Sidebar Sidebar
Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

330m Automatically Underclocks Itself

Rithem

Rithem

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jun 29, 2008
454
0
I'm not really sure why it's happening. I would overclock using nvidia system tools then try 3dmark06, start getting about 45 fps then all of a sudden it would just drop back down to 30. I don't think the overclock is holding and I have no idea why. Settings are at 675/800/1485 for graphics/memory/processor.
 
Rithem said:
I'm not really sure why it's happening. I would overclock using nvidia system tools then try 3dmark06, start getting about 45 fps then all of a sudden it would just drop back down to 30. I don't think the overclock is holding and I have no idea why. Settings are at 675/800/1485 for graphics/memory/processor.
Click to expand...

Well that is the point of 3DM06; so you'll of course see fluctuations like that. With that said, it could be that the GPU is hitting TJMax and thus downclocking itself; overclocking it in the first place is a pretty poor idea (they're underclocked by Apple for a reason).
 
Well I got a score a 6118 when I first did it, without overclocking. After I overclocked and ran 3dmark again i got a 5400... It shouldn't be that big of a difference, and it especially shouldn't go down.
 
Rithem said:
Well I got a score a 6118 when I first did it, without overclocking. After I overclocked and ran 3dmark again i got a 5400... It shouldn't be that big of a difference, and it especially shouldn't go down.
Click to expand...

Might go up, might go down - 3dmark scores have always fluctuated between around ~400 points.
 
DoFoT9 said:
keep going if you wanna break something. apple/nvidia uses specific clocks for specific reasons u know :p
Click to expand...

Exactly what i was trying to say in my original post; yet people insist on overclocking on these machines.
 
WonkyPanda said:
what are your max temps with your oc?
Click to expand...

About 70ish. It's weird because if I use lubbo fan and prestart the fans, the OC last longer but eventually it'll just stop and underclock itself. I'm not really sure what's going on.
 
Seems stable after I used Nvidia Inspector to put in the clocks. Got a 7400 or so on 3Dmark with it. Time to uninstall nvidia system tools.
 
As an avid overclocker, this is probably a throttle happening regrdless of what the sensors say. The cooling isn't ideal either..
 
Bradan said:
As an avid overclocker, this is probably a throttle happening regrdless of what the sensors say. The cooling isn't ideal either..
Click to expand...

Care to explain? I'm just trying to figure out why my overclock settings with nvidia performance caused the GPU to underclock itself as a security measure but with nvidia inspector everything is dandy and overclocking is working great. I'm just really confused by that :confused:
 
Rithem said:
Care to explain? I'm just trying to figure out why my overclock settings with nvidia performance caused the GPU to underclock itself as a security measure but with nvidia inspector everything is dandy and overclocking is working great. I'm just really confused by that :confused:
Click to expand...

It more than likely throttled itself due to heat. Like I said before, these chips run 10-15c close to TJ Max as it is without overclocking them - Apple sets the clocks they do for a good reason. Oh and first party overclocking utilities have always been sub-par.
 
DesmoPilot said:
It more than likely throttled itself due to heat. Like I said before, these chips run 10-15c close to TJ Max as it is without overclocking them - Apple sets the clocks they do for a good reason. Oh and first party overclocking utilities have always been sub-par.
Click to expand...

agreed, i've always had the best luck with atitool and rivatuner.
 
Bradan said:
agreed, i've always had the best luck with atitool and rivatuner.
Click to expand...

MSI afterburner works awesome these days.

Thought just came to mind; I really hope he isn't running games with the overclocked 330M - disaster waiting to happen.
 
Throttling only downclocks the GPU for a very short time. Just enough to cool down enough. According to Nvidia a 330M can stand 110C and still operate stable. TJMax is in the region of 100 I guess so you won't burn the chip. More likely something else fails.
All manufactures put in big safety margins into their clockspeeds so that almost every chip runs cool enough. Some chips might run faster at the same heat output than others.
On pre Arrendale CPUs Underclocking also worked well simply because safety margins were much bigger than they need to be.
All products sold for the same price should perform the same so they put in reasonable clock speeds. You might end up with a very hot part that runs near its limits or a very cool one and the latter you can overclock and will still get the same product lifetime as the one who was unlucky enough to get hot chips.

What I want to say is that of course they put in clock speeds for a reason, but the reasons are primarily due to marketing and average reliability and only indirectly technical.
 
DesmoPilot said:
MSI afterburner works awesome these days.

Thought just came to mind; I really hope he isn't running games with the overclocked 330M - disaster waiting to happen.
Click to expand...

Beleive it or not, MSI's afterburner is a modified version of revatuner.

www.bjorn3d.com said:
On October First of 2009, MSI has released a RivaTuner based Overclocking utility, that will allow us to overclock our video cards. You can see the Article HERE. This guide Is based on how to use MSI Afterburner on our video cards. Unlike RivaTuner MSI Afterburner is a lot simpler to use and navigate.
Click to expand...
 
DesmoPilot said:
It more than likely throttled itself due to heat. Like I said before, these chips run 10-15c close to TJ Max as it is without overclocking them - Apple sets the clocks they do for a good reason. Oh and first party overclocking utilities have always been sub-par.
Click to expand...

I'm not really sure it's heat. The GPU would only be around 70 degrees C and it would underclock itself.

DesmoPilot said:
MSI afterburner works awesome these days.

Thought just came to mind; I really hope he isn't running games with the overclocked 330M - disaster waiting to happen.
Click to expand...

Games are the only thing I'm doing with the 330m actually. How is overclocking to play a game bad?
 
Rithem said:
I'm not really sure it's heat. The GPU would only be around 70 degrees C and it would underclock itself.



Games are the only thing I'm doing with the 330m actually. How is overclocking to play a game bad?
Click to expand...

I can all but guarantee it's more than 70c; the 330M hit's more than 75c at stock clocks - Never believe computer sensors as they're always wrong. It'll more than likely cause instability if you haven't stress tested (stress testing for at least 6 hours minimum). Instability will cause freezes; crashes, artifacts etc and has the real potential to cause permanent damage.
 
DesmoPilot said:
I can all but guarantee it's more than 70c; the 330M hit's more than 75c at stock clocks - Never believe computer sensors as they're always wrong. It'll more than likely cause instability if you haven't stress tested (stress testing for at least 6 hours minimum). Instability will cause freezes; crashes, artifacts etc and has the real potential to cause permanent damage.
Click to expand...

Well from what speedfan and other programs tell me it's around 75-76 during OC and it's completely stable.
 
dsprimal said:
yeah, it underclocks for a reason. could be annoying though.
Click to expand...

Yeah I suppose. I think it was just Nvidia system tools. With Nvidia inspector the overclock holds and is completely stable for hours, or at least until I turn it off.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.
Top Bottom
Back