Help overclocking Alienware MX15

Hi there! To start with, I'm completely new to overclocking and all that is related to it. I just got an Alienware Mx15 and I mostly play BFBC2 and I wonder if it's possible to stay at 60 fps most of the time without having too low settings. Would overclocking help alot?

Been doing alot of research but I after googling around for hours, i've come to find out that not a single downloaded program have worked for me when it comes to the overclocking. I've read some guides, tried the programs. It won't work. Googling just haven't worked out for me in this...

Would really appreciate some help and tips on what to do, and how to do it.

What I am looking for is a safe and working overclock which won't my card. I badly want that minor fps gain

If someone would take the time to help me out, I'd be so glad.

Thanks!

Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU Q 840 @ 1.87GHz
RAM 6.0 GB
Single ATI Radeon Mobility HD 5870

 

wow, did you do the 5870 mod yourself. is it clevo or dell version.
use ati tools version 9.26 to oc your 5870.

AMD GPU Clock Tool v0.9.26.0 For HD 5870 download from Guru3D.com

bfbc2 is pretty demanding if you want better fps, i suggest dropping to dx9.

 

well i've been playing around abit with amd GPU clock now and.. if i started it with BFBC2 up in the background it said engine clock was at 625 and memory clock at 1000. Now when i started it with no game up. it's at 99.99 and 150.00. why is that? how high ratings should i have? and should i get some program to check temperature, or is thermal sensors showing the temp?

 

you have a 5850 and 99/150 is your idle clocks. your card only goes up too 625/1000 when gaming only. essentially the card powers up and down depending on the application you are using. when idling doing nothing your clocks will be 99/150.

 

so when i OC, i do it when the game is on?

Hmm.. so if i higher the clocks in idle, the clocks will be higher when i play? i also downloaded GPU-z but i can't see any rates on shader, core etc..

 

Yeah you can OC whenever and they will be used when gaming. Doesn't affect the idles.

 

If you oc the card it will stay at what ever clocks you set it till you set it back. So idle or not it will stick to the clock you set. Another way is to flash your vbios that way it will jump to the oc clocks only when gaming.

 

oh ok. flashing is something i do in the bios? cause it takes alot on the card i assume if i would have it oc'ed 24/7? and what exaclty is the engine clock and memory clock for? All i've read about in the guides are core and shader.

what program should i get for checking my temp? and what temperatures are not so risky to be at? I've heard all under 90C should be fine.

I tried furmark 3d extreme burning mode before oc'ing and noticed that one of my temps was at "MAX: 85" average 78. should i be looking at max or average?

So after that I tried OC'ing and i realized if I higher memory speed to much i would get a black screen with blue stripes and had to reboot. Guessing i can't have 1050 mhz on memory? Also tried 750 mhz on engine clock. Worked out fine i guess. Gained quite some fps in Furmark actually. Temps started at 81 but kep on rising. Could my cooling be too bad for ocing? since i'm at 80 with one internal already, without ocing.

Tried again. Played some bfbc2 with 740/1020, worked for a while ended up with a black screen. Aslong as I don't touch the memory clock i'm fine. Highest temp after 30 mins gameplay was under 80.

 

It's worth noting that if you improperly flash the card you'll end up with a big useless brick. Flashing isn't something you do in the bios. Your video card itself has it's *own bios* from what I've been able to discern. If you want a more permanent overclock you can flash the bios, but I'm quite sure that this would probably void any warranty you may have on said card.

Average I'd say is a pretty good indicator. I'd look at other peoples results and slowly incrementally boost and see how things run stress wise.

 

Check Catalyst Control Center to see whether Overdrive is installed (under the Performance tab in Advanced view). That provides perhaps the easiest and most convenient method for o/cing the 5850.

 

ok! I tried with ati overdrive, but as i can tell i don't even have a performance tab right now. I remember having that when i first got the computer. But after installing the latest driver from ATI. My ccc looks completely different and there is no performance tab, nor overdrive.

Catalyst Version 11.2

 

Looks like this. Stock Cat 11.2 reference drivers from AMD.

​

 

ye.. at my brothers house atm, and was looking at his ccc. he got ati radeon HD 5700 series. and he got performance tab and ati overdrive. tried it out. very easy to use. But with my alienware i don't have hydravision nor the performance tab, and I downloaded ccc from this link:

ATI Catalyst? Mobility Display Driver

should i download the desktop version to get overdrive?

and do u have any idea why i've been having problems with blackscreen if i have to high settings on memory clock?

Thanks for all the help!

Edit: tried to google on Stock Catalyst 11.2 reference drivers and downloaded what i found. Still no overdrive tab

Also tried reinstalling everthing.. no luck

 

In CCC, click on Preferences (top right) and select Advanced View. See if your CCC then looks like the picture above and whether it includes a Performance tab. If so, click on it to reveal Overdrive. The cause of your black screens with high memory clocks is probably -- almost certainly -- inadequate voltage, although you rarely encounter those problems at 1050Mhz. The only way to increase the voltage is to modify the vbios and reflash the video card, but the process is not recommended for the casual user because, done improperly, you can brick your video card. Permanently and irrevocably.

 

So do u have the 5850 or 5870?