SLI Laptop Overclocking....

So I recently picked up a new laptop for gaming/mobile audio production. I already had an old Toshiba A205 and I had been pretty happy with it so I decided to get the top of the line Toshiba X205-SLI6.

Out of the box stock it didn't get the best benchmark scores (around 6750 in 3DMArk06) but I did a little overclocking on the video cards and it really seems to have worked wonders.

I now get 9133 points in 3DMark06 with an overclock of 650/1425/850 and max temps of 79/81C. Is that a pretty good overclock for 2 8600M GT's in SLI? Has anyone else had good luck overclocking the 8600M GT in SLI and what kinds of scores did you guys get?

 

I have an SLI 1 and although it's doesn't have your specs it does have dual 8600m gt running in sli and when I run 3dm6 the trial version I get about 6900 with stock clocks I don't know why the sli 6 doesn't better the sli1 with stock clocks and drivers but I've also read somewhere that someone else had a sli6 that had the same benchmark as yours running stock.

I would suggest you upgrade the gpu drivers to 175.19 that forerunner posted or even use the 174.31 drivers. Those actually gave me scores in the 7000s (175.19= 7555, 174.31=7249) with stock clocks.

I did experiment with overclocking a couple times and the highest I overclocked was 575/850 and got the same benchmark as I do with the 175.19 drivers at stock clocks (7555). Although I never tried setting my clocks above that you hitting 9133 is dam awesome to me. I here that's about the equivalent of the 8800s performance. Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Looking at the pic in your post again I kinda feel jealous. I just bought the sli1 back in December for $2000 and I hear the going price for the sli6 is $1800. Dam, I'm still paying this off! It's my baby though. Can't wait for Toshiba's next generation of gaming notebooks.

 

Temps are a little high, do you have the fan running at full? also, if you don't already you may want to get a cooling pad, they can help cool it down a lot.

 

79/81c max temps seem normal on mine with extensive gaming and those are stock clocks. I also have a targus chill mat, the refined version that came out in the beginning of this year. I think those temps are normal for the toshiba x205 series.

 

Yeah, I installed the 175.19 drivers pretty much right away. Stock speeds with those drivers were a little better but not so great, 7218 points in 3DMark06. Thats why I'm surprised I got such a high bench with the overclock but yes the overclock was done on the 179.15 drivers.

Also with the overclock it reaches GeForce 8800M GTX speeds http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphics-Cards-Benchmark-List.844.0.html so for the $1899 I paid for it I think I got a pretty good deal.

All I did really was adjust the clock speeds. I had the laptop sitting over a shelf on my desk with the front proped up so the bottom was completly exposed, but that's about it.

What do you suggest is the best way to modify the fan profiles? Is there good software or does the video card bios have fan profiles to flash? I was thinking about getting RMClock maybe that has some good options. Let me know?

Also do you know of any good coolers for 17" laptops?

 

It only matches the 8800m GTX is synthetic benchmarking. In game, the 8800m GTX will run laps, due to SLi not being as supported as planned.

 

For the Cooler, you can get teh ZAlman Nc-2000 its the best for 17 laptops.

and as Kgann said, those are just Synthetic benchmarks, but your Score is now matching the 8600GTS SLI (desktop) so i'd recommend to keep an eye on the temps.

 

I don't think you actually seen or even tried Toshiba's x205 sli series. I have Oblivion, Call of Duty 4, All the games of Orange Box, Falcon 4.0 Allied Force just to name a few of the very graphic intensive games that the Sli1 can push at a very consistent 60+ fps with the aforementioned games set at max graphical settings at 1440x900.

For sure the 8800m gtx is way more powerful than a single 8600m gt but I don't think it'll hold a consistent 60+fps the way an sli set up would, especially when tons of stuff start happening on screen. Like 50 very detailed guys on screen with very detailed background and effects like smoke, lighting, shadows etc. start fire fighting all at once without a hiccup.

I would think it'll bog down a single 8800 here and there without the helping hand of another card. Sli is the future or Nvidia wouldn't be putting so much emphasis on it.

 

Jacob808, that will be right, IF the Drivers start treating SLI like dual cores (which will happen sooner or later) but your cards are still Crippled by the 128 bit interface, and lower bandwidth, so Basicly with your clocks you are @ the 8700GT SLI power, which is good, but not enough to compete with 8800GTX in more intensive Games, IE: Crysis.

Otherwise than that, you really Squeezed Performance out of that beast and made it worth every buck.

 

I'm the defender of everything Toshiba x205sli1!

......My first computer since 1991. hee hee I know it's getting obsolete......but not without a fight.

 

Well, we are both SLI defendants in a way or another

 

Yes sadly those 8600GT´s are crippled indeed. I had the 8700m GT SLI myself in my XPS M1730 before I sent it back and got a new one with 8800m GTX SLI. However I was not happy at all with the SLI performance of the 8700m GT´s. The higher res the more crippled they become. Turning on any AA reduces performance drastically.

Also 8600m GT SLI does not beat a single 8800m GTX in performance. What is up on par if SLI works right with 8800m GTX in performance is two 7950GTX in SLI, not even 8700m GT SLI is up there with the performance a single 8800m GTX delivers. 8800m GTX has 96 SP´s compard to 8600m GT´s 32 sp´s.

On the other hand with resolutions up to 1440x900 the 8600m and 8700m GT is pretty good. So I am glad you have great performance at 1440x900 Jacob, I assume that is your native res on the screen?

 

as i said, you now have the performance of 8700gt SLI, good job again , i hope the temps stays that low, you wont encounter any performance problems, (well Maybe AA) but at 1440x900 with the good CPU you have, everything will run perfectly, good luck

 

Crysis is probably more about tweaking and benchmarking than actual gaming, Which sucks.

 

Jacob, as others have said, the 8600GT SLi is nice and powerful, but a single 8800m GTX out performs SLi 8700GT's, which in turn, out performs 8600GT SLi's. You are getting good performance, no doubt, but I don't think you've ever actually used an 8800m equipped computer. (Rebut to your allegations of me never using "SLi 8600GT's")

 

eleron when you have your XPS M1730 I will send you a config that runs Crysis at 1920x1200 DX10 High very smoothly

 

lol send me one but with DX9 xD really considering installing it again ( I played it without patches only)

 

brainer I´ll see how it runs in DX9 first, though in DX9 in Vista. I think it will be faster in DX9 XP. Will send it soon.

 

whoa whoa whoa! what the heck... why yall hating? I loves me dual 8600m gt.... it set me back a cool million bucks..........and it better perform in the next 5 years. Maybe then I'll have it paid off. Nah seriously though, yall don't gotta gang up on me . All these educated posts really hurt my feelings and put me into a depression.

SLI FOR LIFE! PAYCE!

 

Nobody is "hating", it's just you can't expect too much out of your laptop.

 

Wow guys.... I have to make a tough decision.

I have the X205-SLI6 and I have gotten really good performance out of it through overclocking (see first post). I have 8 more days to return it and get my money back. I wanted to get the Gateway P-172X FX but it was sold out and discontinued by gateway when I went to buy it. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=265398


Gateway P-172X FX:

T8300 (2.40GHz, 800MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
Windows Vista® Home Premium (32-bit) SP1
4096MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-2048MB modules)
320GB 7200rpm SATA (2-160GB)
8x Multi-Format Dual Layer Slot Load DVD-RW w/ DVD-RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3
Intel® PM965 Chipset
17.0" WUXGA TFT Active Matrix (1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam
Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking
Fingerprint Reader
120 Watt AC Adapter
High-Definition Audio- 2 Channel, Built-In speakers, embedded microphone, headphone/speaker jack, and microphone jacks
Primary 9 Cell Lithium Ion battery (7800mAH) w/ 1 Yr. limited battery warrantyBluetooth® 2.0+EDR
FX Design with Copper Core Accent
1.3"-1.70" (H) x 15.75" (W) x 11.75" (D)
One ExpressCard™ Type 54
(3) USB 2.0, VGA Connector, V1.2 HDMI Connector, IEEE 1394 Firewire Port, e-SATA
Full-Size Keyboard, Synaptics Touchpad with Vertical Scroll and Dedicated Multimedia Panel
5-in-1 media card reader
Integrated RealTek 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
MSRP: $1999

Well Gateway just called me today and said "How about we give you a special promo on the unreleased new version?".

Gateway® P-173XL FX Edition

Operating System: Genuine Microsoft® Windows® Vista™ Ultimate (64-bit) SP1
Processor: Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor T8300 (2.40GHz, 800MHz FSB, 3MB L2 cache)
Memory: 4096MB 667MHz DDR2 SDRAM (2-2048MB modules)
Hard Drive: 400GB 7200rpm Serial ATA hard drive w/ Raid 0 (2-200GB hard drives)
Optical Drive: 8x Multi-Format Dual Layer DVDRW with DVD-RAM featuring Labelflash™ Technology
Display: 17.0" WUXGA TFT Active Matrix (1920 x 1200 max. resolution)
Chassis: Intel® PM965 Chipset
Battery: Primary 9 Cell Lithium Ion battery (7800mAH) w/ 1 Yr. limited battery warranty
Adapter: 120 Watt AC Adapter
Wireless Network: Integrated Intel® 802.11a/b/g/Draft-N Wireless Networking
Bluetooth: Bluetooth® 2.0+EDR
Fingerprint Reader: Fingerprint Reader
Web Camera: Integrated 1.3 Megapixel Web Cam
Media Card Reader: 5-in-1 media card reader (Memory Stick®, MemoryStick Pro®, MultiMediaCard™, Secure Digital™, xD-Picture Card)
Expansion Slots: One ExpressCard™ Type 54
External Ports: (3) USB 2.0, VGA Connector, V1.2 HDMI Connector, IEEE 1394 Firewire Port, e-SATA and Kensington Lock Slot
Audio: High-Definition Audio- 2 Channel, Built-In speakers, embedded microphone, headphone/speaker jack, and microphone jacks
Modem: Integrated V.92 56K modem
Network: Integrated RealTek 10/100/1000 Ethernet Adapter
Video: NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800M GTS with 512MB of GDDR3 discrete video memory
Dimensions (System): 1.3“-1.70“ (H) x 15.75“ (W) x 11.75“ (D)
Weight: Starting at 9.2 pounds

VS.

Toshiba X205-SLI6:

Operating System Windows Vista Ultimate 32 bit
Intel Core 2 Duo T9300 (2.50GHz, 800MHz FSB, 6MB L2 cache)
Intel PM965 Chipset
3GB Memory DDR2 667
17.0" Wide SXGA+ (1680 x 1050)
Dual NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT
Video Port 1 x VGA, 1 x S-Video TV-out, 1 x HDMI
2 x 200GB HDD 7200rpm (NO RAID)
Bluetooth V2.0 + EDR
LAN 10/100/1000Mbps
Intel Wireless WiFi Link 4965AGN (802.11a/g/n)
1 x ExpressCard slot (ExpressCard/34 and ExpressCard/54)
USB x 6, IEEE 1394 x1
1.3MP Webcam
TOSHIBA USB HDTV Tuner (External):
Broadcast high definition(720p or 1080i)
Broadcast standard definition(480i)
AC Adapter 180W (19V x 9.5A) Auto sensing, 100-240V/50-60Hz AC Adapter
Battery 6000mAh Lithium Ion battery pack
Dimensions 15.7" x 11.3" x 1.42-2.05"
Weight Starting at 9.37 lbs.

What do I do?

Do I keep the laptop I have now that I know gets a monster overclock (9133 3DMark06 score)? Is having more USB ports and a built in audio interface in case of emergencies (I DJ with my laptop) worth it? Should I keep it because of the great overclocks? I mean once the fan profile kicks in at 80C I can throw whatever clocks I want at this monster and it wont get any hotter it just crashes from not having enough volts. Also I have a walk in warranty with the Toshiba and I get a loaner laptop while they fix mine. I would have to ship in the gateway for service.

OR

Do I get the new unreleased Gateway FX with the 8800M GTS and Raid-0 on the hard drives? Will Raid-0 and the 8800M GTS (not GTX) really improve performance that much? The real question is will I be able to get such a good overclock out of it and will it really improve my games that much? The monitor has a much higher resolution so it might really stress that card.

I have 8 days to make a really tough decision. Please help.... lol

 

I believe the Gateway would perform better, as most games aren't supporting SLi like they should. Plus, the new "unreleased" Gateway has a much better CPU than the previous.

I would snag the Gateway, but that's just my opinion.

*Edit* Just realized both Gateway's have the same CPU. I was thinking of a different Gateway.

 

1)Every game released in 2008 supports sli up to 80%
2) but the Gateway's 8800GTS still a better choice just because of the 256 bit interface. which comes in handy IF playing with resolutions from 1440x900 and up, but SINCE you are getting all your money back, SLI is great if the user knew how to Utilize it!

 

Ok, it's "supported", but not like it was originally intended. When SLi was being marketed heavily, it was supposed to "double your performance". It comes nowhere near that.

 

at these days it doubles in most of the games i use, and i can proove it if you want to.. Single card VS dual card.