MBP 2,2Ghz 128MB vram - XP overclock

Hi all,

this is my first post on this wonderful forum, as you can read I'm a Macbook Pro owner, i bought the 15,4" basic model with XP-pro 32bit/bootcamp 1.4 installed.

I've read many threads about vga's overclocking but I'm a bit confused about:

• version of forceware to use
• program to set new clock speeds

I come from a desktop pc with ati graphics and I've tried to do something but nothing done... Probably my forceware drivers (163.67 mod by laptopvideo2go) lock overclock abilities, in fact nvidia ntune didn't load anymore, idem atitool and rivatuner (they set clock but revert immediately to defaults)...

I would like to know what is the newest version driver (cause I wanna play with newest game, such as bioshock or quake wars) that accept overclock, please help me!

Sorry for my bad english

 

Try the 158.22 i think they are the last ones that allow overclocking

 

Thank you man, i'll search it on laptopvideo2go! Do you think is rivatuner or atitool better?

 

I cannot install 158.22 drivers.. They make my mac rebooting.. What version do you use?

 

LaptopVideo2Go XP 32-Bit Drivers

QuickStart Guide

Windows XP Installation Guide - Have Disk Method

Remember, you must replace the original .inf with the modded .inf. Also, for overclocking I use the NVIDIA nTune Performance Application. Although I'm not sure you can overclock the 158.22 drivers or even if they work at all. The only drivers I've been able to overclock are the Boot Camp Beta 101.34 ForceWare Drivers. I overclocked to Core=475MHz and Memory=700MHz and found that the 163.44 drivers still outperform this at the stock clock speeds (470/635). I could not overclock 163.44 though.

MBP Overclocking Benchmarks
Most of the scores here are for the 2.4GHz MBP (256MB 8600m GT).

 

so it's true there is a driver restriction that lock clock parameters... Thanks for links, do you think future stable drivers will be lock free? I'm very happy with last drivers performance (3659 @ 3d06 ) but a bit of speed up isn't so bad...

 

I don't know for sure. I hope that when Leopard is released and Boot Camp is final, Apple will have refined & updated the Windows graphics driver they include. I'm happy with the current performance (using ForceWare 163.44) so overclocking is not really a concern.

 

Just a word of warning-overclocking voids your warranty, risks damage to your hardware, and is especially risky in a laptop. I personally would never consider it.

 

Thanks for the warn Wolf, i come from a large experience in the pc world of overclock and i know both the benefits and the risks!

I hope only a non-locked driver that allows me to have complete and feature complete control of my hardware!

 

Hm? How can it void the warranty? It's not like they can check it has been done if your card hasn't been fried.

Apart from that new card are used to changing clocks - MBP changes clocks all the time on battery...

I wouldn't really try overclocking it too much but consider this - the 8600gt gddr3 is underclocked in 15.4" MBP compare to nvidia clocks. It can go higher on 17" btw, so overclocking it to normal 475/700 should be quite ok.

I have yet to meet a person who has really damaged his card by overclocking - assuming he's is using 'normal' clocks - i.e. 10% lower than the clocks which start giving memory or core artefacts...

 

No, they may not find out, but it does technically void the warranty and would be dishonest to make a warranty claim if you damage it.

And yes, they can change clocks, but the important point is that the clock isn't supposed to go outside of what the manufacturer specifies.

 

Hm, why does it void the warranty? The warranty is for hardware, and overclocking is purely software for laptops. I'd say that it doesn't techically void the warranty unless it fries the card...

I personally think that the difference between clocks of 15.4" and 17" is a purely marketing move - show that 17" is worth the difference in price. And thus overclocking it to official nvidia clocks seems perfectly reasonable to me. Everything higher than that is an experiment, but the probability of damaging it is negligible if you do it right

 

Software that runs the hardware out of spec is going to void the warranty.

And yeah, the clock difference COULD be a marketing thing, but Apple doesn't actually market it. It's probably exactly what it appears-clocked slightly lower to help with heat.

 

erm, the difference in heat for the clocks is actually quite negligible between 15.4" and 17" so I don't believe it...

and everything under 90 degrees is quite okay for a laptop

 

If it is negligible, that's quite possibly BECAUSE they're using different clocks, or it could be for a worst case scenario where both CPUs are running at 100% and the GPU is as well, etc.

Regardless you do risk damage, and you are voiding the warranty, so do it at your own risk.