How to overclock a x1900 - help needed

[bananaman]

Well having got my x1900 and installing it I was already tempted by a little bit of overclocking but coming from an x800 background i have been thrown by the little quirks of the x1k series when it comes to overclocking - votages, changing clocks in 2d/3d mode etc. - too many unknowns for me to start fiddling with an expensive piece of hardware whilst my ignorance is so prevelent.

So I come to ask if any could help me with a quick "Idiots guide" as to the best way to overclock the card and the best tools to use.

My initial questions are:

How do i overclock the card outside of CCC?

Is it safe to raise the voltages (and is it even possible?)?

IS it best to have the card at a set speed all of the time rather than letting it flick between 3d anbd 2d mode (nothing that come tomorrow it will be watercooled)

Thanks in advance

nana

 

[Sir Random]

There's no need to touch the voltages, unless you've already overclocked it to it's limit, and you want to push it even higher.

Flicking between 2D and 3D speeds will help to keep the card cool and quiet when you're not gaming.

 

[speeduk]

Well CCC doesnt work for me and ATItool tries to force 2d mode and I can only run the core at 580mhz. How are you guys overclocking?

 

[speeduk]

Right I figured out how to overclock this thing. First type services.msc on run,and then select disable ATI Hotkey Poller.

Then get the tool below to overclock the 3d mode.

http://www.driverheaven.net/zardon/overclocker.zip

Quick test added 20mhz to core and memory got me almost an extra 100 marks.

 

[bananaman]

you star

out tonight but will try tomorrow night - does this disable 2d/3d mode changes or does it just overclock 3d mode?

 

[speeduk]

Actually you may not need to stop the ati hotkey service. I can only apply my overclock by having that running - using the overclock tool and overclocking in 3d mode.

I managed 670/792 as a max overclock. Stock is 620/720 and XTX is 650/750.

 

[LadFromWales]

You've got the fastest cards around, yet you want more?!?

Madness!

 

[Big.Wayne]

Yeah why dont you run in the new card for a while first, get a feel for it, see how hot it gets and how awesome it is in your fave games (also keeping an eye for any unwanted effects even while running the card at stock. . .

 

[speeduk]

Yeah why dont you run in the new card for a while first, get a feel for it, see how hot it gets and how awesome it is in your fave games (also keeping an eye for any unwanted effects even while running the card at stock. . .

BF2 plays fine 1280x1024 max settings 4xAA.

X3 has some minor bugs (lines in the gates center bit) and the performance seems a little sluggish but its not the fastest engine around.

Quake 4 is probably the best performing game - and it looks stunning in ultra quality.

FEAR performs amazing and looks nice. Found a save game I made specially for testing the new card.

I was getting 33fps in this spot on the 7800GT and with the x1900 I get 53fps. Whats more is when going to 4xAA 16xAF it only drops to 50fps where as on the GT it was 21fps.

Shame I cannot get CCC working but good job ATItool has settings for AA and AF etc.

I know it can seem crazy that I overclock the card as soon as I get it - but I always overclock everything I get and then run it at a safe 24/7 setting.

 

[bananaman]

I know it can seem crazy that I overclock the card as soon as I get it - but I always overclock everything I get and then run it at a safe 24/7 setting.

same here, and my gpu water block is coming today so it is just getting the most out of my money

and we are on overclockers.co.uk

 

[LadFromWales]

No warrantee for anything you lot buy then!

Overclocking it as soon as its out of the box, tisk tisk...

Wouldn't mind an X1900* myself, but way too expensive considering how often I game, and I don't have a pci-e board yet!

 

[The Asgard]

Quake 4 is probably the best performing game - and it looks stunning in ultra quality.

Didn't think you could run in UQ because of a bug in the driver? I'm sure thats why I only got 60FPS on mine because it was left in UQ from using my GTX 512.