Problem overclocking 6800GT

LeAd_Poisoning · Feb 25, 2006

memtest is for DRAM, not your VGA RAM, i trust you know that? its not your system RAM that is the problem, if that was unstable you would be blue screening during 3dMark, this skipping is the core reaching slowdown threshold, with temps dancing around that level, hence the repetitive skipping - this will be removed with third party cooling. The stock cooling on the 6800GT is renound for its crappness, the stock HS also dries up on it, that wont help your temperatures now or in the long run. clock back if your not prepared to get third party cooling. OR try re-installing the AGP VIA for your mobo OR re-install/update your forceware drivers, the latest is 83.40, what i run on my GT. The skipping may also be down to peaking temps of your VGA RAM, that in my experience is dam sensitive to temp changes. Run the RAM on stock setting and CORE OC'd to see if it does it, if not, run vice versa to determine for sure whether it is your RAM or your CORE, you may just have a bad overclocker, it happens. Could it be your CPU even?, if its an AMD you have, turn off Cool 'n' Quiet. The most likely cause is temperature related, what other cooling do you have, a case fan? what is your case ventilation like?

LeAd_Poisoning · Feb 25, 2006

ps, no memory temps available

Gregory_WE · Feb 25, 2006

Yes don't worry I'm aware of that, I was just going to try it since it was suggested above and I don't recall if I ever have run Memtest with these sticks.

My case cooling is adequate, I have 6 case fans: 3 intake, 3 exhaust. Cool and quiet is always off, leaving mem at stock speeds doesn't matter, it's increasing the core frequency that produces the freezing (it's fine at 350/1150).

AGP VIA for my mobo? I don't have a VIA mobo, you mean nForce drivers?

But what doesn't make sense about the temps is that when it worked, it was getting just as hot if not hotter than when it wouldn't. I ran it for over 30 minutes straight and no freezes. When it doesn't work, even when it'll be starting cold it'll have a stutter after like 30 seconds.

chevro1et · Feb 25, 2006

Is there any chance you could pop the card into another rig to see if it behaves similarly? BTW, yea, good idea to run MemTest if you haven't yet on your RAM... screwy ram can do all kinds of wierd things to your rig...

Cheers.

Gregory_WE · Feb 25, 2006

Unfortunately I can't, otherwise I would've already. I would've done that, plus use AS5 on the GPU, but I don't have either here at school and don't feel like buying another tube of AS5 just for this.

I don't think I'm gonna worry about this anymore, I'll just run it stock and maybe upgrade it along with some other stuff this summer. It's not really a big deal, I can run everything just fine with it at stock, just not quite as fast.

chevro1et · Feb 25, 2006

Yea, thats cool, but I feel your frustration... just feels sh**ty when your gear doesn't run like it should...

Cheers.

LeAd_Poisoning · Feb 25, 2006

Gregory_WE said:
AGP VIA for my mobo? I don't have a VIA mobo, you mean nForce drivers?
QUOTE]

just re-install your motherboard's AGP drivers, im only familiar with VIA so i cant fill you in on the particulars, ive had programs corrupt these before, its not uncommon

Gregory_WE · Feb 26, 2006

I decided to go ahead and do a tiny bit of cleaning on my card since I've always cleaned the rest of my case, just not the card. Sure enough, it was pretty damn dusty, unfortunately even though I have a filter on 2 of my intake fans the room I'm in gets really dusty so there isn't a whole lot I can do. I took the fan part of the cooler most of the way off and got a fair amount of the dust off of it. I couldn't take it all the way off because one of the screws was stripped (I bought this card from someone else, I'm guessing that they must've stripped it trying to take it off), and I also don't have any compressed air or a vacuum or anything so just blew on it to get most of it off. I just turned it back on and the idle temp is around 50C so I'm going to test it when it's fully loaded, as well as OC'd. I figure I should probably get a NV Silencer 5 anyways cause looking at the cooler I can see just how crappy the design is. I didn't look too closely but hopefully I can take the entire cooler off to replace it despite the stripped screw that's keeping the fan part of it on.

Regardless of whether or not the temps are causing my problems, I don't want my card to be running this hot.

kraftmayo · Feb 26, 2006

Gregory_WE, I had the same problem you have with my 6800GT. I upped the core to 1.4v and all my problems went away.

It sounds like you're running hot to begin with, so before you touch the voltage, you need to resolve your cooling issues.

Also, have you tried a gradual overclock? I found that my throttling problems didnt start till about 388MHz, then I needed the extra voltage to push it past there. From stock, OC 5MHz, and find out where your threshold for throttling is. If it's not significantly past 350MHz, your card just might not handle an overclock.

Gregory_WE · Feb 26, 2006

It's fine up to around 385-390.

Also what'd you use to up the voltage? Did you modify the BIOS?

inkfx · Feb 26, 2006

I have the same card as you do and I run mine at 400/1100 24/7, I dont see why you shouldnt be able to either. Go to www.guru3d.com and use a program called "Coolbits" aka "NVTweak". Thats what I use and I dont have any problems, let us know how it goes.

LeAd_Poisoning · Feb 26, 2006

you cant change the GPUcore voltage trust me, that part of the BIOS is locked, it runs at 1.4v anyway, the only way this can be changed is when people with the 6800LE flash their BIOS to the Ultra BIOS, this increasing the LE's Vcore to 1.4v from 1.3v. The GT BIOS/Architecture is exactly the same as the Ultra, running at 1.4v. This cannot be changed. He is obviously mistaking it for the mobo's 'AGP Voltage' which is the interface voltage between the buses and the card architecture, altering this will not facilitate a performance boost. No BIOS will let you access the individual core voltage, those features are hardware masked. Im running at 430/1080 in an ambient very hot case, thus i could run higher considerably high in terms of RAM speeds. What you need is cooling, the Zalman Fatal1ty, my cooler (see sig) is the best VGA air cooler out there, the NVSilencer is garbage, that wont be noticeably better than stock, being the flimsy cheap garbage that it is. Just PM me if you have any questions regarding this card

LeAd_Poisoning · Feb 26, 2006

yeh, i used Coolbits2.reg, good stuff, increment in 5Mhz and test each time until it denies you, then clock back 10, sorted - test with games, 3dmark05/06 and the nvidia demos like Nalu

Gregory_WE · Feb 26, 2006

Why do you say the NV Silencer 5 is garbage? The reviews I've seen show it being very good.

Gregory_WE · Feb 26, 2006

Also I'm pretty sure the stock GPU voltage on a GT is 1.3V. I remember a while ago I flashed my GT to an Ultra BIOS to get the 1.4V on the GPU (didn't keep it though).

kraftmayo · Feb 26, 2006

Gregory_WE said:
Also I'm pretty sure the stock GPU voltage on a GT is 1.3V. I remember a while ago I flashed my GT to an Ultra BIOS to get the 1.4V on the GPU (didn't keep it though).

The NV5 works well, as long as you have good airflow.

Backup your stock BIOS, and use NiBiTor to change your 3D voltage to 1.4V. Again, the biggest problem is heat, so be wary.

Ignore Lead_Poisoning, I know from first-hand experience that core voltages can be modified.

LeAd_Poisoning · Feb 27, 2006

you dont need to change the voltages though, i can do in excess of 450/1200 but it artifacts instantly at low temps, meaning its apporaching hardware limitation, but it ran games and 3dmark fine other than the obvious visual corruption, no crashes. I run at 430/1080 in my hot case with its poor airflow. There is no need to change the voltages. So in flashing the BIOS, what kind of temperature increases do you see, post flashing? Is it worth it, what kind of stability do you see, would it work some way to preventing artifacting in terms of giving the core greater stability?
The NVsilencer reviews i read while looking said it was relatively poor in giving only a 5 degree or so temperature difference from stock, the Fatal1ty which was three times the price gave 10 degrees in my pc, while the review said 15+, but remember my case is relatively hot.

P.S get back to me kraftmayo on that GPUcore voltage thing, i'd like to know

kraftmayo · Feb 27, 2006

LeAd_Poisoning said:
you dont need to change the voltages though, i can do in excess of 450/1200 but it artifacts instantly at low temps, meaning its apporaching hardware limitation, but it ran games and 3dmark fine other than the obvious visual corruption, no crashes. I run at 430/1080 in my hot case with its poor airflow. There is no need to change the voltages. So in flashing the BIOS, what kind of temperature increases do you see, post flashing? Is it worth it, what kind of stability do you see, would it work some way to preventing artifacting in terms of giving the core greater stability?
The NVsilencer reviews i read while looking said it was relatively poor in giving only a 5 degree or so temperature difference from stock, the Fatal1ty which was three times the price gave 10 degrees in my pc, while the review said 15+, but remember my case is relatively hot.

P.S get back to me kraftmayo on that GPUcore voltage thing, i'd like to know

I'm not trying to be an arse, just saying that I had the same problem Gregory_WE is having, and I upped my core voltage and all my issues went away. I have pretty good cooling, and I saw a 2 degree increase(58 to 60 full load), post flash. Not a problem for me. Before Gregory_WE flashes though, he needs to bring his temps down.

LeAd_Poisoning · Feb 27, 2006

oh no of course, im not trying to be confrontational. im just really interested in this GT BIOS alteration stuff. What kind of benefits can be seen then by increasing this Vcore, i run stabely at 430/1100 with no problems, it artifacts out right at say 450/1100. i didnt test the RAM to screw point (the 1200 above, in prior posts was a typo). Does it increase the point at which artifacting occurs, will it give me stability at higher OC's, i.e no artifacting or 'nv_4' BSOD's???

kraftmayo · Feb 27, 2006

LeAd_Poisoning said:
oh no of course, im not trying to be confrontational. im just really interested in this GT BIOS alteration stuff. What kind of benefits can be seen then by increasing this Vcore, i run stabely at 430/1100 with no problems, it artifacts out right at say 450/1100. i didnt test the RAM to screw point (the 1200 above, in prior posts was a typo). Does it increase the point at which artifacting occurs, will it give me stability at higher OC's, i.e no artifacting or 'nv_4' BSOD's???

It has the potential to do any of the above, you just have to experiment and see what happens. Give it a shot, watch your temps, and make sure you have a PCI video card available for a botched flash.

If you want more or less step by step instructions, let me know.

Problem overclocking 6800GT

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