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I am planning to overclock MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk graphic card that I have. I have done overclocking of many graphic cards in past, but I am bit paranoid while doing it on MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk. I wanted to know the temperature, voltage and other details that will help me do the overclocking properly. Has anyone done the overclocking for MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk who can tell me about it?
MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk is one of those graphic cards which are built for overclocking. After observing the voltage readings we get, it is confirmed that this graphic card is meant for overclocking. On the air cooling, that too stock, I could get to 1400 to 1600 for this graphic card. Also I ran it through most of the benchmarks. Actually I had reached 1650 – 1700 readings in the first attempt itself. But for getting such a high multiplier, I had to sacrifice the stability of my system. After updating the BIOS of the graphic card, I was able to get readings till 1700 – 1750 while overclocking MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk.
I found MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk hard to overclock in normal conditions. This graphic card has a problem with the temperature and also with matching resolution with the monitor when under overclocking process. You can’t expect this graphic card to pick up large changes properly. You will have to move the voltage and multiplier slowly till you reach proper stable point.
If sudden rise is made in the settings of MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk, it will most probably crash or give improper resolutions. If in the first attempt at overclocking if you don’t find proper setting than you will have to run the graphic card in safe mode to overclock it. It might happen that the Afterburner might start malfunctioning after few attempts. So you will need to uninstall it and then again re-install it.
I would like to give you some tips that I am sure will help you while overclocking your MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk graphic card,
- It is recommended that you should use OVP VGA BIOS for overclocking this graphic card.
- It is always necessary to use a safety clock on the graphic card to stop its frequency from rising above 1600 MHz. MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk is one graphic card where the frequency will go towering very fast in less time.
- Check the GT4 to check if the temperature at which you are overclocking is right or not.
- You can use the AUX voltage to maintain the temperature of the graphic card at a consistent rate.
- When working with the VGPU, see to it that you don’t put much load on the MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk graphic card.
I can provide you with the temperature of my graphic card when I was overclocking so that you can use it as a reference point while overclocking your MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk graphic card.
- 50°C 1550MHz when I had voltage at 1.45V
- 50°C 1600MHz when I had voltage at 1.5V
- 55°C 1625MHz when I had voltage at 1.6V
- 70°C 1650MHz when I had voltage at 1.6V
- 90°C 1700MHz when I had voltage at 1.6V
Don’t try to achieve exactly the same results as it might change depending on your hardware. I am providing you just as a reference point which you can compare to find difference in your graphic card.
I got the best stable result for my when I had set voltage to 1600 MHz for VGPU. Taking it more than 1600 MHz would make my PC to crash. The voltage of Vmem was set to 1800 MHz. My PC would be stable even if I raised it above 1800 MHz, but I didn’t want to more risks. I also increased the AUX voltage by 200 to get much better results. Anything above this value would raise the temperature till 110 degree Celsius.
You should know that overclocking a piece of hardware reduces the total life of that hardware. So think before you go for overclocking of your MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk graphic card. This graphic card is good even without overclocking. Also if you are overclocking see to it that you are providing good amount of voltage to this graphic card. If not done, then the graphic card might overexert itself leading to overheating and damage of the graphic card that won’t be repaired.
Overheating is a major problem that is always seen when overclocking a graphic card. You will also experience these problems when overclocking your MSI Radeon R7870 Hawk graphic card. It is better if you have made arrangements to provide proper airflow and ventilation to your CPU cabinet. This will ensure that hot air doesn’t remain in your CPU cabinet. You can also use extra cooling fans or heatsinks if needed. Whenever I overclock a graphic card, I keep the side panels open to let the hot air go out as soon as it is formed. If you are using a extra cooling fan, then I suggest that you place it near the graphi card.