Overclock 9600M GT to a 9700M GT

[ninja_pig]

Well, my stock GeForce 9600M GT 512MB DDR3 had a 500MHz core and 1600MHz memory with the shaders running at 1250MHz speed, and gave around 70°C when gaming for about two hours with Far Cry 2 and Crysis Warhead. When stress testing with FurMark, the temps climbed to max 89°C in about 5 minutes of testing. I overclocked it to a stock GeForce 9700M GT speeds, meaning 625/1600MHz with the shaders at 1550MHz. It's performance has risen outstandingly, I am impressed beyond belief.

From 3DMark06 with a score of 5422 to 6122. Unbelieveable, this was tested on a Vista Ultimate 64-bit, so the score could go through the roof if I used 32-bit Windows XP. The temps after the gaming tests have risen from around 70°C, to mere 73~75°C. No overheating here. This card can take so much more, that I am afraid of finding out it's limits. Just to add, I undervolted the processor, and lost about 10°C there. All in all, this GPU is a monster! There is no better card that I could wish for in my laptop.

Only card that can win over in performance is the GeForce 9800M GT, but it has more pipelines than mine, namely 32 versus 48. I can't compete with that, or with an SLI laptop configuration, so this overclock is the next best thing in comparison. And a lot cheaper, too. I hope I helped some of you to decide whether to overclock or not, but in my case, it was worth it.

Now I do not take any responsibility for the damage that might happen to your laptop, but wanted to explain the steps I have taken with my GeForce 9600M GT. First you will need to download the latest NiBiTor ( WE LOVE YOU, MAVKE! greets from FATNESS ) and nvFlash software and prepare a bootable DOS media, so best to opt for an USB flash disk. Now read out your original BIOS and make a copy and modify the core, memory and shader clock speed of the Extra mode and save your new BIOS. Next you boot in DOS mode and flash your card using nvFlash to this new tweaked BIOS.

You should put the nvFlash program and both your original and your modified BIOS on the USB flash disk, and you best do that while in Windows. Once your system has been booted from the USB flash drive you can use the nvFlash commands to flash your graphics card. If everything works fine, meaning the flash went well and completed, you should restart your laptop and boot into Windows and see what it gives, after which you can start some benchmarking and games to check if all is still running fine.

nvFlash v5.xx command:

nvflash.exe -A -j -4 -5 -6 yourmodifiedbiosname.rom

In the case flash would fail, meaning it wouldn't actually flash or give out errors, or even badly flashes and can't complete, so it stops, don't restart! You should reflash it again using your original BIOS. This never happened to me, but just in case s*** hits the fan, you should know what to do.

And another thing, just for the sake of safety, I edited the shutdown temperature of my GPU from 105°C to 95°C as I think that NVIDIA set this too high, I mean 105°C?! We all know NVIDIA is suffering losses lately, caused with their mobile GPU's overheating. Safe is safe. And most of all, this GPU is now a full blown GeForce 9700M GT and I love it!

Some things are hidden because the store where I bought the laptop keeps records these kinds of things ( BASTARDS! ), and can possibly void my warranty if they see this. So guys, in case of problems with your laptop during warranty period, remember to reflash your original GPU BIOS before returning your laptop for service :) .

Edited November 18, 2008 by ninja_pig

[Galdere]

There is no better card that I could wish for in my laptop.

Only card that can win over in performance is the GeForce 9800M GT, but it has more pipelines than mine, namely 32 versus 48.

You're wrong about those things quoted.

http://www.notebookcheck.net/Mobile-Graphi...List.844.0.html

I'd congratulate you on tweaking the right things, but I think you are going to kill your card way too soon.

[ninja_pig]

Yeah, you're right. Typing error, 32 versus 96. But, hell, the price difference between the two is humongous.

And as for you saying that I'll kill my card too soon, that's just plain hogwash. 9600M GT is just an underclocked 9700M GT. And please, read my first post again, paying special attention to the temperatures the GPU gives out under stress and gaming. On the top of all that, the critical temperature limit on the GPU BIOS is set to 95 instead of 105 degrees.

BTW, do you have any facts as to the possibility of my GPU being damaged in any way by overclocking from a 9600M GT to a 9700M GT?

Edited November 18, 2008 by ninja_pig

[nbsi2]

my 9600M GT @680/1700/1700 :)

[ninja_pig]

my 9600M GT @680/1700/1700 :)

That's nice, but just one thing. I wonder why Nvidia didn't release a chip with higher clock speeds than 9700M GT? I mean, that is their highest clocked mobile graphic card, isn't it?

Why is that? :)

That makes me wonder, should we overclock our 9600M GT's higher than the 9700M GT? I won't.

[nbsi2]

That's nice, but just one thing. I wonder why Nvidia didn't release a chip with higher clock speeds than 9700M GT? I mean, that is their highest clocked mobile graphic card, isn't it?

Why is that? :)

That makes me wonder, should we overclock our 9600M GT's higher than the 9700M GT? I won't.

nv can make a chip with higher colck than 9700M GT ,but if you want to improve performance, between high freq or more shaders ,which will you choose? i think i will choose more shaders, and since there is more shaders i can not have very high freq because of the over heating problem

[ninja_pig]

nv can make a chip with higher clock than 9700M GT

Yes, they can, but they didn't. Instead they went for more unified shaders and a 256bit memory bus width, and with lower clock speeds. That tells something.

,but if you want to improve performance, between high freq or more shaders ,which will you choose? i think i will choose more shaders, and since there is more shaders i can not have very high freq because of the over heating problem

I would certainly go no more than 625 / 650 on the core. As for the shaders, higher than 1550 / 1600 is stupid, because overclocking shaders offers almost no increase in performance when it comes to gaming. 1 or 2 frames fer second more don't mean a thing.

Edited November 19, 2008 by ninja_pig

[nbsi2]

Yes, they can, but they didn't. Instead they went for more unified shaders and a 256bit memory bus width, and with lower clock speeds. That tells something.

I would certainly go no more than 625 / 650 on the core. As for the shaders, higher than 1550 / 1600 is stupid, because overclocking shaders offers almost no increase in performance when it comes to gaming. 1 or 2 frames fer second more don't mean a thing.

That tells more shaders and 256bit memory bus width can get higher performance than increase colck speed of core and memory

Are you sure high shader clock do nothing to game ??

Have you thought of change the device id to 064A(9700M GT)to let system think there is a 9700M GT ???

Edited November 19, 2008 by nbsi2

[ninja_pig]

shaders and 256bit memory bus width can get higher performance than increase colck speed of core and memory

Exactly! So you see, overclocking a 9600M GT to more than the clocks of the 9700M GT, IMHO, is plain unnecessary.

Are you sure high shader clock do nothing to game ??

Extremely minimum performance gain.

Have you thought of change the device id to 049A(9700M GT)to let system think there is a 9700M GT ???

Why would I do that? It works fine just the way it is now. There is no performance gain in changing it's device_id. But, changing the critical temperature threshold from 105 to 95, that's a whole different ballgame.

[Galdere]

Yeah, you're right. Typing error, 32 versus 96. But, hell, the price difference between the two is humongous.

And as for you saying that I'll kill my card too soon, that's just plain hogwash. 9600M GT is just an underclocked 9700M GT. And please, read my first post again, paying special attention to the temperatures the GPU gives out under stress and gaming. On the top of all that, the critical temperature limit on the GPU BIOS is set to 95 instead of 105 degrees.

BTW, do you have any facts as to the possibility of my GPU being damaged in any way by overclocking from a 9600M GT to a 9700M GT?

Not just the 'typo', there are many cards performance wise between a 9600m and a 9800m. Just look at that list.

Critical temp doesn't matter if you've checked you aren't near it, it's the constant high temp. Just cos a 9600m and 9700m look like identical specs except the clocks, doesn't mean your machine can take imitating one as the other without consequences.

[ninja_pig]

Not just the 'typo', there are many cards performance wise between a 9600m and a 9800m. Just look at that list.

Critical temp doesn't matter if you've checked you aren't near it, it's the constant high temp. Just cos a 9600m and 9700m look like identical specs except the clocks, doesn't mean your machine can take imitating one as the other without consequences.

Aww, hell, man... I know that. You're bent on stating the obvious. The highest critical temp I obtained was 105 degrees, caused by RMClock. When I turned it off, everything works perfect. I stress tested for an hour, and the max temp was 95 degrees ( and only after almost 50 minutes of testing ). Perfectly normal if you ask me, the gpu and both processor cores were fully loaded ( 100% ). Fan's maximum speed kicks in at around 80.

The fact is that, in this laptop, 9600m gt works perfectly on the clock speeds of the 9700m gt. Nobody can say otherwise.

[Galdere]

You claim I am stating the obvious, but you are ignoring it, or claiming things that aren't true about cards.

No one has said it won't work with what you have done. For how long is another matter.

[ninja_pig]

No one has said it won't work with what you have done. For how long is another matter.

Let me ask you one thing. For how long you think you're going to live?

Nothing is 100 percent, man. I know that, but this card has absolutely no reason to crap out, because everything is in a fine working order, even the temperatures.

Would you mind providing me with a couple of links / facts / pieces of info about people who screwed up their laptop cards on this site. Extreme overclocking doesn't count, or any other really dumb move on their side.

I mean, come on...

[Galdere]

If I excess, not as long as I would otherwise.

I'm not discouraging overclocking, but you are not accepting that any overclocking will shorten the lifespan of a card. I don't have to prove that, it would be "stating the obvious".

Although others may disagree, I consider your overclock to be a bit too much as a permanent measure. Your opinion about the capabilities of the other cards was wrong, and it also is to say it is nothing to make a 9600m behave as a 9700m.

If your temps stay in 70s I'm sure you will enjoy the clock changes with perhaps acceptable downsides, and well done for having a go, but I doubt they will tbh, and I hope you don't intend to rely on it for heavy gaming for a good while.

GPUs, CPUs etc have stock speeds set and are branded based on quality tests, so although a 9600m and a 9700m look like they are the same hardware, they have been deemed different for good reason.

Edited November 21, 2008 by Galdere

[ninja_pig]

GPUs, CPUs etc have stock speeds set and are branded based on quality tests, so although a 9600m and a 9700m look like they are the same hardware, they have been deemed different for good reason.

Yeah, sure. And the industry cares more about our satisfaction, testing the beejezus out of the products they sell and a perfect quality control than making money. I could write up a book here stating all the facts you are wrong about the above statement, but it would take up much of my time. But, in short, most of the gpu's and cpu's can be overclocked, and that is a way that a smart man saves money and gets what he paid for, by not buying THE NEXT BEST THING, that is, in fact, the last year's $hit wrapped up in a new package - and a slapped on double price.

A quote from someone who overclocked his cpu ( from http://www.mxm-upgrade.com ):

"I also shorted a few pins on my CPU making it a 2.27@1.7 to increase the speed… Damn guys from Intel thought that can sell more chips when they downgrade them to 75Mhz buss speed and sell them for less… Good for me. It’s working stable past two years already…"

So, please, mister, sign me up for the perfect world YOU live in.

P.S. And the day my card goes up in a cloud of white smoke, you'll be the first to know. Then, we'll continue this conversation. See you in about... never.

Edited November 21, 2008 by ninja_pig

[Galdere]

What are you talking about quality control vs profit, you've totally missed the point of why a 9600m is one and not 9700m.

I see you have opened another thread already screaming for help for your over heating laptop.

Clever people tweak things. Not so clever people make assumptions and push things too far, being delusional about the consequences, and talking nonsense at the same time.

We won't be continuing this anyway.

[ninja_pig]

What are you talking about quality control vs profit, you've totally missed the point of why a 9600m is one and not 9700m.

Only you think so. I know what I wanted to say, it was up to you to understand. You did not. Lack of brain cells, maybe?

I see you have opened another thread already screaming for help for your over heating laptop.

I see you just read a few sentences, not the entire thread. The problem was caused by something no one would link with overheating. And besides... screaming? I guess you are the first one that can HEAR the tone of the text written on this forum.

Clever people tweak things. Not so clever people make assumptions and push things too far, being delusional about the consequences, and talking nonsense at the same time.

I agree with that one. I would also like to add that not so clever people bore others to death with their conclusions about maybe-s and maybe not-s.

We won't be continuing this anyway.

No, I certainly won't. You, on the other hand, seem to have too much free time. Go bug and lecture someone else. And stop trolling.

[aliveanddead86]

The 7950GTX was a jumped up version of the 7900GTX, just had higher core, by 75, and higher mem by 100.... Same product, just overclocked.... like you said previously, "last year's $hit wrapped up in a new package"

[ninja_pig]

Exactly! I guess most of the people aren't able to comprehend that.

[Galdere]

This is not the same. Some people just don't want to comprehend that, because...

from

"this GPU is a monster! There is no better card that I could wish for in my laptop... No overheating here."

to

"Very serious overheating problem! Help needed!"

[ninja_pig]

"this GPU is a monster! There is no better card that I could wish for in my laptop... No overheating here."

to

"Very serious overheating problem! Help needed!"

You've just confirmed to everyone what I've known long ago. You're dumb as a doorknob. DID YOU READ MY POST ABOUT OVERHEATING AND SOLUTION TO IT??? For Christ sake, man, can it already. You're giving me the runs!

[Galdere]

Yeah, I read it. Funny how you make a habit of not making sense. Please do keep on with yourself. I won't comment on the inaccuracies, you have comedy value. I only pointed something out and said I thought you were overdoing it, but it seems you can't help it. How many stress tests can a heavily overclocked MSI on a glass table take? I'm fascinated to know. I think you might blow first. :-)

[ninja_pig]

I think you might blow first. :-)

I can think of something else you could "blow".

P.S. And why was my post deleted?

Edited November 24, 2008 by ninja_pig

[Guest REB]

Should i overclock my 9600M like the OP? Any other opinions?

[Guest rob]

Should i overclock my 9600M like the OP? Any other opinions?

You will want extra cooling, but I run mine at 650/1700/950 just fine