Overclocking the Radeon HD 5970 on an Alienware Aurora (Can it be done?)

I'm in the process of overclocking this Alienware Aurora I bought a few months ago. I just got the i7 920 stable at 3.6 ghz on liquid cooling. I know I might be able to go higher, but I am happy with the clock speed right now.

I have a Radeon HD 5970 installed on this rig, and what I want to know is, can my PC take the OC of this card?

I have a 875 watt PSU so I know that I can squeeze the overvolting, but what I don't know is if this alienware motherboard can handle the load. Perhaps you guys could point me in the right direction.

I started OCing the card, but after two crashes after a few hrs (each crash), I'm starting to get paranoid about whether or not the Mobo can take the overvoltage. I know I should have researched this earlier before getting started, but here we are... Can you guys help me figure this out?

I was using MSI afterburner and my settings were:

1162 mV on the cores
850 mhz core OC
1200 mhz mem OC

I have since backed off and lowered to stock voltage, and taken the OC back to about 825 mhz on the cores to avoid any potential catastrophe until I can know for sure if this PC can handle the overvolting on this card.

Thanks in advance.

 

You should have no problem overclocking to 850. I have done so for about two months now without any problems. I've heard the mobo is pretty high end (i think version of the Intel X58 mobo) for alienware, though alienware does not disclose its vendors.

I have Alienware Aurora, i7 920@3.5
5970 at 1162mv 850mhz 1200mhz.

I've seen many people overclocking the 5970 beyond my stats. But my stats seem to be the most accepted "standard" overclock.

P.S. 10.5a drivers with June 23rd CAP is the best so far. Currently testing the 11.1a. May go back to 10.5a.

 

The motherboards specs make no difference to how much you can OC your gpu.

I'm not too sure what you are asking here tbh.

You got to ask yourself, is it worth OC'ing a $500 card for the sake of a 3% performance increase, you could end up shortening its life span or killing the thing. You've got to be very careful and make sure your temps are within reason. (Under 85C MAX in games)