Help with overclocking

So I have been trying to maximize the performance out of my GTX460M. For some reason I am getting lower framerates. For instance, the notebook -review of the GTX460M shows it getting in the 50fps for crysis on High. When I run crysis I'm only getting 30fps so I have decided to try and overclock the GTX460M. I have been talking with kingpinzero via PM and he has helped alot but it seems that I have run into more problems. Currently I have the 280.36 driver installed but when I installed it I didnt remove any previous drivers. Was I supposed to? Also, kingpinzero said that after installing the new drivers I need to overwrite the existing nv_disp.inf. Kingpinzero said to overwrite it but I'm not sure if I did that right. What I did was just copy the info inside of the current nv_disp.inf and replace it with the modded one. Now I changed the clocks to 800/1600/1600 but I am still only getting 29fps at the highest so I tried to run a 3DMark11 and it keeps giving me an error saying that it has lost full keyboard/display support. It will do this right in the middle of the run. Also, during the first run I did, the screen turned off then back on and it said that the driver had failed but had recovered. If someone could help me out and to help me maximize the performance in my GTX460M it would really be appreciated.

 

I think 30 fps is respectable at high for crysis... I dont think anyone will get 50fps at max settings and max resolution check the settings of the review again. Also I didn't do any of that inf stuff (dont know how).. I just clean installed in the nvidia driver menu and i use afterburner to get 800/1600 clocks( just to be safe i dont go higher).. and i get 5 fps boost on most games and 3dmark06 score of 14330 (didn't oc cpu- dont kno how and dont think its necessary)

 

Here is the review I was talking about: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M - Notebookcheck.net Tech

If you scroll down towards the bottom you can see the framerate they got using the GTX460M. Why wouldnt mine give comparable results?

Also why cant I run 3Dmark11 and what does it mean when it said the driver failed but had been restored?

 

Just got this message along with the driver failed message. What does it mean?


Workload work failed with error message: eva::d3d11::rendering::scene_renderer::render(): draw_unshadowed_illumination_task for thread 0: File: device_context.cpp
Line: 515
Function: struct ID3D11CommandList *__cdecl eva::d3d11::deferred_device_context::do_finish_command_list(bool)

Expression: native()->FinishCommandList( restore_deferred_context_state, &result): DX11 call failed.

Device hung due to badly formed commands.
DXGI_ERROR_DEVICE_HUNG: ID3D11DeviceContext::FinishCommandList:

 

SauceBoss: What model unit do you have? (full model name please)

 

SauceBoss,
I'll reply here since its more useful.

First do you have the bestbuy version? Is your card with 1gb of VRAM?
Is that so, then you're running the Crippled gtx460m with 128bit bus and less rops.
Therefore when looking at benchmarks keep in mind that those are achieved with the full gtx460m which has 192bit bus, more rops and more VRAM.

Anyway, probably your oc is unstable as I said in pm; If you can't do a full 3dmark run you need to step down a bit, but I suspect your driver is messed in someway.

Follow these steps:

- download Driver Sweeper from Phyxion.net (google for it)
- download chastity modded driver package here and keep it handy http://pcaudio.org/stuff/280.26-notebook-win7-winvista-64bit-international-whql-modinf.exe
- download ThrottleStop from TechInferno (google for it) and extract it, keep it handy, well need it later
- remove the drivers by unistalling them thru windows usual method
- reboot. When rebooting, after bios logo, hit F8 and go into Windows safe mode
- when in safe mode, run driver sweeper, check Nvidia Display and Chipset, select Analyze and then Clean. When done it asks for reboot, reboot and start windows normally.
- windows should install now a standard VGA Adapter. If it asks to reboot, do so, if not go to the next step
- install the driver I linked above and reboot
- up this point you should be in windows with drivers installed clean
- launch nvidia inspector and set these clocks for now 800/1600/1500 (memory should be 1500 not 1600 for these tests)
- launch ThrottleStop, turn it on, check Set Multiplier box and be sure is selected Turbo mode
- now launch 3dmark again and see how it does, it should do fine now

About Crysis I guess the benchmark you're taking into account is made using DX9 version, so not dx10 very high. Also if your gtx460m is the crippled one you should experience at least 5-8 fps less than a full gtx460m.

 

Model Name and number: G53SW-XN1
Here is where I bought it from: Newegg.com - ASUS G Series G53SW-XN1 Notebook Intel Core i7 2630QM(2.00GHz) 15.6" 6GB Memory 500GB HDD 7200rpm DVD Super Multi NVIDIA GeForce GTX 460M

@Kingpin- I started this thread because I didn't want you to feel like I was spamming you with messages but I did/do apreciate your help and more is always welcome, especially when I'm stuck like I am now haha

 

Ok so you're on the full gtx 460m.
Please follow the steps I've posted above carefully and report back.

 

Thanks for the help. I will report back in tomorrow afternoon but I appreciate the help and I will let you know what happens.

 

Thats good, ill wait for your input then.
Im pretty sure that your problems if we exclude any hardware related issue can be break down to three points:

- Cpu throttling, hence ThrottleStop is needed running;
- Messed up gpu drivers, hence a clean install is needed;
- Unstable OC, prolly your card isnt happy with 1600mhz on memory

Let me know.

 

So I followed all of these steps and went to run 3dMark11. It got about 5 sec into the video and then it gave me the lost full display error again.

 

Here is the exact screen of the errors I just got. What the hell?

 

Are you running throttlestop?
Are you running the card overclocked?
That's an error that windows gives when it can't allocate enough gpu resources to draw Aero.
Try to run the benchmark with stock gpu clocks while having TS opened and report back: if the same issue happens we need to troubleshot your hardware.

 

Also power4gear is set to high performance mode?
When that error pops in again click the last option.
Have you reinstalled the Os from scratch? If so, is your chipset driver installed?

 

I did 3dMark11 multiple times, twice with throttlestop on and once without it. All three times it gave me the same error. I also tried it once with the card OC'd and once or twice with it at default clocks. As for the chipset, I'm not sure. I un-installed the drivers and installed the new driver from what you posted but I havent done a clean install yet. How would I go about troubleshooting my hardware?

 

Well with the info at hand I suspect your gpu isn't working as it should if you clean installed the drivers.
To see if your card is stable at default clocks (NOT overclocked!) download Furmark 1.9.1.
Then install it, reboot, and don't apply any overclock, be sure you're running default clocks (675mhz, check it with either inspector or gpu-z).
Then launch ThrottleStop and close it.
Now open furmark, click on burn in test. Accept the disclaimer and let it run for at least 10minutes.
If your card is defective it should crash almost instantanely or after 1 min.
At that point I would consider call Asus for an RMA request.
Btw in furmark you will notice an high temp on gpu since it's a stress test, as long as it stays below 92c you'll be fine.

 

You can also switch Aero off first before running 3DMark11. Choose a desktop theme like Windows Basic.

 

try turning off screen saver during test.. and that Live Asus update.

 

Well no I'm confused. I ran furmark for a good 5min and it ran at around 89c at the max and it averaged 20fps. Is that a normal FPS at stock clocks? I didnt even turn of Aero because I forgot haha. Perhaps I'm not installing the drivers correctly. Should I just do a clean install of windows and would that void the warranty at all?

 

SauceBoss, Clean install of win 7 will not void warranty. The only way to void warranty is to break the seal on the CPU if you decide to upgrade it. I too would recommend clean win 7 install in light of the fact that you have had a few issues. If you need a driver link: G73/74/53 Series Driver and Application Reference

this is the best place to get the latest stuff all in one place!
I doubt this is a factor, but if you go here Control Panel\All Control Panel Items\Display are you set to 100% or 125% ?
Everyting looks huge for a computer that is supposed to support 1920 x 1080 resolution

 

Well I guess it was on 125% so now it is set to 100%. could that have been the culprit?

Edit: Nope, still getting the error. I googled the error and it said that a common reason for the error is asus Gamer OSD or ASUS Smart doctor. I cant find these running in the background but I dont remember uninstalling it. I'm about to do a clean install but what I'm wondering is: Do I need to un-install windows in some way and how would I do that. If not do I just choose the boot from disc option in the bios?

 

First Backup any files you have on the hard drive such as photos, music, documents, etc. Do you have a driver disk, (some models come with one)? Also do you have a second computer that you can use to download the drivers, and a copy of windows 7 (if you do not already have one). I would download everthing I need first to an external HDD or other computer. Once you have everyting boot from the win 7 DVD and it will allow you to format the hard drive (no need to remove windows, everyting will be overwritten. There are much more detailed guides around if you need a link let us know.

 

So I'm done with my clean install of windows 7 and now I need to update the Nvidia drivers to 280.26. How do I do this properly. Do I need to uninstall the previous drivers before installing the new ones. If so what do I uninstall. When I go to control panel-uninstall programs, I see 4 Nvidia Items. One of them is Nvidia 3d vision driver 266.86. The next one is Nvidia Graphics driver 266.86. The next is Nvidia HD audio driver 1.1.13.1 and the last is Nvidia Physx. Which ones do I uninstall before installing the new drivers? Are there any other drivers I should look into updating?

 

You dont have to uninstall anything, just run the setup file and it will do the rest. In case it said no compatible card found look for a modified inf to put in display.driver folder.

 

So I downloaded the driver and the modified .inf file. When I put it in the display.driver folder, do I need to delete the other nv_disp file that is in there. It says it is a security catalog. Am I supposed to be putting the modified inf file in with the new driver or the old?

 

yeah overwrite it

 

hahaha Yeah but which one. and by overwrite you mean just copying whats in the modified file and putting it in the old file? And just for clarification, the file I'm overwriting is the nv_disp file that is a security log? Correct?

 

yes for the 280.36 driver, for older one it is nvwi.inf. When you put the file in it will prompt there is already one with the same name so overwrite, dont or copy with different name

 

Alright so I put the moddified .inf file that I got from here Drivers | laptopvideo2go.com
When I put it in the display.driver file it didnt prompt me with a message. Instead, it just showed that the .inf file that I put in is right underneath where the nv_disp security log is at. Heres a pic so you can get an idea. Even with the modified .inf I'm still getting the error when running the driver setup.

 

you're in the right place but downloaded the wrong file, nv_disp is for 280.36. Below that you use nvwi.inf, right in the 280.26 topic in laptopvideo2go

 

hello there,,,
long time I couldnt write such thing for GTX460m but I think I can share my experiences, so first of all I have already tried 275.33 and 280.26 and 280.36 and now I m on 280.26 because of 3d improvements.

Actually in order to get clean result I think it can be better to compare some score what we can receive so far. I m using my GTX 460m with 825/1650/1625 right now, whatever you think as game like crysis 2 metro 2033 dirt3 can be playable at ultra , criysis2 as3D in full ultra DX11 is working fine but especially in 3D mode if you push more than 825 clock then it is crush.

1280*720 3DMark06 score max I received 17182
1280*720 3DMArk11 score preset as Performance 2400-2430 between
dirt 3 benchmark 1366*768 whatever you think in Ultra AA full av fps 34-35
metro 2033 benchmark with DX11 1366*768 preset av fps around 29

as a matter of fact for the driver my choise was 275.33 but it s so clear that 280.26 is working in the games better only performance drops around 1000point in MSI Kombustor I have still no answer for it.

Which Driver you request I dont know but I can upload 3 of them some place like filesonic so you can just install it " it has been already replaced with mod inf file "

 

So you recommend 280.26 over 280.36? Currently I have 280.26 installed as I was able to figure it out. I have yet to try and overclock again but will soon after I get 3dmark11 installed.

 

No, i advice 280.36 because it contains all the 3d and driver optimizations of 280.26, its an higher dev branch, and 3d works perfectly fine (if youre interested grab the 3d folders from 280.28 and paste them in the extracted root of 280.36).

It has a partial fix for p-states switching, runs a bit more cooler, it fixed alot of driver crash related problems plus it implements OGL4.2.

@luckysword: why you're benching at 720p with 3dmark06? Are you on 900p screen with a crippled gtx460m?

Also dirt 3 benchmark here at 1080p with very high/ultra settings AND 8xCsaa:


!-- Benchmark Mode Results --
<benchmark directx_version="11" author="Zero" date="16:01:47 on 26/08/2011" machine="Zero-PC">
<average min_fps="48.242722" av_fps="59.114731" min_fps_ms="20.728516" av_fps_ms="16.916258"

Pretty good isnt it
The difference in the overclock ends with a difference in 3dmark06 score, which probably is 0-1 fps in real games.
Just benched at 720p with clocks 814/1628/1625 and got 17,000pts.

 

Edit: Nvm just saw you posted the link for me in a different thread.
Edit#2: It turns out I accidentally downloaded and installed 280.36 thinking I was installing 280.26 haha.
@ Kingpin: Are you getting those framerates with your 460M?

 

Yep, that's a copy and paste from my benchmark folder.
You can have higher fps simply dropping AA to 2x which makes things less jagged anyway with minor resources.
Also as I said I have some options in ultra and some others to very high.

 

I think we have different display, I mean I have 1366*768 3D " 120 Hz " actually I tried 3DMark06 with 1280*768 preset and score was 17070 and with 1280*720 17182 actually in this point best 3DMark2011 with 1280*720 performance preset and result is 2400 average.

In present condition with 825/1650/1625 all game woking more than 30 fps in ultra 1366*768, this cnfigiration also can handle perfectly Crysis 2 " all settigs in ultra with DX11 " as 3D which is extremly need GPU.

As you know 3D 1366*768 means more than 1920*1080, because in 3D there are two picture at the same time which have to be drawn and rendered. Core clock can be pushed up to 850 which I hit max but during game play more than 825 almost impossible some time in some different game map absolutely will crush.

So, what we need, we just need to find some way to overclock voltage up to 0.95 which I observed in some forum but we have only 0.912 V and if someone managed to get 0.95 V it will be really great info.

Additionally is there anyone gaming in 1920*1080 as 3D ??? if yes how about the screen hz ? it cant be 120 as normal, this is important case because even in PS3 quality games have been coded as 720P because of the action/movements etc. therefore most of the games designed for 720P only so for the computer side GTX460M can handle 1920*1080 as normal but as 3D I really dont know what is the result ???

 

Gtx460m handles both 720p 120hz (60:2) and 1080p 24hz (59:2).
Desktop cards such gtx580/570 can also do 1080p 120hz but that's only with nvidia surround (Sli) or with nvidia 3d kit and a certified display.
Still in these days 720p 120hz is the most used for practical and performance reasons.

 

24 hz , so that s the case actually but as 3D 1920*1080 it will be really very difficult and actually just new G74 series coming with 560M for this reason.

it seems practically same but I think raster unit is different.

So, how about the main case I mean for the voltage issue do you have any idea for 0.95 V ?

 

the g74 has a gtx560, either full or crippled. The full one could help at 1080p 3d because it has 3gb of vram, beside that the newer core has just cut the power consumption and nothing more. ROPs and such are equal to gtx460m because they are the same card.

To render something at 1080p in 3d/120hz it needs a huge amount of vram and power, hence the reason to use sli for Nvidia Surround.

Still gtx560m with 3gb cannot handle 1080p 120hz in 3d, that vram still a gimmick and with 192bit bus you cant go far. It needs at least 256bit or more to play fluently at that res, much like 720p/120hz.

About the voltage, no there arent news yet. Nibitor creator hasnt added support for our gtx460m/560m. I tried to hex edit the voltage tables but its a no go, the fermi tables are totally different from normal/precedent cores, and the added "compatibility" for fermi is limited to some desktop gpus from 5xx series only.