6990m Graphics Overdrive (Overclock) Settings?

Hey again guys,

For those of you M17x R3 owners out there who also have the monster 6990m card, do you have any recommended (as in higher, but safe) settings for the AMD Overdrive (Overclocking system) in the Catalyst Control Center?

Really tempted to experiment, but don't want to brick this thing.

Thanks!

 

I haven't used AMD Overdrive, but using Trixx I got a stable overclock up to 830/1130 on stock voltage. You don't have to worry about bricking it unless you are jacking up the voltage.

 

What I normally do, as an impatient person, when overclocking is look at everyone else's overclock, then basically go somewhere between stock and the average high end OC. I then test stability with Furmark, then go up in smaller increments from there. Once you start seeing artifacts or getting system crashes, it's time to pull your clocks back a bit. This method is less time consuming than trying bit by bit up from stock speeds, and still minimally riskier.

But basically, the only risk you face is a computer crash. No bricking. On the long term, if your temps are too high for too long, the card will die faster, so always monitor your temps. Otherwise, overclocking is a no-risk hobby.

 

I second that tapakidney said. I myself have been using just AMD's overdrive settings to play with plus 3DMark to bench.

The MOST IMPORTANT thing is you slowly up the settings BIT BY BIT. Do not push it to the extreme at once or you might risk "blowing your engine". Good luck and have fun.

 

id say stability testing with 3dmark isnt the best.

crysis 2 crashed my card when it was stable in 3dmark

 

But have ya found some comfortable settings to leave it on?

 

I leave mine stock. No reason to overclock the 6990 right now, at least for me. I was overclocking strictly for testing/break-in purposes. At some point in the future it is also nice to know what it can do if/when the need to overclock arises. Right now though, I don't have any games that exceed the capabilities of the 6990 at stock clock rates. I'm actually going to try and undervolt it a bit for lower temps.

 

there's also a default setting on Overdrive which leaves the clock at 740MHz...not much OC at all but still higher than stock.

 

Really? Cause I do get some heavy slow down on a few games if I set everything to max. Like in Fallout New Vegas, if I turn Anti-aliasing max settings, it's pretty unplayable. Perhaps it might be cause I have the 2630 processor though....

 

wait a minit.... how are you guys even able to execute Overdrive on an AW (i am assuming) system

 

They're talking about Overdrive, the ATI/AMD GPU overclocking utility included in CCC, not the AMD system o/c'ing utility of the same name.

 

You can edit the vbios with RBE to increase the o/c limits in Overdrive to any levels you desire.

 

what is RBE??can i flash my 6970m?

 

RBE is Radeon Bios Editor (currently v1.28), available here: Download TechPowerUp Radeon Bios Editor v1.28 | techPowerUp. You can use it to modify clocks and some other items, including Overdrive o/c limits (on the last tab), utilized by the vbios on ATI/AMD cards.

Of course you can flash your 6970M, best by using AtiFlash from a DOS bootable USB memory stick or a CD. There are numerous tutorials explaining the process in detail available in the Alienware forums. Be sure you understand thoroughly before flashing. Improper flashing can damage your card.

 

my 6970m is from clevo!!that makes it difficult to flash it or its the same??can u saw me a tutorial how to do the flash???i need to flash my bios to increase Overdrive o/c limits.it'll be permanent even if i change drivers?thx man!!appreciate ur help!

 

Also my 2 6970's are from Clevo , and i flash them every time i want to bench, since i keep them (flashed) @0.96V.
If you will to mod the bios and don't will to do it on your own, just send me in attachment your vbios image and i'll mod it at your wish.

Edit: to make a copy of your bios open GPU-z and click on the right side of the bios number, it will make a copy. Attached picture to show you where is the copy bios button

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/703/gpuzbios.jpg/

 

i allrdy mod my bios for higher Overdrive o/c limits.now i need a guide for flash!!!thx

 

Do you already have a DOS bootable USB memory stick?

 

yes my friend i allrdy have!!!what i need to do next??i have flashed my gtx 260m from my old laptop several times!!

 

Ok, so:

make a copy of the bios, i prefer to work on dos mode with usb stick, in this case once booted with the usb type

atiflash -i
(this will show you your adapter(s) )

since you have 1 card it should be "0"

depending of what is the result of the above command the next step is:

atiflash -s 0 biosname.bin

This will save a copy of the original bios.

atiflash -cf biosname.bin

this (important!) will make test checksum and will return a code (mine for example are 0xDA00) take note of it.

Reboot in windows, perform the mod you want to do on the bios, save it on the usb stick and reboot.

Once on command prompt type:

atiflash -cf moddedbios.bin, the result must be the same as your original bios. If it is so, proceed to flash typing:

atiflash -p 0 moddedbios.bin

after it is finished, restart the pc and the card is flashed.

NOTE: write the bios name no longer than 8 chars or it will be difficult to use it under dos.

 

1. Download Atiflash files: Download ATIFlash 3.86 | techPowerUp
2. Unzip the AtiFlash zip file and copy the extracted files to your USB key.
3. Copy your modified vbios to the USB drive.
4. Insert the USB stick and make sure your system is on AC power.
5. Reboot.
6. Press F12 at the Alienware Logo screen.
7. Select "Boot from USB"
8. At the Command Prompt, type in "atiflash -s 0 origbios.rom” (without the quotes) to save a copy of your original vbios to the memory stick so that you can revert to stock when desired.
9. At the Command Prompt, type in "atiflash -p 0 xxxxxxxx.rom" (no quotes) and then Enter, where xxxxxxxx.rom is the name of your revised vbios file, to flash the card.
10. Then WAIT for it to complete the flash. When it announces that you need to reboot to finalize the flash, remove the USB stick and reboot into Windows.

 

successfully flashed bios!!! thx both for the big help +rep both!!!

 

Congratulations, johnnyman27. Good job. OD is very convenient.

 

i only flashed the Overdrive o/c limits.i can also flash volt settings?i use ati tray tools for volt control and it works like charm!!

 

Generally yes, if your card will accept higher voltage settings. Both my 6970M and 6990M are Dell cards and will not allow overvolting. Attempts to increase the voltage setting in Clock Info 00 (the 3d clock setting) are rejected; they do allow undervolting. If the Clevo cards permit overvolting, you're in fat city.

 

And if they do allow for overvolting, please let me know

As for information, i already undervolted the cards, never tryied to Overvolt'em, mostly becouse with stock 1.1V they reach 850/1050 stable and that's it for my benching needs

Edit: thanks for the rep, you are really welcome

 

Anyone overvolt successfully ?

 

for those who have their 6990M undervolted, what's the lowest it can go while retaining 100% stability?

 

The lowest I've seen is .96v I believe.

 

With 870/1200 on stock voltage, where are you planning on going with an overvolt?

 

Can someone give us some temp reads on 870/1200 in various stuff? I'm really curious.

 

i haven't gone that high...

but at 830/1100 while gaming in Crysis 2 dx 11

my max temps are in the low 80's...and that's after an hr or so.

i will be repasting to bring that down

 

That seems pretty good for a 14% overclock on the GPU and 18% on memory. I'm curious on the actual settings you used though.
I game Deus Ex maxed out (except the shadows which are set to "Normal" and Trill filtering) and I stay in the low 80's with stock clocks.
I tried completely maxed out and I got small spikes of 96 at times.

 

96? that's getting a little toasty for my liking

My catalyst settings are the default settings. I haven't tweaked them at all. My crysis 2 settings are "Ultra" everything...DX 11

 

The Revelator,

I want to do this same bios mod with my 6990m. I have the Sager NP8170 but I'm guessing it shouldn't make a difference.
ImageShack® - Online Photo and Video Hosting
Is there any way you could give a step by step?
Thanks

 

instead of going through the hassle of a bios flash to increase the OC limits within CCC...why don't you just download sapphire trixx and overclock that way. NO bios flash required

https://www.sapphireselectclub.com/ssc/TriXX/TriXX.aspx

 

True, but I would rather have all my settings in CCC just to make it easier with profiles. Also not having to worry about 2 separate programs.

 

Sure, but make a copy of your 6990M's vbios (one method is to load GPU-Z, click the camera icon to the right of the Bios Version box and save to file) and then post as an attachment here (you will have to rename the vbios file by changing the extension from .bin to .txt to post in the forum). That will let me see what the existing o/c limits are. Is Overdrive already accessible under the Performance tab in your Catalyst Control Center? If you prefer, I'll modify your vbios file to include whatever limits you desire. There's really no point in changing vbios clocks; all that can be managed through OD. Or, give me a little better idea of exactly what you need step-by-step instructions for.

 

Using the Saphire program at an 820/1060 OC, I ran 3D Mark Vantage and got temps of 80 for the CPU and 79 for the GPU max for the respective highest sensors with HwInfo64.

Just repasted with MX-4, thanks Revalator and SlickDude, and dropped my GPU temp 10 degrees.

What temps are your CPU's running? My repaste only helped 2 degrees it seems.

Is there any "curing time" with the MX-4?

 

hey Dr J, i would love to compare your temps to mine...please download Furmark, set your gpu clocks to stock and run the default burn-in test. Here is my furmark after 4 mins.

Temps are hovering around 67-68c...max temp of 72c

i just repasted with OCZ Freeze Extreme yesterday, i'm very pleased with the results. MX-4 should be very similar in temps

 

@ Dr.J. -- My Vantage CPU temps are right in line with yours. Vantage puts a lot of stress on the CPU, and the 2820's are working hard, so it's not surprising that the temps reflect the effort. Here is a screenshot of a Vantage run with the 2820QM; although the 6990M is not as heavily o/c'ed as yours, that has little effect on CPU temps. In theory, MX-4 requires no cure period; however, in my experience, temps improve slightly (1-2C maybe) after a day or two of use.

 

Hi Slick,

I don't feel good about the CPU MX-4 paste. My Vantage CPU temps were 80 degrees so Furmark is likely to be higher, agreed?

 

Yep, yours are about a degree better. Feel better, would rep you (and slick) but need to 'spread it around' more first.

 

J, do you have the back of your computer lifted up? This will drop your temps big time

i'm gonna run a vantage run and report back with my CPU temps

 

Furmark heats up the GPU not cpu so i wanted to compare your GPU temps.

 

I am on a Targus cooler but it makes no difference if it is on or off but it essentially lifts up my back end because it is porus.

My GPU TS2 sensor is at 79 degrees on Vantage. The others are low to mid 70's, fyi.

 

ok here are my temps taken during a vantage run. With my 4 cores going at 100%, My max temps are around 72c

 

scroll down and show your GPU temps please.

Your cpu will rise when ShirlyFu delivers...

I might add that my factory CPU paste job looked quite good if not with good paste. My GPU factory paste job stank with mucho extra paste all over the place. There was/is a screw missing from my GPU fan and my CPU heatsink screws were not tight at all, finger tight at best....

I am very, very happy after repasting all in all though and appreciate all the encouragement and info here!

 

Yes overdrive is accessible. The limits are 740/1000.
I was just looking to set those limits a little higher, 800/1100.
That would be great if you could mod the vbios for me with those clocks.
The original is attached. Thanks

 

lol...well, i'm ready for ShirleyFu...just got my hands on some Prolimatech PK-1...apparently the best thermal paste in the world

One sec, i have to run another vantage run cause i closed HWinfo