overclocking the x1950 pro pci-e

[RanCorX2]

Hi, does anyone know what settings you need to enable/disable in rivatuner to overlock the x1950 pro pci-e?

or is there a specific overclocking tool that works best with the x1950? I'm really happy with the cards performance but would like to push it a bit more, i recently installed a VF900CU cooler , works great so far, nice low temps compared to the stock cooler.

the card I have is a gecube x1950 pro pci-e 512mb.
I've already tried atitool but upon setting the clocks I just get a black screen and i have to reboot. I'm also unsure whether i need to disable the hot key poller service or not as various sites say yes/no which is confusing, It was so simple to overclock my 7900GS :confused:

Help! please :)

[RanCorX2]

Does anyone have some tips?? must you use driver level overclocking or low level hardware overclocking? whats with the black screen when using vista & atitool?

and what are the best settings to use in rivatuner for overclocking?

[tigger]

my x1950 pro(sapphire one) oc's pretty (648core/770mem) well.i use atitool 027b2 for vista,works fine for me.You do need to use driver level overclocking,yes.

[SpookyWillow]

i could never get atitool to work except with a modded .exe for the cards ram timings,

i use ati tray tools and it works fine in both low level and driver level, one thing to remeber is to increase the clocks in 7 or 8mhz at a time as any less wont work.

[RanCorX2]

i'll give ati tray tools a try, but, do you still need the hot key poller service on or off? or is that only needed for overdrive in the ccc?

[Kursah]

ATI Tool .27b2 or .27 b3 work fine for x1950pro, just make sure you check "Use Driver Level OC", I could get my pro up to 621/770 in Vista and XP (and on cool enough nights a tad higher). I did not use the fuzzy cube in ATI tool since some reason my VPU would reset above 614/750, so I'd run 3DMark 06 in loop for a while to ensure stability.

I tried ATI Tray Tools, but I just don't like how that program works, so I stick with ATI Tool.

I stayed away from Overdrive in CCC, it was buggy for my card at least when I did try it with early 7.x drivers.

Just remember the clocks increase every 5-7MHz instead of the usualy 1MHz we're all used to with other cards, and this is applied to both GPU and Memory.

Hope that helps! :toast:

[RanCorX2]

ATI Tool .27b2 or .27 b3 work fine for x1950pro, just make sure you check "Use Driver Level OC", I could get my pro up to 621/770 in Vista and XP (and on cool enough nights a tad higher). I did not use the fuzzy cube in ATI tool since some reason my VPU would reset above 614/750, so I'd run 3DMark 06 in loop for a while to ensure stability.

I tried ATI Tray Tools, but I just don't like how that program works, so I stick with ATI Tool.

I stayed away from Overdrive in CCC, it was buggy for my card at least when I did try it with early 7.x drivers.

Just remember the clocks increase every 5-7MHz instead of the usualy 1MHz we're all used to with other cards, and this is applied to both GPU and Memory.

Hope that helps! :toast:

hey, good info their man, i don't like overdrive either, and i've had freeze up's using the artifact testers in ati tray tools and atitool, i've got 3dmark 2k6 installed, seems to be a good way of heating up ones card :P

about the driver level overclocking, yea i didn't have it ticked :o Now i'm gonna do some testing, should be fun. Cheers for the help guys, i'll know where to ask if i need more help!

edit, forgot to ask is the ATI External Event Utility EXE Module (Ati2evxx.exe) required for atitool to operate or is it only for ccc/overdrive?? I'm a bit of a tweaker and don't like useless processes running in the background while i game.

[Kursah]

I never disabled it, nor did I have issues with it running. I'd leave it on for now. Let us know what clocks you end up with! Depending on the version of your card, you may barely hit 620, or you may hit 650+ on the core! Just don't feel too discouraged if you can't go too high, 1950pro's are not overclocking friendly in many aspects.

You may also wanna look into Ketxxx's 1950 Modded bios thread in the vid card section, you may find a bios there to flash that may help in your cause. I used a bios to keep my AC X2 cooler at 100%, but that's about all that would work for my Powercolor Extreme 256mb card...no other bios tweaks helped really...one of them was bad news as I had to blind flash, but that was actually pretty easy as I write down my file locations and commands I must type.

:toast:

[tigger]

my 1950 does 654core and 803mem max clocks.

[Kursah]

Yeah...well my Rev1 VRM based x1950pro 256mb would never muster those clocks with any sort of stability...but the max I hit was 627/783 (was very cold outside), I was stable for a few hours at a time...but those VRMs got so damn hot...621/770 was enough.

Now I'm on my XTX, it's at 695/1035 atm (bios set clocks), I'm working on more tweaks though...Still got my trusty Pro as a backup atm.

:toast:

[tigger]

i'm getting a 3850 next week tho' :p

cant wait.

[Kursah]

RanCorX2, here's some links to other threads in this forum that you may find helpful:

Ket's X1950 Modded Bios Thread: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=25301&highlight=x1950pro+modded+bios

There's a lot to read in there, but you may find something of interest there!

X1K~HD2 Fan Club: http://forums.techpowerup.com/showthread.php?t=23146

Also a lot to read through, but a lot of good information!

:toast:

[RanCorX2]

wow, thats alot of information, well, something to read while i'm downloading stuff ;)
thanks for being so helpful, wish other tech forums were like this :rolleyes:

[tigger]

We're here to please :D

[InnocentCriminal]

Arrrh all this talk of overclocking makes me want to try it again, albeit I am an AGP'er. However I haven't used ATiTool since the lack of support for the X1950Pro, stock has been fine, but since last night and now I've just got the overclocking itch....

... I'll try the .27 B3 now.

Hope it works!

[Kursah]

RanCorX2, no problem man, we're here to help. That's the goal of TPU, you learn something, and eventually you'll help someone who will be in a similar situation you were, it's good stuff! Glad we could help you! Keep us posted on your results!

:toast:

Innocent, I don't know much on the AGP side of OC-ing x1950pros...I was unaware that ATI Tool .27b2 didn't support your card for OC-ing...bummer man.

You using the good ol' 7.6 drivers? I read somewhere those were supposedly the best option for AGP x1950's...is that still true?

[InnocentCriminal]

Innocent, I don't know much on the AGP side of OC-ing x1950pros...I was unaware that ATI Tool .27b2 didn't support your card for OC-ing...bummer man.

You misunderstood me, I haven't used ATi Tool for a long time, what since, the .24 beta or something.

You using the good ol' 7.6 drivers? I read somewhere those were supposedly the best option for AGP x1950's...is that still true?

I've just upgraded from 7.6 to 7.11 - I think I have the 7.6's somewhere so I'll do a comparison if I can get ATiTool working, used the Overdrive feature in CCC but it wasn't exactly great. I'll keep you posted. ^^

[RanCorX2]

i've flashed my card with some alterered timings, don't want to risk voltage mods atm, managed to get to 627/742, so far it seems stable. default clocks are 573/688 occording to everest. I'm using rivatuner again, atitool kept crashing and freezing.

[casper250c]

The 7.6's are still the best drivers forthe 1950pro's I've tried all of them and no matter what I use the 7.6's always score at least 125 points higher in 3DM06 and 200 better in 3DM05.. As far as oc'ing the 1950pro's AtiTool still ALWAYS crashes these cards it don't seem to matter which version you use, the only thing I've been able to successfully get a decent OC on this card with is RivaTuner.. The best I have been able to hit so far was 652mhz core and 803mhz mem any higher than that and even with this IceQ card I start to have heat issues and get very nasty artifacting

BTW this is an AGP 1950pro I am using I don't know what difference there may be with a pci-x

[Kursah]

RanCorX2, nice work so far...I also noticed issues in ATI Tool when I OC'd beyond 614/750 and using the Fuzzy Cube for 3D or Artifact scanner, if I just used it for fan speed and OC's and used 3D benchmarks and gaming for the stress test I was fine though. Don't know why this happens, but I still prefer ATI Tool for that application.

casper, I would say the scores differences at that level could be too negligable to really be of solid evidence, as an extra background task can hinder a score by as much as 200 points in either test in some instances, but still from what I've heard still, 7.6's seem to be the best option. And really, the scores in 3DMarks aren't really that useful IMO, it's how the damn thing games that should be important! :D

I am also unsure of concrete differences between the PCI-E and AGP aside from the bridge chip to make the RV570 compatable with the AGP interface.

:toast:

[tigger]

Just joined the forum across there,its looking good kursar.:rockout:

[Kursah]

Just joined the forum across there,its looking good kursar.:rockout:

Yes it is! I am just involved with game reviews atm, don't know if I'll get the opportunity to help further, but I'm just glad to see it up and running! Thanks for showing your support, and keep stopping by to check out new reviews and modifacations to the site itself!

:toast:

Anyone interested should stop by: http://www.gamepowerup.com/

Sorry for the thread hijack, one more note on x1950pro's, I also noticed no benefits from modifying PCI-e bus speeds (100-119, 120 would cause my SATA drive to dissapear). I usually set to 105-109 for system OC stability, but have not found any evidence supporting that the x1950pro can benefit from extra or faster bandwidth from the PCI-E bus. I do not have an x1950pro for AGP, so I cannot specifiy if increasing the AGP bus helps there, but it did on my x850xtpe, so I'm sure there's some help there for you agp users!

:toast:

[InnocentCriminal]

As far as oc'ing the 1950pro's AtiTool still ALWAYS crashes these cards it don't seem to matter which version you use... BTW this is an AGP 1950pro I am using I don't know what difference there may be with a pci-x

.27 B3 kept hardlocking last night, I'm willing it give it another go, but it'd be running for what, 2 minutes and would then just lock up. So much so that it'd hang my rig on reboot. :(

I don't want to use Tray Tools as they seem rather bloated, RivaTuner I've not used for years and I'm quite happy at stock, but as it's so freakin' cold I'm interested to see how far I can go.

[RanCorX2]

ati tray tools stopped my rig from rebooting properly, I had to boot to safe mode 3 times before i could finally boot back in to normal mode, arggh annoying, at least no format was required! phew :) well I don't think i'll use the overclocking on ati tray tools anymore.... Seems that rivatuner is the only stable oc'er for vista atm.

Hey, Kursah! about the pci-e clock speed, i've done quite a bit reading up on that and there seems to be a division between those who say its bs and those who claim its some sort of evil magic hehe, anyway some seem to swear that it helps when overclocking ones card, usually between 110-125, something like that from what i read. The reason why you sata drive disappears is because its using the same clock generator as the pci-e slot (I think) on my system the pci-e clock is seperate from the sata clock so i've been able to able to clock higher than 120 (although i get a bsod) so it wasn't worth it! my sata clock is locked at 100MHz. So i just leave it at 110MHz. I think it allows for a few extra MHz to be squeezed out but hey it could all be a placebo!

[RanCorX2]

well in the end i got annoyed with the fps i was getting with crysis and got a hd 3850, at least i can actually play the game now lol. Didn't have much luck on overclocking the x1950...

[Kursah]

the Pro's aren't really the best for overclocking, yet they are still one of the best performers in their price brackets. My XTX isn't bad, but editing the bios using RaBit for OC is providing so-so results. I have yet to purchase Crysis, I'm too into CoD4 MP atm...I've been hooked from day one.

I hear the 3850's can OC quite well and with a simple voltage mod they can rocket pretty damn high if you have proper cooling. Enjoy that card! I want a 3870, but it's out of the cards for a while...I can possibly afford a cooler for my 1950xtx, so I can at least OC the snot out of it for more performance! But really at 1440x900 I do fine in most games.

:toast:

[RanCorX2]

the 3850 performs great in the games i've tried so far, Now i can finally play Timeshift without the lag!:)

[imperialreign]

Yes it is! I am just involved with game reviews atm, don't know if I'll get the opportunity to help further, but I'm just glad to see it up and running! Thanks for showing your support, and keep stopping by to check out new reviews and modifacations to the site itself!

:toast:

Anyone interested should stop by: http://www.gamepowerup.com/

Sorry for the thread hijack, one more note on x1950pro's, I also noticed no benefits from modifying PCI-e bus speeds (100-119, 120 would cause my SATA drive to dissapear). I usually set to 105-109 for system OC stability, but have not found any evidence supporting that the x1950pro can benefit from extra or faster bandwidth from the PCI-E bus. I do not have an x1950pro for AGP, so I cannot specifiy if increasing the AGP bus helps there, but it did on my x850xtpe, so I'm sure there's some help there for you agp users!

:toast:


On the PCIE BUS speed thing . . . somewhere round here there's a couple of threads with some testing I did with various settings on my board. TBH, even with an ASUS board and all their fancy PCI-E settings; leaving the PCI-E slot speed (frequency) to [AUTO] ended up with the best performance - it seems that once the BIOS is loaded up into WIN, it allows for speed adjustments as the card is being used, instead of locking it down to one setting.

well in the end i got annoyed with the fps i was getting with crysis and got a hd 3850, at least i can actually play the game now lol. Didn't have much luck on overclocking the x1950...

prob for the better, TBH, at this late in the feild. The 3850 will carry you much further than a 1950 will . . . not to say the 1950 is a bad card, but as DX10 starts coming in full force.

The 1950 PROs are a PITA to OC, though, even from what I understand with the top-tier cards. I've read some have overvoltage locks, which need to be defeated to attain higher clock speeds. Some, like my two, utilize capacitors instead of the VRM's and mosfets, which makes them even harder to push (highest OC I can reach is 614/756). Some cards are just so impervious to OC, that vmodding them is futile, too.

For what they are, though, and the speeds they're "locked" to, they are still great performers, and still capable of handling newer titles - but the days of the 1950 are numbered.