How do I UNDERclock an ATI X1800XL for lower temps/fan speeds for quiet media center

[mediactr]

Yes you read it correctly I'm wanting to underclock my video card. I can hear the laughter now :laugh: underclocking..........well you see, I just recently built a pc to be used as a media center (Using SnapStream not Windows Media Center) and it's amazing how load a pc gets in a quiet setting like a living room! I've done the best I can with ventilation, but even while idle in a 75degree room, the three speed cooling fan cycles between speed one (Quiet) to fan speed two (Too loud for a living room). In retrospect this may not have been the best choice in cards, but I liked the flexible MPEG hardware accelerated decoding. I a rooky at oc/ucing so can anyone spell out for me how to underclock my ATI Radeon X1800XL?

[Poisonsnak]

ATITool should work. Just move the sliders down instead of up.

[trog100]

u could also try fitting an aftermarket artic VGA cooler.. they are not that expensive.. useing one of those and the fan control options in atitool u should be able to obtain near slience when the card isnt being thrashed and even then everything will be a lot quieter than with the stock fan.. especially if your card came with a single slot cooler..

trog

[D_o_S]

Yes you read it correctly I'm wanting to underclock my video card. I can hear the laughter now :laugh: underclocking..........well you see, I just recently built a pc to be used as a media center (Using SnapStream not Windows Media Center) and it's amazing how load a pc gets in a quiet setting like a living room! I've done the best I can with ventilation, but even while idle in a 75degree room, the three speed cooling fan cycles between speed one (Quiet) to fan speed two (Too loud for a living room). In retrospect this may not have been the best choice in cards, but I liked the flexible MPEG hardware accelerated decoding. I a rooky at oc/ucing so can anyone spell out for me how to underclock my ATI Radeon X1800XL?

Hi,

first of all, welcome to the forum :)

As far as underclocking goes, download ATI Tool and install it. When you open up the program, first I'd try lowering the fan speed, as it is possible that your card will run at default clocks with a lower fan speed. To adjust the speed of the fan, open up ATI Tool, click Settings. Once there, you should choose the Fan Control from the drop down box at the top. Tick the "Override fan speeds" box, then go ahead and set a fixed fan speed that suits you. After you do this, run ATI Tool's artifact scanning option, to check for artifacts. If you get any, lower the clock speed by 5-10 MHz, and keep going untill down you are artifact free for at least 15 minutes.

[mediactr]

ATITool should work. Just move the sliders down instead of up.

Thanks for you're response, it helps to be using the compatible version! :)

[mediactr]

u could also try fitting an aftermarket artic VGA cooler.. they are not that expensive.. useing one of those and the fan control options in atitool u should be able to obtain near slience when the card isnt being thrashed and even then everything will be a lot quieter than with the stock fan.. especially if your card came with a single slot cooler..

trog

I like the idea of not recirculation potentially 85deg+ cel. video card exhaust, but right now it doesn't look like they have a cooler for my card and I'm not sure I'm willing to give up my PCI slot.

[mediactr]

Hi,

first of all, welcome to the forum :)

As far as underclocking goes, download ATI Tool and install it. When you open up the program, first I'd try lowering the fan speed, as it is possible that your card will run at default clocks with a lower fan speed. To adjust the speed of the fan, open up ATI Tool, click Settings. Once there, you should choose the Fan Control from the drop down box at the top. Tick the "Override fan speeds" box, then go ahead and set a fixed fan speed that suits you. After you do this, run ATI Tool's artifact scanning option, to check for artifacts. If you get any, lower the clock speed by 5-10 MHz, and keep going untill down you are artifact free for at least 15 minutes.

Now that I'm using the correct ATITool, I've found that the ATI's default fan control is my biggest problem.

0-70c = 36%
70-86c = 76% (86c is as far as I’ve taken it)

The card temps in my application range from 65-75c so the fan switches back and forth between 36% (Quiet) and 76% (Too loud for living room)

I found ramping up the fan gradually a much better solution and that 50-55% will just about maintain ATI default target of 70c with an acceptable noise level. So far I’ve underclocked successfully down to 200MHZ. Since 3D is not much of an issue in video play back I’m just watching a lot of TV looking for a degradation in quality. 200MHZ still seams to even handle Windows Media Player 9 HD.

Thanks for your help.