Question about ASUS AMD HD6870 DIRECT C U Overclocking
Question about ASUS AMD HD6870 DIRECT C U Overclocking
Hello
I own an older AMD HD6870 graphics card (Stock: 915Mhz core, 1050Mhz memory) that I’m pushing to achieve extra frames. Right now I’m saving up for a new GPU, but for the moment I’m just enjoying the overclocking process. I’ve reached 1000 Mhz core and 1175 Mhz memory, and it remains stable during benchmark tests with Valley 1.0. I’ve come across some old forum posts from users who have tried similar overclocks. In Battlefield 4 I experience crashes as soon as any anti-aliasing is active. Stability seems to differ depending on the program, so instead of lowering the clock, I’m considering boosting the voltage a bit more to improve consistency. This card doesn’t offer direct voltage control; the voltage changes in steps (1.05 V, 1.2 V, etc.) and its maximum is confirmed at 1.2 V by MSI afterburner, which reaches that level during my overclocking sessions.
I checked the support documentation on the ASUS website and discovered a BIOS utility that can raise the voltage limit up to 1.4V.
https://www.asus.com/Graphics-Cards/EAH6...Desk_BIOS/
This is from the site:
Version 1.02011/01/04527.79 KBytes
EAH6870 DirectCU/2DI2S/1GD5 BIOS
Adjust overdriver limit to 1200E/6000M
Adjust voltage limit to 1.4v.
The update applies only to the part number listed below:
EAH6870 DC/2DI2S/1GD5
C1CPZ0-A02
Before flashing the BIOS, verify your card’s model number using this link:
http://as1.eservice.asus.com/eService/eS...822D48.jpg
I believe this approach is sensible. It comes directly from the manufacturer, and my temperatures under load have stayed around +69°C with the fan running at 75%. I’m not worried about power consumption—I have a 650W PSU that can deliver up to 44A on the 12V rails (about 528W), and the card’s TDP is 151W.
I downloaded the file and confirmed it’s an EXE named BIOS tool.exe. The instructions say to flash the BIOS safely. I’m unsure about the process, especially for an EXE file, but I’d like to proceed carefully.
Thank you for your assistance
James
The BIOS tool from asus has been downloaded, containing system files, application extensions, and executables like ATIWinflash.exe and BIOS.exe. To update the GPU BIOS, you should follow the instructions provided in that tool to access the necessary files and perform the update process.
It appears this card offers voltage adjustment capabilities. The ASUS Smart Doctor, the suggested overclocking tool for that card at that time, permitted setting voltages above 1.2 V. When using the provided software, I encountered the error 'Can not find ASUS Graphics Card'. Other utilities like MSI Afterburner, ASUS GPU Tweak 1 and 2 allowed voltage control but capped at 1.2 V. I adjusted settings in MSI Afterburner to widen overclocking limits without success. The Radeon Bios Editor mentions that for HD 5xx0 and similar cards, voltage can be modified via GPU voltage register programming, though editing those registers isn't available.