FRONTPAGE ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II TOP Graphics Card Review

hokiealumnus · Feb 25, 2013

Depends on the card. Most are kept. If things are needed for the front page (i.e. monitors for testing, component replacement for test beds, etc), we'll sell them in the classifieds for funding as we get no monetary support form iNet for front page operations. ES cards (I get most of those) can't be sold or even given away, so they're just piling up in my shop. The TITAN we recently reviewed for instance will probably go in my HTPC because of its low power draw....and because it's cool to have a TITAN in an HTPC.

This particular card has replaced the AMD HD 6970 for game/GPU benchmark testing in processor reviews.

Janus67 · Feb 25, 2013

Bobnova said:
Punks. They had to intentionally do that (well, request that CHiL do that for them), too.

My old 580 Matrix was the same way, could only use GPUTweak to control the voltage/etc.

briansun1 · Feb 25, 2013

a what is a es card???

EarthDog · Feb 25, 2013

Engineering Sample. Cannot be resold.

hokiealumnus · Feb 25, 2013

Engineering Sample. Cards straight from the manufacturer that are sampled for review when retail cards aren't quite ready, or when you're getting them from the source (i.e. NVIDIA & AMD GPUs or Intel & AMD when referring to CPUs), rather than from an AIB (Add In Board) partner.

Zaim · Feb 26, 2013

Mine just arrived today and guess what, I can't increase the voltage any higher than 1.178

Using GPU-Tweak 2.2.1.4

hokiealumnus · Feb 26, 2013

That's very strange. I've used mine as recently as a week ago without issue. In the settings menu, there should be an option similar to 'expand overclocking range enhancement' or something like that. You may have to click Settings, then back to the main window, then Settings again to see it (bug). See if that helps.

Unless they changed something, of course; which is possible but I can't see why they would. :shrig:

Zaim · Feb 26, 2013

hokiealumnus said:
That's very strange. I've used mine as recently as a week ago without issue. In the settings menu, there should be an option similar to 'expand overclocking range enhancement' or something like that. You may have to click Settings, then back to the main window, then Settings again to see it (bug). See if that helps.

Unless they changed something, of course; which is possible but I can't see why they would. :shrig:

Done that but it's only increased the core clock range, voltage is still 1.178v max. After burner goes to 1.3v but it doesn't actually increase the voltage.

hokiealumnus · Feb 26, 2013

Hmm...maybe they changed the BIOS. Start by contacting ASUS support and see if they have an explanation for why the voltage stops so low.

If that fails and you can wait a little bit while I test Titan out some more (say, next week?), I can install the DCUII TOP and pull the BIOS for you. Before you say yes, a word of caution: There are always inherent risks with flashing a video card BIOS (or any BIOS) and I take no responsibility if you kill your card by doing so.

Boulard83 · Feb 26, 2013

^^ great guy Hokie

Bobnova · Feb 26, 2013

They may have changed the hardware too, Gigabyte did on the OC Windforce.
The time for setting 7970 records and advertising them is over, often manufacturers pull extreme OC support after the first few months. It sucks.

Zaim · Feb 26, 2013

hokiealumnus said:
Hmm...maybe they changed the BIOS. Start by contacting ASUS support and see if they have an explanation for why the voltage stops so low.

If that fails and you can wait a little bit while I test Titan out some more (say, next week?), I can install the DCUII TOP and pull the BIOS for you. Before you say yes, a word of caution: There are always inherent risks with flashing a video card BIOS (or any BIOS) and I take no responsibility if you kill your card by doing so.

Its such a massive disappointment, The cooler is awesome but let down by the lack of voltage control,it crashes at 1030mhz core clock.

Thanks for the offer but i think i'm just going to return it.

hokiealumnus · Feb 26, 2013

Agreed, that's very disappointing. Let me know if you do keep it and we can't get it working. I'll reach out to some guys at ASUS and see if there's anything we can do. Definitely don't blame you for being disappointed though, that sucks.

Zaim · Feb 26, 2013

hokiealumnus said:
Agreed, that's very disappointing. Let me know if you do keep it and we can't get it working. I'll reach out to some guys at ASUS and see if there's anything we can do. Definitely don't blame you for being disappointed though, that sucks.

No problem, thanks for helping out.

Was thinking about getting the Matrix Platinum lol, i hope that isn't locked ?

Btw I'm using Windows 8 pro, shouldn't really matter ? box said windows 8 on it so..

hokiealumnus · Feb 26, 2013

Zaim said:
No problem, thanks for helping out.

Was thinking about getting the Matrix Platinum lol, i hope that isn't locked ?

Btw I'm using Windows 8 pro, shouldn't really matter ? box said windows 8 on it so..

Well, normally I'd say the TOP is plenty sufficient for ambient overclocking, but if they've altered it such that it won't allow proper voltage control (at least up to 1.3V that reference cards have available...), then that doesn't bode well for saving a buck. Not sure where you'd get a Matrix Platinum though; they're out of stock at Newegg & Amazon. In fact, I don't see any ASUS 7970s on Newegg at all. Maybe the 2K 7970s they used for the ARES II wiped them out temporarily. :shrug:

oldbrave · Feb 26, 2013

I had to RMA the first one that I got, they couldn't fix it so I got a new one and it's capped at 1.170v and the highest I can OC the core is 1050Mhz.
I don't know if the lock down is controlled via the bios or if it's hard wired, I keep looking for a bios that indicates a higher core voltage but haven't found one !

Zaim · Feb 26, 2013

hokiealumnus said:
Well, normally I'd say the TOP is plenty sufficient for ambient overclocking, but if they've altered it such that it won't allow proper voltage control (at least up to 1.3V that reference cards have available...), then that doesn't bode well for saving a buck. Not sure where you'd get a Matrix Platinum though; they're out of stock at Newegg & Amazon. In fact, I don't see any ASUS 7970s on Newegg at all. Maybe the 2K 7970s they used for the ARES II wiped them out temporarily.

Btw I'm in the UK

I've just ordered the following:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-303-SP

Got one of those in another pc and the voltage does increase on it using Trixx, 1.38v is the max.

hokiealumnus · Feb 26, 2013

oldbrave said:
I had to RMA the first one that I got, they couldn't fix it so I got a new one and it's capped at 1.170v and the highest I can OC the core is 1050Mhz.
I don't know if the lock down is controlled via the bios or if it's hard wired, I keep looking for a bios that indicates a higher core voltage but haven't found one !

That's lame, I can't believe they've capped it like that. Want me to pull my BIOS for you so you can try oldbrave? If it's a change in hardware, the BIOS from my card may bork yours, so fair warning there. If you feel like disassembling it, I can give you high res photos of this one to compare.

Zaim said:
Btw I'm in the UK

I've just ordered the following:
https://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-303-SP

Got one of those in another pc and the voltage does increase on it using Trixx, 1.38v is the max.

Good choice. As long as it's got the voltage, you'll get the clocks. In my experience with ~1.325V, almost all given HD 7970s will get 1200-1250 on the core. Lucky ones can go over that by a couple dozen MHz. Good luck with the new card! :salute:

Pierre3400 · Feb 26, 2013

hokiealumnus said:
Depends on the hardware. This card I've still got; most are kept. The ARES II had to be sent back.

So where's the OC contest where we can win these badboys

Boulard83 · Feb 26, 2013

I think you guyz need to mod your bios and flash with higher value. The 7970 DCII have the VRM's to deliver much more power than needed to OC these GPU under air.

I flashed both the 570's DCII i had and they benched perfectly fine at 1.213 wich seems to be the max usable without hardware Vmod on these.

FRONTPAGE ASUS HD 7970 DirectCU II TOP Graphics Card Review

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