X205 SLi1 - Blank Screen issue

System Specs - SLi 1 (Summary)
CPU: T7250 @ 2.0 GHz per core.
RAM: 2GB
Video Card: 8600m GT SLi with DDR3.

The title might be a bit misleading, so I'll explain my situation.

The machine seemed to be running decent with idle tempratures under standard video clock speeds. I for around 58-to-62/55-to-64 on both GPU clocks. CPU core tempratures were about 10c lower than the GPUs.

So I tried my hand at overclocking. Nothing too drastic. Kinda' in league with what most on this forum achieve with the SLi1s. Unfortunately, during most games and even 3dMark06, the screen goes blank; it's black with the backlight still running and the machine seizes up forcing me to power it down.

I've checked the temps during these sessions, and the most I record for the peaks--before the seizing up--while the machine is overclocked are around 78-to-89 for both GPU cores, and once again, the CPUs are quite a bit cooler.

If anyone has any ideas on the symptoms my machine's exhibiting, or any solutions on how to deal with this problem, then please do share your thoughts. Much appreciated.

 

Are you getting this problem at stock speeds? If don't, try a lower overclock and check... All pc's are different (no matter if they have the same hardware), clock speeds that may be stable for me might not be stable for you and viceversa... Don't go by what people gets, test your system and find it's very own limit...

 

Thanks for the advice.

No, it doesn't really happen at stock speeds. However, I do believe that my stable 'limit', so to speak, is a bit limited due to dust in the heating vents. Hell, a small clean up using a hoover managed to increase stability at overclocks.

If you don't mind my asking: Is your current overclocking at its peak?

 

To be honest i haven't found my "peek" clocks.. The overclock in my sig was the hightest i have made... But it was stable (played a whole night without artifacts or any problem)... Since i really don't need (for now) to even use that overclock (except for testing 3dmark ) i haven't go any higher... Actually i'm always at stock speeds...

 

Fair enough. I mean, why overclock when it's not needed. Thing is that with my clocks, I've been playing Cliver Barker's Jericho at a resolution of 1400x900 with 2 x advanced smoothing. The game averages at around 35 FPS, but does dip down to the mid-20s. I guess I'm demanding too much, but my machine seems to be stable at this point.

By the way, those are some good scores on 3dMark06. As you can see, with my overclocks with the 175.70 forceware drivers, I still fall behind your scores.

I just want to confirm though: Is this blank screen problem surely due to card clock stability, or does this also happen when the computer overheats?

 

Umm i really don't know, but i think it might happend for both reasons... Now, you stated that the temps you were getting are around 90... I don't think the lappy will go blank at those temps, they are normal... So i think the problem you were getting was due to card clock stability...

Another thing, try the game (jericho) at lower clocks and see if it gets any smoother... Some ppl find a peek in performance with certain clocks (for example 600/900) and if they go any higher they actually get lower performance...

 

yeah I was thinking the same thing about going higher with the clocking after a certain point you start to get negative performance. My screen blacked out like yours one time playing COD4 for about 30 min into the game at 565/837 using 174.31, and the only thing I could do to reboot was take out the battery.

Right now I overclock my cellphone from 200mhz to 240 and when I test it on youtube videos it plays a lot smoother at 240, then when I go to 260 the video performance starts to degrade. I guess same principle with gpus and cpus on personal computers.

 

Yeah, makes sense. Although I'd still like to take a crack at giving this machine a proper cleaning. I have ordered a pack of compressed air cans.

And Jacob808, I think you've described my problem. However, I don't think you -need- to take the battery out. Have you tried to hold down the power button for about 5 seconds?