Overclock/underclock Radeon 5970/5870 Linux outside BIOS Limits?

[padrino]

I have spent a considerable amount of time searching the forums and Googling for a way to set the core and memory clock on Linux (Ubuntu 11.04) outside of the bios limits. Many point to AMDOverdriveCtrl but in all of my testing it properly applies clocks if they are within the BIOS limits but do not if it's outside the BIOS limits, voltage is also spotty if outside the normal limits.

If anyone can provide any insight into how to do this without flashing BIOS (I will if I need to) I will be most grateful and will send a little BTC.

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[Rob P.]

I have spent a considerable amount of time searching the forums and Googling for a way to set the core and memory clock on Linux (Ubuntu 11.04) outside of the bios limits. Many point to AMDOverdriveCtrl but in all of my testing it properly applies clocks if they are within the BIOS limits but do not if it's outside the BIOS limits, voltage is also spotty if outside the normal limits.

If anyone can provide any insight into how to do this without flashing BIOS (I will if I need to) I will be most grateful and will send a little BTC.

You must flash the BIOS from Windows DOS.  Period.
Otherwise, you can under/over clock within the ranges listed with

Code:

aticonfig --odgc --adapter=all

If you want to be outside of those ranges, you'll need to flash an updated BIOS to the card.

Anyone telling you different either has a reference card (meaning it came straight from ATI) or they already flashed it in Windows DOS and forgot.

[PC Surgeon]

Honestly BIOS flashing is the way to go. But its been my experience that if clocked too low (memory) it will blue screen in windows. How it works for Ubuntu I haven't tried.

Have you ever tried BIOS flashing your graphics card? Its not as hard as it seems. All you need is a flash drive, MS-DOS, Radeon BIOS Editor and ATIFlash utility. I'll be happy to help if you need more detailed instructions.

[PC Surgeon]

I have spent a considerable amount of time searching the forums and Googling for a way to set the core and memory clock on Linux (Ubuntu 11.04) outside of the bios limits. Many point to AMDOverdriveCtrl but in all of my testing it properly applies clocks if they are within the BIOS limits but do not if it's outside the BIOS limits, voltage is also spotty if outside the normal limits.

If anyone can provide any insight into how to do this without flashing BIOS (I will if I need to) I will be most grateful and will send a little BTC.

You must flash the BIOS from Windows.  Period.

You might have to edit, save and export in windows but flashing? No.

EDIT: Technically you are right, its a Microsoft program "MS-DOS"  

[Inaba]

You absolutely do NOT need to flash in Windows.  And in fact, anyone who tells you to flash in Windows is ignorant of the dangers and should probably not be used for advice.

If you are going to flash your BIOS, which I do recommend for stable overclocking and memory underclocking, you should be using DOS and ATIFLASH.  Flashing in Windows is just asking for trouble..

[Sideways]

I've found that AMDOverdriveControl will put memory clock ranges outside that of what aticonfig --odgc reports. On my 5960's it will let me take the clock down to 75. The reported low is 1250, and the aticonfig command line refuses to clock under that. It will not mod the voltage or main clock speed outside the reported values.

[Rob P.]

You absolutely do NOT need to flash in Windows.  And in fact, anyone who tells you to flash in Windows is ignorant of the dangers and should probably not be used for advice.

If you are going to flash your BIOS, which I do recommend for stable overclocking and memory underclocking, you should be using DOS and ATIFLASH.  Flashing in Windows is just asking for trouble..

Windows / DOS.  Yes, it should read DOS not Windows.  The point was you cannot flash under Linux.

[hugolp]

I've found that AMDOverdriveControl will put memory clock ranges outside that of what aticonfig --odgc reports. On my 5960's it will let me take the clock down to 75. The reported low is 1250, and the aticonfig command line refuses to clock under that. It will not mod the voltage or main clock speed outside the reported values.

Yes, I have found that AMDOverdriveCtrl lets you go outside the BIOS limits on the lower side, but never on the higher side.

[detroit]

For what it's worth, I've got two 5830s on two 64 bit ubnutu installations.
On the one that was upgraded to 11.04, I can't exceed the reported limits with software overclocking.
On the one that's still 10.04, I can.  There were several differences in how I managed to get the drivers, etc installed on both, so I don't know what the difference is, or even how I'd go about trying to reproduce it, but it seems like there must be something...
The card that won't super-overclock is the primary card, handling the desktop, in a single-slot mobo.
The card that will is a secondary card in slot #2 that's not actively running the display.

[Kermee]

Catalyst 11.6 in Linux allows you to bypass the BIOS limits now. 11.5 didn't.

Code:

Adapter 0 - ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
                            Core (MHz)    Memory (MHz)
           Current Clocks :    975           300
             Current Peak :    975           300
  Configurable Peak Range : [600-875]     [900-1200]
                 GPU load :    99%

I've tested it on both Sapphire and Gigabyte 5830 cards.

Cheers,
Kermee

[Rob P.]

Catalyst 11.6 in Linux allows you to bypass the BIOS limits now. 11.5 didn't.

Code:

Adapter 0 - ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
                            Core (MHz)    Memory (MHz)
           Current Clocks :    975           300
             Current Peak :    975           300
  Configurable Peak Range : [600-875]     [900-1200]
                 GPU load :    99%

I've tested it on both Sapphire and Gigabyte 5830 cards.

Cheers,
Kermee

... Goes to download Catalyst 11.6 ...

[detroit]

 

 

[padrino]

Catalyst 11.6 in Linux allows you to bypass the BIOS limits now. 11.5 didn't.

Code:

Adapter 0 - ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
                            Core (MHz)    Memory (MHz)
           Current Clocks :    975           300
             Current Peak :    975           300
  Configurable Peak Range : [600-875]     [900-1200]
                 GPU load :    99%

I've tested it on both Sapphire and Gigabyte 5830 cards.

Cheers,
Kermee

Great news, off to try it..

Drop your address off for a donation..

[Kermee]

Great news, off to try it..

Drop your address off for a donation..

Donation not needed but:

1DCGkpwL1rgnMt4EQ3U1rBe1ZPDPSYyhEQ

I'm just happy that AMD released a version of the Linux drivers which allows us to change settings outside of the BIOS limits.  Seemed really odd they let us in Windows but not Linux...

Cheers,
Kermee

[nux]

Any luck in moving the voltage without flashing the BIOS?  I was able to confirm that the GPU clock was able to move above the limits I saw on the previous version.

[hugolp]

Catalyst 11.6 in Linux allows you to bypass the BIOS limits now. 11.5 didn't.

Code:

Adapter 0 - ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
                            Core (MHz)    Memory (MHz)
           Current Clocks :    975           300
             Current Peak :    975           300
  Configurable Peak Range : [600-875]     [900-1200]
                 GPU load :    99%

I've tested it on both Sapphire and Gigabyte 5830 cards.

Cheers,
Kermee

I just installed Catalyst 11.6 on Linux (Ubuntu 11.04) and my XFX is still limited by BIOS settings. 11.6 does NOT allow me to go beyond bios settings.

Ok, I stand corrected. It does work.

[CydeWeys]

Catalyst 11.6 in Linux allows you to bypass the BIOS limits now. 11.5 didn't.

Code:

Adapter 0 - ATI Radeon HD 5800 Series
                            Core (MHz)    Memory (MHz)
           Current Clocks :    975           300
             Current Peak :    975           300
  Configurable Peak Range : [600-875]     [900-1200]
                 GPU load :    99%

I've tested it on both Sapphire and Gigabyte 5830 cards.

Cheers,
Kermee

Whoa!  Really?  I have four Sapphire Radeon HD 5830s that I am going to try this on tonight.  Thanks for the tip!

Do I need to uninstall the 11.5 Catalyst drivers first, or do I just install the 11.6 drivers in the usual way and trust them to overwrite everything appropriately?

[detroit]

AMD very strongly recommends uninstalling before updating.

[Kermee]

AMD very strongly recommends uninstalling before updating.

This.

+1

Cheers,
Kermee

[supa]

http://forum.bitcoin.org/index.php?topic=11087.msg202705#msg202705