G50V - 9700m GT overclocking

775 seconds, 83-4 celsius
how long does it take (i chose performance)
or should i have taken stability?

edit:1150, the donut is starting to hurt my eyes.

 

My bad.. should have mentioned that... try running it on stability mode, fullscreen, 4xAA, native res for about 45 mins.

I hear ya, lol, it's funny lookin'

 

on its way. ill edit this post when its done.

edit: 2400 seconds, no change. ill be back in around 10 minutes.

 

Please post your temps before quitting furmark if all goes well... thanks

 

from fumark:

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q228/HoldFire/furmark_000000.jpg

from rivatuner:

http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q228/HoldFire/rt1.jpg

between 82 and 84 on average

 

IMPRESSIVE

Now, if you can power cycle without BSODs, I will be convinced

Well done. Thanks for all the info!

 

shut down, unplug, wait a minute, power up (x2).
i'm still here, so all looks good

if anyone is afraid of a bad flash, you can always try to have it repaired under the issue that the 209 flash failed

edit: to the people downloading: lowest clocked or not, i really suggest you find your cards limit with the 169.04 drivers beforehand

 

Would you be so kind as to post some benchies ? 3Dmark06 is enough just to get a gauge of how much improvement we can get.

In any case, THANK YOU so much for doing this. +rep definitely.

 

no stock to compare to, but it felt sluggish on the 180.70 drivers. 730/1800/1075 + nothing else running should be able to reach 7k.
(19 and 17% increase on the gpu parts)

cod4/css run slightly better than on 169.04, ~5-30% increase in frames.

battery life takes a hit though, from 20W usage to 22W (same setup, simple browsing/word)

if you get the sound of doom, disabling audio/modem in BIOS is one workaround. probably not the best, but i have no idea what causes it so this'll have to do for now.

 

a bump for this is necessary

anyone know why the mem is clocked so high on the lowest step (169/337/ 600)? in the table, it shows 100, without a 600 near it (if one exists at all). the scaling is accurate, and a rivatuner error seems unlikely since all the other clocks are right...

reflashed with a value of 200, and rivatuner reads 200. looks to me like 100 was too low, since the clocks were read right
battery usage is down to ~19-21 W, which is almost 1.5 W less than before: more proof that it actually was 600
18 W without wireless, which lasts around 2h 50m

 

VER 2 -- I will not be taking any more requests, the process in editing the vbios is easy enough now.

--- HOW TO OVERCLOCK THE 9700M GT IN A G50V-A1 (PART 1) ---

I've separated the vista and xp steps, should make it a little more clear now.
An initial checklist
- Make sure your temps are less than 90 to begin with. If they're higher, I suggest an RMA
- Make sure you have disable8dot3namecreation in HKLM\System\CCS\Control\Filesystem set to 0. If not, change it, restart
- Make sure you don't have any ntune/setfsb profiles loading during startup

For XP

1) Install 169.04 using the modded INF from a 177178 driver
2) Install nTune
3) Back up any data you need. Chances are nTune will kill your system like it did mine (twice)
4) In nTune, save a basic profile (the only choice you have under Performance)
5) Find your card's maximum clocks by changing the values and loading the profile
7) Run furmark to test temps and try as many things in every game you plan to play (note the 169 driver may be at fault)
6) Uninstall nTune and the drivers completely + clean with DriverSweeper

For Vista

1) Extract ALL modded BIOS to C or D, including the original from Asus' site
2) Backup anything you may need to any non-windows partition

--- THE HARDER PART (PART 2) ---

BEFORE FLASHING
- Have both the modded AND THE ORIGINAL BIOS accessible
- Have a USB-floppy or burn a CD with the original renamed to AMIBIOS.ROM just in case the flash fails

Method 1 (lazy)

XP:

7) Flash the closest step down to the values you got in 5) using EZflash, or request your own clocks
8) Load User Defaults in BIOS Setup.
9) Install the newest drivers from lv2g (I use 185.20, seem to be the best for now)

Vista:

3) Uninstall the drivers completely + clean with DriverSweeper
4) Flash a low-clocked BIOS (like 705-) using EZflash
5) Load User Defaults in BIOS Setup
6) Install stable drivers like 179.28
7) Run furmark for 20 minutes to test max temps. 95 is the threshold, anything under 90 is OK
8) Play EVERY GAME you might want in as many different mapsmodes for as long as you can (drivers sometimes may be at fault, so I recommend testing with 179.28 or another stable non-desktop driver from lv2g)
9) Repeat for each flash (yes, really)

Method 2 (DIY)

This section is if you don't trust my BIOS and want to make your own, or don't feel like waiting for someone to make it.

2.1) Using MMTOOL (found on your favourite site, _not_ here), extract the first module 20 (Device ID 064A, Vendor ID 10DE)
2.2) Load the extracted module in NiBiTor 4.8
2.x) NO LONGER NECESSARY BUT HERE ANYWAY: In hex view, the clocks are located at these addresses 0xCF68 (core), 0xCF6A (shaders), 0xCF6C (mem) (using 2-byte words)
2.3) Change the values to your liking.
2.4) Save as a new file (overwriting didn't seem to work for me)
2.5) Back in MMTOOL, replace the module and Save As
2.6) Uninstall the drivers
2.7) Flash with EZflash
2.8) Load "User Defaults" in BIOS Setup
2.9) Reinstall whatever driver works best. I use 185.20

--- DOWNLOAD LIST ---

Included releases for method 1
All BIOS here include the 200 mem fix + 95 threshold

Clock speed -- Checksum
(based on bios 2.09)

635/1585/825 -- C040
650/1615/840 -- C42A
665/1650/855 -- DA15
680/1690/885 -- B840
695/1750/900 -- E61F
705/1770/920 -- B44B
710/1780/940 -- 9F6E
715/1790/960 -- B339
720/1800/980 -- C021
725/1800/1000 -- CA38
730/1800/1020 -- B33E

http://www.zshare.net/download/526584734d182af7

(based on bios 2.09)

720/1800/1020
720/1800/1040
720/1800/1050
720/1800/1060
720/1800/1070
720/1800/1080

http://www.zshare.net/download/541319572bdab10b

(based on bios 2.10)

740/1800/1040
740/1800/1060

http://www.zshare.net/download/552109165e2fd303

(based on bios 2.10)

725/1850/1053
725/1850/1063
725/1850/1073
725/1850/1083
733/1850/1053
733/1850/1063
733/1850/1073
733/1850/1083
749/1800/1053

http://www.zshare.net/download/5540633733571e57

DAMAGE TO HARDWARE BECAUSE OF THIRD PARTY SOFTWARE (AKA, DAMAGE TO GPU BECAUSE OF NON-ASUS BIOS) IS NOT COVERED BY WARRANTY. FLASH AT YOUR OWN RISK. I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR ANY DAMAGE DONE AS A RESULT OF USING THIS GUIDE

Before flashing, I recommend everyone takes a look at these articles, especially the last 2

http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/378/1004378/why-nvidia-chips-defective
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/947/1013947/nvidia-should-defective-chips
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/374/1036374/nv-should
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/052/1050052/nvidia-chips-show-underfill-problems
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/news/400/1038400/nvidia-g92s-g94-reportedly

I'm not saying that the G96 9700M's are affected, but if the 9600M is a G94 and a lower clocked 9700M, and they probably both roll off the same fab, then chances are they both use the same faulty design.

 

Cool guide Thalanix! Thanks a lot for your efforts an your help!!

 

Hmm wonder the difference from editing the values directly in the bios and extracting them and editing with nbitor like I did then putting it back in the bios.

In any event this is good news that a way is found and I will have to give it a shot.

Can you give us the 3dmark06 score in performance mode with the bios you linked?

 

its the same method you used in the first few posts of this thread; extract vbios, change clocks, replace vbios. just the replacing clocks part is done via hex since nibitor doesn't read the proper offsets.

3d mark scores are attached in post 73 (page 8). no performance mode, xp pro 64. using 180.84 drivers and 725/1800/1000 i get 6905.

i still need someone to confirm that mem on the 2D step really is 600...

 

I updated the link in the Owners' Lounge to point to this guide instead of the earlier version. Thanks!

 

What's the purpose of this step thalanix?

Thanks a whole lot for this. Will test it out as soon as I can.

 

it might/might not be related to the nv4_disp infinite loop error i had the first time around. so just to be on the safe side, i added it.
plus, you wont be needing ntune any more, and drivers newer than 169.04 are pretty much necessary.

 

if 169.04 driver overclocking doesn't work for vista users, try these: http://laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=22317

 

Sorry but could you also explain step 5 to me? When I open the file (nvsutil) in notepad, it doesn't actually say any clock speeds, not in any recognizable form.

Is step 1~6 really necessary or is it possible to jump straight to step 7?

 

did you try saving a profile (step 4)?
it should have something like:
GPUCOREMHZ=625
GPUMEMMHZ=800
GPUSHADERMHZ=1563

the bootup clocks are set to the low3d step, so it shouldnt be a problem to jump to 7. just many flashes to get it close, which some people dont want to do.

edit: i also didn't check to see if the card auto scales, eg. the card BSoD's if the clock is half way between steps.

 

Well, to put it bluntly, I'm quite sure it works. I'm now getting around 6,550 points in 3DMark06 w/ Turbo extreme in Vista 64. (before I got 5,900). Stress testing now. By EZ Flash, do you mean the flash utility built into the bios? That's what I used.

Thank you so much for this.

 

LOL i read the "to put it bluntly" part and thought the bios images were bad. glad to hear it worked, and yes by EZflash i mean the one thats built into the bios.

11 dls... if you dont want to do stress/bench it, at least post your max clocks.

 

Running at 710/1780/940 now. Temperature around 90C after half an hour of stress testing. I probably won't go much higher than that. Darn Singapore climate.

 

Since yesterday's 179.28 driver release, 8800m GTX and 9800M GT owners can apply permanent overclocks with the nTune software, instead of BIOS flashing.

Has any 9700m GT owner tried this out yet?

 

Well, there's no need for that now really. I'd rather be on the 180.74 drivers. I'll give it a shot anyway.

 

I was two of them sorry

Just wanted to peek at your hex edits anyway, strictly for BIOS nerd purposes, haven't tried overclocking.

 

@Groceries: can you check your 2d mem speed in rivatuner (using original bios, not the modified ones)?

 

Stock bios 209:

standard 2d:
169 MHz core/338 MHz shader/100 MHz mem

low power 3d:
275 MHz / 550 MHz / 300 MHz

perf 3d:
400 MHz / 800 MHz / 300 MHz

 

i probably should have rephrased it before going to bed;
without overclocking, in the HW monitoring thing

when the bios was 100, it said 600
when changed to 200, said 200

maybe its just my card...

 

Huh... Mine's running at full speed for some reason... and I'm not playing anything.

How'd you drop your clocks?

 

extra monitor?
powermizer off?

if powermizer is on, try starting up and running on battery power. still full speed?

 

err... double monitor might be the culprit. Does it take that much graphics power to output another 1680*1050 monitor?

 

probably not. but thats how it's set, so that's how itl'll be.

edit: i still need people to check their mem speed on low 2d. idle runs around 8C cooler now (down to 42 from 50ish). looking around some 9600M based laptops, i found this: http://forum.notebookreview.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=24621&d=1222100964. for those who cba to look at, the speeds are 169/338/ 500 (note the gddr2), with a temp of 67 thats most likely related to the mem speed.

 

Hi,
Did you notice Nvidia just started releasing drivers for mobile GPUs ?
I just installed 179.28, and it works fine for the moment (i didnt have the time to test carefully in games, but benchmarks are working fine, and performance is like the other drivers I tested so far.)
There's something new in this driver : there's an overclocking menu in it, which lets me overclock the shaders only (pushed to 1800, I didn't notice any differences in performance).

Maybe it's a new base driver for overclocking the 9700mGT ?
What do you guys think about it ?

And another question : did someone had problems with the modded overclocked bios ? (problem with flashing bios, installing drivers, etc...)

 

by shaders only, do you mean there is an option to overclock core+mem but it doesn't work, or there is no option for core+mem?

i'm keeping the bios mod for the 2d mem fix, lower temp threshold, and the 180.xx series seemed to have better performance in CoD4 (and cs:s, but that runs at 60+ fps maxed anyway).

no problems i'm aware of, just make sure you fully uninstall the drivers before flashing (as i got the nv4_disp infinite loop bsod when i didn't).

 

I mean : the sliders to overclock GPU, mem and shaders are present, but the shaders one is the only one working on the 9700mGT. Trying to apply changes to GPU or mem returns an error (invalid parameter).
There's also possibility for profiles, etc...

Sounds like good news to you ?

 

shader's can be overclocked on any driver, but just shaders doesn't really give much.

are you running vista? iirc, 179.28 allows for overclocking even on "locked" cards (like 169.04), but vista users reported that 169.04 didn't work (page 7/8/9 of this thread). so naturally the same issue would be preventing 179.28 from doing the same.

profiles won't work, it will just say "error loading profile ___".

 

kinda off topic here but im having a bit of issues with rivatuner........i installed it just to try out the the 179.28 drivers the other guy mentioned but for some strange reason my gpu settings are stuck on the standard 2D from rivatuner even though I completely uninstalled the dam program and deleted the registries.......ive installed riva several times before and it is the first time this has happen...as you guys already know riva doesn't read the 9700m correctly.....suggestions?

wow thalanix, you're making some good progress here....i definately will be trying the new method for vista since adying has pretty much confirmed that it works.....keep up the good work guys

 

overclocking with 179.28 works on xp 64. so i guess the only method for vista is a bios mod.

the gpu could be stuck @ lowest if you booted up on battery power...
and riva does read the clocks right. it just doesn't see the extra step.

on the bright side, you dont get a bsod
but a clean install (vista or xp) seems to be coming.

 

you're right, after i plugged the a/c back in it was able to get back to 625 when i load a game, thanks

IF i've never installed riva before, does the gpu normally idles at 169mhz regardless if the a/c is plugged in or not? Is the gpu clock getting stuck at 169mhz when the a/c isn't plugged in because of Riva or is that normal? If it's normal is there anyway around that?

You must be psychic because im freaking tired of vista and reformatting in like 10min to xp 64 lol.......overlocking here i come!!!

 

yes, the steps are from powermizer. and powermizer locks the clocks at 2d when started on battery. toggling might work, but i've never tried it. figured that out when playing cs in class :O (in which case turning pm off would max the clocks even on battery)

if youre doing xp 64, slipstream sata/wifi/lan/sound with nlite makes installing it so much easier and quicker.

 

thanks for the heads up...wished i read this post prior to trying lol......i didn't expect installing xp 64 was going to be such a hassle

i just have a quick question.....did you follow GenTech guide for reinstalling xp and used all the drivers/files he provided? I noticed that he installed 32bit and some of the drivers he mentioned were for 32bit....i know some of the drivers from the OEM Driver CD has options for XP 64 but not all.....and also some of the drivers he mentioned were a bit outdated....do you remember off the top of your head which drivers you used differently from his guide, if any?

thanks alot

 

just me, manufacturer sites, and nlite. realtek has terrible speeds, so i googled those.

Audio: http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/1293/Realtek_HD_Audio_2.11_2K/XP_.html
SATA: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/con...91&DwnldId=17060&strOSs=&OSFullName=&lang=eng
Wireless: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/con...D=&DwnldId=17156&strOSs=&OSFullName=&lang=eng
LAN: http://download2us.softpedia.com/dl..._Install_5686(installshield 12_1.16)_0219.zip
Ricoh SD/xD/MMC: http://www.downloadpipe.com/free-trial/Ricoh-SD-MMC-Host-Controller-download1195851.html

7zip should be able to extract them all.

i don't remember the exact name of the .inf i added in nlite, but there aren't many choices.

audio = hda.inf
sata = NOT iaStor.inf (theres only 2 inf's there, its the other) -> IHCM-9 E/M (or M/E)
wifi = one inf in the x64 folder
lan = probably one in the x64 folder
ricoh = only one inf in the x64 folders

for the other drivers, just point to the driver disc

edit: and make sure that installing the chipset drivers is the first thing you do: http://downloadcenter.intel.com/con...91&DwnldId=16023&strOSs=&OSFullName=&lang=eng

another edit: the nv4_disp infinite loop came back after several reboots. going back to Dox' 180.84.1 seems good.

 

25 downloads and no comments/rep? im interested to see how far everyone is pushing their card.

 

I'm currently using the pre-modded BIOS 725/1800/1000 with the 200mhz fix, and I'm rocking. Didn't want to push too hard. Doesn't get too hot and games have been working great. Noticed an improvement in ET: Quake Wars and World of Warcraft.

Thank you very much.

 

Hi to everyone!!
Does it work also under vista64 ?

 

Yep it works under vista64.

Do come back and let us know what clocks you settled at.

 

6535 3DMark06 - Turbo Extreme + GPU Modded Bios (Check Snapshot)
5777 3DMark06 - Turbo Extreme - GPU Stock Bios

 

Hey guys, i was wondering if someone could do a few game benchmarks and see wats the FPS improvement in games compared to the orginal? Thanks, it would be interesting to see the improvement.

 

more or less the power needed to run cod4 with the attached settings at native res (from 1440x900). broadcast runs at ~75fps inside, ~37 outside, can't see any choppyness.

forgot to add that im using 725/1800/1050.