Riva tuner settings won't apply

I benchmarked my gpu at stock settings using 3DMark2001SE. Everything went fine. I got a score of 20800. I rebooted the pc.
Then, using Rivatuner, I increased the Core clock speed by 20MHz (from 540MHz to 560MHz). I ran a test with 3DMark2001SE again, and this time the score came out lower than the previous time! It came out to be 20300. I thought maybe the settings didn't stick because I haven't rebooted yet. So I rebooted. After the pc booted up, I checked rivatuner, and the settings were back to 540MHz. No change, whereas I'd actually done changes! I checked Rivatuner's hardware monitor, and the graph shows 540 as well. I changed the core clock speed and took it from 540 to 560 again. I clicked apply. It applied. Then I went and opened the hardware monitor, but the graph still shows 540. I thought maybe I'll run a benchmark test and see. So I did. And this time, the score came out even lower! It became 20200!

I'm really not sure what's wrong. Am I doing something wrong? Or is there something wrong with rivatuner?

PS: I haven't uninstalled and reinstalled yet, so I don't know if that's the problem or not. Or maybe I'm using an older version or rivatuner and need to download a newer version. Could that be the case?

Have you tried different versions of RivaTuner? Drivers? Have you tried using the nvidia control panel?

Another thing to check is if your video card is throttling back due to temps.

Nebulous said:

Have you tried different versions of RivaTuner? Drivers? Have you tried using the nvidia control panel?

Another thing to check is if your video card is throttling back due to temps.

Click to expand...

No I haven't tried different versions. Will do that.

I didn't get what you meant by 'Drivers?'.

No I haven't used the nvidia cp. I have taken shots at oc'ing my gpu twice in the past. Both the times I used rivatuner. Both the times it worked. What happened all of a sudden?
As far as the temps are concerned, won't it give a warning instead of reverting back to stock settings without informing the user?

Update:

I downloaded the latest version of rivatuner. Still the same problem. I increase the core clock speed, click test, and click apply. But the speed still remains 540 in the temp monitor graph. Clearly the core clock speed is still 540. To verify the problem, I changed the memory clock speed from 300 to 310, clicked test, and clicked apply. The moment I clicked apply, the value in the graph raised from 300 to 310. I tried taking the core clock speed all the way upto 600, still no use. The graph remains the same, meaning the core clock speed is still 540.

Is there some kinda setting that I'm missing here?

Problem fixed:
All I had to do was click on Driver Settings>Customize>Reset all drivers to their default values.

Two questions though.
1) Why is it, that thought I've set the value to 560, in the graph it's showing as 558?
2) Why am I getting a lower score in 3DMark2001SE now, compared to what the score was with a lower core clock speed?

Core:540MHz
3DMark2001SE:20872

Core:560MHz
3DMark2001SE:20375

Ok, I just realized that the values that I'd changed were for Standard2D mode, not for performance 3D mode. When I got to Performance3D mode and change the values, it still shows no affect in the graph. THAT's why 3DMark2001SE gave such a low score! It's because the values are still the same as before when it comes to 3D!

So clearly the problem's still not fixed.

Also, will it make a difference if I check 'All separate 2D/3D clock frequency adjustment' or not?

Oh also, I forgot to mention (sorry about that). It used to show Shader clock in between Core clock and Memory clock before. It's not showing that anymore. Btw, 'before' is more than 6 months to a year back when I'd taken a shot at oc'ing.

My bad. I totally forgot about the 2D/3D settings in RivaTuner. 2D settings won't do any difference. 3D settings are what you want to focus on for games. What I meant about the "Drivers" was have you used different versions of video card drivers. (Older versions)

Because you have an 8600GT, I would doubt you will benefit from newer video card drivers and newer versions of Riva Tuner. Try using older versions of both drivers and Riva Tuner optimized for your particular card.

As for temps: No, it will not give warnings. The video card will revert back to it's stock settings/speed. It's like an auto feature to prevent the card from being damaged.

RivaTuner is a complete powerful tweaking environment, providing you everything you may need to tune NVIDIA GPU based display adapters. The widest driver-level Direct3D / OpenGL and system tuning options, flexible profiling system allowing to make custom settings on per-application basis, both driver-level and low-level hardware access modes, unique diagnostic and realtime hardware monitoring features and exclusive power user oriented tools like built-in registry editor and patch script engine make RivaTuner's feature set absolutely unmatched.

For more information: http://www.techyv.com/questions/which-version-riva-tuner-get-new-nvidia-card