# ATI Tool and SLi mode (2 x XFX7800GT)



## klem (Oct 5, 2007)

As a complete newcomer to OCing (I'm not entirely dumb - I have built several PCs) I'm not sure about a couple of things:

1. Does ATI Tool operate on both of my XFX7800GT cards at the same time? If not what should I do to OC each one. I can see what I believe is the load line hovering low in the 3D view.

2. I ran it out of curiosity (it claims to be safe 'out of the box') and noticed two things under Find Max Core:
a. The stock clock is 450 but the test speeds began to fall towards the low 300s and I can't find anything to indicate that is normal during the test start up. Is that part of the normal test process?
b. The temp reached 71 degrees so I aborted when I trealised I didn't know what temp would be safe or is a sensible limit. Is there a guide figure somewhere?

Will it really stop before damage occurs - is temp monitoring/protection included?

Sorry if the answers are buried away somewehere on the forum but I couldn't find them.

Here is my rig:
ASUS A8N32SLi
AMD 64 x 2 3800+
2 Gb Corsair XLPT3200 2-2-2-5 memory
2 x XFX7800GT
2 x 160Gb HDD in Raid config
Jeantech STORM 700W PSU
Win XP
DirectX9c
Samsung 226BW

klem


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## klem (Oct 6, 2007)

OK my patience (or lack of) got the better of me.

Stock levels are Core 450, Mem 1050.

I have been following the instructions and find that Core 480 or Mem 1200 gives me occasional artifacts. I have tried Core 475 (3 hrs) and, on its own, Mem 1150 (2 hrs). Then   I ran them both together (1/2 hr) - no errors reported in the log. 2D core was left at 275. I watched the temperature carefully and it settled quickly at 81/82 deg C during the combined test.

So it seems I have worked out an acceptable Max Core and Mem at 475 and 1150 with 2D left at 275.
FPS's n the 3D window went from around 260/350 to 290/380.

Only questions remain are:

1. What about the original SLi (2 x XFX7800GT) question? Does the Tool adjust both at once?
2. Is 82 degrees a safe level to operate at?
3. In the log it reports:

2007-10-06 13:13:53	D Successfully connected to driver, version 130
2007-10-06 13:13:53	D Scanning for ATI VGA Cards...
2007-10-06 13:13:53	D Scanning for NVIDIA VGA Cards...
2007-10-06 13:13:54	D Found NVIDIA device: 0x10DE 0x0092 bus 6 dev 0
2007-10-06 13:13:54	D  fbPhy: 0x0, mmrPhy: 0xDF000000.
2007-10-06 13:13:54	D  mmapped mmr to 0x1550000
2007-10-06 13:13:54	D  F75373 temp chip detection: failed (VendorID)
2007-10-06 13:13:54	D  ADT7473 temp chip detection: failed (VendorID)
2007-10-06 13:14:43	I Clocks level 0 set to: 275.00 / 1150.00
2007-10-06 13:14:43	I Clocks level 1 set to: 275.00 / 1150.00
2007-10-06 13:14:43	I Clocks level 2 set to: 275.00 / 1150.00
2007-10-06 13:14:49	I Scan for Artifacts started...	Core: 275.00 MHz	Memory: 1150.00 MHz
2007-10-06 13:14:50	I Scan for Artifacts running for: 0:00:00
2007-10-06 13:44:51	I Scan for Artifacts stopped	Total runtime: 1801 seconds
2007-10-06 13:47:06	I Application terminated

... it doesn't mention the 475 Core setting. Did I do something wrong or have I misunderstood?

Thanks (hopefully)

klem


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## klem (Oct 8, 2007)

Bump

Very quiet in here 

Anyway, my game "IL2 1946" seems to stress the cards more than ATI Tool. Running it, it went to well over 90 deg C and finally crashed to a reboot. (XFXForce say it should be ok to 115C).

I have reset all to stock values. Beginning to lose faith in this tool.

Anyone willing to help?

klem


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## DrunkenMafia (Oct 8, 2007)

Hi Klem

Shame no one is answering you quicker.  I for one have never ownded sli so I don't know whether it oc's both cards or not.  I have had a crossfire setup before and atitool would only oc one card, not both.

Running your cards a 90c, to me, is waaaaaay to high.  I know the max die temp on gfx cards can be 100c + , but if you ask me I would say that doing so for extended periods is shaving a lot of life from the chip.  How is the ventilation in your case, from memory the 7800 series of cards were big on heat.  What sort of cooler do you have on the cards???  

Having semi decent airflow in your case can make a huge diff to your operating temps...

Also, it seems strange that you can only manage such a small oc before artifacting occurs.  Have you tried using another tool, like rivatuner or similar??

Although with those temps I would be tempted to leave them at stock...


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## klem (Oct 8, 2007)

Hi DrunkenMafia,

thanks for the reply.

I have reduced to stock figures and the temperature now gets to about 80.

The cards came with the standard XFX 7800GT cooler fans.

I have a Centurion coolermaster case (front perforated panels and a small amount of perforation on one side). It has a small front case fan and 120mm rear fan. The mobo is the ASUS A8N32SLi deluxe which uses passive mobo chip cooling (finned copper piping) and I have a small auxiliary mobo fan which I will now mount by the cooling fins. My AMD64 x 2 3800+  came with approved heatsink and currently I am not overclocking it.

The truth is I don't know if the video cards crashed the system or the CPU/mobo because the temp inside the case was quite high with a real hotspot alongside the power supply (Jeantech 'Storm' 700w).

I did find a couple of posts about ATI Tool saying only the first card is tested in SLi and that it is 'thought' that both are adjusted but the posts were two or more years old and I wondered if there had been any improvements.

I'll look at rivatuner and I think there is another one called cooltips or something.

Thanks for the reply,

klem


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## Random Murderer (Oct 8, 2007)

It IS possible to overclock both cards in ATiTool, but you must do it separately. After overclocking your first card, go into settings and under the "Use Device" drop down menu, select the other card.


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## klem (Oct 8, 2007)

Thanks Murderer but I have double-checked that SLi mode is enabled and I only get the one card listed under 'Use Device', whether SLi is enabled or not:

0x0092: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GT, Bus:6,Dev:0
Plus the spec of one card.

And strangely enough I didn't realise that SLi had somehow become disabled while I was running the above tests. When I enable it, I get lots of artifacts which I don't get with SLi disabled. The load line is back in SLi mode, floating near the bottom of the 3D view.

klem


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## cdawall (Oct 8, 2007)

install rivatuner and adjust the fan speeds to 100% in 3d mode if that does not get the artifacts under control you will need to get new HSF for the cards


i would recommend this instead of ATiTools fuzzy box
http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/715/Open_GL_FurRenderingBechmark.html

this will get the cards warmer than the fuzzybox ever will


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