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    m17x 6870 Idle MHZ?

    Discussion in 'Alienware 17 and M17x' started by cdmyursar, Jun 22, 2012.

  1. cdmyursar

    cdmyursar Newbie

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    First off, I am receiving my data from HWiINFO.

    Hi, Curious what other members Alienware M17x r3 6870m ATI card idles at, in MHz. Mine is idling at 300 MHz with the power setting at battery life instead of performance. If I have it set to performance, my ATI GPU runs at a constant 400 MHz. Just wondering what everyone else is getting, because I think... I think... I used to run as low as 100 MHz. Not sure what changed... Any input from people with un-modded or modded laptops would help a bunch. Thank you.
     

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  2. Alienware-Natalia_J

    Alienware-Natalia_J Company Representative

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    Hello cdmyursar,

    It should definitely be higher than that. Download GPU-Z and check the readings, make sure you select the discrete video card (ATI) and not the Intel HD 3000. Let me know how it goes.
     
  3. vadupleix

    vadupleix Notebook Consultant

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    I don't have a 6970 but just in my case of 7970, I did experience a 100mhz clock which happened after I over clocked it and my system became unstable, i read from some sources says thats amds protective measure. I don't quite get the mechanism of it but just make sure ur card was working properly when 100 occurred :)
     
  4. cdmyursar

    cdmyursar Newbie

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    I dont think I stated my question clearly. On a stock system, what is the idle MHz of the ATI GPU? Not what it runs at under full load but what it runs at when idle. Thank you in advance.
     
  5. M11xDude

    M11xDude Notebook Consultant

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    I have a stock system and according to HWiNFO my GPU clock is 405MHz. However, GPU-Z says my GPU clock is at 675MHz. These readings are at idle btw. Now which one is more accurate?
     
  6. vadupleix

    vadupleix Notebook Consultant

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    Ur card has two status, one for idle and another, loaded. U can see both on GPU shark
     
  7. cdmyursar

    cdmyursar Newbie

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    Thank you for your response. You just answered my question and for clarification, in your HWiNFO at 405 MHz is the idle speed. If you were to change your power options to balanced instead of performance it will drop to 300 MHz at idle. The GPU-Z "675MHz" is your clock speed of your GPU when under full load. Like your CPU your GPU can throttle its speed to save power and reduce heat. Thanks again.