HD 2900 Series Overclocking and Feedback thread

[trt740]

Originally Posted by EastCoasthandle

Thanks!

Here's a little secret:
The better you cool the PWM the less likely you experience frame rate dips.



wow, this thing is huge! (not my pic)
Only one slot left and the video card is bowed

mines not bent he must have the mounting screws too tight remember the zalman vf900s will also bend video cards if the screws are too tight.

[EastCoasthandle]

Originally Posted by trt740

mines not bent he must have the mounting screws too tight remember the zalman vf900s will also bend video cards if the screws are too tight.

I figured this much. You always screw in a crisscross pattern, ALWAYS! Its a pain but I actually count the number of turns. If I don't I always bow my card in one form or another (using a waterblock).

[b1lk1]

I must buy this heatsink. Excellent......

[MarcusTaz]

ok cool thanks for the pics. Question... Could you have left on the original black heatsink on the back end of the card? Also there is no mention of the heatsink being compatible with our card, so did you have to mod anything to get it to work, i.e. spacers etc..

Thank a bunch!

PS: How about a pic in your case?

Also just noticed trt740 your card GPU goes up to 875 and 1200 on the mem and in my case my max in ATi Overdrive is only 858/1153.. Any reason why? I have the Powercolor card which is just an ATI reference card... Would love it if you could shead some light on this one...

[trt740]

Originally Posted by MarcusTaz

ok cool thanks for the pics. Question... Could you have left on the original black heatsink on the back end of the card? Also there is no mention of the heatsink being compatible with our card, so did you have to mod anything to get it to work, i.e. spacers etc..

Thank a bunch!

PS: How about a pic in your case?

Also just noticed trt740 your card GPU goes up to 875 and 1200 on the mem and in my case my max in ATi Overdrive is only 858/1153.. Any reason why? I have the Powercolor card which is just an ATI reference card... Would love it if you could shead some light on this one...

It is made for the 2900 xt thats the only card it can be used on. It is the Thermalright HR-03 /R600 the 8800 gtx version is called a Thermalright HR-03 Plus.The black backing plate cannot be mounted as far as I know .Why would you want to? The heatsink is really not all that heavy when mounted. It is big but doesn't feel super heavy when mounted. When I mounted it it didn't bend my 8800 gtx or 2900 xt.

[trt740]

Originally Posted by trt740

no i'm at stock used AMDS overclocking tool then locked that in, in ati overdrive. If you understand what I mean. ATI overdrive will only go to 858/1153 unless you use AMD overclocking tool then the sliders go higher in overdrive and you can lock them in.

Read this post. Before I used this cooler I couldn't max the overdrive setting let alone go higher. This cooler rocks.

[trt740]

Also just noticed trt740 your card GPU goes up to 875 and 1200 on the mem and in my case my max in ATi Overdrive is only 858/1153.. Any reason why? I have the Powercolor card which is just an ATI reference card... Would love it if you could shead some light on this one...[/QUOTE]

Here is an example of what I did once it is locked into overdrive it will stay there when ever you reboot aswell.

[trt740]

Originally Posted by mandelore

thats GREAT bud!

the DD-29xt fiull coverage waterblock is only 8C cooler @ 900core 2500 memory, thats an awsome air cooler, what about system temperatures? have they been effected at all?

and is there any "creep" in that max temperature? does it go up very slowly over a few hours under load? oh... the memory is just cooled with extra ram sinks? still good tho

I did some testing and I want to correct something it does raise my case temps about three degrees when benching the card hard for long periods of time. I bet it would be more if you don't have a newer case like a Antec 900 series case etc. This 2900 xt does throw more heat than my old 8800 gtx not a ton more but more non the less. If you have a well ventlated case like mine 5 120mm fans or you leave the side off as I do sometimes no problem.

[trt740]

here is an example of my card at idle with the case closed the gpu fan on high. Remember I have a very well ventlated case as most of you do but even in a poorly ventlated case you wouldn't be over 40c which is still 29c lower than my old stock idle temps. Also my AC5 appears to be setting up because my temps have dropped a bit sometimes getting as low as 29c. Also I cannot match mandlores oc of 890/2500 on water I can come close 875/2400 but not match it. Also does anyone know a good temperature gpu montoring program that you can use while playing a game like fraps but for temps. This would help alot. I'm trying to give you a good idea of just how good this cooler is. It seems to be the best air cooler Ive seen.

[TonyStark]

AMD GPU clock tool has temperature monitoring. When you exit the game, you can see the min, max, avg temperatures.

ATI Tray Tools could display temps on screen while gaming. Pitty it doesn't support the R600 yet.

[mandelore]

when i was reviewving the dd-29xt block i ran amd gpu clock tool on my second monitor while running the games i was testing, after an hours gameplay i just noted down the 3 variables shown on the amdgpu tool window so i had actual current temperatures as the game was running.

rivatuner also allows for display of the temperatures, aswell as voltage regulator current draw on a graph grid which is handy

[mandelore]

Originally Posted by TonyStark

AMD GPU clock tool has temperature monitoring. When you exit the game, you can see the min, max, avg temperatures.

ATI Tray Tools could display temps on screen while gaming. Pitty it doesn't support the R600 yet.

hell id b one happy man if atitool supported the 1gb 2900 so damn desperate to bump the voltage and see what this card can do!

[trt740]

Originally Posted by mandelore

hell id b one happy man if atitool supported the 1gb 2900 so damn desperate to bump the voltage and see what this card can do!

Okay during the 3dmarks06 bench with everything turned up at resolution 1440x900 max temp was 51c according to AMD gpu overclocking tool. I think thats pretty good. With the stock cooler I was in the 80's

[MarcusTaz]

Those are great temps! trt740 I know see the correct one for our cards on the manufacture site. Newegg does not seem to stock it yet...

[trt740]

Originally Posted by MarcusTaz

Those are great temps! trt740 I know see the correct one for our cards on the manufacture site. Newegg does not seem to stock it yet...

here is where you can buy it. http://www.jab-tech.com/Thermalright...0-pr-3877.html

[mandelore]

i wonder why they didnt build in the voltage regulator and memory sinks into the main heatpipe cooler?

surely even if that bumped the temperature of the core by 10C its still really cool for that card, and would help with overclocking quite a bit

[trt740]

Originally Posted by mandelore

i wonder why they didnt build in the voltage regulator and memory sinks into the main heatpipe cooler?

surely even if that bumped the temperature of the core by 10C its still really cool for that card, and would help with overclocking quite a bit

i'm not sure but it seems to let me overclock my card alot higher up from like 840/1143 to 875/1200 so it's better.

[trt740]

Hey guys does your 2900 xt video card reset itself when windows loads the ccc on the tool bar. My screen flashes black slightly right as it ccc loads , digital appears in the upper corner of my monitor then it's fine . It only does this as CCC loads and for less than a second. Then It fine and doesn't malfunction but it's just a oddity I noticed. I'm wondering if it's just mine. It almost like when you load the CCC for the first time and it tests your video card or optimizes it

[Lopez0101]

It does it to me too but my monitor doesn't act like it was just turned off and back on but it does flash black quickly.

[trt740]

Originally Posted by Lopez0101

It does it to me too but my monitor doesn't act like it was just turned off and back on but it does flash black quickly.

Mine doesn't act like it was turned off flashes just like yours with a black screen. Glad to hear it's not only me must be the drivers loading.

[Wile E]

Originally Posted by trt740

Mine doesn't act like it was turned off flashes just like yours with a black screen. Glad to hear it's not only me must be the drivers loading.

It's an ATI thing. My X1800 did it too. :shrug:

[EastCoasthandle]

Does anyone know where to buy a PWM (mosfet) heatsink that snaps into the holes at each end?



This only comes with the HR-03/R600. I haven't found a stand alone yet.

[trt740]

Originally Posted by EastCoasthandle

Does anyone know where to buy a PWM (mosfet) heatsink that snaps into the holes at each end?



This only comes with the HR-03/R600. I haven't found a stand alone yet.

call thermalright and just order that part.

[EastCoasthandle]

Originally Posted by trt740

call thermalright and just order that part.

They don't do that.

[EastCoasthandle]

Ok I got the HR-03/R600 and so far notice a in Voltage regulator current from roughly 40.45C at idle to 25.74C at idel. That's a whopping 14.71C drop (roughly not an exact depending on ambient temps). Because R600 doesn't go into 3d mode using RTHDRIBL I am still testing. But will post results soon. However. It appears that the PWM, mosfet heatsink along with the memory mosfet heatsink is really doing it's job (and its alu not copper!).

Here are some pics


Before the install of HR-03/R600 heatsinks only



After HR-03/R600 install of heatsinks only


Take a look at what I circled. These items apparently needs to be properly cooled. As you look at the pic below you will see that the pwm sink will cover them.



Take note of the extended "arm" on the row of ram sinks to the left of the GPU. It covers 2 other vital components that need to be cooled. One is a pwm I am not sure about the other component.


This photo shows the Arctic Silver Cleaner, the name of the video card heatsink and overall photo of the R600 with the memory/pwm (mosfet) heat sinks


This photo shows the rear of the R600 and the memory ram sinks.

Side note:
ATI ram sinks are notorious for having oil on them from the pads used (at least for me). Using arctic silver cleaner did a much better job at removing the oil (which prevents double adhesvie tape from sticking to the ram) then using rubbing alcohol alone.