Gigabyte 7970 Ghz Edition is bad - What's good?

[MisterMelancholy]

you do realize that for bitcoin mining, you're supposed to downclock memory A LOT, right? not sure how it is with 7000 series but I can downclock my 5850 from 1000 to 300 with hash rate increase!

Yes, I've under-clocked my memory from 1500Mhz to 110Mhz. The problem is that this doesn't allow me to further OC my core clock, nor does it decrease power usage or temperatures.

EDIT: Update on my temps. After letting it run for a few hours, my temps are about 92C/78C Not sure what I can do to reduce these. I might have to resort to water cooling.

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[QuiveringGibbage]

I have 4 of them. http://imgur.com/a/mRbMZ#y6zZ4pi

Unfortunately I cannot undervolt them to save on electricity. Stuck at 1.256V once I go over 1000Mhz Engine.

QG

Edit: updated picture url

how much your watt consumation, with those?

I just checked my Steplight Powermeter and it reads ~1400W.

[chungenhung]

I have 4 of them. http://imgur.com/a/mRbMZ#y6zZ4pi

Unfortunately I cannot undervolt them to save on electricity. Stuck at 1.256V once I go over 1000Mhz Engine.

QG

Edit: updated picture url

how much your watt consumation, with those?

I just checked my Steplight Powermeter and it reads ~1400W.

Sounds about right for those gigabyte's

[GuiltySpark343]

Got a pair of 7970s running at core 1075 (stock 1000 Mhz) and memory 1200 (stock 1425), stock volts. Card is voltage-locked unfortunately. But I cannot get memory ro run at less than 1200. Any lower, and system crashes.

Any idea why? Others seem stable at much lower memory underclocks!

[MisterMelancholy]

Got a pair of 7970s running at core 1075 (stock 1000 Mhz) and memory 1200 (stock 1425), stock volts. Card is voltage-locked unfortunately. But I cannot get memory ro run at less than 1200. Any lower, and system crashes.

Any idea why? Others seem stable at much lower memory underclocks!

Do you have your driver updated to the most recent one? Do you use Windows? I've heard that for Linux with certain versions of FGLRX, dropping below the recommended clocks does weird things. Definitely try re-installing the driver,

[crazyates]

You're getting 2 7970s inside a case to run at 1180 and you're complaining?

I didn't realize 1180 was so good, even with the temps. My main reason for complaining is that under-clocking the memory, even to less than 10% of the stock clock, does absolutely nothing for the power usage and temperature. It's very frustrating, and I'm sure that other 7970s don't do this, while still getting the same hash rates.

you do realize that for bitcoin mining, you're supposed to downclock memory A LOT, right? not sure how it is with 7000 series but I can downclock my 5850 from 1000 to 300 with hash rate increase!

Yes, I've under-clocked my memory from 1500Mhz to 110Mhz. The problem is that this doesn't allow me to further OC my core clock, nor does it decrease power usage or temperatures.

EDIT: Update on my temps. After letting it run for a few hours, my temps are about 92C/78C Not sure what I can do to reduce these. I might have to resort to water cooling.

Ya 1180 isn't bad at all! What program are you using to underclock the memory? CGMiner won't work with the 1180/110 setting, but will think it does. Try using a 3rd party program like GPU-z and watch the sensors tab to see the actual mem speed, not the reported mem speed. Yes, they can be different. You also won't notice a huge difference with the 1100 setting. Try using MSI AB to set it to something around 375-410.

you talk about windforcce 3?

Yes.

really strange, i know for fact that the windforce 3 is very good in temp

Windforce is only cool if it can get fresh air

Ya mine actually ran cooler when I took the side of my Antec 300 off. I didn't like the dust, so I put it back on, and had the fan by the GPU blowing out, not in.

Depending on the manufacturer, you may be able to load different firmware on the card. My Gigabyte Windforce GHz edition 7970 came with a stock voltage of 1.25V; with their "standard" firmware (instead of "GHz"), that went down to 1.17V which has helped with temps and actually gets me better hash rate since I use auto core clock control in cgminer to maintain constant temp.

This is a grand idea. I'll do some research and see how this is done on Linux. I'll post back later with my results.

I would NOT recommend messing with the BIOS. I tried to flash a voltage unlocked BIOS, and now my card won't be recognized by any of the AMD drivers, and I can't mine. I had to shut down the computer, flip the Dual-BIOS switch, and it's been running on the backup read-only BIOS for ~6 months now, no issues. Even with this backup BIOS, it's still voltage-unlocked, but it just takes a LOT of mucking around in MSI AB to get it working.

I'm on Win8x64, 13.1 (and included SDK), CGMiner 2.11.0, E:1200  M:1050  F:90%  and ~72C for a constant 722MH/s per card. I've had great luck with this card! It is eventually possible to undervolt, but you gotta mess with it. At this point, it's more profitable to max your overclock, and not worry about undervolting, so that part kinda doesn't matter as much. The Triforce cooler keeps the Core Engine temp pretty low, but leaves a bit to be desired with the VRM cooling, especially with the higher-than-normal stock voltage, and the itty bitty heatsink on them. I run the fan at higher speeds for the VRM cooling, regardless of the Core temps.

All in all I love these cards, so idk why you would hate them so.

[MisterMelancholy]

Ya 1180 isn't bad at all! What program are you using to underclock the memory? CGMiner won't work with the 1180/110 setting, but will think it does. Try using a 3rd party program like GPU-z and watch the sensors tab to see the actual mem speed, not the reported mem speed. Yes, they can be different. You also won't notice a huge difference with the 1100 setting. Try using MSI AB to set it to something around 375-410.

I'm under-clocking with the the aticonfig command that came with the FGLRX driver. I use Linux, so my options are very limited *grumble grumble*

Ya mine actually ran cooler when I took the side of my Antec 300 off. I didn't like the dust, so I put it back on, and had the fan by the GPU blowing out, not in.

Interesting. I'll have to try this. Playing with my fan layout has seemed to yield the best results, so this will hopefully get it below 90C,

I would NOT recommend messing with the BIOS. I tried to flash a voltage unlocked BIOS, and now my card won't be recognized by any of the AMD drivers, and I can't mine. I had to shut down the computer, flip the Dual-BIOS switch, and it's been running on the backup read-only BIOS for ~6 months now, no issues. Even with this backup BIOS, it's still voltage-unlocked, but it just takes a LOT of mucking around in MSI AB to get it working.

I'm on Win8x64, 13.1 (and included SDK), CGMiner 2.11.0, E:1200  M:1050  F:90%  and ~72C for a constant 722MH/s per card. I've had great luck with this card! It is eventually possible to undervolt, but you gotta mess with it. At this point, it's more profitable to max your overclock, and not worry about undervolting, so that part kinda doesn't matter as much. The Triforce cooler keeps the Core Engine temp pretty low, but leaves a bit to be desired with the VRM cooling, especially with the higher-than-normal stock voltage, and the itty bitty heatsink on them. I run the fan at higher speeds for the VRM cooling, regardless of the Core temps.

I was going to flash it with the non-Ghz edition BIOS. It's still voltage locked, but the voltage is lower, and the person who tried this said they were able to run at their original clocks (probably because the memory clock was so low) with lower temps.

All in all I love these cards, so idk why you would hate them so.

I'm sure the source of my troubles is the locked voltage. I think a lot of my hate was the initial shock of all of the problems related to this, but now that I realize the cause I only have one major problem with this card. I don't get why the voltage needs to be locked in the first place; It's horrible for temps and power consumption, which are both very important factors in Bitcoin mining and gaming (though gamers probably don't care as much).

[MisterMelancholy]

Ya mine actually ran cooler when I took the side of my Antec 300 off. I didn't like the dust, so I put it back on, and had the fan by the GPU blowing out, not in.

Flipping the fans on the side did the trick. It's still running kind of hot for my taste (above 80C), but I'm not concerned about it anymore. Although this works, I still wouldn't recommend this card. I'll do a mountain of research once I have the time and see about getting a 3rd 7970, preferably without a locked voltage, I'll see how it compares and add to this thread.

[crazyates]

Ya mine actually ran cooler when I took the side of my Antec 300 off. I didn't like the dust, so I put it back on, and had the fan by the GPU blowing out, not in.

Flipping the fans on the side did the trick. It's still running kind of hot for my taste (above 80C), but I'm not concerned about it anymore. Although this works, I still wouldn't recommend this card. I'll do a mountain of research once I have the time and see about getting a 3rd 7970, preferably without a locked voltage, I'll see how it compares and add to this thread.

Make sure that the fans on your case aren't being controlled by your motherboard. I have them plugged right into a molex adapter, so they're running at 100% off the 12V line.

Idk why your temps are so high. As I said, I'm OC'd to 1200MHz and I'm only using an Antec 300 case, and my temps right now are 69C. Try taking the heatsink off and repasting it? I always do that to any GPU I get.

[MisterMelancholy]

Make sure that the fans on your case aren't being controlled by your motherboard. I have them plugged right into a molex adapter, so they're running at 100% off the 12V line.

Idk why your temps are so high. As I said, I'm OC'd to 1200MHz and I'm only using an Antec 300 case, and my temps right now are 69C. Try taking the heatsink off and repasting it? I always do that to any GPU I get.

I have all but 4 of my fans plugged into molex, and I think there were 3 settings in the BIOS for fan speeds, which I set to "Full On", so at-worst there's 1 fan not running at max speed out of about 16. I'll buy some thermal paste after work and try reseating the GPU heatsinks when it comes in. I've heard that nano diamond is the way to go. Any experience on this?

[crazyates]

I'll buy some thermal paste after work and try reseating the GPU heatsinks when it comes in. I've heard that nano diamond is the way to go. Any experience on this?

I don't have any experience with the Nano Diamond. I've used AS Céramique, which is nice for GPUs cuz it's non-conductive, and pretty decent.

[silicont]

As CK says of cgminer, the 7970 requires the memory clock to be no more than -150 than the engine clock.  Per the cgminer readme:

--gpu-memdiff -125
This setting will modify the memory speed whenever the GPU clock speed is
modified by --auto-gpu. In this example, it will set the memory speed to
be 125 Mhz lower than the GPU speed. This is useful for some cards like the
6970 which normally don't allow a bigger clock speed difference. The 6970 is
known to only allow -125, while the 7970 only allows -150.

[MisterMelancholy]

As CK says of cgminer, the 7970 requires the memory clock to be no more than -150 than the engine clock.  Per the cgminer readme:

--gpu-memdiff -125
This setting will modify the memory speed whenever the GPU clock speed is
modified by --auto-gpu. In this example, it will set the memory speed to
be 125 Mhz lower than the GPU speed. This is useful for some cards like the
6970 which normally don't allow a bigger clock speed difference. The 6970 is
known to only allow -125, while the 7970 only allows -150.

My 6970 runs with a memclock of 110 just fine; I underclock with "aticonfig --odsc=970,110". Trust me, I tried running my 7970s at 300, 500, etc.

I don't have any experience with the Nano Diamond. I've used AS Céramique, which is nice for GPUs cuz it's non-conductive, and pretty decent.

The stuff I've been looking at is non-conductive, so I think it'll be fine.

Also, as another status update, I'm pretty sure that the hot GPU was defective because it shorted. Sparks were flying and everything. I'm honestly surprised (and fortunate) that nothing caught on fire. I've told Gigabytes and will hopefully get a refund.

[erk]

Depending on the manufacturer, you may be able to load different firmware on the card. My Gigabyte Windforce GHz edition 7970 came with a stock voltage of 1.25V; with their "standard" firmware (instead of "GHz"), that went down to 1.17V which has helped with temps and actually gets me better hash rate since I use auto core clock control in cgminer to maintain constant temp.

Oh, and try Florida if you think you are struggling with temps ;-)

Where can I get the standard firmware from? I would like to try 1.17v I am having trouble with temps (77-80C) even though I have opened my case up.

[silicont]

Also, as another status update, I'm pretty sure that the hot GPU was defective because it shorted. Sparks were flying and everything. I'm honestly surprised (and fortunate) that nothing caught on fire. I've told Gigabytes and will hopefully get a refund.

One of my gigabyte 7970s started sparking too!  Scary business.  There's no ozone smell of a good arc, but it's a pretty big burst of sparks coming out of the top heat sink.

[silicont]

So sent the one giga 7970 for RMA, then another one in the same rig started doing it.  The second sparking 7970 is in a different pcie slot.  Both are on unpowered risers.  Sparks seem to be coming from different locations.  I hope to catch it on video sometime.  At least the PSU is shutting down....  At least.

PSU:  COOLER MASTER Silent Pro Gold Series RSC00-80GAD3-US 1200W
Mobo:  GIGABYTE GA-990FXA-UD3 AM3+

[rovchris]

I have bought 8 Gigabyte 7970 and 16 Sapphire 7970 and I can say with authority the Gigabyte cards are absolute SHITE honestly I will never buy another Gigabyte card in my life.

Some of them have to be under clocked to stop them falling over - one of them just overheats so much that it is sitting on my desk as I am unable to use it.

I can not emphasise enough how bad those cards are.

The Sapphire cards on the other hand are brilliant - overclock to 1175, hash around the 700mhs mark and remain totally stable.

Do not buy Gigabyte EVER

[silicont]

Do not buy Gigabyte EVER

I'm now a believer.

[crazyates]

Come on now. I've had a Gigabyte running at 1200 MHz for over a year now. No major issues.

[erk]

Come on now. I've had a Gigabyte running at 1200 MHz for over a year now. No major issues.

It's probably not the GHz edition then.