- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Location
- Loading...
I don't know much about overclocking and or flashing video cards. I was hoping to get some help maybe a guide out there someone can direct me too. I currently have a ATI Sapphire 5850 Non-Reference card.
-
Welcome to Overclockers Forums! Join us to reply in threads, receive reduced ads, and to customize your site experience!
Overclocking & Flashing 5850?
- Thread starter GTR312
- Start date
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2008
- Location
- Stow, Ohio
GTR312. There are several programs that you can use to overclock your 5850 but the more popular ones are Catalyst Control Center and MSI Afterburner. As far as flashing your 5850, there's nothing that I can think of that you can flash it to that would do you any benefit. The newer 6950 reference cards are being flashed with 6970 bioses and unlocked shaders because they have two bioses stored in them. One is unlocked so that you can experiment with different bioses and the other is locked and acts as a backup for a failed flash attempt so as not to brick your card. Overclocking would be the first step that you would want to take if you are not familiar with it. There are guides and plenty of people here to help you if you ask specific questions. Basically you start out by increasing the GPU clock in small increments (5-10MHz) and testing those settings by running stress test programs like MSI Kompressor or Furmark to check for artifacts to make sure your clock settings are good. If it artifacts then you need to increase voltage to the GPU until it no longer artifacts. You need to keep your temps in a safe range while doing this too so setting up fan profiles is important to keep the GPU cool. I think most people shoot for 80C or below while under load. I like to keep mine in the 60's.
After that you can bump up your memory clocks by small increments and continue the same process like you did with the GPU clocks. When you reach your memory limit the GPU will crash so you will need to back your settings down to a safer level like you did with the GPU. The best test once you've reached your maximum overclock on both settings is to run a game like BFBC2 and see if the GPU crashes while playing. If it does then you should decrease your settings and/or increase voltage. (Assuming that you have an unlocked voltage regulator on your card.) It's basically a trial and error process that will take several attempts until you get your max safe level.
There are reasons to overclock obviously, as this is an overclockers forum but the gains that you get aren't going to be that significant that it will change your gameplay. There are risks associated with overclocking so it's not %100 that you won't damage your card but if you read up on it and take it slowly, chances are you'll be fine. Some people are benchers and are trying to squeeze every last bit of performance that they can out of their rigs for bragging rights. Others will just put on a decent overclock and be happy with a 5-10% increase in performance for free.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Location
- Loading...
- Thread Starter
- #3
Basically you start out by increasing the GPU clock in small increments (5-10MHz) and testing those settings by running stress test programs like MSI Kompressor or Furmark to check for artifacts to make sure your clock settings are good. If it artifacts then you need to increase voltage to the GPU until it no longer artifacts. You need to keep your temps in a safe range while doing this too so setting up fan profiles is important to keep the GPU cool. I think most people shoot for 80C or below while under load. I like to keep mine in the 60's.
After that you can bump up your memory clocks by small increments and continue the same process like you did with the GPU clocks. When you reach your memory limit the GPU will crash so you will need to back your settings down to a safer level like you did with the GPU. The best test once you've reached your maximum overclock on both settings is to run a game like BFBC2 and see if the GPU crashes while playing. If it does then you should decrease your settings and/or increase voltage. (Assuming that you have an unlocked voltage regulator on your card.) It's basically a trial and error process that will take several attempts until you get your max safe level.
There are reasons to overclock obviously, as this is an overclockers forum but the gains that you get aren't going to be that significant that it will change your gameplay. There are risks associated with overclocking so it's not %100 that you won't damage your card but if you read up on it and take it slowly, chances are you'll be fine. Some people are benchers and are trying to squeeze every last bit of performance that they can out of their rigs for bragging rights. Others will just put on a decent overclock and be happy with a 5-10% increase in performance for free.
I do have my card over clocked in CCC, I just pushed it all the way to 775/1125 MHz. I just thought there was another way to push it even further.
- Joined
- Jun 14, 2008
- Location
- Stow, Ohio
Try Afterburner. Do you know if your card has voltage control support? Without it, you're not going to get it to go much farther.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Location
- Loading...
- Thread Starter
- #5
I got the Core Clock and Memory Clock (MHz) maxed out in both the CCC and MSI Afterburner. As far as the Core Voltage goes, do I find the lowest possible voltage that can run on 775/1125 MHz?
If you have a non reference card you cant adjust voltages. What model of sapphire card do you have, i have Sapphire 5850's "Black Edition" and i got them both to 800/1200 with stock voltage. Im kinda bummed about the lack of voltage control too but meh, still sweet cards.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Location
- Loading...
- Thread Starter
- #7
This is really confusing to me to be honest! I can adjust my Core Voltages in MSI Afterburner, I've had the card crash on my for adjusting the voltage. What I don't understand is why I can't push the card past 775 MHz for the Core Clock and 1125 MHz for the Memory Clock? When others clearly can. I am currently in this thread http://www.overclockers.com/forums/showthread.php?t=674452 trying to figure this out. After changing the configuration in MSI Afterburner it still wont let me get past that cap. I don't know the exact model of my Video Card I will try to find it.
Look on the box lol, only use one utility to overclock, maybe if you are fiddling with both apps (ccc and afterburner) it may cause your system to bugger up... how do you know your card is non reference ? non reference cards have no voltage adjustments available what so ever.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/109628348/Sapphire_Radeon_HD5850_1GB_DDR5_2DVI.html does that look like your card ?
I recently learned a very easy way to tell if it is reference or not, if it says AMD where the card physicaly connects to your PCIe slot then it is reference design, if it does not say AMD in that location then it is non-reference design.
http://www.alibaba.com/product-free/109628348/Sapphire_Radeon_HD5850_1GB_DDR5_2DVI.html does that look like your card ?
I recently learned a very easy way to tell if it is reference or not, if it says AMD where the card physicaly connects to your PCIe slot then it is reference design, if it does not say AMD in that location then it is non-reference design.
OP
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Location
- Loading...
- Thread Starter
- #9
I don't have the box no longer. It does not look like that. This is how it looks: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_VppLa7dcU...AAAFU/em8pA-DECF4/s1600/Sapphire+5850+1gb.jpg. Looks like that card that you showed me is a different revision and maybe can go past 775 MHz / 1125 MHz and mine can't?
The card you linked IS a reference design, so yeah you can play with voltage. Im kinda stumped, maybe some one with more knowledge will post soon, maybe try it all over again from scratch and do what BDA said. Put everything back to stock clocks and voltage and bump core up 5-10mhz at a time till it crashes and then bump the voltage to make it stable. same for memory, wait till you get a stable core clock before you overclock memory so you know what you changed to make ti crash/stable.
Did you buy it used ?? maybe previous owner pwnd it before selling it ?
Did you buy it used ?? maybe previous owner pwnd it before selling it ?
OP
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Location
- Loading...
- Thread Starter
- #11
I bought it brand new couple months ago. I bumped up everything all the way (MAX) which is 775 MHz Core Clock and 1125 MHz Memory Clock and didn't touch the Core Voltage and it runs stable, I've had it like this for months. I am interested in why I can't go past 775 MHz / 1125 MHz when people on this forum get it past those settings on HD 5850's. I configured the MSI Afterburner.cfg file but that did not work for me. Here's a snippet from my desktop.
your version looks a little different than mine. maybe try version 2.0.0 ? what im using and it works fine, worth a shot...
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4895-msi-afterburner.html
http://www.techspot.com/downloads/4895-msi-afterburner.html
OP
- Joined
- Apr 5, 2011
- Location
- Loading...
- Thread Starter
- #13
I got it to work I configured the msiafterburner.cfg file wrong. I over clocked the GPU passed the 775 MHz Core Clock and 1125 Memory Clock and I was amazed of the performance boost I got. Now I have to find a stable over clock. What are the maximum Core Voltage recommendations?
