Hi everyone
I put "advanced" in the thread title to indicate that this isn't a "how do I overclock" thread - I am 95% the way there and understand my BIOS settings inside out. I have read enough over the past few years to OC my CPU and GPU, to update BIOS, etc. I was also hoping to draw in a few experts to help me crack this irritating problem I've been having. My rig is old-ish but as I haven't had it running for more than a few months over the past 3 years I'm really not interested in upgrading at the moment.
At this stage of the game, I'd even be happy to donate $50 to a charity, chosen by the person that can help me solve this. I have spent over 100 hours reading up on this and still haven't found any explanation or solution for my problem. So, its kind of become an obsession to solve it.
Good luck and thanks in advance for any help.
So, the short version of the question is:
why would my GPU start acting weird ONLY AT IDLE when I overclock my CPU ? But I never have problems (with the GPU or anything) when at stock ?
I need some help understanding where I should be looking to get my overclock stable at idle because I don't really understand what is happening with my GPU.
Further info:
Kit: i5-750, GA-P55M-UD2 mobo, Crucial 9-9-9-24 RAM, Sapphire HD5850, OCZ ModXStream 500w PSU, W7 64-bit
I can get a "static" overclock to 4 Ghz stable at load AND at idle but as soon as I enable Turbo and power saving, the overclock makes the GPU "crap out" ONLY AT IDLE. Thing is, I really want the modest 4 cores overclock to 3.5 Ghz and Turbo to 4 Ghz, with power savings. I've seen it done (Toms even did an article on it) but I can't get it to work.
More detailed explanation of the problem:
When idle, surfing or at the desktop, after 2 minutes to 2 hours , I eventually get one of the following:
BSOD with error 0x116 or 0x119 - crash logs indicate its a problem with atikmpag.sys or atikmdag.sys
OR
the GPU gives the "driver has stopped responding and has restarted" pop-up - sometimes it recovers fine, sometimes it crashes and hangs the system
The GPU never gives me any problems otherwise - its only this and its only with the overclock with Turbo enabled.
With the CPU overclocked, the CPU and GPU do fine when I am stress testing them BOTH at the same time under full load.
Heres some things I have tried:
Dialled back BCLK to reasonably low values like 150 with Turbo just to get it working before increasing (bear in mind, I can sit happily at 4 Ghz without turbo, stable at idle and load)
Run with Ram timings and speed at stock and looser, to rule that out (passed hours of MemTest with RAM overclocked and at stock/loose settings)
Reinstalled ATI drivers to latest (using DriverSweeper method)
Checked that latest versions of atikmpag.sys and atikmdag.sys got installed
Naturally, I've been giving it more (or sometimes less) juice by adjusting VTT, vcore, PCH, PLL, Dram volts, etc
Run with and without LLC
Updated mobo BIOS and drivers
Disabled GPUs HD audio drivers (in case clash with Realtek board audio)
Set 2D GPU idle clocks and volts higher
Upgraded fan on heatsink and reseated heatsink with new thermal paste - didn't need doing from a temps point of view but it had been 3 years since last reseating (CPU temps are great: 25-30°c idle, 60°c at load; GPU 36°c idle, 75°c at load)
Tried all Windows Power profiles (balance, custom, etc)
Uninstalled Catalyst Control Center
Increased PCI express frequency to 101 - read somewhere that it might "lock" the value and help with stabilising overclock. 101 didn't work, so now trying it at 103. /clutching at straws
Reduced PLL - read that reducing it well below the "normal" 1.8 can help. Tried 1.6 and 1.7
Turned off hardware acceleration in Chrome browser (because my GPU was constantly jumping between 2D and 3D clocks all the time when scrolling a web page) - didn't help with the crashes
Things I haven't done yet:
Reinstalled Windows - thinking about it even though I feel its a pain and won't help
Changed the PSU - would mean having to buy one as I don't have a friend nearby who I could borrow one from. Was wondering if that was the problem but don't understand how it could be if I can run all day at load on CPU and GPU
I put "advanced" in the thread title to indicate that this isn't a "how do I overclock" thread - I am 95% the way there and understand my BIOS settings inside out. I have read enough over the past few years to OC my CPU and GPU, to update BIOS, etc. I was also hoping to draw in a few experts to help me crack this irritating problem I've been having. My rig is old-ish but as I haven't had it running for more than a few months over the past 3 years I'm really not interested in upgrading at the moment.
At this stage of the game, I'd even be happy to donate $50 to a charity, chosen by the person that can help me solve this. I have spent over 100 hours reading up on this and still haven't found any explanation or solution for my problem. So, its kind of become an obsession to solve it.
Good luck and thanks in advance for any help.
So, the short version of the question is:
why would my GPU start acting weird ONLY AT IDLE when I overclock my CPU ? But I never have problems (with the GPU or anything) when at stock ?
I need some help understanding where I should be looking to get my overclock stable at idle because I don't really understand what is happening with my GPU.
Further info:
Kit: i5-750, GA-P55M-UD2 mobo, Crucial 9-9-9-24 RAM, Sapphire HD5850, OCZ ModXStream 500w PSU, W7 64-bit
I can get a "static" overclock to 4 Ghz stable at load AND at idle but as soon as I enable Turbo and power saving, the overclock makes the GPU "crap out" ONLY AT IDLE. Thing is, I really want the modest 4 cores overclock to 3.5 Ghz and Turbo to 4 Ghz, with power savings. I've seen it done (Toms even did an article on it) but I can't get it to work.
More detailed explanation of the problem:
When idle, surfing or at the desktop, after 2 minutes to 2 hours , I eventually get one of the following:
BSOD with error 0x116 or 0x119 - crash logs indicate its a problem with atikmpag.sys or atikmdag.sys
OR
the GPU gives the "driver has stopped responding and has restarted" pop-up - sometimes it recovers fine, sometimes it crashes and hangs the system
The GPU never gives me any problems otherwise - its only this and its only with the overclock with Turbo enabled.
With the CPU overclocked, the CPU and GPU do fine when I am stress testing them BOTH at the same time under full load.
Heres some things I have tried:
Dialled back BCLK to reasonably low values like 150 with Turbo just to get it working before increasing (bear in mind, I can sit happily at 4 Ghz without turbo, stable at idle and load)
Run with Ram timings and speed at stock and looser, to rule that out (passed hours of MemTest with RAM overclocked and at stock/loose settings)
Reinstalled ATI drivers to latest (using DriverSweeper method)
Checked that latest versions of atikmpag.sys and atikmdag.sys got installed
Naturally, I've been giving it more (or sometimes less) juice by adjusting VTT, vcore, PCH, PLL, Dram volts, etc
Run with and without LLC
Updated mobo BIOS and drivers
Disabled GPUs HD audio drivers (in case clash with Realtek board audio)
Set 2D GPU idle clocks and volts higher
Upgraded fan on heatsink and reseated heatsink with new thermal paste - didn't need doing from a temps point of view but it had been 3 years since last reseating (CPU temps are great: 25-30°c idle, 60°c at load; GPU 36°c idle, 75°c at load)
Tried all Windows Power profiles (balance, custom, etc)
Uninstalled Catalyst Control Center
Increased PCI express frequency to 101 - read somewhere that it might "lock" the value and help with stabilising overclock. 101 didn't work, so now trying it at 103. /clutching at straws
Reduced PLL - read that reducing it well below the "normal" 1.8 can help. Tried 1.6 and 1.7
Turned off hardware acceleration in Chrome browser (because my GPU was constantly jumping between 2D and 3D clocks all the time when scrolling a web page) - didn't help with the crashes
Things I haven't done yet:
Reinstalled Windows - thinking about it even though I feel its a pain and won't help
Changed the PSU - would mean having to buy one as I don't have a friend nearby who I could borrow one from. Was wondering if that was the problem but don't understand how it could be if I can run all day at load on CPU and GPU