Evga Precision

I need some serious help. I've read all over these forums that in order to overclock my GPU, I should use Evga Precision.

I downloaded it, started using it... It looked fine at first. Now my settings have gone backwards, and I'm running less effectively than I was before I did this.

I need some urgent help for this, please.

 

Seriously. You did what?.

Normally serious people say, I'm using EVGA Precision on my M11xR2 Intel Core i7 to over-clock my Nvidia GT335M using the following values:

My default setting were as follows:

Core Clock: 450
Shader Clock: 1080
Memory Clock: 790

My Over-clocked setting was as follows:

Core Clock: 540
Shader Clock: 1296
Memory Clock: 850

Using game/Benchmark X I would get the following FPS/benchmark result using the default settings.

However when I use my over-clocked values I get the following FPS/Benchmark result.

Wow, just think what I could have said if I wasn't serious.
Moderator is probably breathing a sigh of relief.

 

This is a known issue with EVGA Precision. For whatever reason, using EVGA precision will set your GPU clock to 400MHz, which is actually LOWER than the stock clock setting.

Use MSI Afterburner instead, and all will be well.

 

Correct me if I'm wrong.

I have an M11xR1 SU7300 1.6Ghz

Using EVGA Precision v2.0.2 with the default setting (reset) I am presented with:

Core Clock: 450
Shader Clock: 1080
Memory Clock: 790

If I don't run EVGA Precision, the default settings are still as above.

This is verified using TechPower GPU-Z v0.4.3

Both EVGA and MSI use the same threshold of 135 - 450Mhz on the default core clock.

Are we saying that EVGA won't go above 400Mhz on a default core clock, even when it says it's set to 450Mhz?

I just ran 3DMark as a stress test on a 135 - 450Mhz default clock and both MSI and EVGA peaked at 450Mhz.

I've not noted any difference between EVGA and MSI and believe me I tried as a 3DMark score is the same whichever I use when over-clocking.

Maybe you could explain in more detail what is meant by running at 400Mhz on a default clock when EVGA is used.

 

You need to be plugged in AC before EVGA Precision can work.

 

I had the problem I described about a month ago, when I noticed lower 3DMark06 scores after overclocking with EVGA Precision.
http://forum.notebookreview.com/alienware-m11x/554269-lower-3dmark06-scores-when-overclocking.html

When you run your GPU with EVGA Precision turned off, your GPU runs at 450Mhz. The GPU Clock indicator in 3DMark06 confirms this, and I get a 3DMark06 score in line with what I would expect (~7200 3DMark06)

When you run your CPU with EVGA PRecision turned on, your GPU runs at 400Mhz. It does not matter what setting you have applied in EVGA Precision... the GPU Clock indicator in 3DMark confirms this, and the lower 3DMark06 scores reflect this (~7200 --> ~4600 3DMark06).

This was solved by narrowing the problem down to EVGA Precision, and using an alternative overclocking tool (MSI Afterburner). Your mileage may vary, but this is what I experienced on my Alienware M11x R2 running nVidia 266.58 drivers, and sounds like what the OP is running into as well.




The body of the original post in that thread:

I recently download EVGA Precision v2.02 to overclock the GPU on my Alienware M11x (running v266.58 GPU drivers from nVidia's website)

Using stock speeds, I get a 3DMark06 score of around 7180
- 450Mhz GPU Clock (stock speed)
- 1080Mhz Shader Clock (stock speed)
- 790Mhz Memory Clock (stock speed)

When I use eVGA Precision in any way, my 3DMark06 score drops to around 4500 (even if I am using stock speeds). eVGA Precision's on-screen-display shows I am running at:
- 405Mhz GPU Clock (should be 450Mhz)
- 810Mhz Shader Clock (should be 1080Mhz)
- 324Mhz Memory Clock (should be 790Mhz)
- 99% GPU utilization
- GPU temp at 58C under load
- CPU temp at 45C under load

Anyone else notice this weird behavior?​

 

So am I correct to assume that the same is NOT true for MSI Afterburner?

 

You should be plugged in when overclocking your GPU no matter what.

 

Work???

Just repeated the above test using both MSI and EVGA with DC power and again the results are the same.

I do have my power plan set to High Performance on DC at the moment with the GPU battery setting set to Balanced when the AC setting would be Max Performance.

So this is not an EVGA issue it's just reflecting the current battery state.

Cool. So our serious OP is monitoring the GPU state with default setting using DC power.

 

The idea to run overclocking while your laptop is plugged in / on battery is irrelevant. You should always be running plugged in when you're tweaking overclocking settings. After you have set those settings, you can play around with running on battery, but you should always be plugged in at first.

@DrGoodVibes:
EVGA Precision may have worked just fine for you, but it did not work for me. And it sounds like the OP may also be having similar issues as I had. Maybe it is because you are on an M11x R1, and I am on M11x R2. Maybe it had to do with different driver versions. Maybe my system has gremlins.

But in any case, it's worth it for the OP to try MSI Afterburner, because it is a free, fast, easy thing to try that fixed a similar problem that I had.

 

@kent1146.

That's odd, I'm not seeing that on my M11xR1 SU7300.

This is new to me.

Is this the case for all M11xR2 ?

Doesn't sound right to me.

Have you checked using independent GPU monitor tools like GPU-Z etc.

Where do you see the 3DMark report GPU over-clock settings?

In the report I only see 135Mhz which is just the base setting of the GPU card.

I only used 'Freeware' 3DMark.

 

Yerp. I have no problems with MSI. Use it if it works.

For whatever reason, some things do and don't work on given devices.
It could and would most likely be Nvidia drivers if this is a case that EVGA doesn't work.

I wouldn't read to much into 3DMark results regarding GPU clock settings as on my reports I get Driver status Not FM Approved

It's probably not a good test of GPU settings.

I get approx 6950 3Dmarks on 3DMark06 using an M11xR1 SU7300 over-clocked with EVGA where the highest NBR results ever are ~7200 3Dmarks. Ignore DavyGT and Some Guy as they're just too smart for their own good.

 

I'm running a licensed version fo 3DMark06, which gives you overlay options to display GPU core and memory clocks within the benchmark itself (in addition to CPU/GPU temps).

I did not test in other independent tools that reveal GPU clock speeds, like GPU-Z, becuase the clock speeds weren't really the problem... the problem was that I was getting lower 3DMark06 scores (and therefore, lower 3D gaming performance). Lower GPU clocks were just one clue as to the root cause of the problem.

 

I hear what you're saying that's why I did the same by using MSI and EVGA but for me on an M11xR1 there wasn't any difference.

Have to check with some other M11xR2 owners and see if this is a 'global' EVGA M11xR2 issue or just localised to those for whom it doesn't work.

As an M11xR1 owner I tend to glaze over M11xR2 issues, but must admit, didn't really expect the GPU to have different over-clock dependancies depending on which model it is.

Forgiven me if I'm not 100% convinced yet.

If you own an M11xR1 there is no 'noticable' difference between EVGA Precision and MSI Afterburner when over-clocking.

Using the following over-clock on an M11xR1 SU7300 Win7 SP1 BIOS A05 Nvidia 260.63 Intel 2020

Core Clock: 540
Shader Clock: 1296
Memory Clock: 850

EVGA Precision

6594.0 3DMarks
6566.0 3DMarks

MSI Afterburner

6594.0 3DMarks
6540.0 3DMarks

Using EVGA Precision v2.0.2

3DMark Score 6594.0 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 3072.0
HDR/SM3.0 Score 3166.0
CPU Score 1407.0
Game Score N/A
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 27.0 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest 24.2 FPS
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.44 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 0.72 FPS
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 31.06 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 32.25 FPS

3DMark Score 6566.0 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 3087.0
HDR/SM3.0 Score 3160.0
CPU Score 1381.0
Game Score N/A
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 26.69 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest 24.76 FPS
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.43 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 0.72 FPS
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 31.04 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 32.16 FPS

Using MSI Afterburner v1.5.1

3DMark Score 6594.0 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 3104.0
HDR/SM3.0 Score 3157.0
CPU Score 1394.0
Game Score N/A
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 26.99 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest 24.75 FPS
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.43 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 0.72 FPS
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 31.02 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 32.12 FPS

3DMark Score 6540.0 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score 2988.0
HDR/SM3.0 Score 3172.0
CPU Score 1411.0
Game Score N/A
GT1 - Return To Proxycon 26.68 FPS
GT2 - Firefly Forest 23.12 FPS
CPU1 - Red Valley 0.44 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 0.72 FPS
HDR1 - Canyon Flight 31.27 FPS
HDR2 - Deep Freeze 32.16 FPS

 

I apoligize for the lack of information I provided.


I got the overclocking to work after using MSI Afterburner, but I've ran into another dillema. Instead of improving performance, the games I'm usuing seem to be taking a hit.

I could run Gothic 4 on around 20 fps before overclocking, but after it's around 14 fps... What happened?

I can't give you the exact numbers I was running because I've reset it since then. I'll start posting the numbers once I start testing again.

 

Can you do the following?

(1) Download 3DMark06. It is a free benchmarking tool.
(2) Run 3DMark06, and report your scores for both before / after overclocking.
(3) Tell us your system specs? M11x R2? Core i5 / i7 CPU? How much RAM?

 

Believe me, my friend. You don't need to convince me that your system works fine, and that mine is acting weird somehow.

I've been using EVGA Precision on my desktop machine for years without any problems. I found it incredibly weird that my M11x R2 doesn't like EVGA Precision, but works fine with MSI Afterburner (since both utilities are based off of RivaTuner).

I don't know why EVGA Precision didn't work in my particular situation. I don't know if it is me, whether it is all M11x R2 owners, or all M11x R2 owners running 266.58 drivers. I don't know the root cause... all I know is that MSI Afterburner fixed the problem, and wanted to share that with the OP.

 

Are the drivers for your gpu crashing by any chance? If I overclock my gpu too high and the drivers crash, the performance is horrible until I restart my laptop.

 

Here they are:

M11x R2, i7, 8gb RAM

3DMark06 Test

Before OC

• GT1 - Return To Proxycon
• 26.18 FPS
• ________________________________________
• GT2 - Firefly Forest
• 24.2 FPS
• ________________________________________
• CPU1 - Red Valley
• 0.53 FPS
• ________________________________________
• CPU2 - Red Valley
• 0.81 FPS
• ________________________________________
• HDR1 - Canyon Flight
• 27.88 FPS
• ________________________________________
• HDR2 - Deep Freeze
• 32.85 FPS

• 3DMark Score
• 6717.0 3DMarks

After OC

GT1 - Return To Proxycon
20.03 FPS
________________________________________
GT2 - Firefly Forest
13.09 FPS
________________________________________
CPU1 - Red Valley
0.52 FPS
________________________________________
CPU2 - Red Valley
0.82 FPS
________________________________________
HDR1 - Canyon Flight
16.3 FPS
________________________________________
HDR2 - Deep Freeze
19.17 FPS

Overclocking:

Core Clock: 555 MHz
Shader Clock: 1332 MHz
Memory Clock: 948 MHz

It might be

 

I would try something like 535/1284/850 and see if it performs better than stock. 555 for the core might be too high. Mine can only go to 545 stable. You can test the stability of your overclock with programs such as 3dmark06 and MSI Kombustor.

 

It's failing on the first test when you over-clock the memory clock at 948!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Maybe one or two people in the world have an M11x/GT 335M combination that can maintain a memory clock rate that high.

Try a Memory clock of 880Mhz and then work up.

 

R1 here...

evga when enabled usually resulted in terrible bench scores. Tried again after they had a new release... same thing. Crap.

Consider that once in a while I was getting video crashes.
Consider that I'm using FF betas.

Finally figured out that FF seemed to have some sort of relationship to my issues - or coincidence?. I think because FF uses the GPU but has issues it further manifested itself with evga.

Going from memory here and little sleep:
If I had used FF THEN used evga to OC the results sucked.
If I had NO evga, booted up, NO FF use, then add evga... all was well. Odd eh?

So current setup is actually UNDER clocked to see if stabiity is improved. Seems like it was but now that FFb4.12 is installed I'll never be sure as testing time was too short. Now FF has less issues and I dont see any vid card "recovered" messages. Hard to blame just one component though and in this post I gave Adobe a pass even though they cause a lot of issues also.

After slight uc, still got ~6400 in 3dm6. If things were "wonky" low 4k. Unmolested I was getting almost 6500. Pretty stable now even in FF use.

 

I always test in increments of 10. (While 3D is in background for artifacts.)
Hope that helps.