My ATI Radeon 5850 review (Gigabyte 5850OC) (custom dual fan model)

[anonemus]

Hey, guys! Has anyone tried the Gigabyte SOC Tuner?

http://www.benchzone.com/Downloads/Temp/5870socTuner.rar

http://www.xtremesystems.org/forums/showpost.php?p=4355618&postcount=146

I successfully installed it last night but am a bit afraid to mess up with my GPU's voltages at this stage...

 

[erixx]

keep in mind that the SOC cards are physically very different.... don't expect miracles

 

[anonemus]

Thanks for the reminder. I chickened out and decided not to mess with my card's voltages yet.

BTW, how come Gigabyte's own HUD utility doesn't work with our 5850 OC?

 

[erixx]

Sorry guys, but my shop's offered me a RMA deal I cannot resist....

 

[SK-1]

No more supermodel girlfriend, but bet this one won't stutter lol.

And you MUST have one hell of an "understanding" shop!!

 

[OnBoard]

Sorry guys, but my shop's offered me a RMA deal I cannot resist....

http://pic.xfastest.com/z/SS/GTX_480_Sandy/133.JPG

Can I have them both

For 5850 price I'd take 470 instantly, even though it would be as hot as my 280 was. Your shop

 

[erixx]

Well, look, i just have to add one 50 euro billet, they aint stupid at the shop! lol

 

[SK-1]

Well, look, i just have to add one 50 euro billet, they aint stupid at the shop! lol

 

[SilverSilence]

Well, look, i just have to add one 50 euro billet, they aint stupid at the shop! lol

Damn you lol

 

[TT88]

I still get the error message "no valid devices found" when trying to overclock this card with amd gpu clock tool, and msi afterburner won't let med set speeds higher than the limit of ccc. What to do?

 

[erixx]

Dear Trondheimer, mythical city!, you can edit the afterburner ini file (Search forum) and kill the ccc process and try. I can't remember now the exact ini file change, but it is here for sure.

 

[TT88]

I thought it was a config file in the ATI folder that had to be changed. Thank you

 

[anonemus]

BIOS f5 is out guys!

1. ATI Source BIOS Version: 012.019.000.007
2. ECLK/MCLK is 765/1000 MHz
3. SAMSUNG memory
4. Enabled 2D / 3D Dynamic Power Saving function

You can get it here http://www.gigabyte.com.tw/Support/VGA/BIOS_DownloadFile.aspx?FileType=BIOS&FileID=15922

 

[DarknRahl]

Latest bios scales the card way down for 2d mode. It's pretty much fixed now. I just wish we had saveable voltage control.

 

[anonemus]

@ Dark --

Yes, F5 solved the 2D/3D problem. Still, we have no volt control. I also hope Gigabyte will update their HUD utility software to recognize our 5850

 

[SilverSilence]

You won't ever get voltage control, it doesn't have the Volterra chip on the PCB.

 

[DarknRahl]

I downloaded a program earlier in this thread that allowed voltage control. It just wasn't saveable so not really practical adjusting it manually every time you want to play a game.

 

[SilverSilence]

I downloaded a program earlier in this thread that allowed voltage control. It just wasn't saveable so not really practical adjusting it manually every time you want to play a game.

That SOC tool? Yes, it's not saveable because this card and the 5870 version DO NOT have Volterra chips, you can look on your card if you want, it's a chip with a little 'v' on it like here;

That tool is designed for the "Super Overclock Cards" And is not even designed to be used with these "Ultra Durable" Cards.

 

[DarknRahl]

I wasn't disputing the chip not being on the card, more my vague knowledge that I could adjust the voltage.

Either way I'm happy with the overclock I got from this card. Another 60mhz on the core wouldn't give me any amazing gain over the 940 I already have.

 

[buggalugs]

Gigabyte's own design fails again.

They havent learnt anything from the 4870 they made with the zalman one speed (noisy) fan.

They copped the same flack last series and they've done it again. An aftermarket fan that is noisier than reference design is a major fail.....

 

[SK-1]

Gigabyte's own design fails again.

They havent learnt anything from the 4870 they made with the zalman one speed (noisy) fan.

They copped the same flack last series and they've done it again. An aftermarket fan that is noisier than reference design is a major fail.....

Where do you get your db. info?? You obviously have no experience with this card. The stock "Leaf blower" fan is at least twice as loud as the Gigabyte fan. This is an objective observation, not subjective. Would you like me to drag out my db. meter and show you?

 

[xeno7]

Well, my turn to post after having successfully flashed the bios. 2D mode working perfectly
I am now completely happy about the card!
For those having trouble with the fans at 55%, have you tried afterburner? It is working pretty well for me, and below 58C, I have now my fans at 30%, inaudible... you can set up a curve temp/speed, pretty handy..

 

[SilverSilence]

Gigabyte's own design fails again.

They havent learnt anything from the 4870 they made with the zalman one speed (noisy) fan.

They copped the same flack last series and they've done it again. An aftermarket fan that is noisier than reference design is a major fail.....

I came from two original 5770's and this cooler is substantially quieter then the leaf blower cooler on them, it's basically silent.

Well, my turn to post after having successfully flashed the bios. 2D mode working perfectly
I am now completely happy about the card!
For those having trouble with the fans at 55%, have you tried afterburner? It is working pretty well for me, and below 58C, I have now my fans at 30%, inaudible... you can set up a curve temp/speed, pretty handy..

As i have said before, manual fan control does not work. It may appear to be but if you monitor your fans RPM they will stay at ~2500RPM, they can't go any lower.

 

[xeno7]

Hmm, I think you're right... (what do you use to monitor the fan speed of the GC?)
I did test different % below 55, and I thought that it was working because below this, I cannot hear the difference. But I did put the value at like 2%, and since the temp did not increase, I assume there is a minimum value we cannot override... the 2500RPM I guess.
Manual control does work however when setting higher values (I can hear the fans then).

I would assume the Gigabyte guys preferred limiting the tweaking to this value to protect the cards while still offering a low noise? That would be my guess...

 

[Darvie]

I have been questioning Gigabyte lately about the fan speed. My view, the fan is definitly louder than reference fan when idle, but probably ok when gaming. But then again, there is room for the fan to work at a reasonable low speed when idle. Does anyone agree? I said to Gigabyte, I dont expect it to be perfectly quiet but reasonbly quiet.

I was told the fan specificatin is 33db@2500 rpm and 43db@max speed. But 33db for minimum speed? isnt it silly and ridiculus? That is almost the maximum fan speed of many high end VGA coolers. I dont mind 33db when gaming, but if i hear it at 33db all day long, all i want to do is to smash the card. So I raised my above concern again and they told me that is the specification and cannot be changed because lowering fan speed could burn the card, which i dont really fucking think so.

If the fan speed can be adjusted to 2000rpm, it will be a lot quieter, and what the temp will be? go up from 41 to 45? I dont see that is an issue. But anyway, it seemed they just wanted me to piss off. I think we are done here guys, Gigabyte will never adjust the fan speed. And this is probably the last time I buy a card with a aftermarket cooler because at the end of the day I found reference fan is always the best solution to balance noise level and heat.

Has anyone got any different answers from Gigabyte, please let everyone know.