AMD RX 6900xt / 6800xt / 6800 Overclocking tweaks , tricks and mods.

[chispy]

Hola everyone  , as you already know this brand new architecture of AMD RDNA 2 has come in the form of RX 6xxx video cards. I can really say this video cards are fast and can trade blows with the rtx 3090 / rtx 3080 and rtx 3070 as i have tested myself. " Monster in all Firestrike benchmarks - FS/FSE/FSU " and nvidia cannot touch it there.

 In the wake of this new architecture some things have change in the amd drivers and in the rx 6xxx Bios too. As it stands right now amd has an artificial lock on the max clocks on the core and memory as you already might heard or know. This is the downside of this new video cards but hopefully not for long  as there will be software to change this , right now is in Beta testing ?

 Thanks to some in depth investigation , work and mods found by @Splave and @elmor you can now tweak this video cards using the Elmor's evc2 controller to get you higher power limit in order to maintain a more constant core clocks as the clocks on this video cards are always dynamic and not static , hence with the mod you can sustain for longer core clocks *example 2750Mhz fluctuates and bounce between 2600Mhz~2750Mhz during benchmarks because of power limit , but if moded it will sustain those core clocks closer to 2700/2750Mhz thru the benchmark , hence giving you a better score overall. Most of the time higher clocks do not mean a better score ( You need to find the higher average sustain clocks during the run of the benchmark , look at FM/UL systeminfo monitoring tool report once you have sub this to your online account at FM/UL , or just use GPU-Z monitoring and logging tool , that will give an idea of the real clocks you are able to sustain , stable , highest average ,  not fluctuating much clocks is what you should be looking for and not the highest peak clocks  )  , there has to be a balance between clocks , power limit and voltage , so keep this in mind *example 2850Mhz core clock can score lower than 2750Mhz  same with the memory , 2150Mhz memory clocks can score lower than 2130Mhz *. Find the balance , sweet spot and tweak your clocks accordingly to the score on your benchmarks ( adjust as needed , play with it , that's where the fun is ?  ) . 

*** Tip - When in the overclocking section of the driver and you punch your max core clocks you will also need to adjust the minimum core clocks  around 100~200Mhz lower than the max core clocks  ( example 2700Mhz max / 2500Mhz min ) , adjust voltages as well for the minimum clocks.***

 Here you can find a great overclocking guide and tips when overclocking this video cards , big thumbs up to @Splave and @elmor for it.

https://www.elmorlabs.com/index.php/forum/topic/6900xt-power-limit-tricks/#postid-338

 

*** Good news , there is light at the end of the Tunnel *** ? , as i just found out the AMD - Red Bios Editor guys are actively working on a fully, working Bios editor software to change everything possible in the Bios eg. ( clocks , power limits , voltages , etc... ) , at Igor's Lab ,  here - read post # 434 - https://www.igorslab.de/community/threads/red-bios-editor-und-morepowertool-bios-einträge-anpassen-optimieren-und-noch-stabiler-übertakten-navi-unlimited.2415/page-22#post-102478 As it stands right now they are still looking for volunteers to test this software. ( Let's see once this software is fully working who will be the first one to break a core clock of 4000Mhz , throwing that challenge out there as to what might be possible in the near future ? and who will be the first one ...

About morepowertool on Igor's lab - download here the latest version -  https://www.igorslab.de/red-bios-editor-bios-eintraege-anpassen-optimieren-und-noch-stabiler-uebertakten-navi-unlimited/  The software seems to work sometimes but many times you will find you get stuck at 500/500Mhz clocks due to amd protections , if you don't refresh/re-install the driver it will start acting very weird and sometimes bsod wish leads to a broken OS ? , it happened to me and i went thru 3 windows installations on one day , (  If that happens to you it is needed to re-install drivers and start all over again as it did happen to me too many times while testing mpt on my 6900xt. )

 If you get unstable settings on mpt and cannot boot to the OS ( black screen ) you will need to enter in safe boot into the OS and revert the changes there in mpt and uninstall the driver , then and only then you will recover from bad settings. ( I tested this for many days myself ). Morepowertool is a great software to use but you got to take it easy and work your way up to find for yourself stable settings. I was able to make a profile of an mpt file for my 6900xt working at 1.35v with 550 power limit , it did work only once, after a crash during a benchmark run the system reboot itself and i was greed it with the infamous black screen and unbootable system. Never again i have managed to replicate those settings as AMD driver seems like it takes control of it 99.99% of the time. If you get a reboot while running high clocks in the middle of the benchmark , run lower core clocks and lower v.core , revert back to stable settings as this has happen to @Splave and myself ( The driver freaks out sometimes and goes into some kind of protection mode and make the system reboot )

I want to give credit to @Dancop and @OGS for confirming the low cold bug and cold boot bug of this RX 6xxx cards , every card is different so it will behave differently on sub-zero temps ( For those that remember it's the same CB-CBB issue like the old Radeon's HD 6970-HD 6950 TeraScale VLIW4 Architecture all over again ). My own 6900xt has a very low cold boot bug around -46~50c. Other cards have more or less this same problem with cold boot bug give or take 10~20c. Cold bug as reported by Dancop and OGS is around -100c give or take.

*Weird mpt behavior and settings* - This were the settings that worked for me only once with mpt and i have not been able to replicate this ( not sure if it was working 100% either ) - I used the AMD driver overclocking software with this settings for overclocking the graphics card , v.core 1.20v / 550 power limit 2850Mhz core clock. As it stands right now the most common overclocking software used for AMD cards do not work yet , ie ( msi ab , OverdriveNTool , etc... ) . Some of the motherboard vendors have working overclocking software designed specifically for their own brands that somehow works but not fully. It is highly recommended to use the built in overclocking software in the driver as it is the best to use at this moment. Bare in mind this is a complete new architecture and there is only 3 drivers available for this cards , hence i expect for things to get much better once more drivers are out from AMD and we have Bios flashing software available as well as a more stable morepowertool.  The Red Bios Rebellion Team at Igor's lab is working hard to get this software working as soon as possible. 

 If you have something to add , share experiences , tips , tweaks and tricks i encourage you please post it here on this thread. It is a challenge to find all this alone hence sharing is the only way to help each other.

Enjoy it !

 

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by chispy

[chispy]

List of reviews round up posted at videcardz.com - https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6900-xt-review-roundup

https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6800-series-review-roundup , https://videocardz.com/newz/amd-radeon-rx-6800-custom-series-review-roundup

 

 

Useful software for AMD RX 6xxx video cards -

-----------------------------------------------

 

Drivers - https://www.amd.com/en/support

Display Driver Uninstaller - https://www.guru3d.com/files-details/display-driver-uninstaller-download.html

Radeon Software Slimmer - https://github.com/GSDragoon/RadeonSoftwareSlimmer

MorePowerTool - https://www.igorslab.de/red-bios-editor-bios-eintraege-anpassen-optimieren-und-noch-stabiler-uebertakten-navi-unlimited/

Elmor's evc2 guide by @Splave and @elmor - https://www.elmorlabs.com/index.php/forum/topic/6900xt-power-limit-tricks/#postid-338

Elmor's SetLOD tool - https://www.mediafire.com/file/611kq8mtw8my049/SetLODb6.zip/file

Quick LOD - http://downloads.hwbot.org/downloads/tools/QuickLOD_v100.exe

Direct 3D Overrider - https://www.mediafire.com/file/s042a311d0zx91j/D3DOverrider.7z/file

ASRock Tweak Overclocking tool - http://www.asrock.com/Graphics-Card/AMD/Radeon RX 6900 XT Phantom Gaming D 16G OC/#Download

Asus GPU Tweak 2 - https://www.asus.com/us/site/graphics-cards/gpu-tweak-ii/

Sapphire TriXX - https://www.sapphiretech.com/en/software

Gigabyte Aorus Engine - https://www.gigabyte.com/Graphics-Card/GV-R69XTGAMING-OC-16GD/support#support-dl-utility

GPU-Z - https://www.techpowerup.com/download/gpu-z/

Hwinfo - https://www.hwinfo.com/download/

 

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by chispy

[Rauf]

Nice post!

Just this week there was a small shipment of cards that arrived in Sweden, I was able to get a hold of a XFX 6900XT. Will see what it can do.

[chispy]

Thank you @Rauf , glad to help.  Give it a good run and most of all , enjoy it ! If you have any  findings do not hesitate to post them here as this new cards are a little tricky but fun to tweak  

[chispy]

I have one ASRock 6900xt non-reference pcb from newegg and i am sharing pics of the naked pcb because there is no pics available on the net:  http://www.asrock.com/Graphics-Card/AMD/Radeon RX 6900 XT Phantom Gaming D 16G OC/

ASRock Radeon RX 6900 XT PHANTOM GAMING D - Custom pcb pictures of my 6900xt ( anyone can use this pictures for personal use as i have not seen or found anywhere pics of it , my own pictures. )

https://www.mediafire.com/file/5htmfmv8ac3w0l3/Infineon-Market_news_DCDC_Multiphase_XDPE132G5C-ATI-v01_00-EN.pdf/file

 

Edited January 9, 2021 by chispy

[chispy]

Radeon RX 6900xt Reference pcb - naked pics - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6900-xt/5.html

Radeon RX 6800xt Reference pcb - naked pics - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6800-xt/5.html

Radeon RX 6800 Reference pcb  - naked pics - https://www.techpowerup.com/review/amd-radeon-rx-6800/5.html

 

** If you have a non reference RX 6xxx pcb please post pictures of the naked pcb here so that it can help others with volt mods and such.**

Edited January 8, 2021 by chispy

[Splave]

Thanks for putting all the info in here!

For me I get black screens on load if I'm under -66c approximately. Cold boot bug around the same.

Small tip to add is try memory 2100 - 2150 in steps of 10. 2130 is very strong for me.

Also use gen 3 pci for firestrikes. 

 

I am wondering if there is some differences also between 3x8 pin cards vs 2x8 pin like when you install a kp 1000w bios on a 2x8 pin card and get 666w limit. Just thinking out loud.

Edited January 9, 2021 by Splave

[chispy]

14 hours ago, Splave said:

Thanks for putting all the info in here!

For me I get black screens on load if I'm under -66c approximately. Cold boot bug around the same.

Small tip to add is try memory 2100 - 2150 in steps of 10. 2130 is very strong for me.

Also use gen 3 pci for firestrikes. 

 

I am wondering if there is some differences also between 3x8 pin cards vs 2x8 pin like when you install a kp 1000w bios on a 2x8 pin card and get 666w limit. Just thinking out loud.

I also was wandering that myself @Splave , we need an xoc bios for this rx 6xxx cards. Once the Red Rebellion Bios team on Igor's Lab release a working editing and bios flashing tools hopefully soon , the sky will be the limit. As per the 3x8 pin cards vs 2x8 pin cards we might or might not see if the third pin is useful once we are able to unlock fully the voltages , power limits , clocks and go all out balls to the walls benching for max clocks on LN2. it will be interesting to see what an unlocked Bios would do.

[chispy]

** Added some tips , software download links and fixed , edited some of the paragraphs ( sorry for my written errors , my English Grammar is not perfect , my first language is Spanish ) ** 

Edited January 9, 2021 by chispy

[Splave]

No worries your English is better than mine

[smile-777]

Good morning!
Who know a tool for fixing the max frequencies in old tests?

[chispy]

6 hours ago, smile-777 said:

Good morning!
Who know a tool for fixing the max frequencies in old tests?

Hello there , there is no tool to fix the clocks at max frequencies it's always dynamic but you can try to raise the minimum clocks 100/200mhz closer to the max target clocks.

[Rauf]

Ran some pretests on stock cooler using MPT, no EVC yet. Card seems pretty good. 32392 FSX. https://hwbot.org/submission/4652770_rauf_3dmark___fire_strike_extreme_radeon_rx_6900_xt_32392_marks

Set 2820/2150 at 1050mV, but of course power limited to 380-390W.

[Splave]

1 hour ago, Rauf said:

Ran some pretests on stock cooler using MPT, no EVC yet. Card seems pretty good. 32392 FSX. https://hwbot.org/submission/4652770_rauf_3dmark___fire_strike_extreme_radeon_rx_6900_xt_32392_marks

Set 2820/2150 at 1050mV, but of course power limited to 380-390W.

You can see average clock 2520, once you have evc will be more like 2750 ?

[Rauf]

58 minutes ago, Splave said:

You can see average clock 2520, once you have evc will be more like 2750 ?

Yeah. One thing I noticed is that gpu-z report higher clocks than 3dmark. Same for you? Average clocks according to gpu-z during run were ~2650.

[smile-777]

10 hours ago, chispy said:

Hello there , there is no tool to fix the clocks at max frequencies it's always dynamic but you can try to raise the minimum clocks 100/200mhz closer to the max target clocks.

I have a 300 MHz on GPU in 3DM2001, how can i get +200? ☺️ 

[chispy]

5 hours ago, smile-777 said:

I have a 300 MHz on GPU in 3DM2001, how can i get +200? ☺️ 

You will have to wait until the Red Rebellion Bios Team at igor's lab release their software and mod the Bios for the lower P states to run at higher clocks if setting the minimum clocks don't work for you. there is no other way please be patient   and keep an eye on Igor's lab to see when the amdVbios modding tool is release along the Bios flash utility. Things will get much , much better soon once we have software to edit bios ?.

[chispy]

Elmor's evc2 feedback - 

Installed my evc2s yesterday on my non-reference pcb and it works wonders. Been a non-reference pcb i was able to tweak XDPE312G5 only as it does not detect any other ICs. evc2 works wonders when i apply the tweak volt settings for the XDPE312G5. Before installing the evc2 i ran some test on FSU and it reports max 348 chip power draw. After installing evc2 and use the volt guide Allen and Jon posted max chip power draw was 242 and got an increase on the score of ~180 points , so it is working as intended.

 Efficiency using evc2 + low volts + lower clocks is huge when compared to just using mpt and/or High max clocks on the core and memory and max volts 1.175v. I beat my old best scores at much lower clocks this way as i suspect some kind of throttling is happening inside the gpu and not been reported  or some weird Bios or driver behavior pulling down the scores inefficient runs. My old scores where done using mpt with an increase pl of 550w and 1.20v on v.core at max core clocks of 2850/2150Mhz maxed out my 6900xt and was run on water chiller at -21c , my new scores were done with installed evc2 only and i did not use mpt as it started acting weird and got lower scores with the mix of evc2 and mpt. With only 2750/2130Mhz clocks and 1.08~1.10v lower clocks and lower voltage i was able to beat all my old runs done at higher clocks and higher voltage. I can confident say 100% that evc2 is the way to go on this RX 6xxx video cards. It's like a triangle that you have to balance to make all the lines straight and line up at 60% angle for a perfect balance equilateral triangle = Power limit / v.core / clocks. It is a balancing act and it takes time to tweak , but once you find the sweet spot you are golden ?.

 

Edited January 11, 2021 by chispy

[Splave]

Awesome same exact experience here.

 

@Rauf yes exactly right

[smile-777]

18 hours ago, chispy said:

You will have to wait until the Red Rebellion Bios Team at igor's lab release their software and mod the Bios for the lower P states to run at higher clocks if setting the minimum clocks don't work for you. there is no other way please be patient   and keep an eye on Igor's lab to see when the amdVbios modding tool is release along the Bios flash utility. Things will get much , much better soon once we have software to edit bios ?.

Thanks!

I watch Igor`s lab every day!

[Rauf]

So, I ran my 6900XT on LN2 and EVC2 first time yesterday. Ended up being a pretty long session because as others have reported there are quite a few things to balance to get good efficiency. It does not get easier on LN2  For me MPT worked fine in combination with EVC2 power adjustments.

Like chispy reported you have to balance volts and clocks because those two decide power, and the power limit is the biggest problem when benching these cards. But on LN2 you also have to factor in temperature, going to cold can hurt your score. But the biggest factor is voltage. You will have to play with voltage set in AMD-driver in combination with offset in EVC2. To be clear (or confusing maybe...) 1050mV set in driver plus 100mV in EVC2 is NOT the same as 1100mV set in driver plus 50mV EVC2! These two settings, even though actual voltage is similar, will make a huge difference in performance. Also, the voltage and offset that works for FS does not work for FSX and yet another combination is needed for FSU ?

And then we have the factor that good voltage combination for game tests in Fire strikes does not always mean you will have good combined! This is especially true for normal Fire strike.

[chispy]

Small update to this thread. It seems there is a wave of new "highly Bin" 6900xt video cards incoming with a new id Navi 21 XTX GPU ( I suspect more manufacturers will join this new wave soon ). First one out was the brand new PowerColor Red Devil Ultimate with 1.20v available for v.core , 303w TDP for the air cooled card and 332w TDP for the water cooled card and offers a 2425Mhz boost core clock out of the box , fully unlocked clocks for the core and memory , ( no more locked down clocks of 3000/2150Mhz , the sky is the limit ).The new board carries factory-overclocked AMD's top-of-the-range Navi 21 XTX GPU. Here is a couple of reviews of the air cooled version and the water cooled version. Our fellow XOC @CornerJack tested the card on a quick LN2 session ,  testing already prove the card is very capable of high clocks even without hard mods , evc2  or soft mods More Power Tool. He quickly reach a frequency of 2850/2150Mhz stable on 3dmark fireStrike. Head over to overclocking.com and read the whole review here: https://overclocking.com/test-powercolor-rx-6900-xt-red-devil-ultimate/  , JayzTwoCents took the water cooled edition for a spin under chill water , read the whole review here: 

 

 

Second Beast of a card was release today by Asrock under their highly acclaimed OC Formula Brand wish offers nothing but the best of the best with a focus in overclocking , welcome the Asrock RX 6900xt OC Formula that offers a beefy 21 Phase Power Design and offer a boost core clock of 2475Mhz out of the box ,The new board carries factory-overclocked AMD's top-of-the-range Navi 21 XTX GPU. Not much information or reviews has been posted yet of this new beast. Here is the link to Asrock product information: https://www.asrock.com/Graphics-Card/AMD/Radeon RX 6900 XT OC Formula 16GB/

https://www.tomshardware.com/news/asrock-unveils-radeon-rx-6900-xt-oc-formula

 

 

 

 

Edited April 15, 2021 by chispy

[Rauf]

@chispyThat's very interesting! would be so nice with no powerlimit also. But already going past 3000Mhz could be interesting.

Edited April 15, 2021 by Rauf

[chispy]

1 minute ago, Rauf said:

@chispy That's very interesting! would be so nice with no powerlimit also. But already going past 3000Mhz could be interesting.

Exactly my friend , it seems AMD is loosing the tight grip on the clocks , voltages and power limits on this cards , let them loose. Let's see what this new wave of highly bin cards can really do.  It will be very interesting if with a Bios update you can go higher with your maxed out 3000/2150Mhz beast 6900xt ?

[Rauf]

4 hours ago, chispy said:

Exactly my friend , it seems AMD is loosing the tight grip on the clocks , voltages and power limits on this cards , let them loose. Let's see what this new wave of highly bin cards can really do.  It will be very interesting if with a Bios update you can go higher with your maxed out 3000/2150Mhz beast 6900xt ?

Biggest issue is actually powerlimit, not clocks. Even if we already can push 3000mhz on these cards it is very much a balancing game where it's very easy to loose performance. Even if we have seen some strong 3000mhz runs, I think a "proper" 3000mhz run with say a 1000w power limit... It would be a whole other performance level.

Wish amd would do a xoc bios.