So, I got my system all built up, running no problems. Now I want to get overclocking a bit, nothing heavy mind you. I got my 2500k running no probs at 4ghz but it's the Asus 6970 2GB that i'm needing help with. Using Afterburner, I can't even take it over a 910mhz core without artifacts popping up all over in Kombuster. This, mind you, is only 20mhz over a reference 6970, and 10mzh over the lame oc Asus put on it. I also cannot overvolt for some reason, though I thought this was a valid option with the 6000 series GPU's. Anyone got an tips or advice?
Does that card not come with the ASUS Smartdoctor GPU tool? Not all cards will give voltage options in smart doctor though. Might be worth a shot.
Think CCC is different though, it relaxes the memory timings, or at least id did in the 4000 series era.
Try Asus' own overclocking tool as this should allow you to change the voltage. I had the same problem with Afterburner and when i switched over to Sapphire's Trixx software the problem was solved. (I have a Sapphire card). Now I hear that SmartDoctor is notoriously bad and out of date. GPU Tweak should be out soon according to Bindi.
Asus Smart Doctor is required to adjust the voltage on the Asus 69xx cards although I have noted that I can control the voltage on my Asus HD6950 with the latest version of MSI afterburner (2.2.0 I think). I no longer have Smart Doctor installed (hateful piece of software) so I can only assume the new version of afterburner has the Asus voltage controller (which is different to the voltage controller used on other reference models) in its supported list. AS for clocks well you should try both the core clock and memory clock individually pushing them up 10Mhz at a time (40Mhz effective on the memory) and running tests at each interval. You will probably have to increase the voltage steadily as instability creeps in but you will probably hit diminishing returns quite quickly once you do(where each clock increment requires a large voltage increase). Once you find the maximum stable clock drop it down 10MHz or so to guarantee stability and set that as your max overclock profile in afterburner. Once you have found the maximum clocks, it would be worth running a few benchmarks to see if the extra clock speed is actually worth it. Once you factor in additional heat and power consumption; especially if increased voltage is required, you may find that a lower clock speed is the best balance overall. I found this with my GTX460 1GB. Whilst I could hit 925/1850/4400 stable the voltage required to do so was massive compared to the voltage required for 900/1800/4300.
Ah cool! I went to Strode College as well (blimey that was nearly nine years ago now....). I grew up in Street and now work in Clarks so I havn't moved far. Anyway, sorry Op for the side track there.
