Overclocking the NVIDIA 310M under Optimus

Anyone try successfully to overclock their NVIDIA GF 310M under Optimus?

I have an ASUS U30Jc with the i3-350M (2.26GHz) processor and the NVIDIA GeForce 310M GPU w/ 512MB GDDR3 under Win 7 Pro x64. The standard 3DMark06 score on this stock unit at factory settings is a little over 3700.

With the new Optimus NVIDIA beta drivers 258.69 for the 310M and using NVIDIA's System Tools that allows overclocking in the NV Control Panel, I was able to stably push my 3dMark06 score from 3730 to 4330!

The cooling on the U30JC is amazing. I must have run 3DMk06 over 20 times back-to-back. The bottom of the notebook never got over barely warm, and that was in two areas only (where the product key & serial # label is located (CPU or GPU?) and the one side of the HDD (near the same area of warmth.) The rest of the bottom stayed cool to the touch. I've no idea how ASUS manages this level of cooling on this notebook.

Here's how I did it. I used this simple guide:
Asus UL 80VT/UL 30VT Overclocking Guide Expert Laptop Review

I downloaded & installed NVIDIA System Tools.

At first, I only had access to the shaders speed. (If you look at GPU-Z on the NVIDIA 310M page, you can see the 3 categories of default clock (GPU core), the memory clock (the VRAM speed), and the shaders speed (no idea what that is. Must control dynamic lighting?).

When I installed the latest NVIDIA Optimus beta drivers 258.69, suddenly I could increase ALL of the speeds.

The 310M stock speeds were:
Core: 625
Memory: 790
Shaders: 1530

Increasing them little by little, I arrived stably at:
Core:764
Memory: 921
Shaders: 1721

That resulted in my 3DMark06 scores jumping from 3730 to 4330. I was impressed.

I saved that speed setting as a profile under NVIDIA Control Panel & then put the speeds back to default (better battery, of course). When I want to play a game, I can reactivate those o'c speeds for better game play!

How about any of you? What's your story? Done any GPU overclocking under Optimus drivers?

 

what are your gpu temps before over clocking and after while under load?
my g210m hits 90+c before it crashes (which it likes to do often, i live in the tropics)

also any good temp monitors that will create a log, so if it crashes i can see max temp?

good to see someone else wants to oc theyr gpu my g210 max settings are before it starts to get unstable
CORE CLOCK – 700
SHADER CLOCK – 1700
MEMORY CLOCK – 850

 

GPU-Z shows that my base GPU temp is 46C while I'm online for the last hour but not watching videos. CPU dual-core temps are 36C+40C right now.

After running 3DMark06, when I come back to the desktop, GPU-z shows my NV 310M running at 65C. HWMonitor shows that my CPU reached a high of 69C+73C. My score was 4330.

Now what should I push further? My temps are still not that hot. And they cool quickly after the benchmarks.

 

I've considered OC'ing the gpu, but using those drivers caused mine to crash, so I think I'll just play safe and keep them at their defaults. (I have a desktop PC that I use for graphic intensive applications anyways)

 

What laptop & processor are you using?

There is the 267.21 that is WHQL certified instead of the Beta.

 

Quatro were you able to play games for long sessions on your overclocked settings without any crashing or overheating? (Basically i'm just asking if its truly stable)

I am thinking about purchasing the U35JC or U33JC but the only thing leaving doubt in my mind is the performance of the 310M, but if it can be stably overclocked to squeeze out some more frame rates, id be pretty content. The most graphic intense game ill be playing is probably Left4Dead2 and TFT2 which aren't too demanding but I do like playing on high detail without lag or frames dropping too low in the 20s when there is a big zombie horde on my screen.

I wanted the 3820tg /w the HD5650 but it doesn't seem like its going to be coming to the US anytime soon.

 

Yes, two hours playing ... BUT that's on mu U30JC which has exceptional cooling (and no cooling grill holes on the bottom of the U30Jc). The chassis of the U33 & U35 are built differently so I've no idea what overclocks you'll get. A different design & thickness may result in different heat issues when pushed. I can't say with any experience on the other models.

I think I read somewhere that some were having problems running TF2 under the NV 310M with graphics very high. I don't know. You may need to research it.

The Acer 3820TG never made it to the US? I didn't realize that (I've several on this forum that I've "talked to" who were waiting for its release and I thought it had come out!) What about the HP Envy 14"? Also can be bought w/ the HD5650 which is TWICE the power of the 310M. But it's more pricey than the U35Jc (but not the U33Jc).

If gaming on your laptop is important to you, I'd get something better than the 310M. I play HL2:E2, for example and Halo2, but neither are extreme for the 310M. I can max out the settings. But some games have to be kept in low detail. Look here to see how AnandTech rated the U30Jc's FPS in several newer games.

 

This is the first thing I read when I started to school myself about oc'ing and I just wanted to say thanks. With the newest nVidia driver(s) and GPU tool (NVIDIA System Tools Crashed my PC) I have achieved Incredible speeds
gpu:760
Shader: 2300
memory:1125
From what other people have posted this is really fast. Also extremely stable and cool. Just got done playing Arkam Asylum for 3 hours and the gpu stayed at 57C and max it was 60C. I tried every gpu overclocker and every single one limited my memory clock to 1030 which I thought was weird. That is except GPU tool which is really cool but in beta at the moment. And yes I do use GPU-Z to confirm my clock speeds. I would love to get you guys thoughts and comments!!!!!

 

try evga precision.

i got 735
1780
880

out of my 210 m

i think i can go higher when i sort out hte drivers. It seems to downclock for no reason. I think it does this when it goes over 70c

 

Quatro thought you might be interested in my post and have some thoughts on the matter?

http://forum.notebookreview.com/asus/490903-asus-u35jc-u45jc-95.html#post6604736

 

Also.. have tried updating to the latest 258.96 driver, however after a reboot I get to the login screen, attempt to login and then it just hangs on that screen. I've read a few other people have had this issue?

 

Hey Boriskov, what is the max overclock you've been able to get on your U35JC?

 

Sorry for posting this so late I haven't been on notebookreview.com in quite some time. I have the same lappy as yours, the U30JC-A1 with the m350 processor

I've tried the 267.21 and the drivers themselves worked fine, but whenever I plugged into an HDTV via HDMI, my computer would constantly reboot, start windows, load nvidias drivers and by the welcome screen it'd reboot again in an endless loop. What I ended up doing was removing everything nvidia based from Windows, going here Optimus Technology and selecting the drivers section on the left hand side of the page. Installing these both updated my drivers from the Asus default drivers as well as configured the card to work with the HDMI.

 

Wow! What notebook do you have and what is the discrete graphics? 310M?

If you started, like me with 625 / 790 / 1530, then that is a scary, incredible, very impressive o'c!! If you started like many with the newer ASUS like on the U35 with even lower stock speeds, I'm trying to figure out how your notebook did it?? Again, wow!

 

Like I said, the newer U33/43/35/45Jc models appear to have their 310M clocks similar to the UL30Vt's. The U30Jc appears to be an exception.

So you CAN o'c, but not to the levels of the U30Jc since you are starting lower. You can at least "overclock" it to the stock speed of the U30Jc, which will pull your score up to a respectable 3700 or so (and higher). I'm guessing you'll be able to o'c to the levels of the UL30Vt in the Expert Laptop article I referenced.

 

Yes, numbers of people with the newer ASUS' like the U35Jc are having this very problem. It seems the 258.xx are causing Windows to freeze of crash.

The only difference I can think of compared to the U30Jc is the cheaper, slower VRAM used by the GPU and the amount of VRAM (1GB vs 512MB). Is this what the problem is? I've no idea. But several have had to back down on the driver version; some to 257.xx but most to the 197.16 or the 189.79 drivers. Sorry for the odd incompatibility.

Some, to remove the offending 258.69 have had to boot into safe mode and remove the driver and the reboot and install a pre-257.xx one.

I hope nVidia comes out with a 259.xx fix for this problem!

Boriskov, what nVidia driver did your U35 come with? The ASUS driver page for the U35Jc lists the 189.64 driver.

 

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My note book is the Samsung R580. With an i5 M430@ 2.27GHz, 4 gigs of RAM DDR3, 512 MB gDDR3 NVIDIA® GeForce® 310M, BluRay x8, 500 GB 5,400 RPM. Thanks for the complement, I bought it at Best Buy for only $830 and Ive never been so impressed with a machine. I paid $1600 for a hp notebook 3 years ago and this thing is exponentially faster. Some times I will even burn and encode DVDs(low priority) while I play games(high priority) and the thing never shutters....................
Original: Gpu 625/mem 790/shader1530
Beta Driver OC'ed: 750/1050/1800
Newest Driver: 760-780/1125/2365

And I could probably tweak some of the speeds a little more but I havent had time lately. OCing is really simple you just need to understand what your doing first..........try GPU tool its amazing and its a beta, I cant wait till 1.0 comes out.

 

On your extreme o'c, Big Sexy, what's your score on 3DMark06?

 

I dont know, ive had some problems getting it to run. But I havnt messed with it that much. Im off tommorow I'll have to fix the install and get it running and do a before and after test.

 

I've never heard of Optimus. Is it just a 3rd party driver for GPU's and if so-are they better than nVidia's?

 

Optimus is the nVidia graphics-switching hardware system on notebooks w/ a nVidia GPU & Intel IGP.

Optimus makes the switch between the two graphics chips instantaneous and automatic. No switch involved, unlike the manual dual-graphics system like the UL30Vt where the user needed to move a switch manually to change between the graphics cards.

 

So I'm guessing I would know if I have this on my pc. I'm still kinda of confused though. So it is hardware that allows you to switch between integrated graphics and the Gpu card in order to save battery. Forgive my ignorance if not what is the point of this I guess

 

Yes. If your notebook had it, it would have been listed. Before April 2010 (when the U30Jc came out) all dual-graphic systems had to be manually changed from one GPU to the other by the user.

Optimus assumes which app uses which card (and it learns via software updates with the drivers). Users can override choices and tell Optimus which GPU to use.

For example, on my PC, if Optimus is on "auto" for Firefox, when it launches, it uses the Intel IGP. Then when I launch HULU, it senses the use of streaming flash video and seamlessly switches over to the nVidia GPU. If I am on battery, I can set up Firefox under the nVidia Control Panel to only run using the Intel IGP. Then when I watch HULU, Optimus only uses the Intel IGP and saves my battery.

 

Quatro, how do I know if the Nvidia discrete card is being activated? I have the U45JC and when I want to run a game, how do I know that my comp is indeed switching over to discrete graphics?

 

Until the fancy new beta drivers become official, use this nifty tool. It's the same tool that was used in all those preview/review videos of Optimus in action.

 

Thanks Chanda Bear. According to the gpu viewer though, when Is tart up Starcraft 2, the nvidia gpu still is turned off. And I tried to make it start with SC2 ont he Nvidia Control Panel, but still nothing happens. Any idea how I can fix this?

 

I'm thinking of overclocking, I've never done it before though.

Does overclocking void my ASUS warantee?

What kind of performance increase can you get by overclocking?

Does it shorten the lifespan of my computer?

 

Which nVidia driver are you using?

 

Most of you know this. Several using the U33/43/35/45Jc models have had crashing on the latest nVidia 258.96 drivers.

An update to the latest BIOS has fixed this and allowed them to install the 258.96 drivers which also has improved Optimus' handling of games and the user's ability to tell Optimus to use a certain graphic chip and it actually do it.

 

hi Quatro,
i recently just got a Asus U45jc and was wondering how to override the auto and set the Optimus to turn on with programs. Like for example if im playing a video that doesn;t turn on optimus but i gotta put the power setting to balanced or High, is it better to use the Nvidia or change the power setting? in battery wise and overall CPU usage (like does it strain the other video card?) thanks.

 

No it doesn't void your warranty.

Doubtful it will shorten your notebook's life span unless you kept it at high temps for a long time.

 

If you right-click on your wallpaper, and select NVIDIA Control Panel, you can select programs under "Manage 3D settings" and tell NV CP which graphics chip to use with that program.

Under battery power, you should try to use the NVIDIA graphic chip as little as possible as it uses more power than the Intel HD graphics chip.

 

Quatro,

I just bought the Asus U30JC-B1 that carries the NVIDIA GeForce 310M. I just use it to play Mount & Blade: Warband, but when I turned the game on it was choppy as hell and I almost returned it. Then I remembered drivers! I read through this thread, and found some useful tips (mainly from you) but also from others.

I'm currently downloading the NVidia Optimus test tools and the technology update from Optimus Technology which you posted before.

I'm also downloading the the Driver update 258.96 from the NVidia website for my specific videocard: NVIDIA DRIVERS 258.96 WHQL

I just wanted to know if you thought that installing both was a good idea or necessary?

Again, I used to play M&B regular (2008), which is a less demanding game than Warband (2010) on an old, 128 MB GPU. Of course, that was an old computer (Dell) and I burned off the GPU playing WoW in 10 hour binges without knowing about over-heating.. I was surprised that I can only play Warband on Direct x7 and not on Direct x9.

So I was also wondering what your thoughts were on my situation, I don't know the repercussions of overclocking my system, how to do it, or trust anyone to do it really. All this talk about overclocking being stable, or not, doens't make me feel comfy with playing around with my hardware.

 

Also, this is what I used to play: Mount&Blade - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is the game I actually want to play: Mount&Blade: Warband - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

So, thoughts? Help?

 

The page you link to that shows "Optimus Driver Update" appears to just be the nVidia driver ver. 189.79. If so, then you don't want to install that AND 258.96. Installing the 258.96 is enough.

Unusual that you could fry your GPU by overclocking. I'd have thought that if the GPU was getting to hot, it would begin to give errors and artifacts or just crash the PC (as it did on mine.)

But it doesn't seem you're pushing your nVidia GPU by those games, so why o'c? Granted, it's fun to see what is possible (my case) but not always necessary. Hence why I only put mine in o'c on a game & not in normal use. And I never game over 3 hrs.

You could try some overclocking and then monitor your temps. I use Hardware Monitor (HWMonitor x64 1.16) to do that. It gives me the GPU temps as well. GPU-Z also shows the GPU's temps and can log it to a file for you to see while you play.

 

Your listed specs for Warband should be fine on your U30Jc. You're easily within specs.

Be sure that Warband's running under the nVidia GPU and NOT the Intel IGP. You can look at the lastest entries in the U35Jc thread to see how to download the nVidia Test Tool or use the nvidia graphic icon in the task bar in the lower right to see when the nvidia chip is ON.

Once you installed 258.96, nvidia control panel will let you force Optimus to run the Warband game under the nvidia chip, ... or at least it should!

 

well the optimus technology wasn't working, i was actually running M&B on the intel graphics card and the nvidia card was sitting there looking ugly.

but the tool changed that, now i can force the nvidia card to work, however, the temperatures are kind of freaking me out a bit.

when i was using the intel graphics card, the temp was idling at 61'C and core temps at 45'C or so. now, the temperature of the NVidia GPU is idling at 68-69'C while the Cores (4 of them) are hitting 55-58'C. Is this too hot? I haven't been able to find any literature on this stuff to be able to know.

Basically and on a worse case scenario, CPU is heating up to 60'C and GPU is heating up to 70'C. Mind you, it idles there wether I use it 30 minutes of 4 hours. It doesn't get any warmer, I have it on an aluminum pad with fans to help with the heat. Just wanted to know if that's too hot or not.

Also, I tried updating my Direct x9 drivers, but the damn "driver detective" that's supposed to 'identify' which Asus I have doesn't have my specific Asus model on it's list and I don't want to update drivers to something that shouldn't be right and screw me up.

 

60 C is no big deal on your CPU. 55C is pretty normal idle temp on many user's laptops.

The GPU at 70-80C is also not a problem.

Most of the CPU's (& GPU's) have a built-in auto shutoff if the temps go beyond spec.

 

But if I overclock the CPU and the GPU, does that override the preventive shutoff? And at what temp should I worry about my GPU? 80'C+?

 

I don't think so, at least on the CPU. I've no idea about the GPU. But getting 70C-80C while gaming is fairly normal, even without overclocking.

 

i'm still tyring to make sure that my drivers are updated, for directx7 and directx9. where can i find the appropiate drivers for my computer, if the dirextx9 website doesn't list my laptop model?

 

I have the U30Jc with the GeForce 310M and it's DX 9 compatible.

What laptop do you have? What GPU? If the 310M, go HERE and select 300M series > 310M > Windows 7 64-bit. Your driver choices will be there. The listed drivers will all be Optimus compatible.

You can get the other drivers at the ASUS driver page. U35Jc owners have had to update their BIOS before the newer nVidia drivers worked w/o freezing the system.

Doesn't Win 7 64-bit already come with DX9 installed? If not, you can download it from Microsoft & install.

To find out, go to your search box in your Start Menu and type in dxdiag. It will show the file dxdiag.exe. Run it and it will tell you what version of DX you're running. Mine says I'm using DX11 right now!

 

I have been having problems with running games on my Asus Ul80jt so I decided to look into overclocking the gpu when I came across this thread. I have run across a problem whenever I try to download a driver however. When I start downloading the driver from Nvidia after a few seconds my wifi connection drops and I end up having to restart my laptop to be able to get back on. The connection has been fine whenever i'm not trying to download the driver anyone know why this would be?

 

Also I downloaded the Nvidia optimus gpu state viewer and whenever I start up any game it still says the nvidia gpu is off

I have the NVIDIA 310m gpu and as far as I can tell it hasn't been put to use since I bought the computer

 

What's the link where you were trying to download the NVIDIA drivers?

HERE is the page I normally use. Then I select GeForce 300M Series > GeForce 310M > Windows 7 64-bit.

 

I've recently bougt an ASUS U30JC.
I'm testing the stability with hours fo uningine demos Heaven 2.1, and rthdribl.
So far, Core: 780; Shaders: 1810; Mem: 1000.
Later, will gone a try some games, like SW: TFU, AVP, and some others...
CYAS!!

 

What is your score in 3DMark06 o'ced like that?

I could go higher on my clocks, but I found my 3DMk performance score began to DROP. Hence why I'm curious what scores you got.

And how did you get your memory clock up to 1000 MHz? The highest the NVIDIA Control Panel (NCP) even allows me to go is 948 MHz.

I tried your clocks with the core at 780 and the shaders at 1806 but the memory at my 921. The first two times, 3DMk failed to run. The third time, my score was only 2148! My stock clock score is usually 3730 and my standard overclock is 4430 (core:764, mem: 921, shad: 1721) so I've no idea how you are running that speed stably or productively.

Can you be sure and set your speeds to what you've said and then run 3DMark06 and tell us your score?

Thanks!

 

My score is 4650 (tried 3 times: 4643;4650;4649)
The program used to overclock, was the nvidiaInspector 1.92

Good luck!!

 

Awesome. Thanks for the tip on the overclocking app you used!

 

Hey... do you overclocked the i3? I can't find a way to doit...