Overclocked my GeForce 6800 GT. Now some games run slower

[PepperBreath]

My current rig is running long in the tooth so I OC'ed it a bit. Due to my motherboard lacking decent OC options, I got my Newcastle 3000+ up to 2250mhz, with the memory running 1:1. My GeForce 6800 I was able to OC from 350mhz to 400mhz. GeForce mem only went from 1ghz to 1.09ghz.

Anyway, a game like Flatout would run just fine with all the options on at 1680x1050. After the overclock, I get little stalls here and there. It disappears when I turn off post-processing effects but still, what the hell? Why would this game in particular runs lower after I overclock?

I set the speed on my GeForce back to default and I'm going to do some more testing. Still, very strange IMO.

 

[cprince]

I think that the overclocking causes stability problem with your video card.

 

[AVP]

I would check the temps, those could be a factor. Also I imagine that power draw increases with a video card oc, but I am not sure, never done one. What kind of psu do you have?

 

[evilharp]

Originally posted by: PepperBreath
My current rig is running long in the tooth so I OC'ed it a bit. Due to my motherboard lacking decent OC options, I got my Newcastle 3000+ up to 2250mhz, with the memory running 1:1. My GeForce 6800 I was able to OC from 350mhz to 400mhz. GeForce mem only went from 1ghz to 1.09ghz.

Anyway, a game like Flatout would run just fine with all the options on at 1680x1050. After the overclock, I get little stalls here and there. It disappears when I turn off post-processing effects but still, what the hell? Why would this game in particular runs lower after I overclock?

I set the speed on my GeForce back to default and I'm going to do some more testing. Still, very strange IMO.

You overclocked several components, any one of them could be contributing to the "stalls" you are experiencing. If you OCed your processor by bumping the FSB it could also be another system component contributing to the problem (ie PCI cards, hard-drives, etc..).

Did you lock the PCI bus at stock speeds?
What chipset are you using? I ask as some had issues with FSB overclocking (i.e. IDE was overclocked leading to errors)

 

[tigersty1e]

Ahhh, I had the same headache as you with my vanilla 6800.

Your 6800 is throttling even though the temps are nowhere near dangerous levels. For some reason, the GPU thinks it is overheating and it is throttling (or the memory). I still don't know if it's a bug or if it actually is overheating and protecting itself. My slowdown threshold is at 135 C and my card idles at 46-50C and loads at 58-67C. There's only 1 temp gauge so there may be some hot spots on the processor that gets dangerously hot.

I've done 2 things that cured my problem, but it is very dangerous to do. This is more dangerous than your standard overclock because the fixes I use disable throttling. So following protocol, "overclock at your own risk." Disabling throttling can really damage your card, so be 100% sure your overclocks are safe and stable and your cooling is on-game.

But the 6800 cards are already old. I"m not sure about your GT, but my card is showing it's age with the newer games, so I"m all about squeezing the most out of this card.

1. Force your card to constantly be in 3d Performance mode with Rivatuner.

Go to Power user -> Rivatuner\Nvidia\Overclocking and go to EnablePerfLevelForcing and set the value to 1.

Then go to the screen that shows the overclocking sliders and right below the memory overclocking slider, there will be a dropdown box, "force constant performance level". Select 3d performance and then reboot the system.

Now your card is constanly in 3dperformance even in Windows.

This may work for you, but my card still throttled badly even with this fix. I think Rivatuner was not able to override the drivers/BIOS.

2. Reflash your BIOS

I used NVflash and Nibitor. Just google them and download the latest versions. Basically, I set the throttle speeds and volts and 3d performance speeds and volts to the same overclocked levels. Google how to use these programs. If you get trouble just PM me.


Disclaimer: It's only been a month since I've had my card with throttling disabled, but so far so good. It's more smooth than before (at default) because my card only knows 1 speed, the overclocked speeds.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
But the 6800 cards are already old. I"m not sure about your GT, but my card is showing it's age with the newer games, so I"m all about squeezing the most out of this card.

A 6800GT's faster than a 7600GS, usually a bit slower than a 7600GT, I think.

 

[PepperBreath]

Ok, I'll try to respond to everyone.

cprince: I think you're right. The stalls didn't appear until I OC'ed my 6800. Still, it's not exactly critically hot under load (~67C), so I'm wondering why it's doing that.

AVP: It's an Antec Neo Power 480W. Using a PSU calculator I found online, it seems like it should be enough power, even with the overclocks.

evilharp: It's an nForce 3 motherboard made by Biostar. The AGP and PCI bus is locked according to the BIOS. I never messed with them. Also, I did a lot of the overclocks in steps and not all at once. The stuttering only appeared when I OC'ed my 6800. Otherwise, the system had been very stable before.

tigersty1e: Did you notice an improvement in games? I overclocked my 6800 because I knew I had some headroom but I tend to believe the real bottleneck is my CPU and memory and I'm reluctant to go that far to overclock the 6800.

 

[f4phantom2500]

It sounds like something's going wrong, you should just put it back at stock. Even if it worked fine you probably wouldn't notice the higher speed, because a 50MHz core overclock and 10MHz memory overclock on a video card is very small. Plus since it's not working and is actually slower, why keep it overclocked?

 

[PepperBreath]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500
It sounds like something's going wrong, you should just put it back at stock. Even if it worked fine you probably wouldn't notice the higher speed, because a 50MHz core overclock and 10MHz memory overclock on a video card is very small. Plus since it's not working and is actually slower, why keep it overclocked?

Actually, I did that last night which is why I was convinced it was my video card above all else. When I dropped the oc down to 375mhz, the stuttering stopped in Flatout 2 but I started getting graphical anomalies in STALKER. Right now it's back at stock.

Still, would have been nice to oc it. More importantly though, I wish I could oc my CPU more. Stupid motherboard doesn't have many oc options though.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
But the 6800 cards are already old. I"m not sure about your GT, but my card is showing it's age with the newer games, so I"m all about squeezing the most out of this card.

A 6800GT's faster than a 7600GS, usually a bit slower than a 7600GT, I think.

Moreso than you think, I would guess.

 

[f4phantom2500]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
But the 6800 cards are already old. I"m not sure about your GT, but my card is showing it's age with the newer games, so I"m all about squeezing the most out of this card.

A 6800GT's faster than a 7600GS, usually a bit slower than a 7600GT, I think.

Moreso than you think, I would guess.

I'm pretty sure it's dependent on the specific settings; the 7600GT usually does better in newer games and stuff since it's a newer card and faster clocks yadda yadda yadda, but as you crank up the detail on some of the (slightly) older games I think the 6800GT usually comes pretty damn close to the 600GT, might even surpass it sometimes, I dunno for sure. Too lazy to look up a benchmark lol.

 

[Acanthus]

Originally posted by: myocardia

Originally posted by: f4phantom2500

Originally posted by: tigersty1e
But the 6800 cards are already old. I"m not sure about your GT, but my card is showing it's age with the newer games, so I"m all about squeezing the most out of this card.

A 6800GT's faster than a 7600GS, usually a bit slower than a 7600GT, I think.

Moreso than you think, I would guess.

The 7600GT is generally 10-15% faster at playable settings (30+ min fps).