Hey guys,

I bought an MSI Nvidia 7900GS video card off of woot the other week when the had them. Now I know that the GS card is basically the GT with slower memory clock speeds and with only 20 pipelines open which means the other 4 are locked. My question is does anyone know if these other pipelines can be unlocked on theis card? I know its a new card and there may not be much info out there but I'm just curious?

Thanks guys,

Bouve

P.S. I don't receive the card until Wed. and I probably won't be able to install it and check it out until sometime later next week. (I'm 25 and I'm finally moving outta my parents house!!! LOL Thank God)

I don't think it unlocks..it's rare when something slips out anymore like that...makes people pay the long buck that way...

http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...readid=1869661

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$ Necro I don't think it unlocks..it's rare when something slips out anymore like that...makes people pay the long buck that way... http://forums.anandtech.com/messagev...readid=1869661

Thanks for the info... but the link you have there talks about the 7600gs and not the 7900gs. But maybe the point was that if they can't be unlocked then the newer cards probably cant either.

I just figured I'd ask and hope for the best....

Oy...I had just woke up, the crusties still must have been in my eyes, I thought it said 7600GS

After google search and one at XtremeSystems...nada..tumbleweeds...howling winds

I think that i was right on about newer cards not unlocking in the future, at least on the Nvidia sied, ATi let some GTO cards out not long ago, almost like it was done on purpose IMO for the fanboys.

I think stuff like that is good for PR (Bad for sales of higher endcards) and is kinda like an easter egg hunt.

It gets people talking about the product, and people see the name of the card pop up real often...good move if you let "Some" out that work, though that will drive places like New Egg crazy with the returns that don't work

All is not lost, there are still things you may do to improve performance, check out MVKTECH.net, they might have some tips there (Change voltages, memory timings, etc using NBITOR)

EDIT: OMG, I gotta stop posting when I'm half asleep, i just meant to edit my last one..sorry for the double post

*Bows head in shame*

LOL I'm sure you'll wake up sooner or later.... But thanks a lot for the link. I'll check it out.

Sorry to steal the thread but I don't want to make a useless thread for one question. Would Nbitor be able help my 5900xt get some better OC's seeing as I can only get a mere 30MHz oc on the ram with rivatuner? I do have zalman vf700 on it.

Quote: Originally Posted by Romeo21779 Sorry to steal the thread but I don't want to make a useless thread for one question. Would Nbitor be able help my 5900xt get some better OC's seeing as I can only get a mere 30MHz oc on the ram with rivatuner? I do have zalman vf700 on it.

I've not used RivaTuner before, so does you mean it physically limits your overclock? I have experience with Nbitor cos that's the only way my card will overclock and yeah, you can set whatever clock values you want, but obviously BIOS flashing is a bit risky.

Quote: Originally Posted by $SOLID$Necro I think that i was right on about newer cards not unlocking in the future, at least on the Nvidia sied, ATi let some GTO cards out not long ago, almost like it was done on purpose IMO for the fanboys.

Yeah, those cards were HIS X1800GTOs, and all will apparently unlock to X1800XLs - pretty bargaintastic.

http://www.hisdigital.com/html/produ...d=229&view=yes

Romeo:

Possibly..but that video card was the last of its series, the top of the line cards have the LEAST amount of headroom.

They are pushing the limit when they release the top cards, if you got a lowere end card based on the same GPU that was downclocked..then you go WOW, I went from 400 too 500MHZ!

Now if the card is at 470MHZ, and you ge too 500MHZ, then you are disapointed right?

Well..thats they way hardware is, buy the low to medium veriosn and OC it, and you save money.

Buy the high end and OC it, and it only gets a mild bump..thats just the way it is.

To increase clock speeds, you have to:

1. Lower temperatures
2. Increase voltage

If you aren't able to the first, don't do the second..unless your load temps are well under 50-55c allready (General rule of thumb)

3. If what you are overclocking is memory, then relacing or "Loosening" the timings can give you a bit more headroom to OC, but..there is a balancing act, got too loose and it slows down more than increasing the speed.
Sometimes you are better off leaving the timings as is, and just live with the lower clock speeds..testing is the only way to know for sure... thats what 3DMARK is designed for.

Mavke is the man to see over there, tell him Necro sent ya if you can't find what you are looking for with a serach of the forum archives.

http://www.mvktech.net/

Make sure you read the guides too!

The other place you can look for things like volt mods and unlocking pipes (IF you card is able to) is VRZONE

Shamino is the man there..tell him I said heello if you post a question there

http://www.vr-zone.com/

Guides

http://www.vr-zone.com/index.php?c=6

The card is a downclocked version of the 5900 series. Stock clocks are 390/700. The core can hit 470 without any problems what so ever.

When I start trying to get the ram up I can only get to about 734 before rivatuner tells me that the test failed and it can't apply the changes. It's not just rivatuner either. Powerstrip and omega drivers did the same thing. So I may be ram limited but I should be able to at least hit 800 with it.

People have been getting in the 800s with no cooling on the ram what so ever. I have ramsinks from the zalman vf700 on the card currently.

I will read all the guides that relate later tonight. Still have homework to do since tommorow is the first day of school and I have to do the honors precalc homework.

Jeebus.not only to need to wake up before posting, I need new glasses!

Umm...I don't know why,but I thought you had the 5950

Ok..well that is still good basic info for those that may read this thread later...

OK, back to your card..a 5900XT! (I hope that right this time dammit!)

Have you tried clocking up the memory only?

They will often get MUCH farther one at a time, some cards like more memory bandwdith, some like more GPU speed..testing and finding the right balancxe of each is what must be done.

How about your AGP voltage? most boards set it at 1.5v, going to 1.6 can often help, usually, going to 1.7v does not get you any more unless you have done some volt mods.

Just cause everyone else hits 800MHZ doesnt mean you will..the brand, model and memory timings in the Bios can make or break it.

Also..finding out what RAM chips you have can be a big clue, different vendors use different modules, and this can also vary during a production run..sometimes they start off with expensive ones, and then downgrade at a later time to save money..or they may upgrade when the old stock is gone, or the new modules just happen to be faster for the same cost.

And of couse, some cards are better clockers than others...even if they ae built the same day on the same line.

YMMV

Your Mileage May Vary as the automakers say...

I will say it sounds like you have done your homework so far, alot of what I am saying here is just good info for people who may have not done there's...lol

I'm not sure as to the exact specs of ram but I know they are samsung chips. I can't check the specs since the ramsinks are attached. I had hynix 2.5ns chips before the card mysteriously died and I wasn't even overclocking at the time. The highest that it went was with the core at 431 and 734 on the memory, any higher on either it failed even if I lowered the core.

OK... I don't have the memory capacity of my own to know wich modules clock best, that is what forum scouring is for..I'd love too, but that would just eat up too much of my time.

So, ya got ram sinks on there, how were they atttached? those thermal pads they come with are not that good..I just read on article a while back comparing "Frag Tape" and ram sinks to bare modules...and the results kinda sucked..only 1-2 MHZ more.

What you need is a more direct contact, AS Epoxy is probably the best...but they are never gonna come off again!

You can dillute it with a bit of AS-5, but then if you don't get the ratio right, they can fall off later.

One option that seems to be popular is to put AS-5 in the middle, and a tiny drop of superglue in the 4 corners..a toothpick works well for that...they can usually be removed with a gentle twist and not rip the ram off the card, but you still have to be carefull not to bump them too much.

Even after doing all that, most modules never get hot to the touch even, unless you bump up the volts ALOT.

Best case scenario, at stock volts, you will see 5-10MHZ more with epoxied/glued ram sinks and a fan blowing some nice cold air over them..they are not realy needed in most cases IMO... I would bet most of the gains would come from the fan itself.

The only time I have seen ram sinks of any kind show realy nice gains are with BH-5 based system memory when you try and pump 3.5~3.8+ volts in em.

I forget where I saw em, but one guy used realy thin sheaved and very tall home made ram sinks on this BH-5, he was able to get another 10MHZ or so from them over being naked...that is quite impressive considering they were hitting around 270-280MHZ at 2-2-2-5 without them!

(And of course he had a good sized high CFM fan blowing on them too)

Just a little update regarding my new video card.

My current system consists of:
AMD Althalon 64 3400+ running at a stock 2.4Ghz
1GB of crap Ram
and my new MSI 7900GS video card. (stock, no oc yet /// not stock cooling though I have the Zalman Fatal1ty cooler on it)
All seated on a DFI NF4X Infinity MOBO.
Then just a 120GB SATA HD and a 300GB IDE HD.

Thats the basics, now I was dumb and didn't take screen shots when I ran 3DMARK 05 and 06. But, here are my scores with the new mobo and video card.

3DMark05 ----- 7307
3DMark06 ----- 3711

What do you guys think? I think for $140 this new video card was worth every penny...

I'm moving today so I don't have lots of time but maybe before I shut this guy down I'll run them again(maybe with another 512 or ram) and this time take some screen shots to post.

Later, Bouve

Well..that is not bad at all for stock!

Here are a few scores you can compare with..not the same hardware, but yours seems to fall right in between my two rigs.

In 3D 05 my X-800Pro Sempron rig scores 5k with just the CPU overclocked to 2.75GHZ (472x445)
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2146213

And 6,200 with the Vid card pushed to the max (590x590)
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2146048

My X-2 3800+ SLI 6800 Ultra rig comes in at 11,100 at 2.65GHZ
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=2186990

And around 12,500 with a 3+GHZ Opteron and the vid cards pushed to the limits (495x1300)
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=1574808


In 3D 06 the little Sempron rig turns in 1600 points at 2.6GHZ and stock video clocks
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=361803

And 1850 points with the vid cards at a mild 550x50
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=353009

The SLI rig turns in a decent 5850 with the X-2 at 2.8GHZ and the vid cards at 465x1260
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=265932