Finally got around to tuning this card and the results have been quite promising.
Despite using a budget A620i motherboard (no CPU overclocking), I got a 3DMark score that ranks fourth worldwide (out of 499 total samples) on the leaderboard of highest 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 Benchmark scores for this particular motherboard + GPU combination.
Average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score for 7600X + 7900 GRE = 4820 pts (48.2 fps). Top score = 5507 pts (55.1 fps)
Config 1:
– Default settings, no tunings
– 3DMark score = 4867 pts (48.7 fps)
Config 2:
– Max core clock frequency = 2803 MHz
– Voltage = 980 mV
– VRAM max frequency = 2390 MHz (fast timings)
– PL = +15%
– 3DMark score = 5263 pts (52.6 fps)
Config 3:
– Max core clock frequency = 2803 MHz
– Voltage = 980 mV
– VRAM max frequency = 2590 MHz (default timings)
– PL = +15%
– 3DMark score = 5373 pts (53.7 fps)
Config 4:
– Max core clock frequency = 2803 MHz
– Voltage = 1000 mV
– VRAM max frequency = 2624 MHz (default timings)
– PL = +15%
– 3DMark score = 5203 pts (52 fps)
As you can see, Config 3 gave me the best results. So my general advice would be to max out PL and max clock frequency, and undervolt as low as possible while still remaining stable. Finally, with VRAM overclocking you should probably go with default timings over fast timings.
Not sure I can improve on this score anymore. If I try to decrease voltage or increase VRAM frequency any more, it starts to artifact and / or crash.
The one significant difference I've noticed between my results and the other top 3 results is that their GPU core clock frequency was 2753 MHz, compared to my 2650-2670. They're using Sapphire versions of this card so that may be part of the reason, but I do have max clock frequency set to 2803 MHz so not sure what's up with that. Any suggestions would be appreciated though, and hope this helps someone out there.