It's just the chips that make the difference. Here's EK's web page where you can see that every manufacturer is using the reference design for 7850 - http://www.coolingconfigurator.com/waterblock/3831109856918
My card lacks of VRM temperature sensor which is annoying. Maybe I can measure it with IR thermometer. I found some cheap heat sinks on ebay, will try them. I was thinking about custom water cooler, but it comes too expensive for this card (around $70, the card is $170 new).
Of course. By now I achieved 1190MHz core with 1.255v and the core temperature is pretty good (82 degrees Celsius or 180F). With 1.24v the card goes BSOD, so I jumped to 1.255v. and I'm close to the limit of the cooler and VRMs probably. I'll have to buy some heat sinks for the VRMs.
Hi dr.noob.
I checked the BIOS you edited for monmaker (Sapphire 7850 1GB). I have the 2GB version of the card, but the memory chips aren't the same, so I won't experiment with it. My max core voltage is 1.225v which is not enough for me to hit 1200MHz (in the same time people hit 1200MHz with...