overclocking X1950XT

[ali3596]

How do i overclock this card to get the best out of it?

Which program do i use?

Do i use ATI Control center?

 

[Parge]

to be honest, this card, being top of the range, is already going to be pushed to its limits. You may be able to get a few extra mhz outta it but dont expect anything special.

Also: why would you want to OC it anyway: its already powerful enough to handle almost anything

If your heart is set on OCing it: get ATI tool!

 

[pauldh]

I'll tell ya more when mine comes.

But for starters, unlocking overdrive will give you a halfway decent memory overclock, but not much on the core do to no voltage adjustments. It can also give you problems using ATI Tool, so I will not unlock overdrive. I plan on trying the latest Tray Tools first, but hear that ATI Tool beta 16 pre 8 works with it: http://www.techpowerup.com/wizzard/ATITool_0.25b16pre8.exe

This will give you access to voltage settings, temps, and fan speed control. Without more voltage the core won't go too much higher. But take it slow if you venture down that road.

 

[pauldh]

Yeah it's fast, just hard not to try and get more out of it. Stock is 625/1800 and some people with that ATI tool beta have gone over 700/2000. But (to the OP) don't expect that on the stock air cooling. Personally, I won't game with it overclocked unless I need a slight boost somewhere's. But I'll feel the need to see what it can do and run a few benchmarks once I get there.

 

[ali3596]

well, based on the TG charts, it doesn't show my model, but it shows the 1950pro.... I am just not impressed with this card because i am skipping duiring FEAR with graphics on LOW. My guess is it's either my Motherboard or Power supply....


here's the case i got with the power supply.... don't understand the readings of the power supply : http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=13&pPath=348&productID=349

is this adequate for the video card?

what about temperature wise? the temp on the card says 71 celcius..... is this normal or should i be worried? At what temp. should i start worrying?

I also got a e6300 oced to 2.2ghz

so what do you think is the problem? Or am i just tweaking?

 

[cleeve]

i am skipping duiring FEAR with graphics on LOW.

At what resolution?

I have an ultra PSU, for the price they work well. The 500w model has alot of amps, unless there's a proiblem with it it's not causing the stuttering.

What are your 3.3, 5, and 12v voltages? Check it in the BIOS...

 

[ali3596]

resolution is at 800x600



i don't know much about voltages and amps..... so this card requires 30amps?


i will chek the voltages as soon as i get home.....if it's not my ps, what else can it be?


BTW, what is my voltages supposed to be at?>

 

[cleeve]

They're supposed to be as close as possible to 3.3, 5, and 12 volts...

An X1950 XT should definitley not be skipping in FEAR at 800x600.

Do you have antialiassing and Anistropic filtering enabled in the driver? If so, how much?

How much RAM is there in your system?

Download and run 3dMark 05 (not 06!). That will give us a good idea if your X1950 XT is performing as expected...

 

[ali3596]

well, i ran 3dmark06 because it was currently installed onto my system. ANyways, i got a score of 5696 on 06


based on this score, can you tell me anything yet?

 

[ali3596]

An X1950 XT should definitley not be skipping in FEAR at 800x600.

that's exactly what i was thinking......

i have 1gb stick of RAM..... please tell me that's enough?

i was thinking it's either my PSU, mobo, or RAM

RAM - http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820161675

mobo - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813138034

PSU - http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=13&pPath=348&productID=349

 

[cleeve]

06 doesn't say much because it's more of a system benchmark.

05 will hone in on the graphics card and let us know how it's performing somethat independantly of the rest of the system.

Having said that, your 06 score looks really good, it's hard to imagine the videocard is having a problem with that score...

I don't think it's your PSU but you need to check those voltages to make sure.

Stuttering problems are sometimes caused by running tighter memory timings than you should. Check your BIOS and used relaxed timings instead of aggressive, see if the stuttering continues.


ALSO: Make sure you have the newest BIOS update for that board! They often update to correct memory problems.

 

[ali3596]

thanks for the help guys, i wil check that out as soon as i get home....


if my voltages are very close, does that mean my PSU is fine?

 

[cleeve]

if my voltages are very close, does that mean my PSU is fine?

Yeah, they should be within 10% at worst. If they're within 5% it's running perfectly.

More than 10% would indicate a problem, like if the 12v rail was running at 10 volts or something.

 

[a123456]

PSU - http://www.ultraproducts.com/product_details.php?cPath=13&pPath=348&productID=349

Theoretically, the X1950XT wants 30A on the 12V rail. Your PSU provides 28A on the 12V rail, which is slightly under the recommended specs. I'm not sure if this is what is causing the problem, but if you have another box with a better PSU, you might want to test that out to isolate the problem.

What to do if my power supply does not have the 6 pin PCIe plug for connecting to my X1950 XT ?
You are advised to use power supply that have the 6 pin PCIe connector for connecting to X1950XT. Power adapter cable that converts the 4 pin power connector from the power supply to the 6 pin PCIe plug are not recommended. Some power supply without the 6 pin PCIe plug may not have enough current for the 12V rail and the card may behave abnormally especially during 3D gaming. This may include screen corruption, system hang etc.

X1950XT draws a lot of power from 12V. A single card will require 450-Watt power supply or greater with 30 Amps on 12 volt rail recommended (assumes fully loaded system) and for CrossFire™: 550 watt power supply or greater, 38 Amps on 12 volt rail.

From: http://www.hisdigital.com/html/faq.htm

 

[cleeve]

I really doubt that two amps is the problem. That quote assumes a 'fully loaded system', and I assume it's calculating the worst case scenario of items drawing from the 12v rail. And then for two cards it says you only need an extra 8 amps? That would suggest the X1950 XT isn't drawing anywhere near 30 amps by itself.

If it was the problem, it'd probably crash, not skip - and only in one game.

I guess he could borrow a friends PSU - if he knows someone with a high end 30+ amp supply - but I really doubt its the culprit.

 

[ali3596]

so i checked my voltages.....im getting 3.3v and 5.02 for NB/SB boltage

and for DDR voltage, im getting 4.99


this is acurate right?