Highest undervolted clocks on 7970m?

What are the highest clocks people are able to run at 0.975v and 1.0v on the 7970m (in M15x)?

875/1450 @0.975v is stable on all new games and benchmarks, 890/1450 @ 0.975v was also stable but temperatures got close to 80 for me.
Anything over 900 on the core caused a BSOD @ 0.975v. I managed to get a 3dmark 11 score of P6400 running undervolt of 0.975v and small cpu OC without throttling.

I'd be interested to hear people's experiences running 900+ Mhz on core @ 1.0v. Are temperatures still satisfactory?

 

i have a little question for you. is it really required to have a 920xm or the 940xm paired with the 7970m ? i ask due to the power requirements to run both as almost everyone is/have/is having to some point, problems with trottling. and is having to under volt/ under clock galor to get them stable. would it not be better to run a 840QM processor with the 7970m which will allow more power to be freed for the gpu as it uses 10w less than the 920/940xm cpu and i believe but by all means check that the latest round of games and whatnot are mostly gpu intensive. knowing that the 920/940xm will draw as much power as possible inc limiting power avalible to the gpu, why not simply use a non-unlocked/overclockable cpu like the 840QM which will allow more power to the gpu and mite improve/stop the trottling.

i ask as i would like to purchase the 7970m and the only thing stopping me is all the trottling and messing around to get it stable in all general use from gaming to the simplest things like word/excel.

 

Yes throttling occurs but its pretty darn manageable. The 840QM has a clock speed of 1.73GHz (it will almost never hit the turbo frequency due to poor implementation of single threaded applications such as windows) and current recommended game requirements are around 2.0 to 2.4 Ghz quad core (did a quick check at systemrequirementslab.com for dishonoured and far cry 3). The 920xm and 940xm can run slight overclocks of 2.4Ghz or 2.6Ghz (all cores, not turbo speed) without much problem or additional power consumption (72/62). I'm currently able to run metro last light on pretty darn high settings, but obviously not maxed, with a nice 2.6Ghz OC.

EDIT: You can easily run OC of 3.1Ghz or more but throttling becomes much more apparent at these high clocks. However King of Interns managed to find a way around this by warming up gpu circuits using the render tool, even with large cpu OCs! Doesn't work for every game though.

The main reason for the undervolt isn't to stop throttling as it doesn't. Throttling occurs independent of gpu clock speeds or voltage settings. The reason for the undervolt is to get nice cool temperatures whilst gaming. Numerous users with Dell cards suffer thermal shutdowns at 85 degrees so undervolting allows you to game for hours without worrying about shutdowns. Remember this is a 100W card in a laptop with a 75W thermal solution. I can run the 7970m at stock voltage with a cpu overclock without throttling (in some games) but bioshock and far cry 3 both ran temperatures in excess of 82-83 at which point I get scared of thermal shutdown and emergency exit back to windows. The 7970m is very capable of running undervolted for cooler operation and overclocked with speeds close to the 8970M.

Basically the 840QM may prove to be a bottleneck in some games, admittedly some titles such as tomb raider aren't particularly cpu dependent but you should be ok to run 7970m with 840QM for now. You may feel the need to upgrade cpu later. The unlocked multiplier of the XM series really allows this elderly cpu to match current 3610QM performance and higher!

I'd pull the trigger on that 7970m purchase ASAP and worry about upgrading cpu later. You can always see if a game is being bottlenecked by your cpu if overclocking the gpu doesn't make any difference to fps or benchmark scores.

 

Sorry for late reply, been busy busy busy
i have never come across to this date a game i cannot run on the 840QM period. sometime in the future there will come the case where i cannot that goes without saying tech moves along and things get left behind, its call progess.
as you have mentioned the 7970m runs at 100w the system is setup to allow upto 75w cards and the thermal solution is able to handle upto 75w also. this i think we both totally agree on.
here lies the problem/issue you will have, temps will be high due to the thermal solution not being able to cool the card, again we both agree on this. but undervolting the card will only help so far, you also need to underclock the card also. undervolting the card without underclocking the card will only add stress to the card and quickly shorten its life span. and god help anyone that runs the card overclocked with a undervolt thats just plainly stupid thing to do. both ati and nvidia often release gaming cards for laptops that are both underclocked and undervolted for a reason. they have never release a card that is purely undervolted without the underclocking, or come to think of it stock clocks.
i am all for people trying to get the best out of there systems, running them above and beyond spec but in this case i believe you are trying to get blood out of a stone. i hope im wrong i really do as i have purchased the 7970m but as far as i am concerned if you are running a undervolt you also need to run a underclock and that will drop the temps.
i would love your to run a simple couple of test to show this, (running with a undervolt and a underclock) as i have purchased the card from my brother its a case of getting it when i collect it, as he lives on the otherside of the country thats not going to be anytime soon. theses are results i would love to see and set my mind at rest on whether it was the right thing to do by buying it.

*extra info* as for the cpu being a bottleneck now or in the future the best way to see if this is the case is simply to check at what % the cpu is running at when gaming. closer to 100% the more of a bottleneck is shall become

i could also go into the very obvious thing that everyone seems to forget, that being the motherboard can only provide 150w max !
your graphics uses 100w max! , cpu is at 55w, you are already over the maximum the mboard can provide! then you have the 2x hdds, bluetooth,wireless,monitor,memory,pcmcia device, and whatever usb devices you may have connected.
you are always going to lose out here, you cannot get blood from a stone.
even if you were able to get the graphics to run cooler with all the added power being used you are always going to suffer due to power drawn by the internal components.
the only way i see this working perfectly is if you are able to free up power by removing internal components to save power and dropping to a lower power useage cpu this will allow the graphics to draw more power are required whilst at the same time a undervolt and unclock to lower temps of the graphics card. i hope i have explained myself without overcomplicating things.
i think this method should provide the required power requirements to run the card correctly and cool enough for your gaming tasks, with little to no throttling (i hope)
but just so you know, im very much interested in the work you are doing and am following it carefully, but i see a great many issues that can/will arise.

 

0.975v doesn't stress the card, its easily able to run a slight overclock with no problem.
Users have run this card undervolted for over a year now with no problem. Any evidence to suggest undervolting is bad for this specific card?

Think of it as AMD overvolting the card in the first place?

My PSU is also perfectly capable of drawing 175W from the wall for a prolonged period of time without problem. 150W is just a theoretical power draw limit. Its 3 years old and still going strong.
Absolutely no problem running one SSD, one HDD, screen etc etc and i7 940XM overclocked and 7970m overclocked and undervolted on my 3 year old laptop.

Just mine (and other users') experiences.

 

i completely understand were you are coming from, and i also think its a great idea, but throttling isn't just caused by heat issues alone, they can also be caused by power draw, or should i say lack of power.
as for the total wattage able to be provided its usually +/- 10% so you are about right there.
im trying to help find a way that will allow you to run the card cool and at the same time allow it to run without throttling.
no matter which way you look at it i always seem to run into the obvious, lack of power !
we know the max power draw for the card is 100w, but the cpu is the problem here, it runs at 55w but its also unlocked and can overclock on the fly meaning it can will draw more power... eek...
the more power the cpu uses the less power avalible to the graphics, this will cause throttling alone.
then you have the isse of the card is 100w and the thermal solution is only able to handle 75w, it will overheat/cause heat issues when under load.. so we undervolt it (it will lower temps slightly, but if we also underclocked the card also, that will drop the temps by a large margin).
so if we can say, lock the cpu to 55w max and say undervolt AND underclock it will also free up some power and run cooler.
thanks my thinking on it, what you think ?

*forgot to add this* as for undervolting alone, the manufacturer developed the card to run at certain clock and a certain voltage, if we undervolt alone we are making the card unstable and out of the stable range set by the manufacturer to run at.
but if we also underclock as well we can try to put it back into a stable range were the card will both run cooler and draw less power. (hope i explained this better)

 

As I said before, the gpu will throttle independent of being underclocked/undervolted/overclocked/overvolted. The gpu will throttle no matter how low you put the clocks. Totally indepedent of heat as I never mentioned heat being an issue as far as throttling, only as far as thermal shutdowns that are coded into Dell cards.
Its completely depedent on cpu power draw which only is excessive when you try to run big overclocks. My 940XM at stock clocks does not throttle at all, not even slightly on any game.
Far Cry 3 is very throttle happy but at stock cpu clocks it runs perfectly on pretty high settings (obviously not maxed).

No need to free up power, the gpu uses a set amount of power determined by the motherboard and the cpu can draw as much power as it wants. Basically you can overclock the cpu within a certain margin before throttling occurs.
For some games, that margin is small, others you can run pretty huge overclocks before you run into throttling.

This argument is slightly pointless though as you won't have issues with throttling with your 840QM but if you run undervolted and underclocked you'll suffer pretty big performance drops.
Upto you really but I can get 6600 graphics scores running undervolted card and P6400 without throttling.

 

Hi fatboy,Now i already have 7970m in my m15x . I just want to know , how about my benchmark score (i7 740QM + 7970M) :

AMD Radeon HD 7970M video card benchmark result - Intel Core i7-740QM Processor,Alienware

As you see, that is just plug and play and not yet underclocked/undervolted/overclocked/overvolted because i cant (newbie).
Temp when playing game (Dota 2 / Tomb Raider /AC series) is 70-79. But had once random shut down yesterday because playing Tomb Raider , setting = high (not ultra).
Thanks

 

Its not bad but you should still have some performance to come from those components. Here is an example of what can be achieved (with overclocked cpu).
Its not that difficult to overclock the graphics card but you should run it undervolted to keep temperatures down and avoid thermal shutdowns. What you experiences weren't random but related to the graphics card running at high temperatures.
If you think you'd be interested in undervolting let me know and I can give you some links and guides.

 

Wow what a score. Oke i'd like to try undervolting my card to avoid thermal shutdowns again.Please show me the guide & link to overclock the and undervolted gpu.Thanks

 

Guide number 1 Guide to Video BIOS flashing | techPowerUp

Guide number 2 [GUIDE] AMD VBIOS flashing

Check this thread then click download vbios pack and feel free to make a donation to the site AMD 7970m - modified VBIOS
The download pack has a number of undervolted vBIOS including stock clocks @ 0.975v which I would recommend.

You could try using clock speeds of 875/1400 @ 0.975v. Works very stable for me. This is available by downloading the vBIOS patcher Vbios Patcher - releases & changelog after becoming an elite member at T ¦ I or making some more meaningful posts there.

Best of luck.

 

My 7970m is running at stock clock @ 0.95V with a 940XM, seems like at 875/1450 my computer crashes randomly, that's why i'm keeping the stock clocks. Vbios change doesn't allow me to run @ 0.975V (srange).

But @ stock clocks, 0.95V & 940xm i am getting P6000 at 3DMark11.

 

I have to chip in here batfinks!

Undervolting in no way harms any hardware! AMD set the stock voltage to 1.05V as every card is different. Some require at least 0.95V some 0.975V and perhaps a few lemons require 1V. In order to make sure all the 7970Ms are stable at stock frequencies no matter what they set it to 1.05V. Same with the old Core 2 chips back in the day.

Undervolting is simply finding what YOUR particular chip requires to run stably by trimming away the excess voltage. Excess voltage only creates more heat and consumes more power. Undervolting is a fantastic thing and will help preserve your hardware.

 

at no point have i ever said undervolting damages your hardware ! overclocking does ! as in it reduces the life span of the hardware.
manufacturers often undervolt cards. i've had xfx cards in the past that were both factory undervolted and underclocked. but i've never had a card that was undervolted and overclocked !
my entire discussion within this thread was to help find away to help reduce temps and help reduce throttling period.
as for undervolting the card yes it will help reduce temps, by why go half-hearted when a underclock will also help reduce them further. this is what i was getting at.
as for stability of the card, thats simple, when a card is released from the manufacturers it has clocks "x" & voltage "y" = very stable.
but undervolting you are taking/can take the card out of the stable bracket, so to help with a undervolt should become unstable you can simply reduce the clocks which in turn should help bring it back into that stable range.
hope that clears things up slightly. but i have never said undervolting damages hardware period.

*info* sorry just read entire post again i did put undervolting without underclocking will add stress and shorten the life span of the card, what i ment was undervolting and overclocking..... my bad i stand corrected. (ps i have left my last comment unedited to reflect this).

 

Problem is batfinks that the 7970M is showing its age a bit now, starting to struggle in new games so we need to overclock it to get nice FPS. People are able to run pretty large overclocks in excessive of 1Ghz on the core at stock voltage so certainly a small overclock @ 0.975v is within the stable bracket, i.e. I've had no crashes or BSOD at all other than game related since running this vBIOS version. GPU utilisation is rarely 100% in any game particularly with v-sync enabled.

Undervolting and underclocking does not reduce throttling......

 

thats the bit i find confusing, "Undervolting and underclocking does not reduce throttling" for the simple reason:

on its own, undervolting reduces power consumption and reduces heat.
on its own, underclocking reduces power consumption and reduces heat.
so if we did both it should reduces power consumption and reduce heat further still, which in theory should allow for a smoother game play without throttling....
so the only thing i can think of is that animal of a processor which is unlocked and can oc on the fly taking more power away from the pcie rail to power it....
this is why i asked very early on about using a 45w processor such as the i7 7xx or i7 8xx which is locked and will not take power away from the pcie rail.
i think the only way to find out for sure is if somebody has either a 7xx or 8xx series processor and a 7970m graphics card and is will to try.

as for the 7970m showing its age, christ i hope not, i just dropped £100 on one from my brother...

 

Lowering voltage and clocks will lower power draw by a huge amount, you could look into also going on the CPU to bring total draw down.

 

Anyone running 1.0v and overclock on core and memory?

 

When I played Crysis 3 I ran 1.05V and 950/1450. No problems at all. Since then it seems my PSU is dying.....

 

That seems pretty high on the core clock. What were temperatures like? I think I had a thermal shutdown yesterday playing Max Payne 3 but ambient temperature in UK is now around 25-30 so might explain sudden increase in my gpu temps.

 

At the limit of around 85C under load. Never had a shutdown though. Only when I pushed it to 1.1v at 1000/1500 rofl at 25/25/25/25 haha

Running on my battery now. Completely given up on my 240W PSU. My screen now dims intermittently often! Will dig out the old 150W tomorrow and figure out which replacement supply I should get. This Flextronics rubbish barely lasted more than a year!

 

I am thinking along the lines of the Dell 210W adaptor. It will give plenty to the machine considering the M15x doesn't allow consumption past 200W usually. Much bigger and therefore better heat dissipation I hope.

What do you think fatboy?
Genuine Dell D846D 210W PA-7E Family AC Adapter Alienware M17x, M4600, M6400 | eBay

 

Should be good. Let me know the results as I should probably replace my 150W psu as various wires are now exposed!
Finally found another game with a built-in benchmark. Sleeping dogs.
Going to try 850Mhz on core and compare to 890Mhz (@0.975v) on core to see if there is any tangible difference.
Running high clocks also pushes temperatures up for me and that 85 degrees thermal shutdown is becoming a real pain if I ever want to overclock this card!
Need to game inside a walk-in refrigeration I think...

 

I wonder how a 7870M would fair, it should be able to get fairly close to the 7970M once overclocked and avoid the power issues.