Is it Safe To overclock my MR x 1400

Im going to be arriving home after work today with a new notebook.

I ordered the Lifebook 6410. After I get rid of the bloatware and disable some startup programs and services, I will be looking to overclock my Ati MR x1400.

I have read a few threads on the topic, but some have stated the danger in overlclocking a GPU in a mainstream notebook.

Can someone please let me know the best way to go about getting optimum performance out of my GPU without taking TOO much risk?

Thanks.

 

If you're familiar with overclocking, you pretty much do it the same way, but you do it in baby steps and with extra caution.

In my opinion it's usually not worth overclocking as I've never seen overclocking graphics hardware yield any real rewards. I was able to get substantial overclocks out of my old Mobility Radeon 9600 (300/210 to 411/232) and while it grabbed me an extra 2000 marks in 3DMark01, real world performance improvements weren't really perceptible. Always struck me as one of those high risk, low reward situations.

 

Well, I get a lot of benefit from overclocking my X700. Higher settings are possible, makes the game look better. Also, I am able to play at higher resolutions more smoothly.

There is a benefit if you do it right. The real question is, why do you want to overclock? You should go play some 3D titles first, see how they run.

 

Good point Chaz.

I have BF2 on hand, and I plan on installing it this evening. I am also ordering F.E.A.R.

I guess all in all Im just confused. It seems like nothing less than the x1600/6800 is "decent" for gaming. I read how people use GPU's like mine, but everyone seems to agree that the performance just isnt there. So on that note, I want/wanted to do whatever I needed to in order to get "that" performance.

I have ordered/cancelled/ordered/cancelled a few times in the last week, always reading something different. Well, I finally decided on the Lifebook 6410 and now Im already skeptical about it(before it even arrives).

With so many conflicting views about what GPU is needed to "enjoy" a game, I guess I just want to make sure I get the best thing I can within my budget.

Thanks again for your comments.

 

I hear where you're coming from.

Most gamers should be satisfied with the X1400, let us know what you think.

At least you got an X1400 instead of a Go7400 - now there's a disappointment.

 

Well, Im not a "big time" gamer. But I do enjoy games from time to time, and one of the things I enjoy most is the graphics---hence the desire to player Next Gen games.

Im excited to hear that most gamers would be satisfied because I probably fall into that category.

I will be sure to let you know what I think. =)

 

Just got home to my new notebook. I love it!

..............now if I could just figure out whether or not I can use 533mhz ram in a Duo Core with 667mhz FSB.....??

 

Yes, you can use 533MHz DDR2 in a Core Duo based machine, it will merely run at 533MHz rather than 667. There probably won't be a hugely perceptable difference.

And I will add that to be perfectly honest, while I have a GeForce Go6800, I, as a semi-avid gamer, find it overkill...in fact, I find even my x200M is fine for most purposes.

 

That post made me happy. If I had reps to give....... =)

 

*pokes chazman* Tell that to the acer people who only get 1650 3dmark05 out of their x1400 *Hugs his 7400*

 

From most of the accounts ive seen on the sony board a few people actually had performance _drops_ when going from 533 to 667 Mainly because 533 running in dual channel will really provide all the speed that can be taken advantage of.

 

What kind of 3DMark05 scores are you getting on the X1400?

Just curious how it stacks up against the nVidia7400 Go. Some have said the X1400 is better on paper. Is it because of the drivers?

Have you tried updating the drivers before you OC?

 

The Radeon X1400 is going to be the stronger card - it has double the memory bus width (128-bit vs a 64-bit in the Go7400), which will allow it to pull ahead in gaming. That's not the only reason it's better.

The Go7400 isn't bad, but it isn't much of an improvement over the previous gen of cards.

 

ok real life experience
While Half Life 2 runs sweet as anything (in widescreen too )
F.E.A.R. is a little more challenging
a lot more fps can be got by using a different driver from the supplies ones (I am using an omega driver)

I am currently running F.E.A.R. in 800x600 with most stuff on Medium, following the tweakguide for the game.
for example setting water resolution to minimum hardly makes a difference

I want to run this at 1024x768 though so I am looking into getting more oomph out of my graphics card, so that I dont have too many drops in frame rate.

the game plays well, but the eye candy isnt there because the rendering engine is too demanding.
It is soo not making use of my dual core either, I am sure a future patch for the game will make it run even more smoothly, as there are obviously optimisations needed for the game engine.

Since I am a big half life fan, I gauge my machines on playing just that, and its not a disappointment, (especially as it does HDR lighting)

Good luck with your machine