Overclocking/Unlocking Guide.

[MONKEYMAN]

(I apologize for the fact that due to the size of the screenshots you may need to increase your resolution slightly to make it easier to read and that the explanation may seem rather bloated however i wanted to make it as easy as possible for all to understand.)

I though to aid all you guys out there with a 6800/6800le card I would do a brief tutorial on getting the most from your card................

Overclocking your Nvidia 6800/6800LE DDR graphics card:

My Leadtek 6800 128mb graphics card was clocked at 325mhz for the core and 700mhz for the memory, these figures will vary between brands and between the two models I am covering in this tutorial(6800/6800le).
I have seen through my own experiences and other peoples observations that increasing the core speed of the card has a greater performance impact than increasing the memory speed and that overclocking the memory high before the core can lead to a reduction in the maximum core speed attainable.
I am overclocking using the function built into the Nvidia drivers, you will require either a set of the XG drivers(currently using 80.40 myself) or download coolbits.reg from the files section here at AOA.

Instructions:

Right-click on your desktop and click properties-settings, go down and click on advanced and then at the top click to name of your graphics card on the top-right tab, a box will extend out from the left hand side of the window with more options, click on clock frequency settings and you will see this:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/934/a2mk.jpg

click in the box for "manual overclocking" and read and agree to the disclaimer(if you wish to continue)

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2619/b8ll.jpg

Move the core frequency slider up 10-20mhz each time and click test changes and apply, after each increase run a graphics intensive benchmark(I use 3dmark03) keep on doing this process until either the benchmark crashes or artefacts are visible during the benchmark. When this occurs back off by 5mhz until the problem dissapears.
In my case:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9092/c1uw.jpg

Then repeat the process with the memory(leaving the core at its highest working overclock) until you have a balance of the highest attainable core overclock and the highest memory frequency at this core speed.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/8729/d5hc.jpg

Keep running loops of your chosen benchmark and check the temperature of your card, this is where you have to draw your own boundaries, if I can keep the core temperature under 75/80c i'm happy and they DO have an auto core slow/shutdown when temperatures reach dangerous levels.
You need to find a temperature you are hapy with, if you feel it is too high then drop the core frequency by 5mhz and check again, keep repeating until you are satisfied.

Enjoy your overclocked card and read on if you are interested in the possibility of increasing your cards performance even more then read on...........





Unlocking the extra pipelines and shaders on your Nvidia 6800/6800le graphics card using Rivatuner.

Your graphics card will have a certain number of pixel pipelines and vertex shaders enabled by default.

6800 -12 pipes and 5 vp
6800le -8 pipes and 4vp

It is possible to unlock these to the full set of pipelines that the card has in its core(16 pipes and 6vp), It is quite possible though that the particular core in your card is there for a reason, it may have damaged pipelines or the core may not be able to reach the required speeds for the gt/ultra cards. Whether your card will unlock fully or partially is a gamble but with no real risks and its always worth a go.
The guide below will show you how unlock these extra pipelines,although you may find that after enabling one of the pipelines/shaders artefacting or erronous 3d performance may occur, simply follow through the instructions again and lock the pipes again one by one until you narrow it down to the affected pipes(s) or shader(s) and then unlock all but that/those pipes.

First of all you will need to install the latest version of rivatuner, this is available from the files section of AOA.

When you open the program this is what you will see to begining with:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2862/16ni.jpg

Click on the customize tab and select the first icon(low level settings) and goto nvstrap at the top....

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/8994/27sa.jpg

goto the bottom of the opened window and click install...

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/1817/34qa.jpg

This provides support for unlocking and advanced hardware options,

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/4765/44qk.jpg

Tick the "allow enabling masked hardware units" a warning will be displayed,

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/9026/51jc.jpg

Click yes and then select custom from the dropdown next to the "active pixel/vertex units configuration" and the following will be displayed:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/8084/60oq.jpg

Notice how Bit 3 and Bit 11 are disabled and masked, click on the greyed out tick to the left of these Bits to unlock them.(On some cards different Bits will be disabled and on 6800le versions two in each group will be disabled) the one you have now enabled in the top group of four Bits is the one of the four quad-pipe pixel pipelines and the one in the bottom group of six is your extra vertex shader.

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/5820/77pd.jpg

Click ok and then apply....

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2742/82ur.jpg

and restart your computer, if all has gone well and none of the pipes/shaders you have enabled are damaged the you can expect similar to the following results:

Standard:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/5241/12p5v5iy.jpg

With an extra vertex enabled:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/6753/12p6v7zo.jpg

With 16pipes and 6vp enabled:

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2529/16p6v5ap.jpg

And with all pipes/vertex's enable and a moderate overclock on the core/memory(400/900):

http://img341.imageshack.us/img341/2...v4009000ua.jpg

Lay back and bask in the glory of your now even faster card(if it worked that is!)

NOTE:If unlocking all or some of the pipes caused major artefacting then removing Rivatuner will return the card to its original state as will performing the steps above but locking/unticking the bits that were previously locked(and you suspect were causing problems) you can just unlock 1 vertex shader and leave the other locked(6800le)if one causes a problem and the same applies to the pipelines.

[dsio]

This one is an idea for a sticky as well

[Chesso]

Hey do you think there is anything i could do to this affect(similar) with a GeForce 5500? Just hoping and wondering

btw very nice tutorial.

[MONKEYMAN]

Thank you!
you can overclock your 5500, however you cannot unlock any extra pipelines as there are none.
To overclock your 5500 follow the first section of the tutorial, its the same to overclock all the ti,fx or 6 series cards
Im fairly sure the 5500 cards have either 128/256mb of 64/128bit memory(depends on manufacturer), most of the brands use 5ns elixir memory which is rated at 200mhz(400ddr) so you might be able to get another 10-15%+ on the memory speed and another 10%+ on the core

[Daniel ~]

Copied over to our FAQ, made a sticky. Thank you MM!

[MONKEYMAN]

cheers for the sticky! Ive got them with imageshack at the moment, where would I upload them to on AOA?

[danrok]

Images are there now. The URL looks like this:
http://www.aoaforums.com/frontpage/i...e/12p5v5iy.jpg

[MONKEYMAN]

cheers

[Bluepixie]

Very nice work! Do you know if the 6600 GT AGP has any unlockable bits? I suspect that it don't but, thought I would ask.....

[dsio]

Nope, the 6600GT is a core in its own right, not a cut down version of another core. It will overclock well, but never unlock.

[Bluepixie]

Originally Posted by dsio

Nope, the 6600GT is a core in its own right, not a cut down version of another core. It will overclock well, but never unlock.

Aye, I thought as much, just thought I would double check. I'm really gunning the overclocking now though.

GPU core - 570Mhz
Vram - 1.14Ghz

Current 3Dmark2003 - 8741 (that good for my setup?)

Getting massive increase in speed and it's not even getting hot really. Sitting at about 48 degrees idle, then going up to about 55(+-5) during use. No artifacts. Pretty chuffed.

I'm going to be a Zalman fan boy (pardon the unintended pun) for life! And XG.

[dsio]

Yea, between the overclocking power of the 6 series and the XG modded drivers, the performance of these cards has just been getting better and better with age. Nice overclock mate. You sure your ram is at 1.4Ghz, not 1.04 Ghz? 1.4Ghz is incredibly high.

[MONKEYMAN]

A lot of people I know bought the 6600gt when it first came out and the average maximum overclock was about 580/1100 although some hardware sites are showing some cards going all the way to 600mhz+ on the core

[MONKEYMAN]

Thats a really high memory speed, when benchmarking keep a really close eye out for any artefacting, if it does run fine at this speed then you have an extreme overclock on the memory.
The core on the 6600gt's can overclock in general to between 570 and 600mhz although some are even higher

[Bluepixie]

Originally Posted by MONKEYMAN

A lot of people I know bought the 6600gt when it first came out and the average maximum overclock was about 580/1100 although some hardware sites are showing some cards going all the way to 600mhz+ on the core

Which sites?

[Bluepixie]

Originally Posted by MONKEYMAN

Thats a really high memory speed, when benchmarking keep a really close eye out for any artefacting, if it does run fine at this speed then you have an extreme overclock on the memory.
The core on the 6600gt's can overclock in general to between 570 and 600mhz although some are even higher

My drivers crashed once last night during CS:S, and I had a random restart. No artifacts though.

However, FEAR, Doom3, Farcry and Jedi Academy are running very well, and I've seen no problems in 3Dmark 03 or 05. Tempertures are good on the CPU and system and the Zalman on my card is cool to the touch during play. :!

Sits about 48 degrees at idle. Could just be the Source engine playing up. Had lots of problems with it before overclocking so it wouldn't surprise me. Artefacts only start appearing when it starts overheating no? Can overclocking my graphics card cause my machine to randomly reboot?

[dsio]

Yes, a high video card OC can cause a machine to reboot, and no, artifacts dont only happen when it overheats, they happen when you OC too far, or have bad memory.

I think something is up with your memory. Have a browse on futuremark's ORB and you will see that the world record holders for 6600GTs with voltmodding and phase change are topping out at 1300Mhz-1350Mhz. The highest I have ever seen was 1.41Ghz with a massive overvolt on it.

Now, what are you using to overclock this? There is a chance that it isnt working correctly.

[Bluepixie]

Originally Posted by dsio

Yes, a high video card OC can cause a machine to reboot, and no, artifacts dont only happen when it overheats, they happen when you OC too far, or have bad memory.

I think something is up with your memory. Have a browse on futuremark's ORB and you will see that the world record holders for 6600GTs with voltmodding and phase change are topping out at 1300Mhz-1350Mhz. The highest I have ever seen was 1.41Ghz with a massive overvolt on it.

Now, what are you using to overclock this? There is a chance that it isnt working correctly.

ah tits, Im getting worried now.

I'm just using the nVidia driver overclocking tool in the display menu.

[MONKEYMAN]

post a screenshot of the overclocking tool with the sliders set to your overclocked speed.

[Bluepixie]

Ah man I feel like a right twit. That'll teach me for not re-reading my own posts! I'm sorry guys, should have read.

CORE = 570Mhz
MEM = 1.14Ghz

/me bangs head on table

How the heck did I miss that? I just got so excited about my performance boost that I didn't even check that it actually was 1.4Ghz. :rollseyes: Man /me shakes head.
Max that it will go up to is 1.4Ghz! LOL Like I was going to get it up there!

Here be a screenshot anyway

http://img253.imageshack.us/img253/8...atit9te.th.jpg

However, still had those random restarts. Wonder what's going on there....