The Notebook Review forums were hosted by TechTarget, who shut down them down on January 31, 2022. This static read-only archive was pulled by NBR forum users between January 20 and January 31, 2022, in an effort to make sure that the valuable technical information that had been posted on the forums is preserved. For current discussions, many NBR forum users moved over to NotebookTalk.net after the shutdown.
Problems? See this thread at archive.org.

    Is There ANY Way to Overclock a MacBook Pro 8600M GT?

    Discussion in 'Gaming (Software and Graphics Cards)' started by blabus, Jun 26, 2008.

  1. blabus

    blabus Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    67
    Messages:
    359
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    I'm just about ready to give up. After trying for 2 days now to overclock my MacBook Pro's 128MB 8600M GT, I can't get anything to work. I was just wondering if anyone could provide some help, so I'll list what happened with each overclocking program I tried:

    RivaTuner 2.09
    --------------
    Installs fine, seems to detect the card. I can move the sliders for the clock speeds, and when I click apply they stay set correctly, but when I go to monitor the actual speeds, they haven't changed at all, and there's no visible performance difference in the game I'm playing.

    I searched around other forums and this seems to be a problem specific to MacBook Pros that others have mentioned. One person said that RivaTuner 2.04 works with MacBook Pros, but for the life of me I can't find that version ANYWHERE.

    nTune
    ------
    Some other users said that this software works with MacBook Pros, so I installed it, but when I try to run the program, the window looks nothing like what is shown in screenshots/guides on the web. Instead, it seems to just open up the preinstalled NVIDIA maintenance window that I've always had for my card, and there are no options anywhere to overclock or even monitor clock speeds.

    ATITool
    --------
    Tried this one too. Installs fine, runs, but when I try to do any of the auto-detect settings or the Scan for Artifacts, an error comes up saying that the current video card does not appear to be used by Windows.

    So, if anyone has successfully overclocked the 8600M GT in their MacBook Pro, any help would be appreciated.

    Thanks.
     
    blabus, Jun 26, 2008
    #1
  2. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

    Reputations:
    317
    Messages:
    2,742
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    With NTune installed, under your normal Nvidia Control Panel, there should be an option to "Adjust GPU Settings".
     
    KGann, Jun 26, 2008
    #2
  3. dab3

    dab3 Notebook Guru

    Reputations:
    3
    Messages:
    50
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    15
    Hello There!

    I have the same MBP 2.2. I have discovered that Rivatuner 2.05+ is somehow not compatible with the MBP 8600M GT. However what I've found that has worked is Rivatuner 2.04 if you can find a version lying out there on the web. The clocks are not 100% on the dot of where you place the slider, but it does clock fairly well. Just watch the temp monitor to see what the clocks have adjusted to.
     
    dab3, Jun 28, 2008
    #3
  4. StormEffect

    StormEffect Lazer. *pew pew*

    Reputations:
    613
    Messages:
    2,278
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    I have the same problem using the MBP 2.4 and have had no success overclocking. Dab3's suggestion of using an older version of RivaTuner seems like a good one. If you have success, please report back with your findings!
     
    StormEffect, Jun 28, 2008
    #4
  5. fanoos

    fanoos Notebook Enthusiast

    Reputations:
    0
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    5
    fanoos, Jun 28, 2008
    #5
  6. Cinner

    Cinner Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    12
    Messages:
    326
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Overclocking worked just fine on my 17" MBP with the 256mb 8600m GT. I sold it a while ago though.
     
    Cinner, Jun 28, 2008
    #6
  7. cathy

    cathy Notebook Evangelist

    Reputations:
    47
    Messages:
    551
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    30
    Hmm, I used ATITool in Windows XP and it worked fine.

    Using Vista now, and nTune works for me. You have to download the software first though.
     
    cathy, Jun 28, 2008
    #7
  8. Ayle

    Ayle Trailblazer

    Reputations:
    877
    Messages:
    3,707
    Likes Received:
    7
    Trophy Points:
    106
    Slightly off-topic: How do you get ntune to apply the OC clocks at startup?
     
    Ayle, Jun 28, 2008
    #8
  9. KGann

    KGann NBR Themesong Writer

    Reputations:
    317
    Messages:
    2,742
    Likes Received:
    0
    Trophy Points:
    55
    Never figured that out either. I just save the OC as a profile, and load it when needed.

    I don't keep my OC when not gaming, as I like my temps to be low in common use.
     
    KGann, Jun 28, 2008
    #9
  10. masterchef341

    masterchef341 The guy from The Notebook

    Reputations:
    3,047
    Messages:
    8,636
    Likes Received:
    4
    Trophy Points:
    206
    overclocking works for me no problem.

    atitool windows xp
     
    masterchef341, Jun 28, 2008
    #10