.

i was more looking to under volt it and see what it needed for 1200mhz


anyone know the purpose for locking the voltage on these newer cards ? problems burning out ?

[Black Flag]

I think there's some way to unlock the voltage control. I don't think that this card has no voltage control. It's just locked from bios. Too bad RBE Editor doesn't supports the 7000 series anymore! I will try to earn some money to buy another one for crossfire. 8000 series will come on Spring of 2013.

[OneMoar]

the v3.1(PCB) does not have voltage control PERIOD there is absolutely not way to overvolt the card what you see is what you get
you can try a RMA with XFX maby they will send you a older card

[Black Flag]

I don't want to RMA the card, it's not so easy to be accepted from the store which I purchased it and I already contacted with XFX. We can't do anything. Ok no problem it runs perfectly at 1050/1500 MHz. I don't need more. It has much better performance than my previous unlocked 6950's 1GB in Crossfire, I feel it...

[Garage1217]

My Gigabyte card was delivered today. Get to check it out tonight. Saying a prayer they did not change up their board too like XFX and Asus. Excited to check it out!

[Garage1217]

Well that super sucked. Got the card in, it worked for about 30 minutes in games and then started to lock up at random. Now locks up every time I start a game but boots into windows. Of all the freakin luck lol Already requested an RMA through newegg. Did not even get a chance to see if it was voltage locked or not Do not think it would be as the dual bios switch is still there.

I did notice some updates.... Top, above VRM's has a new heat spreader plate which is nice. Card is metal reinforced along one edge which makes it rigid.

[OneMoar]

Originally Posted by Garage1217

Well that super sucked. Got the card in, it worked for about 30 minutes in games and then started to lock up at random. Now locks up every time I start a game but boots into windows. Of all the freakin luck lol Already requested an RMA through newegg. Did not even get a chance to see if it was voltage locked or not Do not think it would be as the dual bios switch is still there.

I did notice some updates.... Top, above VRM's has a new heat spreader plate which is nice. Card is metal reinforced along one edge which makes it rigid.

uh thread highjack less ?

[Garage1217]

Originally Posted by OneMoar

uh thread highjack less ?

My thread, I do what I want lol Thread Jack MOAR

[Steevo]

Originally Posted by OneMoar

uh thread highjack less ?

What you sayin to "OP" willis?


Anyone have pencil mods on these cards yet? If you have a multimeter it might be time......

[Garage1217]

The failed 2nd card ugh... Was nice build wise and looks a lot better in person. Just not functional lol VRM's have a nice heatsink on them and the heatspreader on the back was a nice addition.

[Black Flag]

This card has Dual bios switch?

[OneMoar]

try disabling power play and Uvl (
I would use Atitraytools and set separate 2d 3d profiles
else the core is probly defective

[Garage1217]

- Yes, verified it has dual bios as pictured.
- Noted above, the gigabyte worked fine for 30 minutes or so, then started to lock up.. finally it would lock instantly when rendering anything more complex than the desktop. Got a dud, it happens with all brands.

[Black Flag]

Found a stable point for the XFX! Core at 1050 MHz, memory at 1500 MHz, like 7970 GHz edition! Just increase the power tune at 5%! It's stable!

[Garage1217]

On powertune, slide her to 20% and see how far you can take the card. Should be at least 1100 / 1600 depending.