Should I overclock my 7870 GPU

marathonic

I've just received notification that someone at home has signed for my Generique 7870 GPU from Pixmania (I hear they're usually the Sapphire cards but will find out soon enough).

My question is, considering I'll be playing the games in the recent HumbleBundle deal, which include Crysis 2 and Battlefield 3, would it be sheer stupidity not to overclock the GPU?

I've never overclocked before because I've only recently completed my build which has an unclockable CPU and no GPU (until now). My build is as follows:

Intel Core i5-4570 3.2GHz Quad-Core
Be Quiet 530W ATX12V / EPS12V
Corsair Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600
Crucial M4 128GB 2.5" SSD
ASRock H87 Pro4 ATX LGA1150
Fractal Design Define R4 ATX Mid Tower
Western Digital WD Green 2TB 3.5" 5400RPM
LG GH24NS95 DVD/CD Writer
Windows 7 Professional
Acer G246HLBBID 24i LED Monitor
Logitech Wireless Combo MK520
TP-Link TL-WDN4800 802.11a/b/g/n

Also, I've seen some builds including non-stock heatsinks for the same CPU as mine. Is this really necessary for a CPU that can't be overclocked?

Finally, do you think I'd need an additional case fan - the Fractal Define R4 includes one 140mm at the front and a 140mm exhaust fan at the back.

BloodBath

If it's the sapphire version you should be able to get a decent overclock depending on what the stock speeds are. There's lot's of guides online for overclocking those cards anyway.

You should be fine for cooling. I'd add another intake fan to the case.

dwighet

Download msi afterburner for your overclocks and fan speeds

marathonic

It turns out it's the Sapphire GHz edition. I'll be fitting it this evening.

dwighet

marathonic wrote: »

It turns out it's the Sapphire GHz edition. I'll be fitting it this evening.

Ya gotta be happy with that..:cool:

Gumbi

Overclock that mofo! They clock well and is plenty of power for Crysis 2.

Redfox25

I have mine at 1200 MHz and its stable and rarely goes over 50c with the fans on auto while gaming.
it might go higher but that's fine for now

marathonic

Yeah, I'm going to fit it this weekend but may play with it for a week or so before chancing overclocking (to give me a better personal idea of the difference it makes )

ED E

I have the Club3D RoyalKing version, plenty for BF3 at stock tbh, wouldnt bother unless you really wanna push it for shíts and giggles.

Gumbi

ED E wrote: »

I have the Club3D RoyalKing version, plenty for BF3 at stock tbh, wouldnt bother unless you really wanna push it for shíts and giggles.

We here at PC Building & Upgrading are only here for the ****s and giggles . Overclock that mofo, if only at stock voltage

marathonic

I've just installed the card. Before installing, I tested out BF3 using the built-in 'Render.drawFPS 1' command. With Ultra Settings and my onboard, Haswell, graphics. I was getting 10 FPS on my 1920 * 1080 monitor.

With the new card, I'm now getting about 62 FPS on Ultra Settings. I assume that sounds about right?

The Windows Experience index rose from 6.6 to 7.9 for graphics (the processor is 7.6).

I'll look into overclocking next week.

dwighet

marathonic wrote: »

I've just installed the card. Before installing, I tested out BF3 using the built-in 'Render.drawFPS 1' command. With Ultra Settings and my onboard, Haswell, graphics. I was getting 10 FPS on my 1920 * 1080 monitor.

With the new card, I'm now getting about 62 FPS on Ultra Settings. I assume that sounds about right?

The Windows Experience index rose from 6.6 to 7.9 for graphics (the processor is 7.6).

I'll look into overclocking next week.

That's pretty good...Do you have v-sync enabled on bf3...