• 5870 freezing up because of small OC?
    17 replies, posted
I got a 5870 for christmas, and I love it. However today I decided to OC it. I went to ATi Overdrive, increased the core clock by tiny 5 MHz and pressed Test Custom Clocks. Somehow it froze and started showing vertical stripes all over the screen, and I pushed the reset button. I heard the fan went up VERY much, but slowly decreased, so that i think it was around 20% when it got to Windows. Have I done anything wrong? I mean it can't get this unstable by a 5 MHz OC?
Why am I dumb?
[QUOTE=thf;19937167]Why am I dumb?[/QUOTE] It's unfair to just rate you dumb, but the vertical stripes are part of ATI's crappy GPU stress test. Yeah, they didn't even make the stress test 3D. I'm correct in assuming the vertical stripes were like rainbow hue color's that sort of blend together right? Thats the ATI test that attempts to stress the GPU to see if the OC sticks without BSOD or artifacting.
Ah, hehe, now I understand. Sorry, I WAS dumb, just rate me.. [editline]09:16PM[/editline] [QUOTE=GetOutOfBox;19937481]It's unfair to just rate you dumb, but the vertical stripes are part of ATI's crappy GPU stress test. Yeah, they didn't even make the stress test 3D. I'm correct in assuming the vertical stripes were like rainbow hue color's that sort of blend together right? Thats the ATI test that attempts to stress the GPU to see if the OC sticks without BSOD or artifacting.[/QUOTE] Yep they looked like that, still have no answer to why the fan did go up to like 100% when I restarted One question, what if I bump up the clocks to so high numbers the screen go black? Heard of that that happens when you oc the Vram. I guess the clocks will be restored if i reboot still? [editline]09:24PM[/editline] BTW, what a crappy "stress test"
[QUOTE=thf;19939342]Ah, hehe, now I understand. Sorry, I WAS dumb, just rate me.. [editline]09:16PM[/editline] Yep they looked like that, still have no answer to why the fan did go up to like 100% when I restarted One question, what if I bump up the clocks to so high numbers the screen go black? Heard of that that happens when you oc the Vram. I guess the clocks will be restored if i reboot still? [editline]09:24PM[/editline] BTW, what a crappy "stress test"[/QUOTE] To tell you the truth, there's not much point in overclocking the GPU, nowadays, almost all video card manufacturers overclock their cards at the factory to be able to advertise higher clock speeds, you won't get much more out of it. It's not worth the annoyances, such as artifacting in certain games and not in others, permanent damage (rarely, though its a possibility), and various other annoyences. I reccomend focusing your overclocking efforts on the CPU, you'll have much more success their, even on locked models, as you can still turn the FSB up on the locked models. For example, on my locked Phenom 2 X3, I got an extra 800 mhz out of it, which is pretty hefty considering that I'm unable to increase the HT multiplier and the voltages, also resetting a bad cpu overclock is (relatively) easy, just remove the CMOS battery for 10 minutes, then restart. One thing I highly reccomend when overclocking the CPU, is to only overclock from inside the BIOS, overclocking using software in windows, produce much inferior results, and often doesn't work, and just freezes the os.
[QUOTE=GetOutOfBox;19940093]To tell you the truth, there's not much point in overclocking the GPU, nowadays, almost all video card manufacturers overclock their cards at the factory to be able to advertise higher clock speeds, you won't get much more out of it. It's not worth the annoyances, such as artifacting in certain games and not in others, permanent damage (rarely, though its a possibility), and various other annoyences. I reccomend focusing your overclocking efforts on the CPU, you'll have much more success their, even on locked models, as you can still turn the FSB up on the locked models. For example, on my locked Phenom 2 X3, I got an extra 800 mhz out of it, which is pretty hefty considering that I'm unable to increase the HT multiplier and the voltages, also resetting a bad cpu overclock is (relatively) easy, just remove the CMOS battery for 10 minutes, then restart. One thing I highly reccomend when overclocking the CPU, is to only overclock from inside the BIOS, overclocking using software in windows, produce much inferior results, and often doesn't work, and just freezes the os.[/QUOTE] I found this "MSI Afterburner GPU OCing program, actually it doesn't apply the clocks unless you tell it to, which is good if it freezes on me ;D Actually I have the stock cooler for the CPU, I guess I'll have to get a better one to OC it.
[QUOTE=thf;19940338]I found this "MSI Afterburner GPU OCing program, actually it doesn't apply the clocks unless you tell it to, which is good if it freezes on me ;D Actually I have the stock cooler for the CPU, I guess I'll have to get a better one to OC it.[/QUOTE] Actually, many stock coolers aren't that bad. While they don't compare to the high-end Zalman models, they can take a decent overclock.
[QUOTE=GetOutOfBox;19940404]Actually, many stock coolers aren't that bad. While they don't compare to the high-end Zalman models, they can take a decent overclock.[/QUOTE] So, you mean the Q6600 CPU cooler is kinda decent anyway, how much could I OC compared to a Zalman cooler or w/e?
[QUOTE=thf;19940628]So, you mean the Q6600 CPU cooler is kinda decent anyway, how much could I OC compared to a Zalman cooler or w/e?[/QUOTE] You'd get much better performance with a mid-priced zalman cooler, though the core 2's stock coolers are pretty good considering they're not specialty coolers. It's okay to experiment with an overclock on the cpu, as long as you don't mess around with voltages if you don't know what you're doing. If the heat spikes, just shut it down and reset the clock speed and try again. Try going in 10-15 mhz increments, as you'll best find the max OC this way.
[QUOTE=GetOutOfBox;19940727]You'd get much better performance with a mid-priced zalman cooler, though the core 2's stock coolers are pretty good considering they're not specialty coolers. It's okay to experiment with an overclock on the cpu, as long as you don't mess around with voltages if you don't know what you're doing. If the heat spikes, just shut it down and reset the clock speed and try again. Try going in 10-15 mhz increments, as you'll best find the max OC this way.[/QUOTE] So, basically I just increase the FSB with 10-15 mhz, check stability with Prime95, and check temps also, and I do this until I find the max clock that is stable, and not overheating?
[QUOTE=thf;19940786]So, basically I just increase the FSB with 10-15 mhz, check stability with Prime95, and check temps also, and I do this until I find the max clock that is stable, and not overheating?[/QUOTE] You don't have to check stability every time you push it up 15 mhz, what I mean goes like this: 1. Default clock. Overclock 15 mhz. 2. Restart, does windows boot to the login screen without problems, such as a long freeze or restart? If yes goto step 3. If no, either stop right there, or research voltages and their role in overclocking, then try increasing the voltages. The repeat 1 3.Overclock another 15 mhz. Restart. Does windows get to the login screen? If yes, repeat this step until you get you either reach the point where the computer won't start (in which case, you put the overclock back to the last settings that worked), or the desired clock rate. Once you have reached the maximum clock rate you wished to achieve, and the computer starts succesfully, then run a Prime95 stress test. You will know when the CPU fails this test, because it will either freeze (without responding to any input, and show no activity), glitch up, or the program will report an error like "Unexpected rounding". If it passes, you will come back to find it still running the test. You may close it, and pat yourself on the back, or on the penis. You should know that in order for the Prime95 test to be accurate, you must leave it running with as little programs as possible running (I even close explorer.exe) for at leat 2 hours. Overnight would be optimal.
Ive heard too high OC's can stop the pc from like booting at all. I guess I'll be warned about that by windows not booting till i reach the point so it won't boot?
[QUOTE=thf;19941367]Ive heard too high OC's can stop the pc from like booting at all. I guess I'll be warned about that by windows not booting till i reach the point so it won't boot?[/QUOTE] The only thing that can permanentally damage any of the components when overclocking is messing with the voltages without knowing what you're doing. The only thing that'll happen when try to get too much out of the card is it will simply be unable to do so, and that'll be it, nothing bad will happen, just nothing will happen. The only annoyance is that if your overclock is high enough the CPU won't even start, you'll have to manually clear the CMOS. Here's a guide explaining how to do so: [url]http://www.dewassoc.com/support/bios/bios_password.htm[/url] Its written with erasing BIOS passwords in mind, but it'll clear everything you've changed in the BIOS and restore it to default, which is auto-detect standard clock rate. Clearing the CMOS will not erase the contents of the hard drive, it won't even erase a BIOS update, it basically is a physical way to reset BIOS settings when you encounter a problem with them.
Yes, I exactly meant the thingy with the CPU not even being able to start the PC, and yea i know how to reset CMOS, so I guess I'll give it a try
[QUOTE=thf;19942042]Yes, I exactly meant the thingy with the CPU not even being able to start the PC, and yea i know how to reset CMOS, so I guess I'll give it a try[/QUOTE] Yep, all modern mobo's can have their BIOS settings reset in this manner, some you just unplug the battery for a while, other require you to unplug the battery, change a jumper, then plug the battery back in and power cycle the PC. Either way, it can be done. If you need any help, feel free to PM me, I'm usually checking facepunch frequentally throughout the day while doing other stuff, etc.
On mine its like those two pins that you touch with a screwdriver while the psu is plugged in
[QUOTE=thf;19942300]On mine its like those two pins that you touch with a screwdriver while the psu is plugged in[/QUOTE] Yeah, thats the one.
[QUOTE=GetOutOfBox;19943227]Yeah, thats the one.[/QUOTE] Yep, gonna try OCing the CPU today! Got it up to 2.66 ghz, feels kind of scary, never done this before in my life :S
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