GTX 580M - Just want to get some things straight.

Hello everyone!

A few days into using my P170HMx, amazing as hell.

There are a few things I just wanted to ask, simply just to ease my mind.

When overclocking my GTX580M (using MSI Afterburner), I'm currently increasing the x/y/z with 5 MHz increments, running Kombustor afterwards for 15 mins to check temperature etc.

Currently as I'm writing this, I'm on 635/1270/1515 (Using Link feature on AB) , and getting top temperatures of 81 degrees Celcius (Not using aftermarket cooling pad yet).

I know a lot of people have gotten higher values, but correct me if I'm wrong, the impression I've been getting is even 2 identical laptops will get different values and it's not an exact science therefore one has to progress slowly, ensuring nothing gets fried.

From what I've learnt, I should not go past 90 degrees Celcius (even though my card can handle 100 degrees) just to stay on the safe side, and only clock while playing games, resetting everything once I've quit playing.

I haven't touched the voltage yet, and don't intend to either. Besides it's greyed out for me.

I am aware of the fact that overclocking may and probably will reduce life on the GPU, it's a price I'm willing to take since I'm going to upgrade it in 2 years.

Is there anything that I've missed? Except for the fact that I should probably read more on the subject. I just want to get the fundamentals straight and would be very thankful if someone would chime in their input.

Thank you all in advance, all replies are much appreciated.

Philip

 

You've got a sound system there, absolutely. You're correct about each card and system being a little bit different, and I totally agree about the different profiles you've created. Setting clocks back down to stock when not in games is the best way to go.

Also, you are correct about the 90C temp threshold.

I'll let some of the other NBR overclocking buffs chime in as well, but everything looks good as far as I know.

 

Thank you very much for your response J.P.

There is one thing I forgot to add. My GPU usuage never exceeds 94%. Is there something I'm missing here? (I would be happier if it was around 98% or something).

 

I don't think you'll need to be too worried about that. I booted up Minecraft (funny how such a simple game can bring $3000 builds to their knees) and MSI Afterburner on my computer fluctuated between 97%-98%. Maybe try Furmark to see if it is the program only utilizing 94%?

 

This is something that I would like to address, if you don't mind. You have to account for the fact that 2 years down the road, the GTX 580m might be the best GPU that is supported by the motherboard/model. Hopefully, that isn't the case, but there is no way to know for sure. So, if you are overclocking now with the idea that reducing the longevity of the card won't be that big of a deal, just know that there is no guarantee that there will be a better card that you could purchase in the future.

 

Thank you for your insight MALIBAL.

As the gambler I am, I'm willing to bet that (hopefully) that there will be a newer model. Now should it be the case (God forbid) then I might go for 2x GTX 580M's in SLI. I don't know if it'll be worth the dollars in terms of performance upgrade, but I mean it is an upgrade anyway.

 

The P170 doesn't support SLI, just to let you know.

 

I think Malibal is assuming philiphan only wants to upgrade the gpu, but I believe that he means upgrading to a new laptop...

 

^^^^ I think so too. Many do 'upgrade' (get a new machine) in 2 years time.
_

 

If that's the case then any gaming laptops out there right now are as upgradable as Clevo/Sager

 

Also, wasn't there a thread posted recently where an NBR member mentioned the next gen of GPUs having the same MXM slot type?

Not that it is confirmed of course, but it is hopeful at least

 

Hm, so I've read some conflicting stories on various OC forums regarding the different values. From what I've understood, one should increase the x/y/z with set increments (5-10MHz) while others claim that a percentage based increase its better (So the increase in x/y/z actually are relative to each other).

Can someone point me into the right direction here? Or just simply enlighten me.

 

When i OC i increase x/y/z all together but nothing is stopping you from doing it independently. Sometimes if you raise x/y/z together it's unstable so you bring z down a little and the GPU stabilizes, it's just trial and error as every card is different. Joe's 580m will not always overclock the same as Bill's 580m. There is just too many factors involved.