Overclocking underwhelming on my 9600 pro

[GregSX]

For some reason, my 9600 pro maxes out at 456 core and 342 memory. Anyone else getting speeds this low?

I'm thinking I may need some extra cooling, but I've read plenty of articles that have touted its ability to overclock with the stock cooling.

Maybe I just got a bum chip. AAARRRGGHHH!!!

 

[ZZSpaceman]

I haven't pushed mine that hard yet. Seems rock solid at 440 & 330. My P4 2.4c is running very cool, OC at 2.64 GHz.

10% does seem low. What type of system are you running? Is your case cooling adequate? The only thing I don't like about the 9600pro is the cooling. The least they could do for $185 is put a nifty fan and memory heat sinks. Memory cooling is difficult to add after the fact. Especially with memory top and bottom.


ZZSpaceman

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Remember the original market. Non-overclockers who are mainly concerned about power consumption and heat. ADDing heat by OC'ing isn't their primary concern.
Yes we can OC like a Summa-ma-beach (530/360 stable here [but I do have a blow-hole fan right over the AGP slot]) I was even able to run runs at 550/363 but found a few anomalies.
The thing is that it's a gamble. What utility did you use to OC? Rage3Dtweak gave me the most stable results. Raclocker/Omega(with Radclocker) weren't as good.



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[ZZSpaceman]

I'm using Rage3D Tweak. It seems to work well. Initially when I was clocked at 2.64 GHz, I was stuck at 485/315. Wouldn't go any higher. 3DMark would close, but the system appeared to continue to run fine. When I overclocked to 2.88 GHz I was able to get 515/326. Strange? Din't expect the GPU clock to get any better.

The only thing I could see is the Asus auto overclocking utility turned up the CPU and AGP voltage. I didn't think the BIOS AGP voltage adjust controlled the GPU core? Not complaining but it would be nice to understand why the GPU OC improved. The memory speed is still poor.

ZZSpaceman

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Increasing the voltage allows you to overclock higher due to chip cross-talk interference at higher temperatures. It's like 'forcing' the pathways to work at the higher speed (very general/half-assed explination). However this also creates more heat, and therefore the returns peter out quickly as they simply contribute to the problem you are trying to overcome.
Be careful though with AGP voltage changes as it's the surest way to fry your card. Usually I do the opposite, up the CPU while bringing the AGP downto normal. But then again I do it recreationally, not seriously (just slight tweaks, only short term for large ones to 'experiment').

I've though of uping the voltage and seeing just how high my card will go, but then I realised 531/360 is respectable, nd I'd like to keep my card, so we'll try that when I'm thinking of a replacement.


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[ZZSpaceman]

Thanks, A little more precise answer to the increased voltage question is that the higher voltage and associated current allows the devices to operate faster, as you stated. This is due to the increased current drive associated with the higher voltage enables the charging and discharging of the on chip paracitic capacitance. At the same time the increased power dissipation caused by the higher currents increases the series resistance taking away some of the gains realized form the increased current drive.

The 9600pro runs pretty cool at stock settings. I also have a side fan that runs air over it, but I agree that it's best to keep the stress down. Especially if the card is working well. I'm not doing quite as well as you, but I'll plug a little longer to find a good operating point.


ZZSpaceman

 

[recruit370]

just wondering, if you overclock fsb it auto overclocks video card right?

ALWAYS AIM LOW SO YOU CAN'T BE DISSAPOINTED

 

[svol]

No, but in most boards you do OC the AGP bus speed (which has nothing to do with the GPU and videomemory speed). But an increased AGP bus speed doesn't help much as the bandwith of default AGP 4x is already wide enough.

My CPU fan spins so fast that it creates a wormhole

 

[ZZSpaceman]

No you need a specific overclock utility like Rage 3D Tweak to OC you video card.

http://www.rage3d.com/r3dtweak/

Good luck, and aim high if you want to achieve.


ZZSpaceman

 

[graham_h]

I'll post some results of my 9600 pro 256meg version later today. Quick question, Why does having fast write enabled cause probs with this card..?.or so i've read anyways....

 

[ZZSpaceman]

I have heard that but I have not been able to test it. When I installed Rage3D Tweak it removed the Tab from the Catalyst driver and I haven't been able to find another control for this parameter. One post claimed that unchecking the Fast Write Box increased his 3D Mark by 100 points. Hard to believe.

Like to see your result.

ZZSpaceman

 

[svol]

Fast Write is said to use instability in some cases with almost every type of graphics card. And even more: the function is as good as useless... it won't give any performance increase as far as I know and noticed.

My CPU fan spins so fast that it creates a wormhole

 

[graham_h]

well mine is clocking like junk...locked at 438.75/202.50
Arrgghh.......if turning off 8x will make it stable i'll do it...and my copy of rage 3d won't allow an increase above 260 odd for memory.
At the moment i'm lost and p***ed off....!!

 

[redstar]

this is my default speed (ati radeon 9600 pro) without OCing

VGA Memory Clock 297.0 MHz (which i guess is almost 600 as stated on the box)
VGA Core Clock 398.3 MHz

so anything less than that...is underclocked..is it not?

here is an slightly old article on how well they managed to overclock this card:

http://firingsquad.gamers.com/print_article.asp?current_section=Hardware&fs_article_id=1229

(i posted this link in the graphics card section and someone pointed out that the later 9600 pro cards did not overclock as well.)

the article says their 9600 pro shipped with:

350MHz BGA memory

what kind of memory do current ati 9600 pro's ship with??

TIA








<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by redstar on 09/05/03 02:14 PM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

NO it's the default speed. All figures are rounded when describing speeds. Just like Most 600CC bikes are actually like 595.

297 X 2 (DDR) = 594 =~ 600

398.3 =~400

R9600Pro overclock all over the map. My Card reached 535/363(726) rock-stable. It'll max out higher but with artifacts. However not all cards are created equal. ATI and their OEMs only reject a card (in the MFr process) if it doesn't meet the STOCK/Guaranteed speeds.

All TRUE (definitely BBAs) R9600PROs ship with the 2.86ns Samsung. However on OEMs you may find anything from 2.8 Hynix (actual O-clocks lower than the Samsung) to 3.0 and 3.3 Samsung. Also cards like GigaCub and Powercolor that 'say' PRO may actually be non-pros and have crummy TSOP memory (3.3+ns) and doesn't OC worth $hit!

Check with the OEM maker of your card.


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[redstar]

well..my oem maker is...ATI

but i have no idea what kind of memory they are using.

If its written on the memory chips, i can't see it with my poor eyesight.

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Well if your card is BBA then it's got the Samsung 2.86ns memory on it. It's pretty much guaranteed. They are the reference boards. Even then they can overclock all over the place, but at least you're starting with usually quality parts. And you also have the benifit of a good warranty as long as it's not a White-Box/Clear-Bag ATI.

Anywhoo, the core and memory speeds are fine. The memory is rated for 350mhz and is exactly the same stuff on the R9800Pro-128mb; but it may be memory that didn't clock to R9800P levels and was 'off-loaded' onto the R9600P, and then again it might not be. Just so you don't get your hopes up too much.


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