can only overclock 10mhz in linux before going unstable

[gnychis]

Hey guys,

First off I use a Leadtek 6800GT for my machine which is a dual boot XP and Gentoo Linux.

In windows XP using the rivatuner application I can get a stable overclock from 350mhz/1.0ghz to 447mhz/1.3ghz. I see no artifacts and do not lock up in UT2004, Q3, Q4, and FEAR

However in linux, using nvclock, if i try to OC at 365mhz/1.0ghz my machine locks up while testing with glxgears.

Are the linux drivers less capable of an overclock? If so, its completely understandable and I am frankly just greatful enough to have great drivers for nvidia cards in linux. I am just wondering if there is any way to increase the OC in linux.

Thanks guys,
George

[cleverhandle]

I haven't done much overclocking in a while, so others more knowledgeable may chime in here, but generally Linux is a lot less forgiving on overclocks than Windows is. This was really noticeable back in the Win98 days - `98 would accept all kinds of crazy settings that Linux would choke on instantly. Honestly, if you're stable at default speeds and you can get your games working without issues, I'd be pretty happy with that. Lots of people have problems just getting that far.

[TierMann]

It could also be a heat issue. I noticed that my card idles like 8-10c hotter in linux than in windows. I'm using a zalman 700CU which isn't connected to the card itself so fan speed is not the problem.

[gnychis]

i also have a 700CU on my leadtek card, i just checked and both windows xp and linux idle my 6800GT at 51C, you idle at 31c ????? whats your ambient? My ambient is 32C

the other thing though is I can get a higher CPU overclock in linux than in windows. I can get prime95 to run without error at a higher overclock i linux than i can in windows.

But, all i care about for now is the card, and yeah it runs my games fine, but you know... i have the overclocking problem, i have to overclock everything including my cell phone

jk

[a7v]

Have you tried to enable "Coolbits" in your xorg.conf and use the overclocking utility in nvidia-settings instead of nvclock?

[gnychis]

i had no clue about this

i will do a search on it and give it a try

[gnychis]

i tried enabling coolbits in xorg.conf but it never gives me the clock frequency option in nvidia-settings:

Section "Module"
    Load        "dbe"  	# Double buffer extension
    SubSection  "extmod"
      Option    "omit xfree86-dga"   # don't initialise the DGA extension
    EndSubSection
    Load        "type1"
    Load        "freetype"
    Load       "glx"
EndSection

Section "Files"
    RgbPath	"/usr/lib/X11/rgb"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/misc/"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/TTF/"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/Type1/"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/75dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/100dpi/"
    FontPath   "/usr/share/fonts/local/"
EndSection

Section "ServerFlags"
		Option "OffTime" "10"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"

    Identifier	"Keyboard1"
    Driver	"kbd"
    Option "AutoRepeat" "500 30"

    Option "XkbModel"	"pc104"
    Option "XkbLayout"	"us,el"
		Option "XkbOptions" "grp:alt_shift_toggle"
EndSection

Section "InputDevice"
    Identifier	"Mouse1"
    Driver	"mouse"
    Option "Protocol"	"ExplorerPS/2"
    Option "Device"	"/dev/input/mice"
    Option "Buttons"	"10"
    Option "ZAxisMapping"	"9 10"
    Option "Resolution"	"800"
		Option "Emulate3Buttons" "false"
EndSection

Section "Modes"
Identifier "16:10"
# Modeline "1680x1050"  140i.00  1680 1784 1968 2256  1050 1051 1054 1087
# 		     147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256  1050 1051 1054 1087
#ModeLine "1680x1050" 146.2 1680 1960 2136 2240 1050 1080 1086 1089
#  Modeline "1680x1050" 146.2 1680 1776 1950 2256 1050 1056 1062 1089 -hsync -vsync
ModeLine "1680x1050" 147.14 1680 1784 1968 2256 1050 1051 1054 1087 -Hsync +Vsync
EndSection

Section "Monitor"
    Identifier  "Monitor0"
    UseModes "16:10"
    HorizSync   30-83
    VertRefresh 56-75
    Option "dpms"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier	"Standard VGA"
    VendorName	"Unknown"
    BoardName	"Unknown"
    Driver     "vga"
EndSection

Section "Device"
    Identifier  "Leadtek Winfast gf6800"
    Driver      "nvidia"
		Option "NvAGP" "1"
		Option	"DPMS"
		Option "Coolbits" "1"
EndSection

Section "Screen"
    Identifier  "Screen 1"
    Device      "Leadtek Winfast gf6800"
    Monitor     "Monitor0"
    DefaultDepth 24

    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       8
        Modes       "1680x1050"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       16
        Modes       "1680x1050"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       24
        Modes       "1680x1050"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection
    Subsection "Display"
        Depth       32
        Modes       "1680x1050"
        ViewPort    0 0
    EndSubsection

EndSection

Section "ServerLayout"
    Identifier  "Simple Layout"
    Screen "Screen 1"
    InputDevice "Mouse1" "CorePointer"
    InputDevice "Keyboard1" "CoreKeyboard"
EndSection

[JaXXoN]

Hi!

Maybe the windows driver overrides the VGA BIOS settings for the
GPU core voltage, increasing it in order to allow a much higher GPU
frequency (and maybe the linux driver doesn't)? Does one of the
nvidia windows tools tell the core voltage? If true, how much is it?
What are the core voltage settings in the VGA BIOS? Check the
following URL to understand how handle the VGA BIOS:
http://www.nvnews.net/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=54095

regards

Bernhard

[gnychis]

theres no change in the voltage with windows and with linux, the voltage is both constant at 1.3V

I still can't get Coolbits enabled either

[evilghost]

I had the same card, 6800GT Leadtek, I had no issues overclocking but did not use NVClock due to the differences in the 2D/3D clock frequencies. Instead, I used nvidia-settings with coolbits enabled.

[arokh]

Which driver/nvidia-settings version are you running? Which distribution?

[gnychis]

I am using Gentoo, here are my version numbers:
nvidia-settings-1.0.6629
nvidia-kernel-1.0.8178-r3
nvidia-glx-1.0.8178
xorg-x11-6.8.2-r6

if you need any more versions or settings let me know and i can provide them