OC'ing an HIS R9 270X IceQ X² Turbo Boost card, can't push despite headroom

[tgp1994]

Hi everyone,

I wanted to start overclocking my (already OC'ed) R9 270X from HIS (link to the product page here). Under it's normal factory boost clock of 1140MHz, the temperature and fan speeds would be really low, to the point where I can't even hear the fans spinning up at all. Temps would stay around a chilly ~52 celsius. HIS no longer supports their iTurbo software, so in between using MSI Afterburner and Radeon's own overdrive tools, I've managed to find a fairly stable core clock at around 1170MHz. The problem is that this still doesn't seem to make my card sweat. Temps will get into the low 60 degrees, and the fans hardly spin up past 35%.

Pretty impressive cooling? If I try to push the core clock any harder, the driver starts crashing which I assumes means I've reached some sort of limit. Despite maxing out the "Power Control" in OverDrive to +20%, the VDDC will never go past 1.206V. I'm assuming it's the core voltage that's holding me back here, and I currently have no idea how to change it, or if I even should. This Power Control thing seems like a bit of a placebo to be honest, I have no idea what it's doing, if anything at all.

Can anyone offer any tips on how I can overclock my card further? I really feel like I should be able to with the temps being so low, but something is getting in my way.

Info:

Operating system: Windows 10 Pro x64
Card: HIS R9 270X IceQ X² Turbo Boost Clock 2GB GDDR5 PCI-E DLDVI-I/HDMI/2xMini DP (BIOS: 015.042.000.005)
Drivers: Radeon Crimson 16.7.3 (stable/release)
CPU: AMD FX(tm)-9370, no overclocks besides OCP up to 5.0GHz
RAM: 16GB system
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-990FXA-UDR r4.0, BIOS was at F2 but I updated to F3.

Thanks!

 

[Lochekey]

Have you tried increasing the core voltage in msi afterburner. You may have to enable voltage overclocking in the settings of afterburner.

 

[tgp1994]

Have you tried increasing the core voltage in msi afterburner. You may have to enable voltage overclocking in the settings of afterburner.

That was something I found frustrating about Afterburner; even after enabling voltage overclocking in the settings, the voltage slider still appears disabled. Please see attached.

I may or may not have confirmation from HIS support that voltage modifications can only be made at the BIOS-level, but I'm still working with them to figure that out. Seems strange for them to offer voltage tweaking in their own software when they actually lock it anyways.

 

[Lochekey]

Down in the AMD compatibility section click "extend official overclocking support" and "disable ULPS". You may have to restart the system after this for it to take affect. If it still does not work after that then it might be bios locked.

 

[EarthDog]

If you checked off what was already checked off, it should work. Whatever controller that card has MSI AB, nor apparently the HIS software, can change it or it can't be changed. The lower on the totem pole you go, the less chance of getting a card unlocked like that. Its about cheap on some models.

The Extend OO Support is to extend the limits of the slider. Disable ULPS is for the ultra low power states. Typically that wouldn't have anything to do with enabling voltage control, but it takes a second, why not try!

EDIT: The last thing you can try is getting the latest version of MSI AB. 4.3.0. beta 4 is the latest. Perhaps in updates they updated the controller? Otherwise, I just don't think its in the card man.

http://www.guru3d.com/files-details/msi-afterburner-beta-download.html

 

[tgp1994]

If you checked off what was already checked off, it should work. Whatever controller that card has MSI AB, nor apparently the HIS software, can change it or it can't be changed. The lower on the totem pole you go, the less chance of getting a card unlocked like that. Its about cheap on some models.

The Extend OO Support is to extend the limits of the slider. Disable ULPS is for the ultra low power states. Typically that wouldn't have anything to do with enabling voltage control, but it takes a second, why not try!

That's rather disappointing to hear... Back when I bought the card, I was trying to make sure I got an AMD card with "the good stuff" in it. After my previous experience RMAing the card, I don't think I'll be going with HIS in the future. I will try those other check boxes, but otherwise do you guys think I'm pretty much locked in for voltage?

 

[EarthDog]

Its not really the brand either. Its a low end midrange level card. So the chances that you have voltage control, compared to midrange on up, is a lot less.


(Notice I edited some information in about DL the latest beta of MSI AB).

I also reviewed that exact same card... no voltage control. I wouldn't expect the latest MSI AB to work either..but, that takes a second and is also free, LOL!
http://www.overclockers.com/his-250-260x-270x-review/

 

[tgp1994]

Budget?? I thought I was at least buying upper-midrange when I got it. Geez. I guess it's starting to get old, maybe what little overclocking I can do now will help for a while

Thank you for the information, at least knowing that there is no voltage control whatsoever will keep me from going on a wild goose chase.

 

[EarthDog]

It was a solid 1080p card when it was released a couple years ago for sure. Now I can imagine it getting a little long in the tooth. In the Hawaiian Islands lineup It was as follows: 295x2/290x/290/285/280x/280/270x/260x/250.

You also have to think most of that series from the 285 on down were rebrands of the 7970/7950/7870/7750 etc. 7870 = 270X.

I think its time for an upgrade my friend!

 

[tgp1994]

With the way the 1080/1070 and RX cards are lining up, I might just be doing that. Many thanks.