Help! Noobie attempting to overclock a ATI x1900xtx

WOOT! Again I get a chance to be a Noob! What an opportunity to be on the otherside of the fence! But I have very little knowledge in this area, even though I have tried to read allot about the process.

Ok, so I have found my max reliable settings using ATITool at stock voltage. This is often the first step in many guides for OCing the X1900xtx.

I do not shut down ATIEV***.dll or whatever in the task manager, because it seems that ATITool only changes the 3D settings and not the 2D settings. I also seem to have weird behavior when I shut it down. I dont know why I should have to power the 3D processors when I dont use it...

Many people, and guides, recommend shutting this process off, but I cant see any reference talking about it on the ATITool website. It apears that ATITool works with these applications and that it doesnt compete with them anymore.

I have Windows XP(64) and have confirmed that it works with ATITool, by reading the documentation...

I have found my max CPU speeds to be around 730mhz, and Mem speeds at around 810mhz.

I pump up my CPU voltage (the top voltage) to 1.5 (max recommendation for aircooled--I run water cooled), and try to add anymore MHz. It doesnt give me a single additional MHz point. If I push the MHz up a little more, both screens go White, checkered, or slashed.

The highest temp I have received with this card is 50c, and a 59c voltage regulator. The memory runs crazy cold, at around 43c

I have the most recent version of ATITool 25 beta 15 but the voltage settings didnt seem to ever change. I would set it in preferences or save it on the settings voltage sections, but it always seemed to revert back to default.

So I tried ATITool 25 beta 16pre3. Now the voltage settings are saved, and they seem to stay set on the value, but I still dont get any benifit from raising the CPU voltage.

Is the voltages locked on the boards firmware? I hear about flashing new bioses, but I dont know if this will fix my problem... I wouldnt know which one to use. And I worry about there reliablty.

The truth is, I have no Idea what or where to go from here... I am lost

Can anyone help?

it is GPU, not CPU

usually flashing the bios will work, but i would not flash the bios with the updated settings until you are %1000000 sure that the settings are stable.

The memory runs crazy cold, at around 43c

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i would say this is average, maybe slightly above. its 109 1/2 degrees F, and whoever says thats cold is missing some nerve endings . well, it might be cold for an x1900, forget i was here.

Mr.Guvernment said:

it is GPU, not CPU

usually flashing the bios will work, but i would not flash the bios with the updated settings until you are %1000000 sure that the settings are stable.

Click to expand...

How can I tell if the settings are stable if I cant get them to run? Essentially I raise the voltages and It doesnt change my ability to overclock anything. I hit a wall on normal voltages, and higher voltages dont change that wall.

People talk about flashing the BIOS. I hear people flash x1900xt -> x1900xtx. I hear about people using 3rd Party Bioses.

I am not even sure I need to flash the BIOS. In fact I would prefer not-to since It would probably be hard to return a card with a bad BIOS, and I dont know what I would do if the BIOS was flawed and I couldnt get it running long enough to flash it back.

I just want more overclocking, and voltages are either locked or they make no difference.

I simply dont know the a specific question to ask, because I dont understand the problems I am facing.

Anyone know of a Good how to guide? Ive read a few, and have gotten a basic understanding.

I also can run Max Settings on the Catalyst OC panel with no problems so far.