M17x R3 6970M Overclock

Ah, just ran it. FPS is around 20something as well Seems fine enough to play IMO though. What FPS should I be looking for for this type of game?

 

Dookie you want atleast 30FPS for any game btu like I told Rob, it depends on the game too. Some games look real choppy at 30FPS and only look smooth at 60FPS or 40FPS if the game has an option to change the refresh rate to 40, but our screens our 60hz so 60 FPS is generally the case. Try these settings and tell me what you think after playing it.

1080p, High settings, AA on 2x, vsync on
or
1080p, High settings, AA off, vsync off

If you turn the camera left and right and the screen looks like its tearing, like lines running across the screen then turn on vsync and that will sync the screens refreshrate with the game.

You should get atleast 30FPS with the first settings. you'll get higher if you turn AA off, but it wont look as good, IMO.

AA is personal preference. Some people notice, some dont. I have a keen eye for detail so I notice it. All games are different though.

BTW...these settings are with NO Overclocking.

 

Thank you, I'll try those tonight. Like I said though, the settings I have them at now (1080p, very high everything, AA off, vsync (dunno)) seem fine. The game plays well, and I can hardly tell if it's slow or not.

 

Here is my score just messin around . Did not think i would get that high and i am only doing GPU runs since thats all i care about .





Heres another with a little bump in the clocks .




Here is my stock score ...

 

Nice benchmarks! I wont ever overclock to 855/1075. I already tried to OC witched 2 at 850/1050 and the game froze up so I dropped it back down.

 

I just did a couple runs for fun but other then that i leave my card at stock because i am very satisfied with the stock performance.

 

Pretty nice score Quad, post in the benchmark thread if you get more serious about it. That thread seems to be dying sadly.

 

When I OC (775/1000) my R3 and play Metro 2033. The temp goes crazy...lol. It is about 85C.

 

that's about the hottest my 580 desktop cards get.

 

OC 825/1015 on Witcher 2 I'm getting around 75-80 degrees. Not too bad.

 

I have found using 2 different 6970M cards that you should be able to tap out the card to:

Everyday stable 800MHz on the core (850-875MHz max for benching if you get lucky)

Everyday stable 1100MHz on the memory (1150-1200MHz max for benching if you get lucky)

My everyday stable clocks are 812/1133

Good luck with yours

 

I cant get 775/1000 stable with Furmark 1.8.2. It throttles to 400/900 after 5 mins. Does anyone else have this problem??

 

Is that when u just run the bencmark that it down clocks?

I run Wither 2 at 825/1050 for a good 3 hrs and its fine.

 

how do you "flash" the bios to run 750/1000 for the GPU ? I have bios A04

 

where is the button to overclock in CCC ? I have CCC and i cant see the option anywhere... a path would be highly appreciated

 

Not benchmark. Stability test.

 

I OCed the 6790 at 812 / 1200 and got 19404 in 3DMark 06 and max temp noted during benchmark was 78 degree celcius .... just a pointer for others...

 

normally i run 800/1000 every day

 

I don't know where to OC in the CCC, I use trixx sapphire tweak utility

 

Yes, same here, and only with Fumark, after I installed the new ATI 11.6. However, I ran several other benches and the cards never throttle. What Catalyst do you have installed?

 

I have everything stock.

 

I see, it's just the opposite of what it did to me. Have you tried testing the card with other benchmarks? I would also try installing the new drivers and cap profile, just to see what happens.

Quick links:

AMD 11.6

11.6 CAP 1

 

I dont kno if its the OC problem. My thermal pads on the memory that I replaced was probably bad.

 

By the way, reading around about Fumark I found out that aside from being very good at stressing the GPUs it's also not reliable in temp readings. In case it's not the thermal pads, why don't you try running fumark and log the temps with GPU-z or HWinfo 32/64 and see what you get.

 

After repaste my 6970m with MX4 and replaced my pads I only got 76C max.
Before repaste i could get 85C but no throttle.
But i think 6970m doesnt have temp sensor on vram. So GPUZ wouldnt help.
I have the whole issue documented here:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m17x/585246-frustration-repaste.html

I have tried 11.6 with CAP1. Same problem.

 

So, now you get cooler temps but throttling. I confirm that there's no temp sensor on vram, but if the pads are making proper contact with the vram there's shouldn't be any over-heating issues.

 

Exactly, thats why Im so confused and nobody could help me so far.
Maybe the size of the pads wasnt exactly right or I had some fingerprint on it. I dont kno.
Since it only happens after repaste. I assume thats my problem not hardware.

 

I'm sorry about that man. I know it's frustrating having a beast such as the M18x and not being able to fully enjoy its potential. What temps do you get with your CPU by the way?

 

CPU temps are very good since the repaste. I couldnt get any cores go over 80C in prime95.
Here is my recent test with Metro 2033 on very high settings. @1080p.
You can see that with 775/1000 is fine. But I had 800/1000 throttle. Compare to what other people have, running 825/1100 on daily uses, mine is just very modest OC.

 

Yes, I see what you're talking about man. But don't get too jealous of those who do extreme OC, I do it but with moderation. if I go too far it throttles big time with Fumark. I can get a stable 800/1000. I try 825/1125 with Metro 2033, but sometimes - not too often though - it stutters and gets lower fps, which is a sign that the GPU is throttling. I think that experiencing some throttling is somehow expected when pushing the GPU over its limits.

 

Thanks man. I may try another repaste in the future when i get unsatisfied with it. +rep

 

By the way man, in the meantime I ran a few comparative tests with Fumark, OCCT -- which is similar to Fumark, but it's used by Dell techs during the remote diagnostics to test GPUs for issues -- Crysis 2, Metro 2033 and Passmark Performance Test, which like the games it's D3D/DX 10 based. I started with stock clocks 680/900 and increased to 800/1000, 810/1025 and 825/1150. All tests, but the stock clocks, gave me the same result: in Fumark and OCCT the cards throttle, slow down to 400/900 and get back to the clock I set every minute or so, while during the games and the DX10 test they never moved from the OC'ed values. So, I wonder if there's actually something that Fumark and OCCT don't like -- the system memory frequency for example. Anyways, since yours 6970 started throttling after the mod, as you said a further re-paste should solve the problem.

Good luck

 

How were the temps on your GPU?
The throttling eventually occurs in game after playing 20 - 30 mins for me(Especially Metro 2033 Very High). How long have you been testing?
Hopefully, other users can give us a confirm as well.

 

Stock values in the 70+ ℃. Overclocked 80+ ℃. This was before modifying my cooler pad, the Antec 200, which I just noticed this morning could be improved a great deal. I'll let you know if there's any improvement.

Concerning the throttling, in Fumark and OCCT it starts in two minutes or so, but gaming I never experience it, if not for some stuttering now and then in Metro 2033. However, that could depends from the well known SLI/CFX micro-stuttering issue.

 

I think i used the wrong thickness of the thermal pad. I checked dell's stock pad. It is 1.0mm. However, I replaced it by 0.5mm as ppl suggested.

 

Yes, I believe that if something works for someone it doesn't mean it will work the same for someone else. If yours didn't throttle with 1mm I believe using that size would help disperse heat better . In my experience with other computers, a bigger thermal pad, since offers more surface it cools better, although I haven't modded my M18x yet.

 

Hey guys,

I've got a few questions regarding OCing the 6970M.

1. Temp Sensors



Which of the sensors is the important one? I mean, when you're talking about how hot your GPU gets, which of all the sensors do you mean when you just write ie. 75° degrees? As far as I know all tools, which only show one number (ie. furmark), use the first sensor (in screenshot: "GPU Temperature"). In the case that the first one ist "the one", what about the others? First and foremost the last one, because the #3 sensor gets the highest temps...

2. Repasting + warranty

Does repasting the GPU officially void/not void the warranty? (giving the fact that you know what you're doing when repasting)? Are we talking about a gray zone, or is it a matter of fact that repasting will void the warranty?

3. Fan speed

Is there a way to read out the RPMs of the GPU fan? Is it possible to adjust when it should run on full blast? (I would prefer earlier than ~74°)

 

I think all you need to worry about is "GPU Temperature."

Repasting will void the warranty according to the Dell reps, but if you need something fixed they send third party techs to repair it and they usually will not notice or even care if you have done any repasting/mods.

Not sure about the fan speed, I would like to know how to do that as well.

 

Saphirre Trixx gives you the option to adjust fan sped and when it kicks in etc.......

 

I tried that when I first used Trixx, but it didnt work. It also doesnt read the correct RPM from the fans, it is always on 30% (the number never changes in trixx, even when the fan is on full blast).

Can you use trixx to adjust your fan(s) with an Ati 6970m?!

 

It tried with no success either the first time I used TRIXX as well.

 

You can manually control the fan speed with HWiNFO64, and also read out the fan speed correctly as far as I know.

See here for details: Alienware Fan Control

 

Hey everyone... totally new here...

I have a few questions, and I'd really appreciate it if someone could help me out. I have a stock m17x r3 with a 6970m, and I've tried a simple overclock to 800/1000 with trixx. Everything seems to work fine, except my GPU-z temp #3 reading gets unusually high under load. At the current OC, its reading between 91-93 max, while the GPU temp and sensors #1 and #2 both report temperatures in the 70's and occasionally low 80's, which I believe is normal. I tried reverting to standard clock speeds and surprisingly, the #3 sensor was still around 88-89 degrees at max load, while the other temps were about the same.

Is there any explanation for this unusual reading? I've been using this OC for a few weeks playing the Witcher 2 (which runs well at the upped speeds), is it possible that I could have done some damage to the card to cause this higher temp? I believe the 800/1000 OC is pretty standard, and performance in games has been fine (no artifacts or errors), so I don't really think there's anything wrong with the card, I just don't want to over stress the components by running at hot temps. Any ideas?

 

have you experienced any throttling issues? like framerate dropping to certain unplayable points? 90C+ is not really healthy, it might be the memory modules on the GPU that's getting too hot due to misplaced thermal pads.

I overclock at 800/1100 and my highest is at 81C and that's for Crysis 2 only, other games generally hovers around 72 ~ 77C. I did a repaste after my GPU was constantly throttling itself due to heat (100C), i later found out the thermal pads were place incorrectly.

Probably a good idea to contact dell about this.

 

Anyone overclocking using their battery yet?

Overclock and reduced voltages on battery, via BIOS mod?

 

I had exactly the same experience when my R3 was delivered, with the Shaders (GPU-Z Temp # 3) being 12-15C higher than the other GPU temps. A quick repaste of the GPU with MX-4 fixed it. Now the Shaders/Temp #3 is typically the lowest, but all three temp sensors report very similar results.

 

my shader temp goes 91 after a vantage run at 800 1000.room temp is 30.what shader temp u have???

ur highest is 81 for shader temp?

 

After a Vantage run at 800/1000, Shader temps were 73C; at stock settings of 715/900, Shader temps are 69.5C. Time to repaste the CPU.

Stock


800/1000

 

what room temp u have???mine is 30 celsius..what paste u use??thx

 

Ambient temp here is 24-25C +/-. I use Arctic Cooling MX-4.