General overclocking for GTAIV

[_corTEC]

Tizmo - Sweet config, I like. I oughta put a fan on the bottom of my case like you have!!!

[_corTEC]

[nigge]

corTEC i wants that gadget you has on the right

[_corTEC]

Ya, it's On Screen Display feature from Everest. Enable it through Preferences within Everest - it's really customizable - and can actually run in the Gadget Sidebar!

 

 

Enjoy!

[SNAKE DOC]

^Awesome.

 

Yeah I was thinking about that h50 and did some research. This guy is wondering whether or not his temps are nice. 40c load on our sweet q9550. However, another guy gets very high temps with it, so I have mixed feelings. I guess it depends on the airflow in the case.

 

How do you perform in Metro 2033? I am averaging 33 fps and its choppy at times. Haven't tried for a while though, might have fixed itself.

[_corTEC]

Umm, yeah, M-e-t-r-o... 2-0-3-3...

 

Runs like a bitch, I think it's very PhysX oriented. IDK, average FPS around 33 as well.

 

Good game though...

 

You must buy Singularity!! (if you haven't already! )

[SNAKE DOC]

I just couldn't force my self to play it, but it seemed cool.

 

SINGULARITY! Wow, how did I miss that?! That game looks so cool, love the concept. It hasn't been released on Steam yet but I will definitely get it asap!

[Garfield 2]

 

cornflakes4u: "1650 FSB @ 8.5x = 3506MHz @ 1.35v. 71c load, 46c idle. I'm not satisfied with that high temp so I'm setting the FSB back to 1600 for 3.4GHz @ 60c load. Doing a over-night test tonight, but so far its stable! Time to test IV.

 

I want to go underwater (but not a complete system, yet) or get a much better fan. Any suggestions?

 

A huge thanks to you _corTEC for everything you taught me."

 

It was my pleasure. I was only passing on knowledge from other friendly forums, where questions and 'noobs' are welcomed.

 

60*C @ Prime95 load isn't bad at all. I'm sure that VCORE can be reduced further, but if it's stable and you're happy that's what counts... To recommend a fan I'd have to say... Noctua!!! Why don't you go water and get that Corsair H50, it performs as good as, or better than high end air cooling solutions.

 

 

Garfield 2: You are seriously degrading the life of your CPU. Underclock it immediately. I thought you were wrong or unsure when you said, "Everest shows 95 degrees celcius and fan speed at 9800 RPM - LOL." That's definitely not 'LOL'.

Some monitoring programs add 5*C to temperatures. Always use CoreTemp, it's completely free and gives accurate, honest readings of frequencies and temperatures. The maximum working temperature of your CPU is 71.4*C.

 

Do not exceed this temperature for long periods of time.

 

The max speed of your Intel HSF is 1700RPM. I don't know why the sensors are playing up with that. Maybe they are giving true readings and your stock fan is going crazy trying to keep your CPU alive!

Then it's definitely not possible that the temperature was so high, as it ran at 78 degrees for some time. Nothing is wrong with it, but I went back to 2.66GHz. I'll overclock it after I get a new cooler. And I'm also saving up for a new LGA1366 computer.

[SNAKE DOC]

I ran an over-night test in Prime95 and woke up to a BSOD looking like this:

 

That was on FSB 1600 @ 8.5x = 3400MHz. Temps are fine so that's still not the issue, and my MOBO temp is max 42c! Testing numbers like 1620, 1580, etc. as you suggested.

[Tizmo]

Have you tried increasing your CPU's vcore?

[SNAKE DOC]

I haven't tried anything above the AUTO setup (1.35v). This is where it starts to get too hot. (FSB 1650 @ 8.5x = 3506MHz. 71c load yesterday after PC had been on for 16+ hours)

 

This guide for my specific motherboard suggests upping FSB voltage when going above 1600, so I raised it from stock 1.325 to 1.4. CPU load got raised obviously, but so far (1 hour of stress-testing) it seems stable. Will run another overnight test tonight.

 

From the guide (I ignored the first two):

 

 

CPU           ~1.4v (actual via CPUid) a good starting point for Kentsfield >3.2Ghz…faster=more***

RAM          Run at manufacturers specified voltage only.

FSB           1.3v....(1.4v  ~1600QDR+)

SPP/NB     1.4v...(1.45v  ~1700QDR+)

MCP/SB    1.525v

HT             1.25v   (aka MCP<>SPP)

 

Status:

 

I got an advice from a friend saying I should try to set my RAM in CAS4 instead of CAS5, and to set my timings to 4-4-4-12 @ 2.1v. This made setting CPU voltage to 1.3 NO problem at FSB 1600 = 3.4GHz! I am running tests as we speak and core temp is now peaking at 66c vs the old 71c @ 1.35v. (I'm testing this all with one (spare) stick.)

 

- Hardware failure on 1.275v, stable at 1.3v. Gonna try to lower it further.

- Prime95 crashed on 1.2875v, trying the one in the middle.

- Prime95 crashed on 1.29375v.

= Stable at FSB 1600 = 3.4GHz @ 1.3v, 66c load with ONE stick. Crashed when two were set in dual-channel. Trying without dual-channel.

Conclusion:

 

- SUCCESS! Stable at FSB 1600 = 3.4GHz @ 1.3v with 67c load and THREE sticks.

 

It seems I will reach a better OC if I set the timings manually and don't use dual-channel. Gonna spend the next days experimenting with this, and when I get the Corsair h50 I will try to go very high.

 

OC'ing IS A DRUG

 

VirtualMark

Edited July 1, 2010 by cornflakes4u

[SLAYERMAGGOT]

I just upgraded my PC and got a lot new stuff.

 

Here are my PC specs:

 

Mainboard: MSI 785GM-E51

CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition

GPU: AXLE nVidia GeForce GT240 1GB DDR3

RAM: 4GB OCZ OCZ3G8004GK Gold Z3 DDR3-800

Power Supply: DTK Combat Power Supply 750 WATT

 

Now i was thinking about OCing my CPU, GPU.

I don't have experience in overclocking, but i want that to enhance my PC without loosing much of stability or getting hourly crashes.

 

How can i improve my tact from 3,2 GHZ to 4,0 GHZ and still have a stable system?

 

And how can i oc my graphic card?

 

Can the RAM be overclocked?

 

Oh and i just wanted to say the cooler i have on my CPU is very loud.

I tried to set it to 50% use in BIOS instead of 100%, but still it's loud.

Is there any way to make it more silent? BTW i just can select to have it on 50%, 75% or 100%.

 

Sorry for the large amount of questions i just want to be informed, before doing anything wrong...

[_corTEC]

SLAYERMAGGOT:-

 

I'm gonna be totally honest here: I don't do AMD.

 

I could Google forums for around half an hour, put it all together and give you answers, but I have no real experience with AMD and AMD boards. This is where I really start to fail. My fanboyism to Intel and nVidia gets the better of me...

 

I think that the basics that I mentioned in previous posts still apply. Disable all CPU features that waste voltage, and carefully raise the FSB until a desirable clock is achieved. Then undervolt CPU till it stays at stable levels. If desirable overclock isn't achieved at normal FSB frequencies overvolting maybe required, but I can't advise this to anyone. It's dangerous. Every chip, memory bank, cache and stream is different to the next one. I heard someone say that a CPU's internal mechanism is like a fingerprint. It is completely unique and a small amount of OCing on one chip, could fry another. It's that simple, and harsh(!)

 

As I stated though, my basic instructions, and our mutual friend Google will help you achieve a stable system that can withstand hours and hours of use.

[SLAYERMAGGOT]

I did overclocked my AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition with a tact of 3200 MHz to 3900 Mhz. I did OC it with the bios by higher the multiplier, i started to go up to 3600 MHz, then to 4000 Mhz and got a BSOD, tried 3800 MHz and it worked so i choose 3900 MHz and while running Prime 95 i got a BSOD, then i set it again to 4000 MHz, got BSOD and left it at 3900 MHz. The other stuff i just set on auto. Well, as i said i'm not really experienced with overclocking.

 

 

 

I'm still using the orginal cpu fan, hope this one will keep my CPU cool and don't let it burn

 

At all it didn't affected much on TBoGT, i got a FPS of 15.65 before the OCing and after all that 16.03 (sometimes 16.24) in the Benchmark.

 

Well, it wasn't very successful for GTA, but it might be useful for other games. But even if the Benchmark says i get 16 FPS, i get in game from 13 FPS (Minimum) to 25-30 FPS (City) up to 40-50 FPS(in Buildings)

 

Tommorow i will overclock my graphic card with Riva Tuner, hope it will work out as i except

Edited July 1, 2010 by SLAYERMAGGOT

[SNAKE DOC]

Nice one, SLAYERMAGGOT.

 

Tip on improving your GTA performance: turn off shadows

[Garfield 2]

Such a sh*t graphics card for such a good CPU. f*ck, get a GTS 250.

[Merlena]

I have to say, congratulations for making an overclocking thread, I mean, this is not overclock.net. I really don't get why the hell you'd want to overclock your computer for GTA IV, which is a rubbish optimized game for the PC, perhaps even worse than Age of Conan was on release.

If you really have issues running the game at factory settings, with tweaks, or without, just leave it. Not like I can play it on my business laptop..

 

And really, I think it's time soon to put the game on the shelf, and hit up some new parts for future Rockstar Games titles, if they do such a bad job again. If so, use your money right:

Intel Quad 2 Core i7 940-960

Nvidia 480GTX 1356MB GGDR5/ATI x2, 5xxx.

 

And if you're one of those that unfortunately have a large GPU on a not so new CPU, just push the use of VRAM. No need to overclock your computer to run this really really bad port.

If you somewhat care for your hardware, or you have old hardware that you have to overclock it, as in this case: Don't bother, not saying it will hit the trash due to malfunctioning pretty soon, but you never know with different hardware.

 

Just saying, overclock to run GTA? What the hell?

 

Not anything bad or all, but.. the forum is named "PC Performance Tips", just don't see how overclocking your computer for this garbage of an engine is even a tip. As said, maybe a bright tip to keep your hardware running for another 2 months or so.

 

/facepalm

 

Just asking, what's up posting your "zomg rig" in the signature? Show off? Well then I have to say: Clap for 70%+ of the people here showing off having over a year outdated hardware.

 

Just doesn't make any sense for me.

Edited July 2, 2010 by Merlena

[jnzooger]

snip

Overclocking doesn't necessarily decline the life of a product. As I've said in another post, a lot of times "overclocking" is actually just resetting to the proper setting for a factory underclocked part.

 

However, in the situations where its not, with the proper cooling, an overclocker's computer can actually run longer and better than the average user's can. When you overclock, you generally keep a close eye on your temps, or do everything you can to get them down. The average user never even knows what the proper temps are. One dead fan can shorten the life of a processor a lot faster than an overclock can.

 

And then there is "I really don't get why the hell you'd want to overclock your computer for GTA IV, which is a rubbish optimized game for the PC ..." This is the whole reason to overclock it. Welcome to a GTA Forum. People here are trying to play GTA IV. If their machine can run, say, Crysis but not GTA IV, should they just accept that? No, they want to play GTA IV, and if overclocking can let them do that, the tips are welcome.

[Merlena]

snip

Overclocking doesn't necessarily decline the life of a product. As I've said in another post, a lot of times "overclocking" is actually just resetting to the proper setting for a factory underclocked part.

 

However, in the situations where its not, with the proper cooling, an overclocker's computer can actually run longer and better than the average user's can. When you overclock, you generally keep a close eye on your temps, or do everything you can to get them down. The average user never even knows what the proper temps are. One dead fan can shorten the life of a processor a lot faster than an overclock can.

 

And then there is "I really don't get why the hell you'd want to overclock your computer for GTA IV, which is a rubbish optimized game for the PC ..." This is the whole reason to overclock it. Welcome to a GTA Forum. People here are trying to play GTA IV. If their machine can run, say, Crysis but not GTA IV, should they just accept that? No, they want to play GTA IV, and if overclocking can let them do that, the tips are welcome.

I just put out my opinion, and if none sees the sort of logic in what I wrote, as you obviously did not, it was more like a general output as I wouldn't encourage people to overclock their machines, because not everyone has that and that hardware.

 

Lets say: It takes you half a week of work to get yourself the 480GTX, which is the most powerful single-card GPU on the planet right now. Then you have the CPU which is the same price, lets say, save some cash if you're such an enthusiast and just get yourself some 2010 hardware, and stop overclocking your computer from early 2007-2008.

 

Quite sure most techs would agree, and say: "Throw it in the trash, and buy something new." I didn't join this community due to GTA IV, but more like the RAGE engine itself, and how bad it is optimized, that's why all my topics is in this section.

 

You might not like my opinion, just speaking of experience, as I work for a BitBuy, distributing computer parts in associason with Komplett.no (All sort of parts).

 

I'm saying: Get something new, the time you'll use on the pain of overclocking it to the perfect settings, you'll earn enough to buy yourself a few goodies. To put it roughly.

 

But whatever, overclocking thread, whatever, do what the hell you want just don't see the logic in it, as your computer is fried for any other game that's being released this year anyway, and the Fall is just a couple of months away, believe me, you don't want your overclocked computer to run GTA IV optimially when stock games are out, you'll be missing out on much.

 

My two cents. ><

 

[SNAKE DOC]

Did you bother to read this whole thread and all the (GREAT) results from me + the other two guys trying this? Did you read the comprehensive posts written by _corTEC, explaining step-by-step on how to do this properly?

 

No offense Merlena, but your two cents sucks. To put it roughly.

 

Overclocking enables users to spend LESS money on MORE performance. We are monitoring temperatures and running stresstests. Our systems are running better than yours and we spent less money.

 

Your post just seems like you're trying to sell something. Oh and your signature doesn't really make sense after your post. I'm just saying.

 

Just wondering; are you Norwegian too?

Edited July 2, 2010 by cornflakes4u

[jnzooger]

I saw the logic behind it, and yeah, normally you wouldn't want to overclock unless you are going for performance. But wrap your head around this logic... Most high end motherboards now have special OCing tools designed for the unlocked CPUs which in turn are designed for overclockers. The higher end CPUs for example are designed in such a way so that someone with, say, a watercooled setup can push the multipliers and get that extra performance. So if you take the care to make sure you are doing it right, why shell out another grand if you can get the same performance from what you have?

 

I've been running my Core i7 920 overclocked from the day I got it. Currently have it set to 3.34GHz. (Stock is 2.67GHz.) Granted I would never try that on air, but with watercooling, this is not a problem. My video card came factory overclocked. I suppose that my lifetime warranty on that card doesn't really cover it, huh?

 

Now the real logic here is that you tell people to get new parts for a living. Any excuse would likely do.

 

On the contrary, I actually work as technician. I build systems. I overclock them. I setup watercooling loops for people. My machines last longer than anything the big names have.

 

But whatever, logic fail, whatever, do what the hell you want just don't see the logic in it, as my computer will run the game better than yours, and I paid a couple of grand less that you did.

 

My two dollars. ^^

[SNAKE DOC]

^

 

• Could you please give me a (free! ) advice on how I would go about getting my system underwater?
• Is it possible for me to start with a waterblock for my CPU (i.e. Corsair h50) and then upgrade to a complete system?

Any input is much appreciated.

[_corTEC]

F**k me Merlena what crawled up your c**t and died? If anyone needs to f**kin' chill out it's you.

 

Merlena - "I have to say, congratulations for making an overclocking thread,"

 

I have to say, congratulations for sounding like a sad bitch. And it's good to see hardware that's one year old competing with i7 tech. Do you think so, is that too abnormal for you to grasp?

 

jnzooger hitting the nail on the head: - "But whatever, logic fail, whatever, do what the hell you want just don't see the logic in it, as my computer will run the game better than yours, and I paid a couple of grand less that you did."

 

That's the very essence of overclocking.

 

Merlena - "But whatever, overclocking thread, whatever, do what the hell you want just don't see the logic in it, as your computer is fried for any other game that's being released this year anyway, and the Fall is just a couple of months away, believe me, you don't want your overclocked computer to run GTA IV optimially when stock games are out, you'll be missing out on much."

 

Interesting point here, funny thing is that I don't need to overclock anything to run modern games, because, yes, as you have said GTAIV's engine (might be) poorly coded/ported.

 

'So what can I do to possibly make the game run smoother? Commandline switches? Umm, tried that. Maybe reducing the amount of VRAM it can handle? Umm, tried that too. What else could I possibly do to my computer to make this game run correctly? Aha!!! I got it!!! Overclocking!!! Wow!!! I think I'll share my good news with everyone at GTAForums 'cause overclocking really helped me with performance!!! God, I hope I can help someone get better framerates!' Thus Overclocking Thread in PC Performance Tips.

 

Is that OK with you, Merlena?

[Merlena]

 

I saw the logic behind it, and yeah, normally you wouldn't want to overclock unless you are going for performance. But wrap your head around this logic... Most high end motherboards now have special OCing tools designed for the unlocked CPUs which in turn are designed for overclockers. The higher end CPUs for example are designed in such a way so that someone with, say, a watercooled setup can push the multipliers and get that extra performance. So if you take the care to make sure you are doing it right, why shell out another grand if you can get the same performance from what you have?

 

I've been running my Core i7 920 overclocked from the day I got it. Currently have it set to 3.34GHz. (Stock is 2.67GHz.) Granted I would never try that on air, but with watercooling, this is not a problem. My video card came factory overclocked. I suppose that my lifetime warranty on that card doesn't really cover it, huh? 

 

Now the real logic here is that you tell people to get new parts for a living. Any excuse would likely do.

 

On the contrary, I actually work as technician. I build systems. I overclock them. I setup watercooling loops for people. My machines last longer than anything the big names have.

 

But whatever, logic fail, whatever, do what the hell you want just don't see the logic in it, as my computer will run the game better than yours, and I paid a couple of grand less that you did.

 

My two dollars. ^^

Of course, I totally agree if you've build your own computer and you have a clue on what you have, as well as experience. My apologizes for misunderstanding you. :>

 

- _corTEC

Have I offended you in someway? I tried using some rough sarcasm, as of course I see no problem in overclocking, just meant: "If you don't know what to do, then don't do it."

Really relax, take a couple of Valium or something, not like I'm trolling your topic. If I ever thought your topic was rubbish, I wouldn't even read it, as the topic title is quite solid - What's up with the yelling?

 

 

Edited July 2, 2010 by Merlena

[_corTEC]

SLAYERMAGGOT: If you are getting those kinds of FPS in-game you need to reduce your graphic settings. A 3.9GHz CPU should do better than that.

 

Tweakers on this site here say that for less then 512MB VRAM medium textures should be used and medium/low shadows as well. What GPU do you own?

[_corTEC]

cornflakes4u - You oughta take me off your sig now. I don't deserve the accolade for your OCs anymore. Just gonna do that 3DMark thing to compare results with you.

[_corTEC]

My bad, Merlena, I think I took what you said too literally. Sorry.

[_corTEC]

[SNAKE DOC]

^Nice one. And, you still deserve all the credit. The day after my first successful OC, I guided a friend of mine with a E6600 @ 2.4GHz to OC to 3.2GHz, EASILY on stock cooler and voltages.

 

Last night I got a BSOD while playing GTA. This was on 1600 FSB = 3.4GHz. Clocked down to 1554 FSB = 3.3GHz, and no problems. Even ran Prime95 for 8.5 hours with no errors.

 

So my conclusion is that my RAM is stopping me from reaching a higher OC. Either that or my motherboard obviously.

 

I have a friend with the Q9550 that reached 4GHz @ 1.25v with no problems on air-cooling. He has a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3LR.

 

EDIT:

 

I just re-applied thermal paste and I got better temps. I'm at 1.4v in BIOS atm:

 

Edited July 3, 2010 by cornflakes4u

[_corTEC]

You need to increase the voltages to feed the increased frequencies of your hardware. If it's crashing at that FSB, don't just reduce it try increasing your voltages first. That's why people go for watercooling solutions to be able to have high voltages without burning out their hardware. On aircooling it's just not possible to increase voltages enough to get stability and keep temperatures at operating levels.

 

I wish I knew more about watercooling to help you with a new setup but, I don't. It's something that I want to get into myself. I don't think that a Corsair H50 would complement a full water loop, 'cause it's like a toy compared to real water cooling systems. It costs around £50, and a single radiator for a real water system costs around that!!!

 

 

(Please correct me!) As I have understood it you will need:

 

CPU Block

GPU Block

NB, SB and Chipset/Mosfet Blocks

RAM Blocks

HDD Blocks (?)

Pump

Cooling Hosing - (Whatever diameter you choose depends on pressure/speed of flow)

Water Resevoir (Fits into 5.25" Drive Bay)

At least two radiators