Overclocking with nVidia inspector.

I recently flashed a vBIOS to my 970m and am attempting to overclock. I understand how the core and memory clock sliders work, but I'm not sure about the Power and Temperature sliders work, and I'm completely baffled by the Voltage slider.

On NVI it says "Voltage Offset (0mV). But, the slider goes from -206.3mV to +168.8mV and the default is -206.3mV. Shouldn't the default be 0? Am I massively undervolting my chip?

It manages to do about 1.3ghz under load on the core, but I would like to go higher, like 1.4. It crashes at anything over 1305ish. Temps are good too, highest I've seen was in DA:I at 80c, DOOM typically runs at 78c.

 

Just going to ask you a simple question here.

What are you trying to achieve?

Every GPU has its own clock rate, some perform better than others, some worse etc etc.

You might wan't to stick to the core and mem clocks for now.

See how others clocked their 970M's and compare

 

Trying to figure out what the voltage offset slider is supposed to do. It seems to do nothing, my chip idles at .834v and under load goes to 1.030v, regardless of what I set it to.

Ultimately, I'd like to push it to +300 on the core clock. I can't go more than +530ish on memory, or it starts to artifact and then crashes.

 

What vBIOS did you use? Prema's vBIOS should not have such a readout in NVI; neither svl7's vBIOS.

Show me a shot of your NVI?

 

I used the VBIOS from here
http://www.voltground.com/haven/threads/4/

I simply did a Google search for "Asus G751 970M VBIOS" to find it.

 

Can't help with that vBIOS, never seen it. It's possible they didn't unlock voltage control properly and just unlocked sliders.

 

OK, thank you. I was looking at using Prema's VBIOS, but I don't have any money to donate for one right now.

 

The vBIOSes mods are free. As for whether they will work with ASUS, you can feel free to ask.

 

Well, I grabbed Prema's vBIOS (ill send a donation as soon as I can), but I guess the other one I was using was overvolting by default, because my normal stable OC of +266 didn't work on Prema's bios till I upped the voltage +37.5mV. The current limit is +270 at +50mV. I might try for higher with more volts later.

Is it just me, or does Dragon Age Inquisition really push the hardware? I was hitting 88c while testing with it.

 

Any game can do this with the right settings. Prema removed the power limit and raised the temperature limit to 94C. Under normal conditions, the core would have throttled at 87C and its likely the core would have already pulled itself back before that even happened by dropping the boost clock. With the power limit removed and the thermal threshold raised, your temperatures will go up if you're pushing the settings. Using a framerate lock like vsync or adaptive vsync in the nVidia control panel often reduces temps quite a bit, especially if you're using high AA settings (AA really beats down the GPU - I've had a GPU drop from 90 to 76 by going from 16xMSAA to 4xMSAA) or extreme tessellation.

 

Not to mention when you're overvolting you're literally just increasing the heat. GPUs run hot enough at stock, it's not surprising to expect some heat increase when overvolting. Capping the frame rate can help lower heat a lot, though.

 

Capping the framerate is a sort of pointless endeavour. It's rather rare that one needs to overclock heavily to maintain 60fps, but without capping is high enough above 60fps (75fps+) that the GPU heats up overmuch. If you're locking FPS to whatever value you're at, and you can maintain it fully and go far over it without locking, then you're probably not in need of the overclock at that point.

 

So since my card struggles to get a steady 60 in Witcher 3, I shouldn't cap my framerate in Unreal Tournament or Bioshock Infinite? The pre-alpha of UT maxed out runs 120+ on my 780 Ti and Bioshock Infinite is 200+ - I could use an overclock for TW3 but why should I stress my card needlessly in UT and BI? If all you play are GameWorks titles then capping the framerate makes no sense but most of us play games that are all over the map. I've actually come to like Boost on my 780 Ti because when I don't need 1150MHz, it locks at 1006MHz and runs between 49 and 60C as opposed to 65-82C. I prefer adaptive vsync instead of a set framerate but keeping the framerate down lowers temps and fan noise, not to mention the effect of high framerates on coil whine which seems to plague all recent nVidia laptop and desktop designs, including my 780 Ti and my master 980M. Input lag is something to take into consideration but it doesn't really bother me that much.

 

anything over your displays refresh rate is overkill.

 

If you're unable to get 60fps in Witcher 3 and that is your target, then overclock, sure. But if an overclock needed to hit 60fps consistently is applied, you're not likely to be say... spiking to 85fps all the time. You're going to average around 60-70 if you're normally getting ~50-60, right?

On the other hand, if you get 90fps in UT4 and 150fps in Bioshock Infinite anyway, then you don't need to overclock for those games to hit your target FPS (assuming your target FPS is 60). Overclocking and then capping FPS to reduce heat in that scenario is a moot point; you might as well just not overclock if you get your satisfactory frames in those games (and still cap it, mind).

Since this is specifically talking about nVidia Inspector, double-clocking overclock exes is sufficient; one doesn't need to manually adjust sliders between each game for any reason.

Also you could just set per-game framerate limiters in NVPI (which you'd have if you have NVI anyway), not needing "vsync" itself to be applied.

My original point was "overclocking GPU to get well over your desired framerate in a game then capping fps to mitigate heat" seems like a rather moot point. You could run it stock (and cap it anyway if you wish) and temps would help a lot too.

Depends on the game and scenario. All call of duty games should be run at 125fps if possible. Counter-Strike games on 128-tick servers require 130fps+ to work properly; most people will cap the FPS there around 250-300 as capping it lower has a tendency to cause the game to drop frames randomly. Battlefield 4 in particular reduces input lag the higher the framerate you have, REGARDLESS of your monitor's refresh rate. 144Hz @ 144fps is sufficient for even the most hardcore of players, however even on a 60Hz monitor there is a benefit from being at ~150fps.

But for 99% of scenarios, monitor refresh rate is best cap.

Edit: Some proof about framerate affecting CoD titles here. It also affects rate of fire.

 

DA:I is the only game I've seen it go that high, though. On a mixture of high/ultra settings with no AA, I'm getting about 40-60 FPS. DOOM runs max settings at 70-75FPS and I've never seen the temp go higher than 77c. I also see 90c on my CPU, when most games max it at about 80c. CPU seems to stick to 3.3ghz on all four cores though, so I don't think it's thermally throttling.

Edit: I've had this laptop since January. Anybody think it's time to pull it apart and re-paste? I have some Antec Formula 7 Nano Diamond, that I've been using on all my other builds.

 

Well I own that game but I haven't really played it, may just be a burner. There are some games like that - Bioshock Infinite has rather low system requirements but if I leave it running without vsync, I'll have GPU and CPU temps in the 80s (CPU) and 90s (GPUs) within about half an hour on my laptop.

If you've checked your fans and made sure they're not clogged, you could consider a repaste. It could make a marked improvement depending on what the machine came with.

 

Depends on how wide of a variety of games you play. If I want to play GTA V at the max settings 60 fps obviously I could overclock, but then if I wanted to step down to something like Diablo 3 where I would be getting 300 FPS, that would obviously generate a lot more heat than capping at 60. I capped at 60 and the temperature dropped literally 6-10c. I couldn't believe it. Going from like 300 FPS to 60 FPS makes a huge difference for temperature, and it's worth doing as long as you can limit other than via V-Sync.

 

You should be having 3.4GHz on all 4 cores with a 4720HQ. You're throttling somewhere; not necessarily with heat, unless you've got a 4710HQ.

 

It's definitely a 4720HQ.

I'm also using intel XTU and it's showing up to 30% thermal throttling when playing DA:I and the max fullscreen temp on the CPU and GPU was both 92c. Dragon Age does like to spit hot fire, but I think I need to repaste anyway - idle temps only get down to about 42c.

 

That's what I get for idle... in the middle of the night xD. My place is hot as meowmix.

 

Hah. Well, it's 74f in the adjoining room, but I also have my Xeon server in this same room, so it's probably 78-80f. That's an 18C difference, if I convert the ambient to C.

 

Ugh. 78-80F makes ME overheat. 74F is about my thermal throttle point lol

 

It's currently about 32c in my room. Kind of cool considering normal temps for this time of day (7:06pm).

 

I'd literally die. My body doesn't compensate for heat well at all (I don't sweat much at all, I just get sick).

 

You pansies need to live in India for a couple of years, those temps will be heaven after that.

 

I live in Texas, USA. It was 101f yesterday, but only 98f today. I turn on the house ac when its 80f, but in my truck I don't even think about the ac till its 95f! I am pretty sure I'm going to repaste, but it's a heck of an undertaking on my G751. I'll need a whole day to prepare and follow-through.

 

I do. I get problems with my skin and stuff all the time, I can't cook because of the intense heat and humidity, and gaming often sends me well into the 70c levels of heat on the CPU (Overwatch at 120fps was 87c on CPU... propped with CLU and max fans)... with undervolt and stock speeds (I removed the 3.7GHz single core and 3.6GHz dual core bumps).

Places like India have a very dry heat, though I know Dubai etc can hit 40c easy which is generally higher than what we'll get here. But a dry heat versus a rather humid heat is a big difference, and it makes a difference for electronics too.

I don't have a house A/C.

Also, I would just like to point out that my country has two seasons: Wet and Dry. We have had a "dry" Wet Season for the last year and a half, and our Dry Seasons have been "places catching on fire". I have no gods to pray to, but damn do I pray for rain every day. Just like, I want three weeks of rain. Cool down the whole country. Pull the heat up from the earth. 10 minutes of rain actually makes things HOTTER because all the heat from the earth just rises in an extremely warm, extremely damp feeling. Sweltering is probably the word I know.

 

You would probably rather enjoy it here in West Texas. It gets hot, but it also rains a lot out here, and floods. We also have a good winter - this past winter it dropped to about 0c and we had a bunch of snow, hail/sleet and ice. Of course, that's nothing compared to when I lived in West Virginia - winter temps dropped to well below 0c, and I could get massive OCs on my air-cooled rigs just by opening a window!

Anyway, I just did some testing with XTU and Throttlestop 6, and I found out that my CPU is power throttling - and it doesn't seem, based on your mobile i7 guide, that I can do anything about it. It's power throttling down to 3.3ghz. Hits 41w and it's done, even thought I have XTU set to 50w.

 

You should be able to endure long load periods at 47W. If you're at 41W, you should really contact *shudder* ASUS support and tell them your machine is not working correctly and ask them how to fix.

 

Laptops in dubai have gold heatsink, 10x better dissipation than copper.

I believe some gaming laptops there have solid gold passive heatsinks, so 0db when gaming.

 

Can't tell if troll or srs.

 

The tech support person said to install Skylake chipset drivers.

I fired up Core Temp and it's reporting 46.9w under full load, as is throttlestop. I don't know why XTU is reporting 41w.

 

Because the last few versions of XTU are trash.

 

This is why I never let people buy ASUS if I have a say in the purchase.

Take throttlestop as being correct for the most part.

 

Well, It was the only laptop for $1100 with a 970m. Everything else in that price range had a 960m, and I already found out how much those fail at gaming.

 

Yeah, their laptops often will go on a decent sale on Amazon/Newegg/etc. Especially older models. I'm certain you haven't had that laptop since 2014, for example. There was no way you found that for $1100 in 2014 unless it was a returned model with open-box or something.

But still, I always advise against them. I know when people get good working ASUS models they usually chug through for 4+ years, but that's a roulette I would hate to have to take.

 

They are all a roulette, I've owned a bunch, so warn against such vocal bashes in general... the worst for me was Clevo (Sager), which obviously works well for you. I've been happy with ASUS, Gigabyte, HP, Alienware (had hinge problem but fixed fast), Toshiba, three MSI's, and currently Microsoft (Surface 1,2,3 & Book)

There are so many failure points you can't expect one to always be perfect. Just bad luck....

 

I have my own gripes with Clevo machines. Most notably their software side of things. And I know the EM series was horrible all things considered. They are by no means "perfect" and I will never state that they are... But I don't see RMA hell like ASUS has and I don't hear about multiple people getting problems like USB ports not working on one whole side of the laptop and such with them. Usually if there is a hardware problem a RMA will generally fix it, as far as I have seen with peoples' interactions with them. It is only ASUS I know of who has such a chance for things to happen.

If I say anything against the rest, it's usually against specific models or a specific line and I can give hardware-specific reasons as to why I advise against, etc.

Also, to be 100,000% clear on this: If ASUS had customer support worth more than I could do with my eyes closed typing blindly without reading what the customer's ticket says, and if there was no such thing as "RMA hell" where people RMA for one problem and get back another broken (often in a different way, but sometimes in the same way) machine, sometimes after waiting two weeks to a month for the replacement to get there, I would have no problem telling people to get ASUS machines. But it's quite clear they do not actually care enough to bother, and I believe that people should really return that in kind. I know every kind of company has had their own tech support horror stories (myself included) however the "general consensus" is not like it is for ASUS.

 

I bought the machine in January of this year. I had an Asus G501 before it that had battery problems. I also swapped the HDD for an SSD and it was a pain to open and close the entire bottom. Very slick, tiny and light machine, though.

I agree with be77solo; They are all a crapshoot. My Dell Studio 17's hinges fell apart and the interposer is finicky. Lenovo Y50 front edge of the top sunk in a little leaving a sharp edge along the top in front of the mousepad and the soft-touch covering below the keyboard rubbed off. My mom's previous laptop, a Compaq, had the LCD and inverter die. Sister's Gateway AMD laptop is overheating massively (probably needs a fan cleaning and repaste). My dad's low-end Toshiba laptop is about the only one that doesn't have any problems, but he uses maybe once a week.

 

WTF? How is that cool?! Where do you live where 32c is cool? I overheat from anything past 29c. I couldn't imagine 32c being cool, nor would I want to - no offense intended, of course.

 

It's in my thing on the side... Trinidad and Tobago.

 

Them tropical islands. At least you guys get space - here in 700 km^2 Singapore, it's buildings everywhere. And we have the same levels of heat - 30°C is considered quite cool, and the humidity, oh the humidity...

 

Humidity is amazing here.

 

ok so went to micro center today

looking at new alienware they had in stock, seems newer than what I've seen last month. sales rep came up to me and said "why are you considering alienware? they're overpriced" and then proceeds to recommend the asus


wat

 

At current AW prices, I'd take an AW over an ASUS without skipping a beat.

 

Yeah, I love my Asus but there are so many better offerings out there. With the size of this beast, it wouldn't have killed them to at least make the GPU upgradable. It has 4 ram slots, but you can only get at two of them without opening the whole machine, too =/

If I had only had a couple hundred more in my budget, but I was pretty limited by my insurance payout.

 

ASUS doesn't like the consumer doing a single thing with their machines. I'm dead serious, your warranty is voided if you so much as switch your storage drive from slot 1 to slot 2.

Meanwhile, I've applied liquid metal thermal paste, changed out the heatsink for my primary GPU, running custom video BIOSes on my GPUs, can and have overclocked my system in the past (though I don't now because it's just too freaking hot in my room) and added a new SSD. I'm still under warranty.

 

yep, asus's laptop division should just kill themselves

 

Asus Gamers Republic.

By idiots, for idiots. But hey, it looks nice.

I even considered one...