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Has anyone solved the SONY FZ overclocking problem?


Dorian Gray

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OVERCLOCKING MAY DESTROY YOUR GPU AND THE EFFORT TO OVERCLOCK MAY DESTROY YOUR COMPUTER. I AM NOT TRYING TO HELP ANYONE TO MODIFY THEIR SYSTEMS OR SOFTWARE IN ANY WAY- I AM ONLY SEEKING INFORMATION FOR MY OWN USE.

I have wasted days searching for a solution to this problem so now I appeal to you for help. I will send $30 paypal to the first person who can sucessfully and safely explain how to overclock the GPU in my Sony Vaio VGN-FZ340E with any firmware.

There are a few people who have claimed to have made it work but their solutions are incomplete or not applicable to my model:

"Can't Oveclock thread" http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....showtopic=18589

"Supposed Solution thread" http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread...596#post3670596

Please! All help / comments are appreciated.

Once again, I want to reiterate that overclocking does work with 169.04- but only with that firmware.

The GPU in my laptop is a 8400m GT (256 DDR3)

Edited by Dorian Gray
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Try these (if it works, i don't want any money) with modded inf:

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....showtopic=21982

Download for your os

Try downloading the newest version of riva tuner too.

If this doesn't work, then i'm afraid you're stuck with the 169.04. It is a problem that many share and has to do with your laptop model. Good luck anyway!

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And that's what you'll have to do. Try the manufacturer's site and see if there is one available. If not then i guess then you are our of luck.

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And that's what you'll have to do. Try the manufacturer's site and see if there is one available. If not then i guess then you are our of luck.

Well considering it can be solved with software (for drivers 169.04), there is certainly a solution.

Does anyone know exactly which driver file is consulted in overclocking?

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Sony models have what would appear to be a bios level overclock lock. Only driver 169.04 or lower will overclock properly with Riva Tuner/ATItools/Ntune (Possibly due to that driver allowing overclocking and ignoring bios level overclock flags)

Due to this apprent limitation i am using a alternative method to overclock my Sony SZ (Nvidia 8400M GS) so i can use newer drivers (Video Bios Firmware Modification) I guessing the FZ model will have the same bios lock.

Although I would love to make $30 from you this method is not for the fainthearted and has risks. You need to extract and modify the Video Bios which is integrated with the main bios. This requires Phonex Bios Editor & Nbitor. Take a wrong step and you could end up bricking your laptop. This method if sucessful does work however is a lot more rigid in that your overclock settings will be locked to bios and the only way to revert to defaults is to reflash back to a orginal non-modified bios. When i first did this i felt like a test monkey and regreted going ahead as nobody else had done this on my model. Luckly for me it worked out.

That said i also use a cooling stand and monitor the GPU temperature constantly as overclocking the video card will increase the heat produced reducing the lifespan of the GPU as laptops like sony are generally not designed to handle consumer overclocking due to the compact design nature of the heatsink/fans in them.

Also contary to what some people may believe overclocking your video card beyond its limits without adequate extra cooling WILL reduce the lifespan or permantly damage the chip. I know this from first-hand expereince so i can`t really recommend this route unless you really prepared to handle the event of a total hardware failure. The place that has information on the forums is http://www.mvktech.net/

As far as i am aware to overclock on sony models past 169.04 you have to do a video bios modify which isn`t really a ideal situation.

image1md0.jpg

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Sony models have what would appear to be a bios level overclock lock. Only driver 169.04 or lower will overclock properly with Riva Tuner/ATItools/Ntune (Possibly due to that driver allowing overclocking and ignoring bios level overclock flags)

...

OVERCLOCKING MAY DESTROY YOUR GPU AND THE EFFORT TO OVERCLOCK MAY DESTROY YOUR COMPUTER. I AM NOT TRYING TO HELP ANYONE TO MODIFY THEIR SYSTEMS OR SOFTWARE IN ANY WAY- I AM ONLY SEEKING INFORMATION FOR MY OWN USE.

Wow, thank you for the investment of your time! I have decided that I will take the dive. I plan to remove and compare the nvidia bios embedded in the sony bios with the standard nvidia bios. I would not be surprised if they are identical and that the restriction was implemented elsewhere in the main BIOS in which case I will follow in your steps. And yet if it is not, then I will be free!

Thank you again, you are an internet good samaritan!

Edited by Dorian Gray
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OVERCLOCKING MAY DESTROY YOUR GPU AND THE EFFORT TO OVERCLOCK MAY DESTROY YOUR COMPUTER. I AM NOT TRYING TO HELP ANYONE TO MODIFY THEIR SYSTEMS OR SOFTWARE IN ANY WAY- I AM ONLY SEEKING INFORMATION FOR MY OWN USE.

EXTRACTING

Did you use WinPhlash?

Did you do it on boot up?

MODIFYING

Did you have trouble opening it in BIOS Editor?

Did you simply find the correct file in the temp folder by trial and error- or did the directory structure open smoothly?

Perhaps they have installed some blocks on the newer BIOS s or - maybe winflash doesn't cut it :)

RS

Edited by Dorian Gray
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Wow, thank you for the investment of your time! I have decided that I will take the dive. I plan to remove and compare the nvidia bios embedded in the sony bios with the standard nvidia bios. I would not be surprised if they are identical and that the restriction was implemented elsewhere in the main BIOS in which case I will follow in your steps. And yet if it is not, then I will be free!

Yes that's a good idea. If we can find the bios overclock lock flag on sony models we can change that and overclock on newer drivers(Rivatuner,etc) without having to force overclock GPU clocks via the video bios.

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First

Does anyone know which of the NVIDIA driver files controls overclocking? Perhaps we could patch/replace the file with the the 169.04 version.

Second

It is impossible to find a copy of my BIOS. Is there any kind of a tough luck story I could tell Sony that would get them to send me it for my system. I've tried making BIOS backups using winphalsh and various programs through DOS, but the resulting WPH 's are full of errors and totally dependent on what my system is doing (4 / 5 are the wrong length!) I'm certainly not going to flash my BIOS with crap like that :) .

Last night I tried replacing all of the DLLs in 180.84 with those from 169.04 - RT showed that I had 169.04 - but no OC'ing ability. Next I'll clean it all up in safe mode and mix it up with some other files.

If you are reading this and hoping for a solution too - get a word in!

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I should Add - that after one of the flashes I was able to access the nvidia driver through PhoenixBiosEditor and patch it with success - but the rest of the BIOS was a nightmare.

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Guest DorianGray

I think that I'm closer to a solution! I tried replacing each driver file and I have narrowed it down to the file nvlddmkm.sys This is what is responsible for overclocking. If you exchange the 169.04 version for a newer one and start up YOU CAN OVERCLOCK!!!

But before you get to excited- note that AERO turns off and games won't start due to "driver mismatch" replacing the old file with the new one fixes it immediately. I've tried messing with the processes and checking the registry in the hope of starting Rivatuner under 169 and then switching out to the main driver for compatibility. So far no success.

Does programers know how to patch the new nvlddmkm.sys files? I'm going to start a thread on that file only - but let's keep this one going on overclocking locked cards.

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I just started a thread and sent a PM to DOX

Hi Dox,

First, thanks for all your great work!

Are you aware of the overclocking lock that some systems have? OCing works with 169.04 but not with any other drivers. I have researched it extensively and found that it comes down to one file:

nvlddmkm.sys

Here is where I recently wrote about it:

Let's Unlock the Overclock

There are many people experiencing similar issues, do you know how we can fix our problem?

Best,

RS

PS Many others have a similar problem:

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....showtopic=18589

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread...596#post3670596

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....showtopic=22159

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....showtopic=22136

http://forums.laptopvideo2go.com/index....showtopic=22136

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