XFX 7900GT Extreme wont go past 900MHz mem

RandomLee

Hello,

I got a XFX 7900GT Extreme today and am a little disappionted.

1st off, I notice the stock speeds are 520/750, then after using Coolbits and detecting optimum it only goes to 570/857. The memory will only go up to 900MHz, no further.

It's quoted as having double the stock speed on the memory, yet it's limit is 900MHz.

The site I bought the card from said clearly

I'm using the Forceware 87.25 drivers from guru3D and I'm running a Intel D 930 dual core and 2GB Corsair DDR2 RAM. I have also tried the drivers that came with it, 84.21 and a different version of Coolbits, but again I'm stuck with the 900MHz limit.

I was running my vanilla 256MB 6800 at 400/800 so this seems a bit poor really. I havent beched it properly yet but am getting a solid 60fps in HL2 max settings at 1280x768. (can I set this to 1360x768 in HL2 as that's the native res of my screen).

Could it be that it's is being limited due to my lame 350W PSU? I feel slightly stupid for asking this but does the card / drivers know that my PSU isnt up to it and then limits the amount I can raise the speeds to, and would these limits be increased by installing a better PSU? I have a HiperPower 580W modular on order but wont receive it until late next week.

Also, did anyone who has the same card have any indication of "Extreme" on the box cos mine just looks like a normal 7900GT. Although when I phoned the shop the checked the model number (GX-076-XF) they assured me it was the correct card.

Thanks in advance,

Lee

mkk

750MHz equals 1500 in DDR-fluffed numerology, so the card is fine. Raising the frequency to 900MHz gives you a 20% overclock wich is damn nice. I wish my GTX could get close to that number.

MIG-31

Those speeds are spot on bud,always double the speeds shown by coolbits and that will give you a speed closer to what is shown as advertised.It's been this way since ddr memory was released.

Now awaiting for a delivery this coming monday for my Leadtek 7900 GTX 512mb card to arrive. But i will be sorry to loose my xFx G-Force 7800 GT Extreme Edition 256mb card,at least i'll get a reasonable price on ebay.

RandomLee

Cool, thanks guys, that's put my mind at rest!.

So does that mean that my old 6800 was running at 1600 if it said 800MHz in the nV control panel? If so that's pretty good for a vanilla 6800 right? Now to sell it.

7900GTX... I was soooo tempted but I needed a new PSU too so I settled on the GT. I might put on a Zalman and volt mod it but I'll see how it goes for now.

Just been playing NFSMW with maxed out setting and it's lush!

Thanks again!

Lee

MIG-31

i'm not sure on the specs of a 6800 as i never had one due to being with ati for a few years before my 7800 GT.

But looking around it should be around 1250MHz for a factory OC model (AGP)l.Lower for other cards.

Either something has been overclocked and very well at the speed,or something has been misread.

Correct me if im wrong as i have only looked quickly at a stores card specs at todays date.

RandomLee

The 6800 I had was the PCI-E 256MB 12 pixel pipeline 5 vertex shader version. I believe the GT's and Ultra's had 16 and 6 respectively. Mine was an OEM version that came with my Dell Dimension 9150 so no fancy branding or anything.

Atfer 1st adding Coolbits, stock speeds in the nV control panel were 325/525 however I managed to raise these to 400/800, fully stable on stock cooling. I tired 425/850 as that's what it gave me when I detected optimum frequencies, although that crashed me out of a few games so I lowered them back down.

I'm going to have a play about with different drivers and see what I can get out of this 7900GT... any suggestions on good beta ones?

EDIT:

Check this... the 1st pic is my 7900GT show a limit of 900MHz


The 2nd pic is a 6600(!!) showing 1.0GHZ with the option to go higher!


That's why I was confused to start with... must be an old Coolbits?

Also, I have a pretty lame 3Dmark 05 score...



Although to be honest I care more about real time game performance, which is pretty good.

mkk

On some cards to be the nV overclocking panel shows the DDR'ed values instead of the actual clocks. Perhaps it has also varied in between driver versions.

RandomLee

That would make sense, the cp on the 6600 does look a bit old.

I've been playing games all night and I am most impressed! I can max out most setting and still keep about 50-60fps. My 3DMark 05 score was a bit lame but as I said before I'm more concerned about actual gaming anyway.

I'm now running 84.56 and they seem pretty good.