Downclocking Help & Advice Thread

Hi everyone.
it might be a good idea for some general advice for any newbies (including me)
about how you all check your downclocking and what sites you use to get the software from and is it free or not.
im still waiting for my m15x but in the mean time i downloaded the free version of 3DDmark06 and tested it on my fujitsu siemens amilo laptop.(are you ready for a laugh) i got a score of 192

so if any of you have got some spare time would it be possible to add some advice and information below on "HOW TO" check all the readings out.

(i hope its ok to post links to other sites)

i got my free basic 3DMark06 from here: http://www.futuremark.com/3dmarkvantage/promo/?redirect=%2Fproducts%2F3dmark06%2F

thanks in advance from all us newbies

 

Hm heres what i found

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=3228983&postcount=57

 

thanks for finding that crizzler. much appreciated.

 

Oh and when he mentions NVIDIA nTune monitor you may have to

Here's the link

 

thanks for the link Wraithers

 

I personally prefer RivaTuner over GPU-Z and ATI Tool. RivaTuner is used to monitor the temps, core clocks etc. of your GPU, while ATI Tool will be primarily used for stressing the GPU.

Get Rivatuner here:
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163

" ATI Tool " " :
http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=725

Install Rivatuner

Install ATI Tool

Check you're not in stealth mode or on integrated graphics

Run Rivatuner and where it lists your graphics card and it properties, look for a litle tab next to the word "Customise", click Hardware Monitoring (magnifying glass over integrated circuit picture)

A graph should come up with the info. such as temperature, and clock speeds

Run ATI Tool and "scan for artifacts"

Monitor your temperature as ATI Tool stresses your GPU and pay attention to your core clock which should be (500 MHz), shader clock(1250 MHz) at all times, provided you're not in stealth mode or integrated graphics. Temperature should slowly rise to 86-87 C and then the fans should kick in and be very audible, bringing the temperature down

The core clock and shader clock graph lines should rise at first then level off in a horizontal line and if at any time they dip in troughs and peaks, then you're experiencing the dreaded downclocking, provided you're not on stealth mode or integrated graphics.

 

AW must did the 200pt test on Mars, that's why m15x didn't get overheat.

 

thanks evilwill32 for that great tutorial.

 

Dunno if this is the right thread to ask for, but has anybody tried to really stress the CPU with prime95 or something similar and checked if it has downclocking symptoms as well?

My theory is, looking at the pictures in the aw knowledge-base (where they show you how to disassemble your heatsinks etc.) it seems that both the heatsink/heatpipe of the GPU and the CPU are almost even powerful. Now the max CPU found in a m15x is a X9000 with a TDP of about 44W, the GPU of the 8800 has a TDP of ~35W (both values taken from google). So if the GPU downclocks under stress because the cooling system not powerful enough, the CPU should as well!
Ok doesn't sound very scientific but maybe it's worth a try?

 

i've never seen the cpu (even under load) even get hot (feeling the heat from the back of the computer)... so i doubt it'd have much, if any effect.

also, intel processors, since p4 have been notoriously great for managing heat... P3's would halt if heat exceeded a certain temp, P4's + all downclock automatically when the heat is too high, finding a balance between the cooling system and the clockspeed/heat produced.

this is at extreme temps though, 95+ *C

 

cool thx for the links crizzler & Wraithers, be testing tonight

 

Re: Crizzler and CPU Stressing and downclocking

for everyone's information, after a several-hour testing session for both CPU and GPU, i've determined that the CPU will only downclock under low-load (less than 20% on both CPUs), and when idle, (less than 5% load on both CPUs), the cpu will go as low as 500Mhz. (from 2.5Ghz, this is the T9300 I'm testing)... under high load (more than 75% constant) for several hours straight, the CPU did not exceed 75*C and was running at full speed ~2.5Ghz (usually within .1Ghz (or 100Mhz) ). Slight fluctuations in speed were present, probably more of a problem with how the speed is derived, than the actual speed of the CPU, unsure though. I do recognise that slight variations in CPU speed are common.

So there you have it, CPU is prime. (no pun intended)

 

Thank you for your testing! +rep
The downclocking you experienced sounds like the normal speedstep/powersaving-functionality of vista. Temps under load look good and the cooling system stable. So if the downclocking is caused by bad cooling either the cpu produces far less heat than the gpu or the gpu much more than expected? Just some thoughts...