gfx overclocking probs

[ifander]

Could someone please tell me why my graphics card produces artifacts when I overclock my cpu? It ran fine for a while, then I started to see corruptions in HL2 Fakefactory cinema mod (flickering textures etc.). I really can't see how the fsb, the ram timings or the voltages can affect the graphics card.

I used ATI tray tools' overclocker; I reached 445/555 Mhz (400/495 stock), so I lowered the frequencies by a few steps. Then I ran the artifact tester for half an hour and NO ARTIFACTS. But when I overclocked my cpu ( I had lost the settings in the BIOS before I attempted to overclock the graphics card, so I just set optimized defaults and left it at that) I got artifacts even at stock speeds! WHY!!!! Did I just buy an AC Silencer 5 for nothing?!

[Yawgm0th]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

It can generate heat that goes to the video card and causes it to overheat, however the CPU itself would probably be unstable from the heat necessary to do that... Well, maybe not with a Prescott, but that's irelevant.

Sounds to me like you messed up when you put the Silencer on. Take it off, clean it and the GPU off with Isopropyl (hmm.. I seem to remember telling you this and having a translation issue with Isopropyl), then put Arctic Silver 5 on the GPU and put the Silencer on. There should be an extremely thin layer of AS5 on the GPU.

[ifander]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

But if it's a heat issue, why does the card overclock normally (without artifacts) when the CPU isn't overclocked?
I've got the cooler running at full speed, and get max 53 C at load.
If I remove the cooler, I might have to reapply the thermal pads for the memory on the board, and I don't have that (it doesn't look like ordinary grease would reach the memory).

[dryadsoul]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

Did you lock the PCI/AGP bus frequency before OC'ing the CPU?

[casecutter]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

Yes, he is right. Set the PCI/AGP bus to 67 and it will lock it. When you raise the HTT you raise the PCI/AGP frequency as well. THat would cause your video card to overclock further than you intended.

[ifander]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

I've got a PCI-express card, and the PCI-E clock is set to 100 MHz in the BIOS (as it should be, I think). But, there's another setting in the BIOS, "Robust Graphics Booster", that's set to Auto. I'm not sure exactly what it does (something about enhancing bandwidth), but you can't disable it, only set it to Auto, Fast or Turbo.

[dryadsoul]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

Unless you can find the settings that allows you to enable the Async of the AGP/PCIEX bus pipeline/data transfer rate the PCIEX frequency will automatically increase to unacceptible increments everytime you raise the HTT/FSB.

I have no idea what mobo/bios you have? But, my Soltek K890-Pro w/Award BIOS has the Async disabled by default (found in CPU Ratio/Voltage Control) and unless they're enabled my 6600GT PCIeX card exhibits the same behaviour yours currently is. Try reading your mobo manual again under BIOS settings.

[ifander]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

If the PCI-E clock is set to 100MHz, doesn't that mean that it's locked at that setting? Anyway, I can't find any settings for enabling/disabling the async on PCI-E pipeline. It's simply not there.

[casecutter]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

If you cannot disable the "Robust Graphics Booster" try running it on Fast and see if it helps. That is a terrible option they decided to put in there with no way to disable it. See if there is also maybe a bios update for the motherboard that either disables or omits this feature.

[ifander]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

No luck, didn't help... Seems like I'm running out of options here.

[dryadsoul]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

Exactly what mobo is it??

[ifander]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

It's in my signature; Gigabyte GA-K8NXP-9, nForce 4 Ultra.
Link

I'm using the latest BIOS, F9.

[dryadsoul]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

In the Frequency/Voltage Control section, enable the PCIE spread spectrum option.
I can't find any manual for your mobo outside of SATA/RAID setup, but it looks like the above option should be it. Good luck!

[ifander]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

Well, It didn't help. This board must have some flaw in it's design or something, but then again, it's not exactly an overclockers board.

[dryadsoul]

Re: gfx overclocking probs

Yeah, the sample boards used on the reviews for that mobo didn't clock well either, and that's good indication the final consumer board won't be any better. However, I do love my Gigabyte GeForce 6600GT PCIeX GPU it clocks really well.