Question:
Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
*edit post
Only try this if you know what you are doing!
I've realized something...
This will only work if you have really good cooling pads. Ones so good, your pc will run very cool.
Go ahead and overclock your x1900/x1800. It's a free overclock.
I'm crazy, hum? The cards will die, hum?
Nope, they will live JUST AS LONG as you normally bought them, provided you have substantial cooling.
Now what am I talking about?
When these cards went into production, their factory core clock speeds and memory clocks speeds were set at a much higher output then what the companies set them too.
Because the cards generate too much heat. But if you can find a great cooling pad...
Here's the thing, my x1800 was set at 350 core, 425 memory. Yet it's REAL core speed is 450, and memory speed is 500.
I found this out by using either ATI Tool or ATI Tray Tools.
Neither of these will let you overclock a mobility card, but go ahead and run them. See if they show a greater factory clock speed then 400 core, 470 memory for the x1900.
Post your findings, and then everyone with a x1900 can use powerstrip for it.
For x1800 users, just set your clocks in powerstrip to 450 core, 500 memory.
Now why do this? Wouldn't this kill the card? No, because overclocking kills because you set a card beyond what it should be set.
These cards were set below what the factory settings are.
If you set them back, you aren't setting above factory settings, you are simply 'making it right'.
The only problem is, of course, heat. If you must take it somewhere, set it back to underclocked settings.
This will give you a huge boost to your pc power unless you do something stupid, like not use a cooling pad and kill your machine.
I'm modifying this slightly because some people don't understand what I mean. While it wouldn't kill your machine, it also would. Increased heat would kill your machine, which is why I said a very good cooling pad.
You aren't going over the threshold of clock speeds given, or some kind of possible threshold that clocks can only go to, but when more heat gets added to a small area, it can kill faster.
If you want to try this, be careful. May be best to use artic silver.
If it works though, you'll end up with a fast machine that won't die.
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
Strange post... Well anyway, in Fujitsu-Siemens the x1800 and x1900 have both the same clockspeeds: core 398 Mhz and mem 468 Mhz. They are both underclocked. Still I wouldn't encourage people to overclock unless they really need the extra performance. The cards are underclocked for a reason. some info about x1900 overclockability (see post #114).
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
This doesnt apply only to the x1800 and x1900. Many if not most GPUs in laptops are underclocked by the manufacturer.
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
Can you post the difference in temp and power consumption (or battery life) ?
You can always overclock but it comes at a price,see the TDP of 7800GTX when on full clock (many people chose to overclock their underclocked E1705's - when it had 7800 too but...) *points at siggy*
Sometimes the design of the cooling system of the laptop will not allow higher TDP's, so overclocking comes with it's risks too.
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
Is the point of this thread to say that you can OC an X1800 or X1900?
Aside from that being very old news, it should also be noted that the X1800 in particular had to be underclocked in most of the notebooks it's installed in because of the heating issues you mentioned. And as mentioned by wave, most laptop GPU's are underclocked to begin with anyway.
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
ati Tray Tools CAN overclock these cards. Works with my x1800. And ive ´reclocked´ it to stock ATi and played oblivion for hours with no hear issues or artefacts. no cooling pad used.
I suspect it is underclocked for battery time and noise rather than getting too hot for the cooling.
but powerstrip is a great piece of software.
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
Is the point of this thread to say that you can OC an X1800 or X1900?
Aside from that being very old news, it should also be noted that the X1800 in particular had to be underclocked in most of the notebooks it's installed in because of the heating issues you mentioned. And as mentioned by wave, most laptop GPU's are underclocked to begin with anyway.
As as always : straight to the point :)
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
x1800s really shouldn't be overclocked and to a certain extent neither should x1900s. They are already hot as hell.
You don't need a cooling pad as a must though.
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
I don't really believe in the concept of a GPU being underclocked in a laptop. GPUs are clocked by the manufacturers based on the thermal profile and power characteristics of the system they are designing. While GPUs may be clocked differently between two different models, that's not necessarily because one manufacturer is skimping, it's just that the design is different. I'm pretty sure what ATI defines is the maximum clock speed that ATI continues to support under their warranty. Anything over that, then the manufacturers have to cover the costs themselves. While a chip may not necessarily be underclocked depending on the thermal requirements, it can be overclocked since there is no way to judge if the design has sufficient cooling to operate the chip reliably. Using a cooling pad kind of skirts this of course, but it's still shouldn't be for everyone.
Answer:
Re: Everyone with an x1800 and x1900, READ
Yes, it was a strange post.
All it was meant to say was, if you overclock, all you are doing is setting the clocks back to their speed, but if you do so, do it at your risk, with a good cooling pad.
If you find you have the ability to do so though, it's not going to kill your pc.