x1400 overclock problem

My new notebook is a Dell e1505, x1400 256 MB, core duo 1.83, 1 G RAM. Anyway, I installed Powerstrip 3.63 to try to do some mild overclocking so Oblivion would run better. Initial clock settings were standard 430s/390s. I moved it up to 475/416, not near as high as some numbers I've seen here. Oblivion ran faster, I played for a couple of hours with no apparent artifacts or problems.

So I turn on computer the next day and the screen starts turning funny colors and crashing. Uh-oh. Maybe I overclocked it too much? After a few restarts, I'm finally able to get the computer running and I look at Powerstrip again. My clock settings are now at 209/135 for some reason and I can't increase them to more than 280 or so. What's going on? I removed and reinstalled powerstrip, no change. At this point I'd be happy just getting my original settings back - any advice on how to do this?

 

Do a system restore and see if that works. Worse case scenario is back up your data and do a symantec restore. See if the first one works, and you should still be under warranty so call dell. Even doing the symantec restore may not solve the problem. Sorry if it does not.

 

OK, I just flashed the BIOS and it reset back to my original clocks, so I'm OK for now. I guess my question now is why did this happen? Were my overclock settings too high? Oblivion really ran fine for a couple of hours, so I don't see how this could be. If anyone has any advice on how to avoid this in the I would really appreciate it so I don't fry my new computer.

 

well, overclocking first of all is not recommended because your system will become very unstable and things could happen that you would not expect just like what happened to you. So the only thing that i can guess was that you overclocked it so it got too hot and then it was underclocking itself to help maintain itself back so it went to the fps you stated above.

 

Do video cards underclock themselves in response to overclocking? I've never heard that but I'm not a pro by any means.

 

nor am I but when I overclocked my 9250 it actually underclocked itself so it would burn itself out I think. So this is an educated guess. Sorry I couldn't help you out any further

 

The only way an overclocked video card would underclock would be if it was getting dangerously hot - it would drastically reduce the clocks in that case in an attempt to run cool. If it gets too hot, it will shut off.

 

The underclocking happened while the computer was off, so I don't see how that was the problem. Strange. Could it have anything to do with whether the laptop was plugged in or not? I don't see how it could but that's the only difference.

 

If PowerPlay is enabled, you can't overclock on battery. So, it may have been the problem.

 

I don't have Powerplay. I played some more Oblivion overclocked with absolutely no graphical problems last night. Just now, the exact same stuff happened again, but the computer only crashes once powerstrip loads up during start-up. If I go in in safe mode it's fine, and if I msconfig and take pstrip out of my startup programs it's fine. However, once I load pstrip agian my clocks are once again set to 209/135. Do you all think it's my computer or maybe a powerstrip problem? Are there any programs to OC the x1400 other than pstrip 3.63?

 

Maybe Oblivion is taxing teh card too much? Do you notice any difference while running 3DMark and rebooting again? I don't know if that helps,but it might give you some sort of clue.

 

you may want to run diagnostics on your card, that sounds like an issue. The other thing you could do is reinstall the drivers, try different ones etc. If none of those work diagnostics will tell you if your video card is a bum. (my X1400 will be replaced in the next few days due to some resolution switching issues upon boot so it may be that some of the cards are having issues).

 

What diagnostics might those be?

 

Have you tried the latest beta of Powerstrip?
http://www.majorgeeks.com/PowerStrip_d718.html
This worked for me.

 

And it is not like you can call your manufactorer saying that powerplay is malfunctioning and not letting you OC. Man I would just leave it alone in my opinion.

 

I'll try that. I suspect it's a Powerstrip problem, because when Powerstrip tries to restore the "default" power setting that's when it somehow decides to super-underclock. While I'm playing Oblivion overclocked I still haven't had any problems at all.