AMD Overdrive BSOD

Is Overdrive compatible for the m17x R3? When ever I start it I get a BSOD and i have to do a system restore.

 

You probably downloaded the AMD Overdrive utility that is for an entire system, which will not work. Overdrive for video card overclocking is in the CCC. Another option is TriXX.

 

I cant seem to find Overdrive in CCC. I am currently using Dell's Radeon drivers

 

Which video card do you have?

 

AMD Radeon 6870

 

I have never had a 6870, so I don't know if this works. To unlock Overdrive for the 6990M or 6970M, you open Regedit and navigate to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ATI\ACE\ Settings\Graphics\OverDrive2. Change the value of the key “Accessible” in the right panel from "Nobody" to "All" (right click on Accessible, select Modify and enter “All” in the Value Data box). Then drop down to Overdrive3 and Overdrive5 in the Graphics section and make the same change. For the 6990M, that's all it takes; restart and a new Performance tab will appear in CCC, which includes Overdrive. The problem is that the default o/c limits in Overdrive for the 6990M are 740/1000, so you need to edit the 6990M vbios using RBE to increase the limits by moving the sliders on the last screen to your desired levels. I use 900/1200, which has served me well. The 6970M requires more. Before Overdrive can be enabled (or the Performance tab appear in CCC), the 6970M vbios has to be modified to move the OD limit sliders referred to above from the default 0/0 to the desired levels. It is a tedious process since the settings can only double with each mod. So, when you first move both sliders to the extreme right, it increases the limits to 1Mhz/1Mhz. Save and reopen, repeat to move to 2Mhz/2Mhz, etc. Keep repeating. Since it doubles each time, it doesn't take as long as you might first think. When you reach the desired level (I use 900/1200), reflash your vbios with the new settings and Overdrive should be available. Ordinarily, it is easier to just post a pre-modified vbios for the 6970M. Unfortunately, I don't have one for a 6870M, so you'll have to go through the manual process. I don't know whether the 6870M supports OD. If it does, this process should unlock it.

 

Revelator! Buddy! This is awesome! Where did you find this hack? It worked beautifully with my 6970M CFX. The RBE work was a little bit tedious, but now I don't need Sapphire Trixx any more. Sweet! +1 Rep

 

REVELATOR! Thank you! Works perfectly!!! Time to find some stable clocks

 

Be sure to give some rep to The Revelator... he deserves it, guys.

I was using the Trixx Sidebar Gadget, but without Trixx it doesn't work. This will work instead if you are interested... OrbLog - GPU Observer Sidebar Gadget

 

Yea i already did. Thanks again!

 

Learned the basics right here in the forum from a good soul called custom90gt, refined it a little based on experience. Glad it worked for you too.

Great avatar.

 

Here's a modded 6970M vBIOS for anyone that wants it. Be sure to back up your original first. I also had to flash each card one at a time before the CCC Overdrive worked for me. After each flash my system was frozen, but worked fine after reboot. The maximum allowed is beyond what my cards can clock to, although I have seen other 6970 owners that can hit the maximums I set in the mod (which is why my system froze after successfully flashing).

The attached mod also has tweaks to defeat PowerPlay. It will shorten battery life on discreet graphics, but does not allow the 6970M to throttle down to 100/150/0.9v at idle. All of the AMD speed steppings are set to 6970 maximum stock clocks 680/900 and 1.1v. That made my system more stable and improved benchmarks without even implementing an overclock. I figure if I want battery life I can just switch over to IGP.

mp5cartman - +1 rep to you also for jumping on The Revelator's tweak.

 

Wonderful. OD is a very handy little applet. Enjoy.

 

Quick question. Does fan control actually work with AMD Overdrive?

 

It doesn't for me with either a 6990M in the M17x-R3 or a 6970M in the M15x.

 

No.

The only way to control your fan speed at all is to use direct hardware control via HWINFO64. Not recommended for beginners as it can be a bit tricky and you can end up with no fan going at all if you do something wrong. There are some guides on it here I believe.

 

I'm using HWiNFO64 for fans and it works fine. Though, it would be nice to not have to mess with it and just use the Overdrive app.

But, this Overdrive tweak is very nice...

 

I second that question.

 

You had me astonished there for a few seconds until I realized you had CF 6970M's. I thought you were on an R3.

 

Ok. I opened regedit and navigated the above path but after the "graphics" there is no "overdrive2"...simply AMD home....nothing about any key to change for "accessible" or anything remotely like that....

EDIT: In my "noobness" - do I have to download AMD OD or is this something that is magically unlocked!...god help me lol

 

Do you have Catalyst Control Center installed?

 

Yup. I have 11.8 whql installed ..... CCC is there to tweak but my reg doesnt have that entry after graphics for some reason. Im just wondering if I need to download AMD Overdrive and install it first or something like that.....

AMD OverDrive?

EDIT:

Found AMD Overdrive in my CCC already so I presume I have no need to alter the reg.....clocks go to 740 core / 1000 mhz max. Nothing however in my reg as per screenie....by the looks of things, I just need (quote) "to edit the 6990M vbios using RBE to increase the limits by moving the sliders on the last screen to your desired levels"

 

Ok, so using RBE will void warranty (as it clearly states in the tutorial) so what benefits does it have over just using Trixx? - I can OC my cards with that just fine atm allbeit a seperate app. so what do I gain by using RBE? - didnt pay for warranty for it to be voided lol.

 

Nobody is trying to convince you to do anything. Use what you wish for whatever reasons you might have.

 

I know,Rev. ... was simply curious as to wether there were any other benefits to be had by using OD vs Trixx.....you guys know more than me when it comes to oc-ing so I was just asking.....

 

Using RBE should not void your warranty as long as you are just adjusting the overclock limits or undervolting. Plus, if you ever need Dell to look at your computer you can just flash back to stock.

If you brick your card from overvolting or overheating due to flashed clock rates, that voids your warranty. That is what RBE is warning you about.

 

If anybody that wants to do this tweak is stuck and would like a step-by-step, go here: link

 

Great tutorial Fox - once again, you are the man!

 

+1 Mr Fox thank you for the pics

 

I just got a used M18x with 6970M CFX and downloaded the latest Dell Video Card Update directly from the website. I installed the CCC from the pack as well. Tried to unlock AMD Overdrive as shown from the regedit and have failed so far.

No idea where i went wrong but in the regedit, Overdrive2, Overdrive3, Overdrive5 Accessibility have been changed to "All" and then immediately rebooted.

Is there a version of CCC that i need to download or am I just out of luck?

Thanks in advance

 

Mr. Fox, first thank you so much for this awesome guide on enabling Overdrive. I wish I had noticed this sooner since the more recent drivers leave out the DLLs needed for Trixx and Afterburner. But, with this, they are not needed for overclocking. I still love Afterburner for its monitoring of course.

I did want to point out a couple issues I ran into. It may well have been user error, or perhaps due to AMD driver changes since you put that together.

Modifying the vBIOS went perfect. Boy, that increment of 2, 4, 8, etc. was sure annoying but thank you for explaining it as that would have had me stumped for days. Funny thing is that I only had to do that for the BIOS of the main GPU. The BIOS of the second GPU let me set max clocks fully right up front.

The other thing is that after programming the new BIOS for each card (with a reboot each time), I still did not have any Overdrive2 entries in my registry. I did a full search and navigated to the spot and it was not there. I uninstalled my current driver (12.3 WHQL Mobility) and re-installed it and the registry stuff was still not there. But, after the re-install, the Overdrive section was in the CCC and I was able to enable Overdrive. All works perfect. But, even now the registry still does not have that Overdrive2 section. Did AMD remove that?

 

Hi Jason. I am not sure what changes AMD has recently made in their drivers that affect the registry. I no longer have a AMD CrossFire setup in the M18x, so I am not as up to speed as I was when that guide was prepared. But, I'm glad to hear you have things working well in spite of the guide being obsolete for enabling Overdrive with newer drivers.

It's interesting that one GPU allowed you to set your max clocks and the other did not. Are you sure your second GPU is not a 6990M instead of a 6970M? If it is a 6990M, I would swap them and make the 6990M the primary GPU. Does GPU-Z show the same shader value for both cards?

 

Hi Mr. Fox. Ah, I see you have the 580m's. Sometimes I wish I had held out for those even though they are a lot more expensive as the driver and crossfire issues with AMD are a pain to me.

I am sure I have 6970M's as I bought my m18x early on before the 6990s were even available. And, GPU-Z shows both as 960 shaders. The only thing I can think of that might have been a bit quirky is that when I tried to use Trixx to save the vBIOS for the second GPU it could not read it at first. My thinking is that this is because I did not have ULPS disabled. I fired up Furmark to get both GPUs going and with it running I then saved the vBIOS. I would not think that would make a difference to the actual BIOS, but perhaps it did.

Do you know if I still need/should disable ULPS via the registry. I know it is needed for the "unofficial" overclocking via Trixx/Afterburner. But, since I am now using Overdrive to overclock is that still necessary?

 

Jasonanderson if your seeing both gpus overclock to the same speed by checking both cards seperate tabs on GPUZ then no need for ULPS as perhaps you keep your poer saving feature with overdrive.... so they clock down to lower mhz when idle keeping them cool most of the time.

 

Hello, yes, I have verified via GPUZ that both cards are overclocked to the same speed. I have definitely noticed much cooler idle temps for my second GPU. So, I am quite happy.