5870M OC'ed not stable only in game!

Hi guys...
I own a G73JH A1

I want to overclock the Ati Mobility Radeon HD 5870 Graphic card..
The default speed is:
-GPU clock: 700MHz
-Memory clock: 1000MHz

I am using AMD GPU Clock Tool to overclock it.
The most stable speed I have reached until now is:
-GPU clock: 820MHz
-Memory clock: 1080MHz..

It runs very stable in idle condition. Adding more speed will cause Gray Screen of Death just 5 second after I apply it..
The problem occurred when I play Crysis 2.0 and Battlefield 2142.. I only can play for the first 3 minutes. After that, the game will hang and the screen blank out..and I can do nothing with my laptop except turn it off manually by pressing the power button.

Notes: the temperature is stable.. 97C for crysis 2.0, and 89C for Battlefield 2142. only 1-2C different from the stock speed's temp...

I thought that my laptop couldn't handle the 820/1080speed.. but when I run the 3DMark Vantage, it was working fine, and with no error, and showing improvement in score and fps.. The temp is stable, 78C (load)... so the problem just occurred when I was playing games, besides that, it's stable and fine...

Any idea about this problem? does anybody know how to solve it?

Regards..



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Have yoiu updated your VBIOS? Also what version of the Video card driver are you using?

 

Thanks for the reply. I got the .213 BIOS version and Ati Catalyst 2009.1217.1632.29627

I have ever tried to update the catalyst to the newest, but it failed several times, it is said that the Catalyst host has stopped working every startup..

 

Vbios is located in GPU-z you have linked the BIOS of the mobo.

 

You need to update the vBios on the 5870 before using newer drivers. Check in the sticky at the top of the forum for instructions on how to do it. You can get the vBios form Chastity's driver page.

EDIT:That's not your 5870m Dallers right?

 

vBIOS has little to do with that.

Its just not a stable OC.

 

I knew someone was going to ask that Not by a long shot fella! haha its got Dell on it for a start!

Those overclock figures aren't that bad mind you considering most are happy around 800/1100 then its probably about right. Your temps hitting 97oC are nice and high as well OP, might be an idea to blow some air in the vents to bring that down a bit.

 

Thanks for the reply! Hmm, I never updated the vbios before, I will try update it..

@bearclaw:
Do you have any guide to stabilize the 5870m OC? I am using AMD Clock Tool. Please tell me if I have mad any mistake in OC'ing my GPU. I am a beginner in OC... Thanks

 

Start with smaller OC like 750/1050, try the games that cause problems and work your up with the clocks until you get problems. Getting the latest vBios and video drivers is also a good idea, it has nothing to do with the OC potential, but it will provide fixes and better performance in some games.

@Dallers, i though so, but then again, you're probably nuts enough to try running a dell 5870 in your JH . Actually, now that i think about it, it would be a good start to know if a 6970m from dell would work in a G73JH. I gotta stop giving myself ideas... or else i'm gonna get pumped up enough to actually do it.

 

Im nuts yes, but not that nuts I feel your pain for the 6970M!

 

Okay, I have my vBios updated... and... is this normal? my GPU clock seems increasing and decreasing by itself, 405MHz and 700MHz... is that normal?

@tljo: thanks for the tips.. if I have get the stable in 750\1050, how to get to the higher clock? I see many people in this forum have a very high clock on their 5870..

 

Yes that is normal. You need to test and slowly increase and game to test stability.

 

I don't understand, What is the purpose of that GPU clock keep changing by itself?

Thanks, I think I did it wrong, increasing the GPU clock too high for the first time...

and what program can I use to keep the OC'ed clock everytime, even I reboot my windows? I am using AMD Gpu clock tool, and if I reboot it, the clock speed get back to its default..

 

That, if 750/1050 is stable, try pushing either the memory or core further but not both at the same time. Once you find the max OC for your memory, slowly increase the core freq by shots of 5 or 10MHz until it gets unstable or vice versa.

 

keeping temps down and battery life up. no reason to drive your car at redline at 20mph.

I use chastity's vbios which gives me the overclock function. it allows me to oc and remains until i change it.

 

what a great tips! thank you very much, tijo! I 've done it wrong all this time, currently updating the catalyst to the newest version, I hope I can get the gpu overclocked well and stable after this...

I understand, the temp indeed runs cooler than before... about 4C cooler...

 

Find me a spare JH heatsink (in case it needs modding) and a 5870m from dell i could borrow near montreal and i would totally try it .

Ok, enough thread hijacking. Anyways if you use Chastitys vBios, the overdrive in CCC can be unlocked so no more need for the GPU clock tool and you can ask it to test if your clocks are stable. If it passes the test, it doesn't mean that you won't see small problems in games but it can help narrow down your OC range.

 

don't get excited on the benchmars clocks ! they are just for fun not gaming

stable gaming for me is 780/1080 (even that is not perfect stable)
you can start from that value and game for 2 hours
if you don't see lockups crashes then you can go higher (i would recommend by 10MHZ
if you get crashes lower by 10mhz

good luck

 

I can run games stable at 800/1100 with minimal heat increase (repasted - doesnt seem to go over 81C ever, even in furmark) but im on stock vbios. I really dont want to upgrade my vbios because i have never had any sort of problem with my gpu, even with the latest drivers.

Stock vbios fo lyf.

 

I got crashes even 3 minutes after the game started..hahaha... but it was before I updated the vbios and catalyst... I haven't try OC it again yet... Thanks for the suggestion..

did you mean the one with Overdrive unlocked is this one? http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus-gaming-notebook-forum/515309-how-fix-your-gsod-blues.html scroll down.

CCC overdrive sounds good, the GPU clock tool cannot keep the clock setting when rebooting..

by the way, why are you using dell 5870M? isn't your laptop Asus?

 

I'm not using a dell 5870, i have the one designed by asus. I would try to swap the asus 5870 for a dell one in my G73 just to see if it works but i don't have a 5870 from dell so i can't. If i knew it worked, i'd be willing to try a dell 6970m since asus doesn't make laptops with the 6970m. So far, no one tried to use a 6970m in a G73JH, we know it won't work for the G73JW (slv7 tried it) but the JH works with a MSI 5870 aside from a little problem with the fans always staying at full speed so this had led some of us to believe an upgrade to a 6970m might work. No one has tested it yet since a 6970m is rather expensive and if it doesn't work you're either stuck with a GPU you won't use or you have to sell it at a loss.

Get the fix_od2 vBios from here: G73 Series Driver and Application Reference. More recent version of the one provided by Chastity in the thread you linked that has lower clocks on battery for longer battery life.

 

6970M in G73, sounds interesting, that's the problem, I will end up with 5870M unused.. But for now, 5870m is more than enough to play games... I hope someday later,I could see the review about 6970M in G73jh.. By the way, how much the price for 5870M and 6970M right now? I got my 5870 fried before because of fan malfunction, (2 months ago) and Asus replaced the MB and GPU for free... so I don't know the price for it..

Thanks for the link... I have tried the 750/1050 OC, it runs stable in game.. I will try to push it higher...

Last stable configuration until now is 790/1090.. I can't push the memory clock higher, If I do, the crysis 2 game will show some artifact and glitches... max is 1090.. The 790 seems stable and no problem, haven't tried to push it higher, I want it 800..

Actually, what is the reason of some people with the same spec and laptop can OC their GPU higher than other people while the other cannot?

 

Every chip is different. Tests that are conducted on the GPU's (stress,voltage,input,output,load..etc) and these are done to make sure it can handle the clocks it is made to run at 700/1000.

When you unlock Overdrive on the ATI CCC it explains to you that overclocking is totally experimental and that it cannot produce similar results nor will they recommend or advise you to do so because the chip itself is not made to reach the clocks some of us want, although 700/1000 is given to it because its stable it does not mean it cannot reach higher or does it mean that it can reach higher, its luck of the draw.

The main problem with the JH is that Asus decided to hardwire the voltages meaning you cannot change the 1.15V max voltage (unless you plan to Volt MOD which is total no no in my books and not recommended) and a higher voltage is vital in order to achieve a higher overclock.

The clocks you have achieved some people cannot even reach so count yourself lucky you can overclock at all. I feel for you wanting 800 though I can hit 840/1135 but I just like a nice round stable number so I stick with 800/1100. Fiddle around though my memory causes me more artifact problems than the core does, try to stabilise the core first because the bandwidth is already quite high on these cards.

 

Lucky? lol...you get 800/1100 for your 5870.. You are luckier than me...

Yes, I heard that voltage is very important in desktop overclocking... Lol, I overclock my laptop of course in a worry condition, I always check the temp when I test it with crysis... Lucky the max temp in crysis is 79C.. and the MSI kombustor burn test max 89C..., and I think I will not go that far, like changing the voltage of GPU and CPU.. I still need this laptop with me...

 

I was very lucky with my laptop this time but my previous laptop coughed and spluttered as soon as I went near the overclock button and I did not achieve any overclocking ability after a significant amount of testing so I understand your fustration.

GPU throttling would not occur until it reaches the point that it cannot handle the load it is dealing with and I believe with the 5870M this is when it near 110oC so temperature has very little to do with the ability to overclock. The only effect it has is to raise the temperature the higher the core/memory clocks are raised to, and by raising the voltage this has a significant effect on the temperatures.

Below 90oC on a burn in test and below 80oC while intense gaming is very good for the 5870M.

 

wow, I understand it now..thanks for your explanation..

110oC? I believe I had ever reached beyond that temp before, fan malfunction, and I didn't realize it until both of my motherboard and 5870 were fried.. The right back side of my laptop were very hot and hurt for skin to touch when I was playing game...and I didn't check the temp until my laptop couldn't be turned on at all... LOL

I repasted it with Noctua NT-H1, plus Thermaltake Massive 23LX cooling pad... plus air conditioner..

 

I just live in Britain which has crap weather it helps a lot

 

The 790/1090 is not stable only in crysis 2, I tested it in L4D2, and BF 2142, both were running good and fine at that speed... The crysis 2 would hang and freezing for a while after 5 minutes playing, sometimes GSOD...I had to run it at stock GPU clock to make crysis 2 run smoothly....*sigh.. even 750/1090 was not good... what happened here? the temp is normal...

 

750/1050 is not that much different to 800/1100 and to be honest you probably would not notice much difference maybe a frame or two here and there. It is what it is.

Now go and game your wasting valuable GPU lifetime time!

 

Lol....I guess so, I am going to take that 750/1050, the most stable until now on my 5870.. And, maybe you are right, I didn't notice the different in gaming, I only see the difference in benhmark.. and that's just a little....

Dallers, thank you very much for all your reply and suggestions.. you help me a lot..