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Overclocking the GT 330m Guide/Benchmarks

gatepc

gatepc

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Apr 11, 2008
492
0
Pittsburgh PA
I would first like to start off with the disclaimer that I am not good at writing guides and I am also not a pro with overclocking but here is my attempt at both. :) Also I am not liable for damages to your computer and ask fobis has mentioned each gpu even if they are the same may overclock better or worse then the next. So take my overclocking numbers for what they are worth. Experiment and try it out on your own.

Note: This guide assumes your running Windows 7 64bit, and also it assumes that you are new to overclocking.

-------------------------------GUIDE------------------------------
1.First make sure you have a copy of windows installed through bootcamp.

2.Then go ahead and install the drivers that came with bootcamp ( we won't be using the gpu drivers but the rest are going to be useful anyway so might as well go ahead and install them )

3.After you have all that you will want to go here to get a modified driver. This will give you better performance then the bad drivers that apple supplies it will also let you overclock the gpu

4.After you have downloaded both the driver and the INF file open up the driver and it will extract the files to the directory that you choose. It will also try to launch the install but it will fail saying something like " no compatible hardware found " ignore this for now.

5.Now take the INF file and copy it to the folder that the driver was extracted too. It will ask you if you want to overwrite the file just say yes.

6.Now open up the device manager by right clicking on my computer, selecting properties, this should open a new window and on the left there should be something that says device manager.

7.Under the tab that says "display adapters" select the only device that shows up on that tab. Right click it and choose uninstall.

8.After you have done that it will likely mess up your resolution and set it too 800x600 don't worry this is normal. Now just restart your computer.

9.Once you have restarted when it starts back up it will say new hardware found. Now you have to choose to install it manually choose the option that says something along the lines of " search for drivers in specified area "

10.Now it will take you to a new page and on that page there should be an option that says "have disk" choose this and select the directory that you extracted the driver too earlier in this guide. It should find one of the files that it can use and install it just fine.

11.You will need to restart again once this is done but when you start back up your resolution should be fixed if not just right click and hit screen resolution and just change it back to the native resolution.

12. Download Nvidia system tools found here

13. Go ahead and install this it should be self explanatory.

14. Once it is installed open the program and go to the performance tab on the left. ( It might ask you to agree to some terms of use )

15. Just put in these numbers and hit apply
646 for the first one
864 for the second one
and 1314 for the third one

Now your done :) if your paranoid like me of overheating your computer you can also optionally download and install LubbosFanControl to max out your fans to keep it as cool as possible.

Enjoy your faster GPU!.

----------------------BENCHMARKS-----------------------------
Before OC:
Furmark
Points:912
FPS: min=13 max=22 avg=15
Crysis: 24.89
Unigine Sanctuary Demo (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10:24.9fps (score:1057)
OpenGL: 23.2 (score:982)
Unigine Tropics Demo: (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10:18fps (scores 452)
OpenGL:16.3 (scores 410)
Unigine Heaven Demo:
DX10:14.8fps (scores 372)
OpenGL:12.6fps (scores 317)
3DMark06:5975
3DMark Vantage: P2294

After OC:

Furmark
Points: 1081
FPS: min=16 max=26 avg=18
Crysis: 33fps
Unigine Sanctuary Demo (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10: 31.2fps (scores: 1322)
OpenGL: 28fps (scores: 1211)
Unigine Tropics Demo: (run with everything on defuilt excapt resolution turned down to 1280x800 )
DX10: 21.7fps (scores: 546)
OpenGL:19.8 (scores:498)
Unigine Heaven Demo:
DX10:15.7(scores:395)
OpenGL: 16.2(scores:408) WTF? OpenGL wins? lol
3DMark06:6994
3DMark Vantage: 2922

Notes: Crysis was run at 1280x800 everything on medium excapt physics on very high

Another note: The highest GPU temp underload from Crysis got up to about 78C after about 15mins of running the game. Furmark got the temp up to 80C though after about 15mins also.

I have also played TF2 at max settings @ 1920x1200 for over 2 hours to test stability and it ran fine without any hiccups :)

Also I feel that this card can be pushed further then this ( I have not tried ) but from what I see it cools a lot better then I expected from a laptop I come from a world of desktop overclocking. :)

I have just tried the new clock speed that Rithem has suggested and they seem to work flawlessly and offer even better results :)
If your willing to push your computer even further try Rithem's suggestion of 650/900/1430
 
A note to everyone: please keep in mind that YMMV with overclocking. Not all chips are made alike; some overclock better than others. Generally, you do not want to take someone else's word for what your OC settings should be. You almost always want to ramp up your clock speeds slowly, testing between each increase to ensure stability and safety (ie - no artifacting, lockups, etc.).

And, as I'm sure everyone knows, overclocking can potentially damage your computer. The OP is not liable for any damage you cause to your computer by overclocking the GPU.

Regardless, thanks to the OP for a guide for newbs.
 
I've been waiting for a thread like this =) so how much should we increase the increments by and how would we know if the computer is becoming unstable?
 
I'm running 650/900/1430 and it's stable. You should try it those numbers.
 
Now I wasn't sure, but I didn't think this clock speed carries over to the Mac OS, does it?
 
iamrawr said:
I've been waiting for a thread like this =) so how much should we increase the increments by and how would we know if the computer is becoming unstable?
Click to expand...
I would say by about 30mhz but thats just me. You will know if it becoming unstable by running a game or stress test a good one is Furmark found here.

Rithem said:
I'm running 650/900/1430 and it's stable. You should try it those numbers.
Click to expand...
I will try that and let you know how it goes.
 
gatepc said:
I would say by about 30mhz but thats just me. You will know if it becoming unstable by running a game or stress test a good one is Furmark found here.

I will try that and let you know how it goes.
Click to expand...

Good to hear. I think I got a 7400 or so on 3DMark06 with those settings. I think it can be pushed more but for now I'm completely happy with those marks.

Edit: Oh and if for some odd reason Nvidia Sytem Tools doesn't work for you, like it didn't for me, try MSI Afterburner. I'm using that right now and it's holding the overclock and is stable upon hours of gameplay.
 
I am using this method to OC 650/900/1430 (MBP, 15", i7). 4 weeks ago, Starcraft 2 was stable. Since then, I have exchanged that MBP for a new MBP because of dead pixels.

With the new MBP in hand, also OCed to 650/900/1430, after 15 minutes or so playing Starcraft 2 Beta, the screen will blink gray, followed by the frames (FPS) droping by an average of ~12FPS. The game is still running (it doesn't freeze/crash), but continues noticeably choppier. Also, with the fans running at 6000rpm, the GPU temp never goes above 83c.

Now, if I exit Starcraft 2, and play a different game, say League of Legends, that game will take on the characteristics of lesser avg FPS, as well. It seems as if the GPU has under-clocked itself while choking up in SC2. But a quick glance at the Nvidia Performance Tools still details 650/900/1430, so I'm not sure. This problem doesn't go away until I restart windows 7 64bit bootcamp.

At first I thought, ok, maybe this exchanged MBP isn't as overclockable as my first MPB. I continued to run further test. After a reboot, instead of playing SC2 first, I played League of Legends. (2) one hour games, the OC remains stable. I also ran FurMark (1400res) for 1 1/2 hours, the OC remains stable. I ran 3dMark 06 twice, no problem. Temps never getting above 83c.

This gives me reason to believe that perhaps the newest Starcraft 2 Beta Patch 13 is choking up the my OCed GPU. Since the game is Beta, it's plausible. Also, since my initial MBP was running an earlier version of SC2 Beta, the new patch 13 being the culprit is plausible.

I haven't come to a conclusion just yet. I still need to run more tests (eg, running SC2 at default clock speed).

If anyone has any insight to this problem, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.
 
Esoin said:
I am using this method to OC 650/900/1430 (MBP, 15", i7). 4 weeks ago, Starcraft 2 was stable. Since then, I have exchanged that MBP for a new MBP because of dead pixels.

With the new MBP in hand, also OCed to 650/900/1430, after 15 minutes or so playing Starcraft 2 Beta, the screen will blink gray, followed by the frames (FPS) droping by an average of ~12FPS. The game is still running (it doesn't freeze/crash), but continues noticeably choppier. Also, with the fans running at 6000rpm, the GPU temp never goes above 83c.

Now, if I exit Starcraft 2, and play a different game, say League of Legends, that game will take on the characteristics of lesser avg FPS, as well. It seems as if the GPU has under-clocked itself while choking up in SC2. But a quick glance at the Nvidia Performance Tools still details 650/900/1430, so I'm not sure. This problem doesn't go away until I restart windows 7 64bit bootcamp.

At first I thought, ok, maybe this exchanged MBP isn't as overclockable as my first MPB. I continued to run further test. After a reboot, instead of playing SC2 first, I played League of Legends. (2) one hour games, the OC remains stable. I also ran FurMark (1400res) for 1 1/2 hours, the OC remains stable. I ran 3dMark 06 twice, no problem. Temps never getting above 83c.

This gives me reason to believe that perhaps the newest Starcraft 2 Beta Patch 13 is choking up the my OCed GPU. Since the game is Beta, it's plausible. Also, since my initial MBP was running an earlier version of SC2 Beta, the new patch 13 being the culprit is plausible.

I haven't come to a conclusion just yet. I still need to run more tests (eg, running SC2 at default clock speed).

If anyone has any insight to this problem, it would be greatly appreciated.

Many Thanks.
Click to expand...

I had this exact problem with Bad Company 2 and Nvidia System Tools. Try downloading MSI Afterburner like it said it my post a few posts above and putting in those settings. With Nvidia System Tools my overclock wouldn't even hold for 30 seconds in 3DMark06 but now it holds indefinitely.
 
can someone tell me what is affected by the core/shader/memory clock speeds?
thank you. i've never OCed before but i'm interested in it :D
 
Would this work on the new 2010 i7 model?
Is there a way to overclock it on the mac OS partition? as gaming has come to ma :D

and if something happened to the laptop due to overclocking would applecare replace it?
 
Tex-Twil said:
Is there a way to apply the frequencies at boot automatically ?
Click to expand...

Just create a rule that makes it turn on whenever you start a program but don't create a rule that turns it off when you're done with the program, that way it'll just stay on.

nlr said:
Would this work on the new 2010 i7 model?
Is there a way to overclock it on the mac OS partition? as gaming has come to ma :D

and if something happened to the laptop due to overclocking would applecare replace it?
Click to expand...

nlr said:
http://blog.orbmu2k.de/tools/nvidia-inspector-tool

Would this work on the new 2010 i7 model?
Is there a way to overclock it on the mac OS partition? as gaming has come to mac :D

and if something happened to the laptop due to overclocking would applecare replace it?
Click to expand...

Why did you write the same thing twice? If no one answered yet there's no point in writing a second time. I don't think there is a way to overclock in OSX. Just OC in Windows since games are optimized much better for Windows than OSX anyways. Yes, it's nice to not have to boot in and out just to play games but the performance on Windows right now is unmatched until the devs start doing better ports (Source is pretty decent on my machine actually, pretty surprised by the performance in OSX)
 
Thanks for the reply and sorry for writing it twice, I guess I thought the latest posts get read.. Soon I expect all games to be released and fully optimized for mac and hopefully apple will release drivers and is going to update mac os to improve our gaming performance so i wouldn't need the windows partition anymore
 
Rithem said:
I had this exact problem with Bad Company 2 and Nvidia System Tools. Try downloading MSI Afterburner like it said it my post a few posts above and putting in those settings. With Nvidia System Tools my overclock wouldn't even hold for 30 seconds in 3DMark06 but now it holds indefinitely.
Click to expand...

Rithem, thanks for the tip.

I installed MSI Afterburner 1.5.1 and couldn't get the slider bars to reach Core: 650, Mem: 900, Shader: 1430. Is there a specific version you're using achieve these values?

UPDATE: I tried Nvidia Inspector (650/900/1430) and I was able to get through an entire game of SC2 without it choking out. It's looking good, but that was only one game. I'll update if the old problem creeps up. Thank you
 
iamrawr said:
can someone tell me what is affected by the core/shader/memory clock speeds?
thank you. i've never OCed before but i'm interested in it :D
Click to expand...
shader = number crunching power, most benefit but usually the least headroom % wise.
core = the support stuff, that feeds shaders and makes a picture with colors and everything at the end. Overclocking the core helps if this is the weak spot. Not sure how much it helps with GT216 aka 330M. It also depends on the game. Doom3 engine is more texture than shader stuff and thus would prefer more core clock I guess.

memory is the least important. Usually it doesn't make much of a difference. The GPUs execution units need to be fed and as long as they are you can increase the memory bandwidth as much as you want for hardly any benefit.

If you have time just try out each one by itself and check how much the the temp increases compared to performance.
 
Esoin said:
Rithem, thanks for the tip.

I installed MSI Afterburner 1.5.1 and couldn't get the slider bars to reach Core: 650, Mem: 900, Shader: 1430. Is there a specific version you're using achieve these values?

UPDATE: I tried Nvidia Inspector (650/900/1430) and I was able to get through an entire game of SC2 without it choking out. It's looking good, but that was only one game. I'll update if the old problem creeps up. Thank you
Click to expand...

Download 1.6. I downloaded 1.5.1 also and found out that the sliders weren't going all the way to 650. 1.6 let's you however, but you can't go above 650 which is a problem if I wanted to push it even farther but for now 650/900/1430 is fine with me.
 
ok ill be intalling xp for my windows partition as they have told me is a lot better for gamming than w7... will this OC guide work for me?
 
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