vCard Tweaker Rookie

[duffyone]

I downloaded Rage3d tweaker, loaded it, tweaked my vCard every so slightly, ran it though 3Dmark. No increase in performance? Went back the tweaker thing in the control panel, it reset itself back to default. hummm.

What did I do wrong? Or maybe 3Dmark2001 reset it for me? I saw a post here not too long ago that seemed similar, but can't find it. Any suggestions or instructions re: Rage3D tweaker?

[rpertusio]

what 'tweaks' did you apply?

If you were attempting to overclock, and it 'reset' itself, your card may be locked from overclocking.

- rp

[duffyone]

could be, but it tried to do somethin'. I move the vchip from default (325) to 337, and mem. default from 201 to 250. It has Samsung memory -40's, so it should be able to handle 250 easily. When I tried to move vchip to 350 mhz, I got lots of dots and dashes on the screen, that's when I moved it back to 337. And then all was fine.

I check it a couple of times b/4 I ran 3Dmark it did stay at new setting, but after 3dmark it went back to default..... but wait a minute. I moved to the new setting (350/250) all was fine 'til I started to run 3dmark, then the dots and dashes came at the 3d mark first screen. then i backed it off, etc, etc etc.

[duffyone]

... oh,,, I must have been asleep this AM... I put this in motherboards..sorry it should be in graphics stuff!

... "what a rookie"

[rpertusio]

If you are seeing the pretty christmas dots on your screen (when you overclock), then your card is NOT locked. I'm not sure why 3dmark would be causing your overclock settings to revert back to their original values.

If you play a game, do the values return to default? (Or does this seem specific ONLY to 3dmark?) I haven't used Rage3d tweaking program for a few months. Does it have any 'profiles' for 3dmark? Maybe Rage3d tweaker is trying to optimize the settings for 3dmark in some way, and undoing any of your own changes.

Oh, ... we'll forgive you for posting in the motherboards section. I'll instruct the men to put away the tar and feathers.

- rp

[duffyone]

... great, 'cause I locked the doors and turned off the lights!

Didn't try anything else.. kind'a freaked with all the dots etc... "oh no I burnt my new card!!" So I made everything normal and thought I'd poke around a little to gain some info before I went any further or tried it again.

How far should I expect to take the "core" freq.? default is 325, should I expect to be able to do 350? seems like a small jump.
and mem? 201 to 250... the memory is K4D261638E-TC40 and is supposed to have a max. freq. of 250 and 500mbps Max Data Rate. ... and those Chrismas dots, I'm assuming that, that is from the OC'd core, not memory?

[rpertusio]

Seeing the christmas dots is a built-in reminder to start your christmas shopping. (You started seeing them on/after black friday, right?)



Raising the core speed (or even bumping the memory speed a lot) will cause the artifacts to appear. (The more 'technical' word for these dots is 'artifacts'.) The simple answer to your overclocking question: Overclock as much as you want. If you see the artifacts, back it off just a little bit until they go away. If your games (or 3dmark) 'freezes', then bump it back a little bit more. You'll eventually find the right speed that no artifacts appear, and your games/3dmark don't freeze. Its hard for me to say "you should get at least __ MHz overclock", because every card/system is different.

Some other tips:
- Some people swear by 'syncing' the core and memory clock speeds. (as in.. setting both to 325mhz or so). The theory is that both operating at the same speed will prevent one from slowing down the other. I personally have NOT found this 'syncing' to be helpful in my graphics card overclocking.
- (I forgot what my other tip was... I'll post back if I remember it)

- rp