Laptop GPU overclocking isn't so outlandish once you try it.

I finally found a GPU overclocking utility. I overclocked my GeForce Go 7200 GPU from 445 MHz to 600 MHz. The increase in heat wasn't too substantial as with the original clock speed setting, so it's not a real problem (although it could be in the future). However, my games, especially CoD2 are running so much better now. I can finally decently run CoD2 in DX9 mode instead of retreating to DX7. Only problem so far is that my Forceware drivers prevent the Riva utility to allow me to overclock past 600 MHz. While long durations of maximum Riva overclock I wouldn't practice, I'd still like to make short term 675 MHz GPU clock runs, just to see the results. Right now I'm really happy about my higher performance!


Notice the default settings


Notice the new settings

Sooner or later I'll get FPS recordings for you guys to show the higher framerates. I'm thinking of overclocking my CPU as well, as my computer has had no heat problems ever since I first got it.

 

Very nice.

 

So rivatuner is all you need to oc. Will this work with a 7900gs? I am planning to oc the 7900gs in the 9400 im getting at christmas after the 1 year warrentty is up. Id like to over clock from 375 mhz to 425 and 1 ghz to 1.1 ghz. CAn i do this with out a cooling pad, I do not want to use a cooling pad.

 

i use a cooling pad even without overclocking my gpu or cpu, it just keeps my mind free of knowing my laptop is cool regardless!

 

Considering Rivatuner supported something as obscure as the 7200, I'm sure it supports your 7900GS. As long as the heat build up isn't anything bad, it should be perfectly viable to overclock it. Rivatuner made the overclocking process easy, as I could actually Windows-button out of CoD2 and change the clock speed on the fly while the game was going, and see the better framerates.

I'd advise taking it easy during your overclock process. Start with an initial jumpt to 400 MHz, take heed of the temperature increase, and go from there with discretion. My whole process went like this (I was being very bold and oblivious about it too ):

445 MHz initial --> 470 MHz --> 500 MHz --> 550 MHz --> 600 MHz

Once I have drivers that allow me to break 600 MHz, I'll test all the way up to 675 MHz, risky my computer upon possible sheer meltdown

Also I think I'll overclock the CPU initially to 2.0 GHz and hopefully to at least 2.4 GHz as the permanent setting ^_^

 

I dont really want to oc that much jsut want to get more fps. The 7900gs is right at the edge of palying games at max with good fps. How much temp will a cooling pad take off and is this a good 1? http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=16262&vpn=LPC-401&manufacture=VANTEC#CustomerReviews

Tthe dell 9400 is suposed to be loud already and i dont like alot of fans running and everything being all noisy.

 

Well I just tested FEAR out. And there seemed to be no difference in performance. I even brought the clock speed down to 250 MHz (!) and there was no difference either (?). Maybe FEAR automatically uses the clock speed that is detected during initialization? Well whatever, I'm still making adjustments and things do seem to be improving

This whole thing has really added some value to my overall laptop's personal worth in my eyes

 

yea just a little overclocking and make the performance of your laptop JUMP but you also get the chance of it melting,over heating, AND it voids warrenty.

 

Thats why im wating to the warrenty is uo and not ocing that much.

 

yea good idea! I also herd that the 9400's are loud probably because they have 2 fans, 1 for GPU and 1 for CPU. I was looking at getting the 9400 awhile back it looks like it sounds beastly, but i assure you laptop coolers like the one you showed is the exact model as the one i have, and to be honest i see no difference in having it on and off!

 

Congrates on 100th post

Sweet, if i do oc ill be getting that cooling pad.
How much degrees does it take off in your notebook?
Also Im not sure if it will fit a 17 inch dell?

 

Thanks! yea i didnt think about that, and im not sure how many degrees but it sure made my hand a lot cooler when i rested it on the keyboard. I will be getting either a 9300 or 9400 in the next 2 weeks, I will let you kno if the laptop cooler will fit because there both 17inch notebooks!

 

So far I can't seem to get RivaTuner to change the VRAM speeds :\

 

K cabral pm me when you get your new laptop.

 

I to overclocked the GPU in my sig, which is the exact same as your's. But I then just gave up because 1. It was producing some artifacting, and I didn't like the idea of messing with the laptop. I just left it how it was. Although it did give me a pretty big perfromance increase in Prey. But, I just leave it at default because that is what I feel is safest. By the way, what is your 3DMark 05 score before and after overclocking. Mine was 1508 before, and after about 1678. It was kind of noticeable.

 

@mustang,
You can't overclock your 7900GS in the Dell i9400 just by using RivaTuner. The BIOS is locked on Dell laptops which prevents overclocking or otherwise tampering with the card. Do a search on this forum for the correct way to OC.

 

it was the same way when i tryed it on my desktop. eventually i got it clocked so high that it reduced my FPS just alittle. so i went back to not ocing

 

Well I definetly saw an improvement with Source engine based games like Counter Strike: Source. Maybe FEAR isn't using both my CPU cores like it should, and that's becoming a bottleneck. Also because of the shared video memory interface, I bet upgrading to DDR2 667 will have some improvement as well. I'm also considering that maybe having a 4 GB data cache on my HDD isn't helping, as I'm thinking about putting it back to the factory setting of 2 GB or setting at 3 GB. Either way, 4 GB of data cache space is unnecessary, especially as my 2 GB of RAM never gets fully utilized

 

Maybe, maybe not:

There are never any guarantees when overclocking. You can buy two identical cards, and one will probably overclock better than the other.
Moreover, while the GPU temperature is a decent guideline for how far you can overclock, that's not a reliable indicator (Some GPU's can safely reach higher temps than others. And sometimes, overclocking may fail even at low temps)

I don't have a 7900GS, so can't say how well it *usually* overclocks though.

 

If overclocking your notebook you should ALWAYS use a cooling pad. How well that works depends on the notebook and what kind of pad it is and even the room temperature.

The overclocking process posted earlier in this thread is NOT a safe one. Heres a much safer process:

I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU DESTROY YOUR COMPUTER. FOLLOW THIS AT YOUR OWN RISK!!!!!!

Start by raising your core clock by 5-10 mhz at a time then running 3DMark05. Repeat raising it by 5-10 mhz and then running 3DMark untill you begin to see artifacts (strange screen distortions). Once you reach that point, back off by 15-20 mhz.

Repeat this process but instead of raising the core clock, raise the memory clock. Once you see artifacts back off!.

Good luck.

 

Aww dam I dont think ill od it then.

 

I wonder how you can get a cooling pad to fit in with a docking station (that puts the laptop at an angle)...any suggestions?

 

I have the perfect solution for you, Greg.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showpost.php?p=1608996&postcount=1

 

I haven't done a 3DMark O5 test as of yet. Can you give me a link to download it? I'll have the scores later for you guys who are interested.

 

Here you go:
http://www.futuremark.com/download/

Benchmark away =).

 

Heh no cooling pad for me, just remove the bottom covers and a desktop (15" I think) blowing on the bottom ^^. Hey it got me 15% on my 2ghz P-M and 50% GPU core.

 

Well I'm not too uncomfortable having my GPU core overclocked. There's a version of the 7300 (the 7300 GS, which uses the same core) that is clocked at 550 MHz. I did notice some discrepencies while playing Counter Strike: Source though when I OC'd it to 600 MHz, despite the 4-5 degree celcius increase. Basically I need to find exactly where in my laptop the GPU is, so I can make some homebrew changes for better heat regulation.

Voiding the warranty is so fun. Thanks for the link by the way ^__^

I'll have results later tonight, when I get a chance to do it.

 

Alright cool. And I agree, I was addicted with pushing and pushing my hardware to t's maximum, but then I came back to my senses, and just reverted to factory settings, espiecially since I don't have a cooling pad.

 

Yeah I would suggest that if you do decide on playing at the 600 MHz OC, then it would be wise to give the GPU a break every hour or so to cool down. A more "safe" permanent setting would be 550 MHz, as I had no problems running that speed for 3 hours while playing CS:S last night. I should get a cooling pad though

 

best method. thats what i did but i would also try using some games and test how they are working because i tested my video but then randomly my mouse icon would disapear and other stange things like that...

 

I was completely aware from the beginning that I was being VERY ballzy yet RISKY on my overclocking method. I'm one of those people who likes to push the limits, so I was willing to risk it. But yeah, anyone and everyone should be very careful about it like he says. My path of OC'ing was not just risky but dangerous, despite being methodical somewhat.

In all essence no one should overclock a laptop GPU in the first place, as it voids the warranty if the manufacturer finds out, and could lead to permanent problems. I did it in my own desperation for more graphics performance. While I proved the validity and idea, not to mention the capability for the 7200 G72 core to be overclocked at least to 550 MHz, but I did it in a manner that's dangerous.

If you decide to overclock or tinker with any part in your laptop such as I did, be very careful. There are many different GPU cores from Nvidia and ATi, and I only tested one, so for other cores, I have no idea how they could react.

I apologize for being either encouraging or promising in my post about OCing laptop GPUs, as it was irresponsible of me to you guys.

Protect your investment, and most importantly protect yourself! Safe computing guys!

 

I have 3DMark05 results!

Nvidia GeForce Go 7200 default conditions: ~450 MHz core clock, ~350 MHz memory clock (700 MHz effective), 64 bit memory interface, 64 MB DDR2 dedicated, 256 MB DDR2 SRAM shared video memory.

Clock speed------> 3DMark 05 Score
225 MHz--------------> 1223
400 MHz--------------> 1520
450 MHz (default)-----> 1586
550 MHz--------------> 1676
600 MHz--------------> 1664

Note: Windows Media Player was being ran during the 600 MHz test.

While the increase in Marks wasn't substantial, in some games it's made a difference. I theorize that the increased core clock is being bottlenecked by the very limited 64 bit memory bus. If I was to obtain a driver that allowed it to be tweaked (RivaTuner has a memory clock tuner), I'll try the 600 MHz setting again, as well even trying 650 MHz core clock speeds.

Because of the more realistic conditions experienced while gaming, as well as the experience of knowing it myself, overclocking seems to be pretty much worth it, especially if you know your GPU can handle it, and it has the proper overall hardware configuration to handle it as well.

I plan on trying the 600 MHz test again with a re-tweaked system, including pulling my 4 GB HDD cache down to 2 GB, pulling the texture memory down from 256 MB to 128 MB, as well as not running WMA during the test

 

Those are close to my 3DMark scores during and after my clocks. It seems the 256 MB doesn't really make any difference, in 3DMark at least. Your starting default score is better than mine though.

 

And I just read and laugh how you guys risk your laps by oc :]
You're heroes to me. I don't think I would take this risk

 

If I could tweak the memory clock from 350 to 400 MHz (800 MHz effective), I bet I could get a real jump in score when the GPU is at 550 MHz. Also having DDR2 667 should help, as well as a faster HDD. If I can manage to knowledgably OC my CPU (it's more tricky and risky) , I'll do that too, the TL-60 is the exact same CPU as mine just clocked 0.2 GHz faster.

This may seem a bit hazardous, but overclocking the GPU to 550 MHz should be safe. The 7200 uses the G72 (according to RivaTuner) CPU core like the 7300 series of desktop and laptop GPUs. There is a version of the 7300 that's factory clocked at 550 MHz, which means that 550 MHz ishould be a safe speed to operate at, assuming you have proper cooling to take care of the 5-6 degrees celcius jump. Because of these findings I'm going to "permanently" set my GPU clock at 550 MHz, knowing it's safe. For short term periods I will try 600 MHz and possibly experiment with higher-than-600 MHz speeds at the risk of my computers well being *edits signature for the new GPU clock in PC*. This is an educated hypothesis, but I'm taking no responsibility in anyone screwing up their machine. I'm enjoying my ride into the "danger zone," but I'm not being completely stupid. I'm just pushing the limits

PLEASE do some research and planning before you do anything that's possibly reckless and dangerous!

 

Please remember while they are the same core, they may be fed different voltages.

 

Upgrading the RAM to 667 MHz and the HD to a 7200 RPM one will not do a whole lot in terms of performance gains. It's not worth the cost to do so.

I highly recommend following TwilightVampire's method of overclocking. If 3DMark05 runs OK, then test in a game to make sure it runs OK as well. But take it slowly to avoid frying your GPU.

 

That's true. I didn't think of that. But where in RivaTuner, or what program would let me access the voltages and increase them?

Edit: nevermind, I found a program.

 

Cute...but that isn't going to do a fat lot of good for a GPU that runs at around 75C when gaming !

I have found this out though...the CPU and GPU are placed right next to each other and share the only fan and exhaust in the system (which completes the triangle of heat). This at least lets me worry about only one spot on the notebook. I think they both have separate heat sinks but feed to the same fan.

Maybe I can work on some custom solution...I only need to cool one side of the notebook so it might be easier than I think it will.

 

Come on, USB hub + four of these babies all pointed at the hot spot. What could be better? =p.

That'd be a sexy desktop and your girlfriend would love it too .

 

I just have to point out that the only thing that has a major affect on 3DMark scores is your video card (The VPU and VRAM). Having a faster processor or more or faster system RAM will not give you a difference of more than a few points. And the hard drive will have ZERO affect on it.

 

HMMM
sounds interesting there you've increased the speed by 150Mhz.......thats nice

 

Well you have to remember that my setup involves having 192 MB of SHARED VRAM. My RAM's overall performance is dependent on the speed, so I do think I could get a bit of a boost in framerate moving up from 533 to 677 MHz.

 

In some thread around here somewhere we proved the jump from 533 to 667 on a shared VRAM card wasnt all that much of a difference. I'll try to find it....

 

interesting... cause if that doesnt affect it enought in real life FPS rates then its not worth the extra 100 dollars

 

Well if AMD comes out with new S1 socket Turions next year based on the new K8Ls that are a multitude more powerful than my current Turion X2, I'll go ahead and procure one. If I'm going to spend $300 on a new processor, might as well get better RAM (hopefully the new notebook processors support DDR800 ) and a faster 7200 RPM or even 8400 RPM HDD if they are available.

 

Personally I think you're better off just living with the setup you currently have, and save the upgrade money for your next system in a couple of years. There's nothing wrong with your setup, but dumping money into it for relatively small increases isn't as cost-effective as just making a large jump with a whole new system down the line.

 

Yeah I was considering that too. I'll probably just wait for mobile DX10 to come into being (and no I'm not talking about Intel's crap DX10 hardware).

 

i've overclocked the 9700gs in my inspiron 9400 (1705). you have to flash the bios:
http://www.laptopvideo2go.com/forum/index.php?showtopic=11525
it's running under 590/1200 now.
3dmark06: ~4600

 

Whats the stock clock is it 375/1000?