Should I OC my GPU?

Hi guys!

I want to have a performance boost. I have an ASUS N61Jq, and I was thinking of OC'ing it. But first, I need a pros' recommendation.

I want to OC my ATi Mobility Radeon HD 5730 from 650/800 to 700/900. Will there be any performance boosts? I don't want to risk of having an OC of 100MHz because it would certainly Overheat. So, my question stands : will the +50/+100 MHz of OC do a noiceable difference?

Thanks in advance!

PS : I have a 3 fan NOX boreas aluminium.

 

Yes, there will be performance boosts. The memory bandwidth will likely matter more if the card takes after my 5830. And if it's good VRAM, you can probably kick it up to 1GHz pretty easily. I know my Envy runs 500/800 stock and it's stable at 550/1000. Nice 20% boost in memory bandwidth gives me about 10-15% more FPS in almost all games.

 

In synthetic benchmarks yes, in actual gaming maybe a few fps. Make sure you monitor the temperatures and test for stability.

 

Thanks for the reply!

Now, to the heat issues : will there be any Overheat? When I play games, it stays at 81, 82C max, and I don't want it to kick up to
90s. What do you think? Is it safe?

But, when I OC the memory clock, it also OC's the bandwidth? Didn't know about it! Thanks!

 

Thanks for replying !
I don't care about benchmarks :3 Will I see any improvements in Metro 2033, Crysis, L4D2 and Medal of Honor?

Thanks!

 

It all depends on the resolution and the quality of the game. I think your GPU is more limited by the Unified shaders, texture mapping units. It is literally half of what a 5870 Mobility is. Core clock/memory clock will play a difference but your card's hardware is only entry level high end.

 

Yeah, if I could magically add more 400 shaders, to have 800 ( 800:5=160 FTW ), it would be a heck of a beast!
So, there is no point I'm OC'ing? What will be my max fps gain?

Thanks!

PS : the res is 1366x768.

 

Oh and, what if I upgrde the GPU to a 5870? Is it possible, if I provide a nice cooling? If yes, problem solved!

 

You would have to go research that. Last I heard ASUS uses their own proprietary form of MXM but upgradable to another ASUS MXM card.

 

I'm sorry, but what is a MXM?

 

MXM is the graphics card connector for notebooks. Basically the desktop equivalent of PCIe.

 

I dont think upgrading is possible in an N61JQ, just to make sure go to the owners lounge forum and ask there.

 

Weird... I have seen a slideshow presentation of how to upgrade an ASUS N61Jq... I could be wrong tho.

 

I OC my 5730 way higher than you're planning to. I've had no heat problems at all. In fact, my max load GPU temps are only 3C higher than they were on stock clocks, maxing at around 80C under FurMark + Prime95. You should have no problems at all at the speeds you're looking at.

I've gotten mine to 100% stable at 835/1105 (and at 850/1075, though the mem speed seems to make a bigger difference than the clock speed, so 835/1105 benched higher), though I don't leave it turned up that high all the time. I've been helping a bunch of guys over at the Dell board OC their XSPS16's, and I haven't found anybody that isn't stable up to at least 750/950.

 

Still worth it if it takes it from a 25fps average to 30fps, or raises the minimum fps by 3-4 frames.

 

you cannot replace the GPU in N61 with 5870M... the laptop would melt....and the 5870M would be too big to fit.. all you can do is OC but i suggest you stick to temps under 80C.. its already not that good at 80C.. repaste your GPU to drop temps under OC or get a notebook cooler.

 

How much was the FPS/score gain with those OC's?

EDIT :
How much FPS do you think will I gain if I OC to those clocks in Metro 2033 and Crysis? Oh and, when you play, what is your temp OC'd? I have 80C @ stock. It's an ASUS N61Jq. Does it have a good cooler?

EDIT 2 :
How did you OC with? Rivatuner? If through the BIOS, I see no options like that in mine...

 

If you're running 80C stock, that's already quite high. You might not be able to get too much higher, though the clocks you're looking at should be reachable. I'd test everything carefully and proceed slowly. I generally don't hit anything higher than 75C (oc'd) when playing games and 80C with furmark + prime95. It's been a while since I've ran anything at stock speeds, but I think it was something in the range of a near 2000 point gain in 3DMark06.

 

Wow, that's a big increase!
Did you mess with the fan? I wanted to increase the fan speed, but the BIOS is locked, and I don't want to flash the BIOS for it.
Still, the clocks I want to reach, looks like I won't have a big increase, so I won't risk. But, if I make out to have a fan speed increase, I will try to
OC. But the question still lies down : how will I increase the fan speed?
Oh and, did you apply thermal paste? If I do, will it be safer to OC? Tho, I
don't know how to apply thermal paste...

 

Yes, I applied thermal paste, it's a cheap easy way to drop temps by around 5C or so, and is a good idea if you plan on OCing. There are lots of guides out there on how to apply thermal paste, just google it, or search these forums. The 2000 points were from stock to 835/1105, going to 700/900 will probably only net you around 700 points or so, but it's still worth doing.

You might be able to get some fan tools to work on a laptop, but for most laptops the fan is controlled by the BIOS, and you'd have to do some BIOS modding to change it.

 

A while ago when I was shopping for a 5870 I saw one on ebay for like $160 pulled from an asus and it was a slightly different shape than clevo, so i didn't consider it. I would say you need one of those weird shaped ones. Look on ebay once a day and you might get lucky.

 

Will any thermal paste do it? Or are there specific ones that are "the best" or something?
Also, if the temp drops to 75C, it's safer to OC, right? If I get around 75C, can I OC to the clocks that you have?

Thanks for the help!

 

I have just tested Metro 2033 maxed out, and 75C max. Avg is 71... Odd, before the format, I had 80C... BIOS fault?
Anyways, I can't OC, because ATITool doesn't detect my video drivers. I tried to google the 10.9 drivers, but can't find them. Can some one link me to them please?

 

Pretty much any paste will be better than the stock crap. Arctic Silver 5 is probably the best all around paste, and is the most widely used and thoroughly tested one. Right now, I'm using G751, which usually does the best in paste comparisons, but by best I'm talking differences in the 0.1C range. Any of the quality pastes (AS5, G751, TX-2, ceramique, etc) will be fine.