View Full Version : Ati 9800 Pro Not OC'd but not running at default speeds
So for one thing my clock speeds don't show up on 3dmark03 which I don't understand or know how to fix. When I use Rivatuner or ATItool they tell me my card is running at 391.5 core and 344.25 memory...a slight 10mhz overclock....the thing is that I haven't run any OCing utility to move it from its default settings....I am running a Asus A8V deluxe mobo with a AMD 64 3000+. Please help me figure this out..Thanks folks :confused:
Did you buy it used or new? Was it always like this?
Yeah I just bought the card the day after Thanksgiving from Circuit City...$150 after rebates. I have run card for a few days now and done some 3Dmark03 benchmarking and played with the bios settings a bit to try to optimize my system but that is it. I am very confused by the whole thing...Can get 3dmark03 to read the core/memory clock and the thing seems to have its mind made up to run over default settings. I have set the bios back to default settings and still the same. :confused:
Another question ...if I decide to OC can I use ATItool safely to increase the speeds with stock cooling? Since the card doesn't have a temp monitor can Atitool tell when it is getting dangerous?
Here's the easiest way to tell. I use Radlinker because I don't like ATI tool, but the same thing applies. I'll up my core in 10 Mhz jumps first and I won't touch my memory clock. Test the overclock with 3DMark03 at each step. If you see white "snow" on the screen you'll know that you have reached your core's max and then drop it back 10 Mhz. For the memory, do the same. Drop the core back to stock and then up the Memory in 10 Mhz jumps until you get big black jagged triangles on the screen. That will be your memories max so drop the mem clock back by 10 from when you saw the triangles. If you don't feel quite safe doing this don't worry about it, just leave your card stock until you get a VGA Silencer or something. I'd replace the goop under the heatsink with AS5 though. That will help your overclock quite a bit if you do decide to overclock. Be careful to only put on a small amount though so it doesn't spill over the edge of the gpu.
TheGreySpectre
12-03-04, 02:31 PM
yes you can OC with stock cooling, im doing it and running 425 core 367 memory
I like ATI tool better because it has integrated artifact testing
So were those speeds reached using the find Max functions or going through a gradual up clock manually?
Still no idea why my card doesn't run at the stock speeds??? Any thoughts guys?
You can do either. I like doing it manually, but I don't like sitting back and watching while I'm testing. I like to be deep in the middle of it. The auto does work though, just test the settings yourself later because sometimes ATI tool can set it a bit too high. You'll see artifacts if that happens though, so you'll be able to tell quite readily.
aNTiChRisT
12-03-04, 04:10 PM
i tend to bump it up to what i think will work, then i test it out on a game like Doom 3. I fine tune it over a week.
I run mine 387/387 since my core only does about 395. I thought syncing them is a better option.
Who cares if its overclocked, overclock it more! Increasing speed will not damage it -- only increasing volts will do this.
~t0m
Cool I think I will just go the way of the auto setup then maybe back them off 5mhz or so on both....Still haven't gotten to the bottom of my dilema with the card naturally running above stock speeds without any overclocking. I would think that it is a motherboard issue(drivers, voltaget to agp or installation) but I really don't know. How do you totally remove the motherboard drivers in order to update?
I was able to get 3DMark05 to read my gpu/memory clock speeds which I couldn't with 03...However I had to disable the fast write feature in the bios to get it to run more than 30 seconds. I suspect that I was having similar issues of reboots during Mafia gameplay with fast write enabled.
Do you think it is a card defect and I should return to Circuit city?
It seems like my 3dMark05 scores are 100-200 points below users with similar setups...where might I be missing something?
Still no Idea why my card runs fast...but even at the higher speeds I am not getting as good as others with stock speeds....was the other way around on 3dmark03
What driver's are you using? Do a search on Omega drivers and run those if you don't have them all ready.
I had the latest from ATI ...I am actually going to get them again...gonna try the set that has Catalyst and everything else lets see
Well I downloaded Catalyst 4.11 with the new newest drivers...Same drivers I was using before but a new Catalyst. Still when I run 3DMark05 I am about 150points down on the group with similar systems and my card is even showing as overclocked. The areas that I am losing ground in the tests are "Return to ProxyCon" and the nature one...all other tests I am right there or above the others...especially cpu tests I am generally higher...Where am I going wrong here? Still cannot figure out what is up with the stock speeds being fast....I have had some reboots but I think they are related to unstable bios settings. I am lost here...do I return the card, do I dig deeper to figure out the situation or just say screw it? Help I am losing my mind here running tests and trying to figure this out. Later
Try the Omega Drivers. They work very well and can increase your performance quite a bit.
http://www.omegadrivers.net/
Just use the top bar on the site to go ATI Radeon and then Win XP/2K and then scroll down and choose the one you want. Just make sure you uninstall the Radeon drivers you are using right now first. Restart and then install the Omega's
Update for all....
Okay after much thinking and effort I have finally figured out the mystery.
This had driven me so crazy that I even when to the extent of reinstalling windows to hopefully correct the issue. That didn't fix it. I contacted ATI and all I got was a generic "try everything under the sun" response. So today I am still stuck but at the point of trial and error. Okay with a stroke of luck I turn "2T Command" from [disable] to [auto] (thus allowing 2T instead of forcing 1T)...Eureka!!! :attn: :D :attn: That was the answer checked in 3dmark03 then rebooted turning 2T back to [disable] and problem returns. Finally I have this solved now when I get HL2 in the mail I will play and overclock as needed.
ON A SIDE NOTE: My monitor when booting up shows a "FREQUENCY OVER RANGE" warning...I have tried setting the refresh to 60mhz in safe mode and it still gives me that warning....hmm new mystery although I really am not to worried about this one..just confused.
damn damn damn damn....it is doing it again. It seemed like I had this crap figured out but not it seems that I cannot get back to the stock settings....I tried to use [Enable] for the 2T Command to only allow 2T but that didn't stick either...Why cannot this thing be simple....well atleast I think I am started in the right area since I had some results...I just cannot get them back :mad:
Z YA LTR
12-06-04, 05:51 PM
The 2t is for your memory not your video card. The mobo bios setting wont do anything to your video card. Except for fast writes which I have found it better to be turned off for ati cards.
Under driver settings try setting everything to performance instead of quality and that should bump your score.
Oh yea and what card did you have before?
Other than that I wouldnt worry about it. Just PLAY GAMES.
--Josh
The card before was a 16mb Aopen deal that I just used the windows drivers for. I know that 2T is for the system memory but that is the only thing that has had any result to get the card to report default speeds. It is weird some boots it read the correct defaults and others the increased speed (which is always the same 391.5/344.25). I think I have tried everything in the bios for the video card... I am lost and ATI is no help plus nobody else seems to have experienced this problem The only thing that I can come up with is that with all the [AUTO] settings on the A8V something is causing the card to run fast. For fast write I found too much instabiltiy with it. Same for agp3.0 calibration cycle and DBI output trans whatever...so all are see to disable in the bios. I have stumped the internet with this one...this might be a first.
Later
RJARRRPCGP
12-07-04, 02:29 AM
Test the overclock with 3DMark03 at each step. If you see white "snow" on the screen you'll know that you have reached your core's max and then drop it back 10 Mhz.
Not all people will see "snow". Sometimes, there's an insane amount of video corruption, such as little squares popping up on the screen and/or broken up polygons when the GPU is past the limit. For others, it locks up with no warning.
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