GPU Overclocking Help

[Kyata]

I'm having trouble getting my 5970 to overclock properly, figured I'd ask and see if anyone has some good tips for this.

My main problem is that the card likes to stay in idle mode when I run any game in windowed mode (400MHz core clock instead of 900 OC'd, default is 735).

Of the 3 overclocking tools I've tried to use so far, here are the main problems with them:

(a) ATI Overdrive: doesn't support editing voltage, so I'm stuck with a very small limit to boosting performance. Also doesn't force out of idle.

(b) MSI Afterburner: Good enough options, but also has a problem with not forcing card out of idle when needed.

(c) ATI Tray Tools: Main problem here is that it won't let me edit voltage values as I like, it has 2 built in values (0.950 and 1.050), whenever I set a new custom value, it shows an "Usafe!" message next to it and will revert back to 1.050 if I try to apply the new settings.

I guess one of two things would solve my problem, either a way to force the card out of idle mode (or just disable it completely) or a way to edit voltage values in ATT, as it forces the OC'd value on the clock.

Couldn't find any answers on Google that applied to new versions of the programs, all where a few years old regarding outdated version.

Any help would be appreciated, thanks.

[Kyata]

Bump, in hope of a solution, still can't find a way around it myself.

[Blabj]

Flash the firmware with new voltages. There's a reason it tells you it's unsafe, if you push it too hard it's just going to fry itself...

[Kyata]

I already ran Furmark with MSI Afterburner at 1.175 voltage for several hours without a problem, so I know that will be safe enough, I don't intend to go any higher than my test.

And thanks for the tip, haven't thought of flashing the GPU BIOS itself, I'll look into it.

[Blabj]

I know that was the only way for me to sort my 4850 out with different voltages when it fried itself (unrelated to actual overclocking - it was just a duff card that died 2 days out of warranty...)