5870 overclocking, where to start?

[Ernie101]

Hi i recently got a 5870 and am now wanting to overclock it but im abit confused as to what i need.

Sorry if this is repeated from other threads.

Do i need to flash the bios to get past some sort of limit as i read in a sticky, or is that not needed anymore and I just use the MSI after burner.

I have the MSI after burner software and i've been monitoring the temps.

I seem to get 40 degrees idle and about 55-60 degrees in BC2 after a few hours, I have no idea what the safe temps are for this card and how much room i've got.

I've stuck the fan speed at 38% constantly for this. Seemingly anything over 40-45% is pretty damn loud.

Also i read that poeple play around with voltages and things, i can see the tab to switch it on in afterburner but again im un sure as to what the limits are etc or whether i have to bios flash for this.

Its powercolor 5870.

Any general advice on temps, bios, software etc would be great, thanks.

 

[RavenXXX2]

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18061954

Temps wise best to stay below 80c whilst gaming, volts can be whacked right up as the 5870 has over voltage protection, follow the instructions in the link above to flash your card, I flashed my 5870 with the Asus bios way back in October and it's been running sweet since at 980 core 1250 mem 1250v with afterburner.

Below link to bypass overdrive limit with afterburner, no bios flash required, but its more hassle.

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18122635

 

[Ernie101]

so the only advantage to the bios flash is the powerplay feature working with overclocks?

but you can use afterburner without a flash and still change voltages and go over the limit, only powerplay wont work with this method?

Is that right?

 

[RavenXXX2]

Yeah, you get volt control but no powerplay when you overclock past default clocks.