Problems overclocking GPU mem clock (X1900 AIW)

[czhe]

Hi all,

I'm overclocking my old X1900 AIW card here using ATiTool. It's using a custom Zalman heatsink/fan.

I''m leaving the core clock alone and only tuning the mem clock for now. Stock speed is at 477MHz. I've managed to increase this to 621MHz without any problems.

However, as soon as I click set to 630MHz, my whole screen just appears as graphic patterns. The patterns usually last for about 5-10 seconds (sometimes it won't go away and I'm forced to restart) and everything goes back to normal, except my clocks have been reset to stock speeds.

I've tried loosening the timings and also slightly increasing the MVDDC and MVDDQ voltages but they did not help.

My question is, have I hit the limit? Is there anything else I can do to push it past 621MHz?

Thanks for any help. Much appreciated.

 

[Cheeseball]

If you can look at the memory modules, can you post their make and part number? I'd like to look them up to see their rated frequency.

 

[Error 404]

Is the ram cooled by anything? If not, then maybe grab some ram heatsinks and find a volt mod for the card!

 

[Kursah]

To be honest I wouldn't expect much more than you've attained, for one it's an older card, it's age and wear and tear are probably going to show. That card is also not known for massive OC's and from what I've read AIW cards tend to run a tad hotter and not be as oc-able as non-AIW counterparts. I'm pretty certain you'll be stuck at 621, which is decent for that card imo.

 

[czhe]

Hi all, thanks for your replies.

I figured out what the problem was. It was just ATiTool being buggy. I fired up Rivatuner instead and I've gotten to 680MHz for the memory clock and I've tested stability with ATiTool.

@Cheeseball: I currently have heatsinks on those chips and I'm not sure if I want to take them off. I couldn't find any documentation on them either. I suppose it would be worthwhile to see how fast they can go though, I'll see if I can rip one off (I hope it can go back on there, it's one of those sticky types)

@Error 404: Yup, I'm using those sticky types that came with the Zalman cooler.

@Kursah: You're definitely right about the heat. The card is really burning up, especially when I increase the core clock.

I do have another question though: in order to achieve my max core and memory clocks, I need both ATiTool and Rivatuner. I need ATiTool to adjust the voltages and I need Rivatuner to adjust the frequencies. This is all doable when I'm testing for the limits, but if I want the card to eventually boot with all these combined settings (voltages + frequencies), how can I achieve this with two tools?

Thanks a lot.