Nvidia Owners...just overclock it!

from GalCiv2 Forums
Hey everybody, This is just a informative post most helpful for Nvidia Graphics card owners or people with Nforce chipsets. Nvidia has released a new forceware driver for their video cards(162.18_forceware_winxp_32bit_english_whql) last month although i have found a problem with the resolutions(my monitor is a 19" widescreen with a normal res of 1440x900, but with the new driver that res no longer fits my screen now i run 1400x1050, which seems to fit just fine.) but the real news is the new Ntune software you get with the driver. this new software allows you to change motherboard settings(to overclock your CPU, GPU, PCI-e Bus rate.) it also allows you to set up rules when you overclock and it easy, if you cant find a stable setting let the software test you system and tune it for you! The main reason i mention this is i own a Gateway (mind you i've swapped out all the ram, CPU, Video card, and sound card) but with the Bios i got from gateway everything was locked. Before Ntune, my system(AMD Opteron 185 dual core @2.6ghz,4GB PC3200 DDR 2.5cl, Nvidia 7950GT factory OC'd) would score a 5612 on 3dmark06, but after letting the Ntune software run for 20mins (which changed my FSB from 200mhz to 212mhz, PCI-e bus started at 2500mhz to 2850mhz, and increase my GPU OC from 700mhz to 725mhz) my 3dmark06 score is now 6700!!!
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Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Overclocking shortens the life of your system, and should void the Warranty. Is that RAM ECC Registered, cause that is a server/workstation processor.

I build my own systems to avoid OEM junk. I get the best I can afford for my purposes, which is 3D Computer Generated Imagery (CGI). Gaming is secondary.

I use a lesser card than you do (7600GS dual DVI). However, it is fine for my needs, as is everything else: Athlon 64 X2 5200+ dual 1 MB L2 cache @ 2.613 Ghz per core, 4 GB DDR2 667, ECS Workstation motherboard (AM2), acer 22 inch widescreen. XP Pro Retail and XP Pro X64 SB OEM. Currently with 4 HDDs and 1 dvd burner.

Scene setup uses OpenGL for preview, and a software render engine for the actual rendering. These are normally Pixar Renderman compliant (industry standard) and use the CPU(s), rather than the GPU.
Reply #2 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
The NTune only works with NForce boards, except for the video card over-clocking.

And I have not had much luck with over-clocking video cards.

My current card is factory OC'd, so I can't go much more in any case. Even with the copper heatsink I get lock-ups even with mild over-clocking via the NTune utility.
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Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Overclocking shortens the life of your system


um.. no. bad clocking shortens the life of your system. i've been clocking for about 10 yrs and have only lost one mb due to bad clocking. but then again, it was a gigabyte board so i didn't expect much.

also, i wouldn't buy anything that was factory oc'd as the overclocking generally needs some type of utility to help it along. in which case, it is not a true clock and we all know that software sometimes goes screwy.

two rules of thumb for overclocking:

(1) if you clock it, cool it.
(2) see rule 1.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Even if you don't overclock, better cpu cooling than the stock HS/fan is advised. Especially when you use Compute intensive software, like 3D CGI. When rendering a scene, the render engines will max out cpu usage, even on multi processor/core systems.

Many things will slow down the rendering by increasing the computing need. Not so bad for a single frame. However, animation is 30 frames per second, and each frame has to be rendered.

Most hobbyists don't have render farms, so this can be a long wait.

I have a Aerocool Xfire on my athlon 64 X2 for this reason.