G50VT-Undervolting 9800M GS

Sup, everyone! First time to post, although i have been using the forum for a long time. Anyway, i have a G50vt-x, which i bought a few months ago. Now the summer is getting sizzzling hot here and the GPU temperature is becoming a serious problem, it heats up to 86 C in many games whereas it used to be 80 C max in winter.

Now my question is that any G50VT owner tried to undervolt his/her 9800M GS? I checked the voltages in the GPU bios with Nbitor, the default voltage for Extra is at 1.05V. There are only 2 options with lower voltages, which are 1.00V and 0.90 V, i flashed voltage for extra to 1.00V and tested the temperature again. I was dissapointed to see the result isnt impressive at all, it makes only 1-2 C difference. I dont know if i can lower the voltages to 0.90V, most likely no. Anyone else tried to undervolt your 9800M GS? and if u did, did you see much of a difference? Feel free to contribute your knowledge even if u dont have a G50VT, thx!!

 

I join the thread question

btw, its very hot here around 30c and it reaches 96c

 

96 C? Jesus, u will be able to cook on that 9800M GS. arent u worried? i am starting to get really nervous if mine goes over 85 C. You havent tried UVing your gpu?

come on, guys, no G50vt owners ever undervolt their GPUS? share with us your experience please!!

 

I think most people haven't undervolted the G50 because the GPU temps in it aren't that bad at all.

You could try out 0.90v and see if you can run stock clocks with stability but I think that may be too low.

 

I am kinda reluctant to test the card at 0.90v as all the default voltages for 2D/light 3D are set at 0.9V, i think 0.9V is most definitely too low for 3D gaming, how will happen if the voltage is too low while stressing the card? Will it damage the GPU somehow? or it's just a BSOD at worst? I can always flash back to the old voltages, right?

 

I've done some undervolting and and done some underclocking...

Currently, I am running my 9800m GS at stock clocks on 1v and it seems to run very stable and cool! It never went beyond 86c in Furmark for 15 mins

In games such as Burnout Paradise, Wanted, it stays within high 70s and low 80s. Crysis pushes it to 86c max

I've tried to run it at 500|1250|800 1v and it runs even cooler!

 

Have u ever tried to lower the voltage to 0.90v at stock speed? I am kinda tempted to do so, but i dont know if that's possible, sounds a bit too low. I really wanna keep it running under 80 C in most cases. thx for your feedback by the way!

 

Infact, I just flashed it to 0.90v and ran Furmark and ATITool simultaneously for 12 mins no errors, max temp 85c (Room Temp 78F) Don't forget Furmark pushes your GPU beyond what games can do.

Overclocked it to 550|1375|800 got an error, but at 530|1325|800 no errors.

EDIT: Just to be sure, I'll leave at 520|1300|800
EDIT2: ATITool has stressed the GPU for 19mins and no errors at 530|1500|800. (Max temp 85c hovers around 84. Room temp 78F) But this is software level overclocking, that's why I might keep it at 520|1300|800.

This what I have...
2D: 0.8v
thrtl: 0.8v
3D: 0.85v
Extra: 0.9v


EDIT3 Playing Burnout Paradise for 5mins max temp 75C I'll update it more...
EDIT4 Played Burnout Paradise(about 15-20mins) and temps haven't gone up higher then 75C. I am very pleased with the temps. My room temperature is 80F already. <_<. Ohh California...


-Leonid

 

Thats some nice UV!! Congrats!! You must have a good quality 9800M GS, glad to hear it helps your gpu running so much cooler!!

Are you able to reduce voltages for 2D/Throttle/3D? Nibitor shows me that they are all at 0.90v and can't be lowered as there are no other options with lower voltages

Well, i think i am gonna try to run extra at 0.90v and see how it goes. Hope it runs as smooth as yours!!

 

You can make the voltages lower, but that involves editing in hex and stuff.

 

Editing in hex? how? Enlighten me plz!

 

I have no clue how to edit in hex. I'd suggest Soviet, but he's been pestered enough by us Asus owners.

 

oh, well, thanks anyway! think i am gonna have to wait? do you think forcing the card to run at 0.90v for all 2D/3D/Throttle/Extra is possible? or will it be bad for long-term use?

 

Undervolting will not damage your GPU, no. It might make it unstable in certain tasks, like most 3D games, but then if there's instability you'll get the classic BSOD or nvk-something-something has stopped functioning error. If that's the case, raise the voltage or lower your clocks, your call.

 

I dont think i will ever want to underclock to achieve lower voltages, dont wanna sacrifice performance for a slightly cooler running GPU.

I get what you are saying, but running the card at the same voltage for different useage(2D/Throttle..etc) sounds a bit peculiar to me. Thanks for your quick replies,forge!!

 

You'll never know until you try. And, remember, components are never created equal. You might have The One card that can run at good undervolts with decent overclocks.

What I suggest, though, is undervolting and then using something like RivaTuner or nTools to overclock. That way you can figure out your best clocks.

 

I see, i think i am going to try it. But i dont think i will be able to OC much if i get it working at 0.90v cuz it's such a massive UV (from 1.05v to 0.90v).

 

Ah, live a little.

Get back here once you've tested, though. It is relevant to my interests. Kind of.

 

Sure, i will be doing the test soon, will report back once its done. Thanks for your suggestions.

 

I hope he doesn't screw up.

 

Because you'll laugh at him until the end of his existence etc etc.

 

What? No, that's horrible. Why would I do such a thing? I was going to say that if he messes up the flash, he would have to experience a force flash right after his first flash.

 

I've compiled serious of screenshots which demonstrate the ability to change your VBIOS voltage otherwise known as "undervolting" on 9800m GS.



That's my success. Happy camper!

Just before my class, I've played crysis for about 30mins with no problems whatsoever using 185.85 DOX drivers.


-Leonid

 

Thanks everybody posted here, and xleonid. thanks to your screenshots, i was able to UV the voltage to 0.90v/0.85v/0.80v/0.80v, i consider its a fair amount of UV, the flash was successful. And i experienced no problems in the following futuremark test, no BSOD/screen flickering.etc, everything went smoothly.

However, i only find the max load temperature lowered like 3-4 C, and that only happens in games, in the futuremark stressing test, the max temperature remains the same of 86 C. It's a dissapointing result for me, maybe i am expecting too much here?lol. now I am thinking about reverting back to the old bios.

 

I'm going to try this on mine now.

Stock clocks @ 1v from 1.05v atm, 10min stable so far.

 

1V should be stable for most of us here as its just a minor 0.05v drop from the default voltage. U should try to lower the voltage a little bit further. Can you report how the UV affect your temp?

 

I am glad it went okay. Of course, voltage alone doesn't lower it by a lot, but it certainly helps. The reason why I flashed it to 0.9v because it's pretty darn hot in California and I don't feel the need of burning my chip.

Now, as for the temps, I think few degrees makes a big difference. I mean if your chip runs stable at those voltages then why not keep it there? Perhaps you could flash the extra to 0.95 so that you can overclock a bit.

Personally, I don't need more performance as of right now. Yesterday I played crysis for about 1h with all the settings to [Enthusiast] DX9 except shadows, objects and particles to [Mainstream]. It ran very stable and cool.


-Leonid

 

Well yes, but my current temps are okay, I don't want lower temps if it's going to cost me lots of speed.

Can't tell how much it's being affected as today is one of those cooler days. (Was 30c all week, 18c today)

 

Try overclocking with your undervolt. If you can get a beefy overclock, I say stick with your undervolt. Keeping your computer as cool as possible never hurts.

 

Anyone undervolt their card at GTS clocks? I have mine at 1.07v at 600/1500/810 right now. It's not the lowest stable voltage, but it runs 2-4C cooler.

 

That is in fact very nice result, dtdood! At default voltage 1.05v, i can only go as far as 570/1425/800 before i get a driver stopped responding error in 3dmark06 test.

With the voltage reduced to 0.9v, i can barely get the card to run at 540/1350/800 before BSOD appears. The lowest voltage that could let me run the card at GTS speed seems to be 1.11v, athough i am not sure if i can lower the value a bit, haven't tried.

Now i am running the card at default voltage with clock speed of 570/1425/800 because i am kinda reluctant to raise the voltage of the card to get another minimal increase in performance. At 570/1425/800 the card runs almost as cool as it at stock clocks, well probably 1C hotter, but still usually peaked at 79-80c in games.

 

I've posted this numerous times, but I'll post it again...

Success #1: Clocks: 650/1625/800 @ 1.11v BIOS Flash
Success #2: Clocks: 640/1600/800 @ 1.05v Software level overclocking
Success #3: Clocks: 600/1500/800 @ 0.95v BIOS Flash.

VGA memory can be pushed as far as 950mhz. I just don't feel the need for it.


Best Regards, Leonid

 

Why thank you, lidowxx. Thanks for the numbers, they really help give an idea of what's expected of a 9800m!

Thanks, Leonid. I did see some of your results floating around somewhere but it's nice to have them compiled. Those are some beefy clocks on meager voltages. My card crashed at the #1 clocks (I think it overheated too fast) and quit 3dMark06.

Out of curiosity, what's the lowest idle voltage I can drop to on this card? I'm already at 0.8v (courtesy Leonid's results). My idle temps dropped from 50-56C to 46-50C already and I think 5+ minutes of battery life.

--Duct Tape Dude

 

Well, I really can't explain the great overclocking possibilities of my GPU, but I can say that I've got a great silicon on my hands. My older brother is an Electrical Engineer major, so he has confirmed the astonishing capabilities of my GPU.

As for the idle voltage, I haven't tried hex editing the voltages as I am not too familiar with it.


Regards, Leonid

 

I've decided to go in and edit the voltages using HexView in NiBiTor.v5.0

Follow the steps under your own risk.

So, here we go...
STEP 1
Search those values in the HexView by right clicking and choosing "search"


STEP 2
Change the value to which ever you desire to, but stay within the limits. e.g. don't go below per say 0.70v, though I am sure it can be lowered further.



STEP 3
Choose the desired voltage option under "Exact Mode"



Happy Undervolting!
Best Regards, Leonid

 

Haha I agree. I'm a junior in EE

Hex editing the voltages seems pretty crazy but straightforward. It's like a non user-friendly way of editing the voltage tables. Have you tried the 0.71v yourself?

 

Yes, I've flashed to these clocks and it idles much cooler. I am thinking of going maybe lower than 0.70v.

Temps while I was typing the reply.



EDIT: Flashed it to 0.65v (41 HEX) and seems to be running smooth. No problems

EDIT2: I've decided to stay on 0.70v. It's already 0.20v undervolt from the default settings.

Best Regards, Leonid

 

I'm on an undervolt of 0.68v right now, at first I didn't see any temperature difference, but when I'm on battery it does dip down to 46C idle, usually 48C. I also downclocked the idle clocks to 150/300/100 because they're nicer numbers . So all together my voltages are 0.68/0.8/0.9/1.07. Not too bad I think.

Thanks so much, Leonid!

 

are these voltages safe? I am thinking of doing the same thing with 150/300/100 for the idle clocks

 

btw how is your cpu so cool? mine idles at 4X degrees or so

 

I've been running them for over a week now with no problems. I think lowering the idle clocks helps a bit, too. I'm confident I could sustain a 0.65v, I've just never tried it before-- 0.68 is low enough for me. If you want me to upload my rom file for you just tell me

If anything my next step is to lower my throttle and 3D voltages-- they're still a bit toasty.

 

ya sure that would be great. Rom file please XD

 

Here it is attached along with almost everything else you'll need to flash minus the bootable flash drive itself. Enjoy

 

wow kewl thanks. Ya ive flashed ma GPU to 0.9v alread but I just wanted to drop it a little bit more. =]

+rep for u XD

 

can you tell me how to undervolt gpu and what program i need to use. I seriously need it because i want to use this laptop for a long time like 2 or 3 years.

 

Greetings!!!

WOW!!! Have I been away for a long time or what?

Back to topic!
You can overclock using NTunes which is software level overclocking. Now, if you have desire to overclock it using the methods of VGA flashing, you're more then welcome. Of course, it involves many risks which you should be aware of.

Sorry If I've brought the dead thread back to its life.


Best Regards, Leonid

 

Hi all!

I wanted to thank all of you, 'cause i succeeded in overclocking my 9800M GS (on an Asus G50) originally @ 530/1325/800
to more than a 9800M GTS @ 650/1700/800!

And the most surprising is it's @ 0.95v for "Extra"!


So i've no problems of heating... (78°c under Furmark "Hot Like Hell" Edition)

 

I dont know why my geforce 9500M gs doesnt support voltage table editing. It looks like that it works great (I edit voltages in voltage table editor, then change voltage for 3d, thrtl and 2d mode, flash ...), but it doesnt affect burn or idle temperature. They are exactly the same.
Default voltage: 1,2V for 3D, 1,15V for thrtl and 2D.
I flashed: 1,05V for 3D, 1,0V for thrtl and 2D.
I attached my orgiginal vbios.
Can someone tell my, why 9800M gs supports voltage table editing and my 9500M Gs doenst?