An Optimization Guide for the Asus G51

Well.....I'm testing how much I can overclock right now and I suspect that I may end up losing substantial OCing ability at least for core.

 

eh, ill ship you my old processor if yours dies lol

 

Well.....my old CPU overclock was fine but the GPU OC seems somewhat shaky.....the core OC is being especially frustrating.

Just wondering: if I flash OC clocks onto the GPU, would it be more stable than soft OCing?

 

I think it would be more stable, but I have never tested flashing any type of GPU bios.

 

Technically yes, but the difference is almost non-existant. You're just removing overhead by foregoing software.

In short, no.

 

Well.....this sucks.....my GPU is only stable at 507 core.....which is pitiful

Quick question: unstable OCing is due to low Extra voltage and shouldn't be affected by 3D, Throttle, or 2D right?

 

What are your other clocks set to?

Instability at a select level at a given voltage and clock is not affected by the other levels.

 

Well as for testing, I've only bumped core to 507 while memory and shaders are at stock.

vBIOS wise, I just dropped the voltage like I stated earlier but didn't lower 3D/Throttle/2D clocks

Edit: Haha....snuck in a quote before you edited.

 

For your GTX 260M, it seems that 0.9v is the bare minimum for the card to operate. Have you tried your default clocks on Furmark up to 88*C?

 

Haven't tried it yet. Will try in a bit.

Also, at 507 core, it goes through 3DMark06 stable at a 1:1.6:2.5 core:memory:shader ratio. Throwing off the ratio (ie higher memory and shader clocks) should still improve performance and wouldn't do anything bad would it?

 

Keep the memory at 800MHz and just push the core/shader linked.

 

Bah....that would mean basically barely any increase over stock clocks since the core can barely be OCed atm. Well....I suppose thats what you sacrifice for lower temps.

 

yea, thats the whole battle with OC. all i know is you put in a lot of work! all i do is play games lol

 

Anyways, I am running Furmark stability test right now. It has peaked at 89C, doesn't seem to be going any higher, and is stable.

Well, it seems like 0.90v is indeed the absolutely lowest voltage the GPU can go to and still run stock.

 

That alone is a godsend for many G51 users that just want lower temps at stock clocks.

 

Awesome job! i will look into that more....perhaps max OC at stock voltage?

 

Anyways, just running 3DMark06 at 507/899/1267 over and over again until I can get 10k and make it look nice in my sig. Its always so close.....also, the temps at those clocks have been great.

Usually, 81C max, which is a good 8C lower than stock voltage.

 

Now it's time to kick it up a notch and undervolt the lower levels. I can give you a headstart with this one.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=5184951&postcount=33

You can keep your lower level clocks as is. Change your Extra clocks and voltages to match your 3D and stress test it like you normally would. Stack'em, pack'em, and rack'em for the rest.

 

Thanks, I'll probably end up doing that tomorrow night or Wednesday. I got tomorrow morning reserved for hacking my new cell phone (usb data cable just arrived today...)

Edit @Soviet Sunrise

Could you give me quick directions for editing the voltage via Hex Editor? The lowest voltage NiBiTor gives me is 0.75V which is what my 2D is already at.

Anyways,

I'm probably gonna work on a pretty guide on this tomorrow with nice pictures and everything so here is a shortened one that I just typed out for Forge.

Basically, get nvflash, NiBiTor, HP USB Flash, Windows 98 System files

Install HP utility, unrar 98 system files to a folder. Use HP utility to reformat a usb drive. Check the create DOS startup box and use the system files located at whatever folder you extracted the 98 files to.

Run GPU-Z. Right next to BIOS version is a green box. Click on it, save BIOS as OLDBIOS.rom

It saves as a .bin file at first so you will have to change it.

Run NiBiTor and load the BIOS. Ignore the error, let it be gen 8. Change the device ID to 9800M GTX (there is two, use the top one), go to advanced tab, and rescan bios. Change as you see fit, change device ID back to the unknown, and then save as NEWBIOS.rom

Put OLDBIOS.rom and NEWBIOS.rom onto USB drive and unzip nvFlash files onto it too.

Put USB drive into laptop, reboot, enter BIOS. At BIOS, go to boot priority place and go to the harddrive priority and put your USB above your HDD in priority.

Save settings, reboot, wait until it gets to DOS command prompt. Type in "nvflash NEWBIOS.ROM" and then it should flash. If it fails, flash back to your old one with "nvflash OLDBIOS.rom"

Reboot and you'll have everything at a lower voltage.

I have attached a zip containing the OLDBIOS.rom and NEWBIOS.rom that I used to flash if you don't want to edit the vBIOS by yourself.

Note that this may be extremely risky

 

I'll probably be the next person to attempt this--after looking through various NBR threads on GPU flashing--but if you know hex, it could be helpful. A .025 increase over what Tev has at the moment should punt me up to standard 260m clocks with no instability.

 

Well....there still may be a chance that my low GPU OCing ability after the flash is due to GPU variance and thus, you may be able to get better OCs at the same voltage.

 

Granted. Huh. I'll give it a try, then.

 

Sigh.....stuck at 9980 right now and I really really want to get 10K for a good screen shot.....so one last 3DMark06 run right now......

Edit: 9985......well, I guess thats gonna be the limit for me.

 

Wow. That close? Bump your clocks up to 500/1250/810 or something if you want 10k that badly.

 

First: I Tevas, Soviet and Forge Awesome stuff guys

Now some quick questions:
- Whats the chance of me breaking my computer flashing the bios? it seens dangerous

- If i break my computer, what can i do ?

- Why are you ( Tevas ) getting less 3D Mark points after undervolting? Did you had to lower your GPU clocks?

 

Well.....it gets unstable after 900 memory and won't go through 3DMark06 fully and I've already reached the core limit. Haven't changed the shader much though.....

Anyways, I'm off to sleep

Edit @SirHase

1) Some if you're stupid and messed around the BIOS too much. Most things can be resolved with a blind flash though
2) Umm.....try to RMA it and hope they're not smart enough to check the vBIOS
3) I can't overclock as much due to the lower voltage but the temps are much better.

 

Odd. My voltages for the BIOS I just copied with GPU-Z are .95v/.85v/.85v/.85v. Looks like my 2D voltage (last value) is higher than Tev's. I'll bump it down to .8, and see what happens.

Flashing is always risky. Unless you have good knowledge of the process--or have nice, nice people helping you--don't do it.

You can attempt a reflash. Or, God, a blind flash.

Tev's "high" score was recorded while overclocked. With his current voltages, he can't overclock to the levels he once had.

 

Sorry, but, whats a blind flash?

 

Going into BIOS and flashing it... while your monitor is disabled.


EDIT:E%^&^Q#$% MY USB drive tells me, when using the HP boot utility, that it's write protected. Let's see if Vista can do it, then.

EDIT 2: Wait, nope.

 

Hello,

Sorry to interrupt the discussion on GPU undervolting, but I can't help asking about this problem I've been having undervolting the CPU.

I started off overclocking the CPU to 2.25Ghz and went ahead undervolting down to 1.150V. I fire up Orthos, CPUz, and HWMonitor, run Orthos for about a minute and see that the 1.150V change registers in CPUz. All is well for about 1 minute, but then I notice that the voltage reverts back up to the stock 1.250V in CPUz. I see a corresponding temperature increase on HWMonitor of around 2 degrees Celsius. Is there a way to keep the undervolt from reverting back after only 1 minute?

 

G92's can only recognize up to the hundredth volt.

I love you too, SirHase.

Only if you do something stupid like not setting the device ID back to 0618, turning off your computer during the EEPROM rewrite, etc, the chances of you bricking your GPU is less than 1%. It either flashes, or it doesn't. I will laugh at you for the rest of your life if you somehow manage to fubar a flash.

If you do break your computer, read the sentence above, haha. I kid you. You can always force a blind flash of the original BIOS back onto your card. I've bricked my card too many times that I've lost count already. I can do a literal blind flash with a real blindfold if I wanted to.

I'll save you some time here. Your lowest level is guaranteed stable at 0.75v, throttle is stable at 0.8v, and 3D is stable at 0.85v.

 

Should the USB disk be formatted to FAT or FAT32?

Baby steps, baby steps.

Which method did you use for the undervolt? Tev's multiplier management or my speedstep shortcut?

 

I didn't apply any automation or make the shortcut yet. I'm still in the process of testing it out. Is it necessary to do either of those things before expecting the undervolt to stick?

Edit:
Oh sorry, I misunderstood. Yes, I am using Tev's Multiplier Management method as outlined in the opening post.

 

My GTX 280M is completely stable at those voltages for those levels, and my levels are mildly overclocked. I've already done all the baby to toddler to teenager to adult steps for you.

 

Yup.

If you do the management method, make sure to turn multiplier management on, and to leave CPUID on. You can minimize it to your taskbar.

For the speedstep method, simply make a shortcut and double click it.

Yet Tev is having difficulties with any kind of overclock.

 

Whoa, it's way back over there. Sorry, TevashSzat. I was assuming you were using your default clocks when I suggested you use 500/1250/810.

 

Alright, I just tried the Speed Step method. I am having the same issue as the one I encountered using the Multiplier Management method. The voltage keeps reverting back to 1.250V after about a minute of running Orthos.

 

Could you tell me exactly what you did? I've undervolted and it works just fine.

(Make sure CPUID is closed before doing the speedstep shortcut.)

 

First, I start up CrystalCPUID, go to File > Multiplier Management Settings, then change all the voltages to 1.150V. I hit the Apply button, then hit the OK button. After, I go to Function and click Multiplier Management. I see there's a three digit percentage on the far left of the title at the top of the window.

Next I fire up Orthos, select the StressCPU option in the drop down list, then hit the Start button. I then start up CPUz and HWMonitor, and I sit and watch the numbers for a while. After about a minute is logged on the Orthos test, I notice that the CPUz Core VID stat goes from 1.150V back to the stock 1.250V. Temperature also goes up correspondingly like I mentioned earlier.


When I tried the Speedstep shortcut, I disabled Multiplier Management and clicked Function > Intel Enhanced SuperSpeed Control. I click Enable Change Voltage, select 1.150V, then click create shortcut. I close CrystalCPUID, click the new shortcut, run Orthos and CPUz, and sit and watch for a while. I notice the same thing occur with the reversion back to 1.250V.

I also tried testing in Orthos as soon as I selected the voltage in the SpeedControl box without creating the shortcut, but CPUz didn't pick up any voltage changes.

I made sure to test each one of these methods more than once, but nothing seems to be working. I also tried lurking through this entire thread and I didn't catch anyone having the same error, so I don't know what's up.


Edit:
This is all while overclocked to 2.25Ghz using SetFSB.

 

Hmm...

What versions of CPU-Z are you using? The latest version is buggy and gives funky readings.

 

I am using version 1.51.

Edit:
Just tried multiplier method again, lasted about 4 minutes this time before reverting to 1.250V.

 

I feel bad for Tev. He's been one of the--if not the--most helpful members concerning the G51, yet his hardware is falling short of some of us newbs. He can't hit 2.3 GHz on his P7350, and he can't get over a 507 core clock on an undervolted GPU.

Well, I managed a 510/1275/800 and completed 3DMark06 at 1280x768. Because I have a better processor, my score was higher. Attempting a higher clock now.

By the way, max temperature was 91C using the exact same settings as last night, where I got 96C. There are still some variables, such as the curing of my AS5, to consider.

EDIT: Clocks at 515/1290/825. Score 11445. Max temperature 96

EDIT2: 519/1298/825. Score 11521. Max temperature 96

EDIT3: That looks like clock ceiling.

I don't know then, Auto. Sorry. Let me tinker around for a moment.

Apologies, too. I just flashed by vBIOS, and I'm a bit excited about what I'm seeing.

 

This has made me curious. To be honest with you, I haven't run 3DMark'06 or Vantage in months. I'm going to download 3DMark'06 tonight and do a quick run through on 500/1250/800 @ 0.9v.

Off topic: I ordered that backpanel for my notebook. It should get to by doorstep by Wednesday or Thursday depending on how lazy UPS is.

 

Hmm. Could you do some hexing and get me a BIOS with something like .92/.8/.8/.75?

I think .92V should give enough juice to hit standard clocks. Don't know until I try, and I'm illiterate in anything other than base-10.

Also, can you edit fan settings in NiBiTor

 

You and that X9100. I was hoping your GPU undervolt would get your 3DMark scores a little bit easier to reach.

I feel sorry for Tev too, at least until he figures out some epic BIOS fix to allow quad processors in the RX05 and doesn't let us in on his secret.

 

Soviet, just wondering, is there a way to force NiBiTor to give me .0x values? I need something in between to at least hit standard clocks.

Let's start a "Thanks To Tev" fund and get him a new processor.



On a side note, EVGA Precisions's real-time GPU temperature readout is real handy.

 

If you're having second thoughts... eh.

Blind flash isn't so hard, since I just have to wait for the command prompt and then type in "nvflash oldbios.rom"

That sound about right?



I have the attachment, you may delete.

 

Goddamnit, I deleted my entire post instead of just the attachment, haha. I'll try to recreate it in an edit.

Forge, I am done editing the BIOS. But I highly suggest you familiarize yourself with a force flash, or blind flash. It would be a lot easier for me if I actually had a G51 to test it on as the BIOS is unstable as hell.

Flash the BIOS at your own risk.

 

By the way, when you say it's unstable, is there a chance it'll conk out after a successful flash? Or is the instability only a problem during the flashinfg process?

 

Your notebook may fail to recognise the altered voltage and will "checker" out or BSOD, which is a typical symptom of levels that are using too low voltages or unrecognizable voltages.

You got the shortcut version of flashing down correct, haha. But the true blind flash command is "nvflash -4 -5 -6 -A -y G92bx.rom." Maybe I'm just old school that way.