Windows 7: Help overclocking my 6970

25mhz for each is a nice and precise amount.

To stress test you GPU you can use FurMark or MSI Kombustor. Both will stress both the OC, and the temps.

Video Card - Stress Test with Furmark

A Guy

The main reason I suggested AB is that it's a proven OC app that works on both AMD and nvidia cards. Trixx hasn't earned it's rep yet.

I've been using it for quite a while with a few different cards and it's a solid tool. I haven't used Trixx as it's only for AMD cards.

They essentially do the same thing, so it's more of a personal preference. AB also has Kombuster included in the d/l as a separate installation (a burn in/furmark like stability app).

Ultimately all you need is a reliable app that adjusts your clock speeds and voltages. Try both and use whichever one you prefer.



As already mentioned, start by increasing the core and mem on stock volts, test with kombuster/furmark - look for artifacts (flickering, dots, app crash, system crash etc)

When you find the wall with stock volts, then you bump the voltage up a notch. Re-test / increase core and mem. Always keep an eye on temps. To play it 'safe' you can always set the fan to 100% during testing and adjust that later.


Start with a baby OC like 900/1400 and walk it up in increments. (920/1425, 940/1450, 950/1500 etc)


It's the excess voltage that is more dangerous than increasing core/mem speeds.

The worst that can happen when testing the limits on stock volts is that the PC will crash. There is no 'dangerous' clock speed per se. Simply keep an eye on the temps as you increase.

idk inf you know much about CPU OCing but you seem like you could, im at 1.4 volts, and just toped out with a BSOD wit my multiplyer 19.5x in OverDrive, at 19x i have taring and stuff, think the BSOD was voltage?

im sitting at a nice 50-54 degrees at any givin time, so i think i can rule out temp

It's hard to say, as it's not just voltage that could be a factor here, especially using Overdrive. It could be CPU voltage, it could be memory timings, mem volts etc. Especially since you've got 10GB (hopefully all the same timings and not mismatched kits)

Honestly, if you want to overclock - leave overdrive alone and do it from the BIOS. That way you have much more control and know what is being changed. Software based overclocking for CPU's are still pretty 'meh'.

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Idle or full load using a stress testing app like Prime95? 54c is actually kind of warm for idle.

I'd wait until you get that better cooler before going too much further with the CPU volts.

i idle around 24-33, sry for not mentioning that. i like overdrive cuz i can make instant changes instead of having to restart. it 1 point i bought a new case and had to replace ALL by shor 8in sata 3 cables with 20in sata 2 which is much slower on start up. takes my pc about 5-8 minutes before i can actually do anything with it, after that it runs just fine, but if you get where im going, i dont exactly like the ida of restarting more often than i have to. also, my unfortunate stock board from hp (getting new 1 shortly, THANK GOD) will not let me do SQUAT in the bios, everything is grayd out for "hp administrators"

i idle around 24-33, sry for not mentioning that.

takes my pc about 5-8 minutes before i can actually do anything with it, after that it runs just fine, but if you get where im going, i dont exactly like the ida of restarting more often than i have to.

also, my unfortunate stock board from hp (getting new 1 shortly, THANK GOD) will not let me do SQUAT in the bios, everything is grayd out for "hp administrators"

No worries

I can see how that would be tedious

Ahh, a locked BIOS. In this case Overdrive is the best of a bad situation.

But when the new board arrives, then I'd consider BIOS over Overdrive (a new board might slash that start up time too).

I still don't know if it's purely voltage, but if you increase the voltage a bit and don't let the temps get any higher, it's worth a shot increasing it.

Otherwise lower the multi and settle for a lower clock speed for the time being.