ATI 5870M Crossfire OVERCLOCK via vBIOS MAXIMUM

So I got the vbios thing all figured out, thanks to various peers in this forum.

I had it set at 1.1v 900mhz and 1200mhz and experienced crashing and artifact, so i toned down to 850mhz 1.1v and 1200mhz memory

I was wondering what your success was for ocing these cards. I am not sure if I should give a little more voltage to get to 900mhz

What is maximum safety voltage for these cards?

Thank you.

 

If I remember correctly, they won't boot at any voltage above 1.15. They are pretty robust cards, but make sure you're monitoring your temperatures.

 

What turbo said. You can use 1.15v but nothing higher will boot. Try 1.15v and that might give you the stability. I bencher my 5870s at 1010/1310. Yea you saw that right 1Ghz mobile gpu straight gangsta!! Lol Im a nerd...

 

are you the guy who did dry ice cooling? i think i saw it in another thread about it..

 

where do you edit all of this at? i have a 6870

 

http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/629186-5870ms-cfx-vbios-oc-850mhz.html

look at the 6th reply. not sure if it is exactly the same for other ATI cards, but I would be surprised if it aint.

 

Editing and flashing the VBIOS has been the same since my first set of ATI cards, which were 3870s.

Just make sure that you're running the absolute newest version of Radeon BIOS Editor (RBE), as well as the newest version of ATIFlash.

 

Quick question:

Did you get it stable for 900+mhz in the long run?

 

You're looking to run those clocks on a daily basis? Your best bet (since everyone's GPUs are not equal) is to ramp the voltage up to 1.15, flash the card to desired clock, and then start gaming with it. Watch the temps closely, and see if you can keep it stable. I wouldn't recommend this, but the 5870 is aging, and if you kill it, you can find one relatively cheap.

 

so I did flash with 1.15v and 900mhz. somehow 3dmark11 doesnt finish with 900mhz.

anyways, i have been testing with bf3, and the temp goes up to 93c... this is high, but what is really the highest it can "tolerate?"

 

If you can't finish a benchmark, then you have nothing to judge your performance against. I will tell you that a few frames per second aren't worth cooking your cards like that. 93°C is too high. If you can keep your cards cooler, I would say run whatever overclock you can with stability. I generally ran mine at 800/1100, which didn't even require a voltage adjustment.

I believe the card shuts down completely at 114°C.

I would look for a nice, rock-solid overclock that doesn't run above about 85°C. Have you ever applied new thermal paste and pads to your cards? Have you cleaned the vents and fan recently?

 

it wasnt repasted. and since the tech replaced it, i am sure repasting will make a huge difference.

 

ok now after repasting with ac5 and no replacing of the thermal pad, the temp shoots up till 105. it surpases 105 with furmark so i just turned the program off.

it was around 95 before repasting.. I am not sure even with settling of the ac 5, it will knock off 10c..

Help..

 

Settling of the AS5 takes many hours of hot/cool cycles. Negligible. Are you sure that you didn't mess something else up? A fresh paste job should be lower than whatever you had before, and then should continue to go down.

 

i tried for the second time. I guess I will have to wait and see..

What else could i have done wrong?

 

Like the other thread says, if you're using some type of thermal interface material (TIM), you should be fine. It could be toothpaste.

There are other variables though. Thermal pads should be .5mm thick. If you use anything thinner or thicker, you are disrupting other heat exchanges.

 

I just ordered .5mm pads. i will also try that 100% spread thin layer on the gpu die as well. will report back probably next weekend though after i receive the pads.

 

Just know that as5 has like a curing time of 200 hours.

 

I played around with flashing the cards to various clocks and with my 920xm and 1.1 v@850/1100 it would just shut off, and I would have to unplug the PSU to reset it, meaning I was starving for current. So there are other limitations, depending on what CPU and PSU youre running and if youre unlocking your CPU's full potential say with ThrottleStop, which I am.

What I found to be the most I could squeeze out my configuration that I hope is safe for everyday use are the settings I am currently using in my sig.

Temps vary, as of recent I have been playing Skyrim and my CPU's core 0 and core 1 temps flirt with 90 C (usually high 80's) and my GPU's usually run in the mid 70's with the highest temp monitored on one of them at 80 C.

Overvolting by just .05 V would increase the GPU's temps by a good 5-10 C. In my opinion it isnt worth it.

I am using the " book mod" BTW.

 

Please continue discussion here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/629186-5870ms-cfx-vbios-oc-850mhz.html

There's no need for multiple threads on the same subject.
Thank you.