My GX2 SSC Report.

T

TalonMan

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Feb 16, 2007
Messages
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Well, my SSC GX2 is installed.

One odd thing is as soon as I plugged it in, my favorite stable 3.8GHz BIOS settings would not boot withought getting a CPU Check on my Maximus LCD Poster. It booted fine using the BIOS default settings.

I had to then load in my saved OC profile in, and back er down to 3.3GHz.

I need to go back to OCing my system to get my 3.8GHz back. I am guessing that it probably need more CPU voltage, but not sure what to think.

Any advice what setting in the BIOS might help a GX2 out? :confused:

At 3.8GHz and my OCed 8600GT in 3DMark06 (default settings):
I was getting a score of about 4,982 3DMarks.

At only 3.3GHz, and my stock SSC GX2, This was my very first run, Vista Ultimate and 174.74 driver:

3DMark Score 16,976 3DMarks. :D

SM 2.0 Score 6601
SM 3.0 Score 8182

CPU Score 4649

Graphics Tests
1 - Return to Proxycon 53.49 FPS
2 - Firefly Forest 56.53 FPS

CPU Tests
CPU1 - Red Valley 1.52 FPS
CPU2 - Red Valley 2.28 FPS

HDR Tests
1 - Canyon Flight (SM 3.0) 96.26 FPS
2 - Deep Freeze (SM 3.0) 67.38 FPS

Things are looking up... ;)

I am happy with the card. It installed fine...

The power plugs went right in...

The removal of the old drivers, and install of the new also went well.

I did spend more time OC'ing my system, and faught my way back to 3.4GHz.
After an unsuccessful 3.5GHz attempt, I ran into that Maximus CMOS error message, that only time heals. (The clear CMOS button did not help me out.)

I must have tried 10 times booting unsuccessfully to get around the CMOS ERROR on the LCD Poster. The display would go from 'INIT ROM' to 'CMOS ERR' to System lockes up... :mad:

I was real close to removing the battery, but that was under the GX2 and I didn't want to take it back out. I chilled for 20 minutes with the power off to the PC. After some Captain Black, I was ready to try again...

Came back in, hit the system with power, and it acted like it was fine again!! Booted right up.

Loaded the last successful OC profile back in that worked with some light OCCT testing, then backed that down a tad for saftey. 3.4GHz is where she currently sits.

My gut feeling is that I am so new at OCing CPU's, that it just needs a BIOS adjustment that I havent tried yet...

The CMOS error gave me pause though...

Ran two more tests trying to match my CPU speed best I could, to re-produce my last 8600 runs using 3DMark06...

At 640 x 480 No AA OCed 8600 GT, [email protected]:
8,842 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 2,988
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 3,673
CPU Score: 5,445
Return to Proxycon - 27.65fps
Firefly Forest - 22.16fps
CPU1 Red Valley - 1.83fps
CPU2 Red Valley - 2.59fps
Canyon Flight - 27.18fps
Deep Freeze - 46.28fps

At 640 x 480 No AA GX2 SSC Stock, [email protected]:
18,530 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 6,803
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 9,653
CPU Score: 4,746
Return to Proxycon - 54.93fps
Firefly Forest - 58.45fps
CPU1 Red Valley - 1.53fps
CPU2 Red Valley - 2.35fps
Canyon Flight - 122.81fps
Deep Freeze - 70.25fps


At 1920 x 1200 No AA OCed 8600 GT, [email protected]:
3,466 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 1,256
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 1,199
CPU Score: 5,196
Return to Proxycon - 10.79fps
Firefly Forest - 10.14fps
CPU1 Red Valley - 1.68fps
CPU2 Red Valley - 2.58fps
Canyon Flight - 10.29fps
Deep Freeze - 13.69fps

At 1920 x 1200 No AA GX2 SSC Stock, [email protected]:
16,402 3DMarks
SM2.0 Score: 6,632
HDR/SM3.0 Score: 7,458
CPU Score: 4,723
Return to Proxycon - 54.92fps
Firefly Forest - 55.61fps
CPU1 Red Valley - 1.55fps
CPU2 Red Valley - 2.3fps
Canyon Flight - 78.57fps
Deep Freeze - 70.58fps

She is a runner, and I have never seen my games look so good, or move so fast. :cool:

I installed FRAPS 2.9.4 right before I removed my 8600 GT.
In real life games this is what I was getting.

Q6600 @ 3.8GHz, OC'ed 8600GT:
In COD4 1920 x 1200 AAx2
Sync every frame - NO
Shadows - NO
Specular Map - NO
Everything else to YES or Normal
34 to 39 fps in game play.

Q6600 @ 3.4GHz, and stock SSC:
In COD4 1920 x 1200 AAx2
Sync every frame - NO
Shadows - NO
Specular Map - NO
Everything else to YES or Normal
57fps in most game play, all the way up to 700 or more at times.


Q6600 @ 3.8GHz, OC'ed 8600GT:
Crysis 1920 x 1200 AA off
Fullscreen X'ed
VSYNC not X'ed
Plane flying in - 4 to 7 fps
'OK gentlemen listen up' scene - 10 fps
'Parachute in' scene - 11 fps
Swimming in the water to the beach - 8 to 9 fps

Q6600 @ 3.4GHz, and stock SSC:
Crysis 1920 x 1200 AA off
Fullscreen X'ed
VSYNC not X'ed
Everything set to High...
Plane flying in - 29fps
'OK gentlemen listen up' scene - 47fps
'Parachute in' scene - 52 to 55fps (more right before landing)
Swimming in the water to the beach - 45fps

After doing some OC'ing on the GX2, I now believe a Q6600 at 3.4GHz is a bottleneck to a GX2 SSC.

Q6600 @ 3.419 GHz for all testing... (Best I can currently do)

Core clock - 675MHz (Stock GX2 SSC speed)
Shader clock - 1,674MHz
Memory clock - 1,050MHz
3DMark06 - 17,284

Kept the Core and Shaders linked, and upped the core and memory.

Core clock - 730MHz
Shader clock - 1,810MHz
Memory clock - 1,100MHz
3DMark06 - 17,234 (Score was lower than stock SSC by 50 points.)

Kept the Core and Shaders in the same spot, and lowered the memory only.

Core clock - 730MHz
Shader clock - 1,810MHz
Memory clock - 1,090MHz
3DMark06 - 17,159 (Score was lower than stock SSC by 125 points.)

Raised the memory, and lowered the core still keeping it linked to Shaders.

Core clock - 720MHz
Shader clock - 1,785MHz
Memory clock - 1,100MHz
3DMark06 - 17,079 (Score was lower than stock SSC by 205 points.)

Unlinked the core and shaders, for largest OC yet...

Core clock - 740MHz
Shader clock - 1,846MHz
Memory clock - 1,100MHz
3DMark06 - 16,818 (Score was lower than stock SSC by 466 points.)

De-installed Riva Tuner, and returned to stock SSC Clock speeds:

Core clock - 675MHz (Stock GX2 SSC speed)
Shader clock - 1,674MHz
Memory clock - 1,050MHz
3DMark06 - 17,350 (Score went up 66 points over the origional stock SSC numbers.)

Conclusion...

There is currently no advantage for me to OC my GX2 SSC right now...
In my mind, one of two reasons is why.

1) The GX2 runs fast enouigh already, to fill it's data path between it and the PC, so OC'ing the card won't do too much for you...

2) A Q6600 @ 3.4GHz is too slow to take advantage of OC'ing a GX2 SSC. I now believe this is the real issue if I want my score to climb any higher.

A quad core processor running at 3.4GHz, is indeed a bottleneck to a GX2... :eek:

I can't fix no-1 even if it was the issue, but intend to work more on number 2.
For right now, until I get my Q6600 running faster than 3.4GHz, I am going to run my GX2, just the way EVGA made it.

I don't want the extra heat on the card by OC'ing it, nor do I think there is any performance for me to be had by doing so.
Not as long as I am limping along at 3.4!!

This strikes me a rather demanding... Imagine the poor SOB running his processor at stock speed, with GX2 installed.
Ouch!! That's gunna hurt... :p

The card does do a number on my games even at 1920 x 1200. It is a beast, and I am having a blast with it. :cool:
 
talonman,
your overclock issues might be a power delivery problem. That new card of yours might be drawing to much juice for your PSU to pump out the higher voltages needed for your overclock.
Overclocking usually demands a very stable power rail. What kind of PSU do you have power your system. That might have everything to do with your overclock failing with the new card.
Gx2 probably draws twice as much power as your 8600gt did.
 
He has Thermaltake Toughpower 1kw...........this one should be able to handle it...maybe not a reliable one?
 
S[H]ady;1032349506 said:
talonman,
your overclock issues might be a power delivery problem. That new card of yours might be drawing to much juice for your PSU to pump out the higher voltages needed for your overclock.
Overclocking usually demands a very stable power rail. What kind of PSU do you have power your system. That might have everything to do with your overclock failing with the new card.
Gx2 probably draws twice as much power as your 8600gt did.
Click to expand...

I'm inclined to agree. Your PSU seems adequate to the task, though. Much sure your rail connectors are all inserted properly. You'll want to run a voltage monitor to see how stable your 12v rail is during usage as well.

But I would fiddle with the core voltage on the CPU some more.
 
My GX2's will be here today, and i'll be rebuilding the machine tonight. What kind of temps are you getting? Just wondering how high i'll be able to push em before temps become an issue.
 
Right now, just surfing, Everest is reporting 62C on GPU1, and 61C on GPU2.

My cold Ohio basement is currently at 63.1F, and my remote temp sensor that is located inside the PC's Case, is reporting 67.8F.

Inside my PC's case, my temp was 4F hotter than room temp before I installed the card.

My TJ09's case temp didn't even rise ANY after the install. I was suprised...
That video card fan in the TJ09 is blowing right on the huge GX2!
They go good togeather.

My GPU's under stress I have seen hit 79C, but must confess I havent been watching that too much. It may have gone higher...

I took some screen shots of all my voltages and temps using Everest before the install, and still at 3.8GHz. I intend to go back and see if any of my voltages moved any from what everest is currently reporting.

It is odd... I would think my PSU wouldn't care, but sure enouigh, as soon as the GX2 went in... CPU init failed trying to come up at 3.8GHz.

I have bumped my CPU voltage up a 2 times to get back 3.4 so I kind of think there is another setting involved too. :)

I did get a USB error in there too 1 time on the LCD poster. I don't know if that would give any clues or not? ;)

Thanks for the advice... I have been playing so many games that working on getting my .4GHz back has had to wait a bit...

Heck, I am getting 17,500 on some of my 3DMark06 runs at 3.4GHz...

I still am in tech-no shock! :D
 
Cool. Heh it was 56F in my apt before i left for work. Havent had to use my heater all winter, if it gets too cold i just push the q6600 back to 3.6ghz and leave it running 24/7 :p
 
honestly the temps for me seemed to be on par to what i had when i had 2 8800gtx's in SLI. I love my 9800gx2 ssc.
 
yeah I agree, i am happy this qx9650 i got in a trade for capitals tickets is such a good ocer. 4ghz with only 1.3 volts. I ran prime 95 blend for 14 straight hours, got up this morning to see it chugging along bought a nice smile to my face.
 
Sounds like a keeper to me!

BTW - I just updated my sig. It just needed to be done... ;)
 
Jepp you are so right, 3.4 is a limiting factor. I just got 19750 with a standard Gx2 on stock clock and my QX9650 relaxing at 4Ghz. Need to update 3dmark to be able to even save my score on the orb. Anyway thats about 3K over my old 8800GTX at max OC and the Gx2 is not even starting to show its potential.
Got same temps to, 62-61C. Can´t wait for EK to deliver my FC9800Gx2-Acetal so i get a nice cold beast.
 
JUST got my gx2 in :D

Installed it, no problems whatsoever installing.. power is good (corsair ftw! ) and plugged into right port.

Loaded at stock, gonna run my first run through 3dMark06.
 
First run:

C2Q @ 3.5 . 9800gx2 at stock (non-ssc) 600/1000/1500

3DMark Score 17534 3DMarks
SM 2.0 Score 6957
SM 3.0 Score 8163
CPU Score 4977

Damn happy :D . Temps were only 60, granted at stock. Fan was at 85%. Time to start OC'ing it a bit..!

Second run:

C2Q @ 3.5 700/1750/2150. fan @ 86%

3DMark Score 17834
SM 2.0 Score 6961
SM 3.0 Score 8574
CPU Score 4877

Could've been higher i think by a little (since my cpu score went down :p)

I'm content regardless, great graphics card. :D
 
I got my BFG 9800GX2 yesterday. It connected fine and drivers installed good after running drivercleaner. However, 3D06 was like 13.5k and games were not looking that good. 3D06 wouldn't run anymore and I then got the NV4 display driver bsod. So I uninstalled the drivers again, ran DriverCleaner again, then reinstalled. That process went like it did the first time. I uninstalled rivatuner 2.08 too, just incase.

I ran 3D06 at my daily clock, all was good and games play great.

http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6205982

I like the GX2 alot better than the X2 it replaced.
 
Good scores guys!!

It's fast and a looker... :cool:

Glad the installs went well for you both... (- One small driver issue...)

My friends want to come over to see a GX2 in action... heheh :p
 
20191@ 740/1847/2280 in everybodys favorit game 3DMark06 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6219616

Average of 27.83 FPS in realworldgame Crysis on Very High DX10 64-bit and resolution 1920x1080=Playable.

That is it until EK-waterblock is here, don´t wanna go higher on just air since i don´t like high temps and have no time for tweaking until i disassemble my wc-loop again for that EK9800Gx2-beauty.
The fun is over for now.
EDIT: I did some checking in NV controlpanel and activated singlescreen performace under global settings and that did me just good.
That was on multiscreen performace by default even when i changed to NV-recommended multi GPU-unit under 3d-setting under standard settings.

20549 in 06 with same OC as before:
http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6256951

Now Crysis is up to 32.31 FPS average same settings as before.
But the hotfix for multiGPU from MS is a no go despite i have multi GPU and 3dmark 01 is totally broke at least in Vista and modern way of multigpu.
 
Yeah, I bought the Maximus Formula on [H]s recomendation.

This board is buggy as shit.
 
E.R said:
20191@ 740/1847/2280 in everybodys favorit game 3DMark06 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6219616

Average of 27.83 FPS in realworldgame Crysis on Very High DX10 64-bit and resolution 1920x1080=Playable.

That is it until EK-waterblock is here, don´t wanna go higher on just air since i don´t like high temps and have no time for tweaking until i disassemble my wc-loop again for that EK9800Gx2-beauty.
The fun is over for now.
Click to expand...


Impressive.... :)
 
MrWizard6600 said:
Yeah, I bought the Maximus Formula on [H]s recomendation.

This board is buggy as shit.
Click to expand...
I notised that too, picky as hell on ram. One day a stick can be faulty, the next it is no error on it. Same thing with my 4x1 OCZ and 2x2 Gskill setups of ram that works flawless on my old Abit 680i.
My maximus board is slowly on the way of passing on to 65nm hell but are not that good for my 45nm CPU.
 
MrWizard6600 said:
Yeah, I bought the Maximus Formula on [H]s recomendation.

This board is buggy as shit.
Click to expand...

I am wondering if it's a Maximus thing too...

I was glad I remember reading about letting the board sit overnight to recover it from the dreaded 'CMOS ERR', or me chilling for 20 minutes or so, probably wouldn't have happened. I would have kept going...
Waiting for a bit with the system powered off was the correct plan of action. I had remembered that it worked for some other dudes, it also worked for me. Scary though, and I am not in a hurry to see it again.

It's special alright... :)
but to it's credit, it is the Maximus Special Edition!

So far it's been a good board to me sort of, I shouldn't hack on it.


I currently have one 2GB stick of memory installed my PC, and one in my desk.

My Maximus wouldn't boot with one of them installed. I think it's the Maximus just being pickey? Not sure... Could just be bad RAM too I guess.

One other thing to mention I just thought of is after getting my 3.8GHz BIOS settings, I did install my TV tuner card too. I did it two days before the GX2 arrived.

So I should say that after installing a TV tuner Card, and a GX2, my system's CPU OC was not bootable at 3.8GHz on a Q6600 with my current BIOS settings.

It did boot fine at 3.8 after the TV tuner card only was installed...
 
E.R said:
20191@ 740/1847/2280 in everybodys favorit game 3DMark06 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm06=6219616

Average of 27.83 FPS in realworldgame Crysis on Very High DX10 64-bit and resolution 1920x1080=Playable.

That is it until EK-waterblock is here, don´t wanna go higher on just air since i don´t like high temps and have no time for tweaking until i disassemble my wc-loop again for that EK9800Gx2-beauty.
The fun is over for now.
Click to expand...


Very nice overclock. What program are you using? I tried rivatuner 2.08 but didn't seem to work to well.
 
Vegasr said:
Very nice overclock. What program are you using? I tried rivatuner 2.08 but didn't seem to work to well.
Click to expand...
Thanks, i use Rivatuner 2.08 and 174.74 WHQL-driver. Not tried any older or the new 84-beta yet.
Needed to uninstall and reinstall Rivatuner to be able to use it, or it was my dying maximus that causing the BSOD that accured only when i was running with riva activated but installed under my old 8800GTX. Now after reinstall it working just fine and i read about athers that didi the same thing to make it work.
 
i just want to say that you're processor was only bottlenecking you in 3dmark06. That would not have been the case if you oc'd the gx2 and measured gameplay performance instead.
 
That is a valid point, providing the game made use of multi core CPU's... :)

3DMark06 does not.
 
well, the maximus Formula playes nicely with my 4X1GB Crucial ballistix in the sense that it will run with them, but its strange about windows stabillity. Bah If I go into my OC experiances with this board I will really be detracting from the OPs intended purpose. I'll just put it at whenever it seems to settle at a speed, I start getting BSODs. Its fine at speeds for a few days, then its uncomfortably unstable.

anyways, 9800GX2 = fail. GT200 and RV770 = win. Wait for them.
 
MrWizard6600 said:
well, the maximus Formula playes nicely with my 4X1GB Crucial ballistix in the sense that it will run with them, but its strange about windows stabillity. Bah If I go into my OC experiances with this board I will really be detracting from the OPs intended purpose. I'll just put it at whenever it seems to settle at a speed, I start getting BSODs. Its fine at speeds for a few days, then its uncomfortably unstable.

anyways, 9800GX2 = fail. GT200 and RV770 = win. Wait for them.
Click to expand...



:confused::confused::confused:
 
MrWizard6600 said:
anyways, 9800GX2 = fail. GT200 and RV770 = win. Wait for them.
Click to expand...
Why? 9800Gx2 makes Crysis playable in 1920x1200 DX10 Very High and Vista, 8800GTX/Ultra was not that, only at High and just barely.
GT200 wont be any better than Gx2 if rumor are true that 9900GTX is at the same performacelevel as 9800Gx2 but with one core/GPU and only good upgrade if you want Sli/three way sli and not quadsli.

ATI and RV770/R700 has not even proven to be anything but monsterspecs and is more likely due to proven trackrecord be just another midrange 2900/3870 card that fails big time in anything besides the favoritgame 3dmark.
I had high hopes for R700 but not any more and driver for the dual GPU R700 wont be any good as ATI has falied more than once on driverdepartment inc 3870X2, or that is what fanboys claimes when 2900XT and other card did not perform as expected due to architecture error or ATI betting on the wrong thing that games dont uses as mutch as that NV was betting on with G80 and was the right call.
 
Are any of you 9800 GX2 guys having stuttering problems in Crysis? I've seen a bunch of people saying that the game freezes over and over, especially while indoors, or while turning around quickly. They say its not an fps issue, the fps will stay high, but the game is next to unplayable.

This is the last thing keeping me from buying a GX2(well, that and I need to sell my Ultra).
 
E.R said:
I notised that too, picky as hell on ram. One day a stick can be faulty, the next it is no error on it. Same thing with my 4x1 OCZ and 2x2 Gskill setups of ram that works flawless on my old Abit 680i.
My maximus board is slowly on the way of passing on to 65nm hell but are not that good for my 45nm CPU.
Click to expand...


buy Mushkin, I have never had a memory issue on an Asus board using Mushkin
 
jacuzz1 said:
buy Mushkin, I have never had a memory issue on an Asus board using Mushkin
Click to expand...
The only DDR2 Mushkin i consider worth the money was the HP2-8500 2x2 but was expensive and still are and now i can get 2x2 OCZ DDR3 12800 Platinum for the same money.
Now i don´t even consider buying DDR2 anymore to my main system since i looking at 790i and real Sli later during spring/summer/fall and my X38 maximus is fading away slowly even modded as a rampage it is no better for my memorys so when it is dead i probably go back to nv-chipset when they seems to do as good as X38/X48 OC-wise and if 790i is as good for memory like my old trusty 680i it is worth the hassle to once again read up on what to get and find lowest price.
The only thing that can change that choise is IF R700 CF or singlecard crushes GT200 Sli/three way sli hands down no question asked but that is unlikey to happend anytime soon and it is not only a driverthing.

Don´t read me wrong since my X38 maximus was awsome for my 4x1 OCZ, 2x2 Gskill that is on the 680i and my old 65nm Quad, way better than the crappy GA-X38-DQ6 i had before that but now has the maximus slowly fading and lost its glory in my eyes and a board that craps out above 45-50 celsius on NB and have EPU-crap that don´t load CPU 100% in Vista X64 and even make the OC lower than other boards just because of EPU and the only good thing is LC, but that is no big deal on a 45nm CPU that runs better with LC off on Maximus and i shut it off when changing to QX9650.
 
TalonMan said:
2) A Q6600 @ 3.4GHz is too slow to take advantage of OC'ing a GX2 SSC. I now believe this is the real issue if I want my score to climb any higher.

A quad core processor running at 3.4GHz, is indeed a bottleneck to a GX2... :eek:
Click to expand...


Bullshit...it's not a bottle neck in REAL games at HIGH resolutions...3DMark does not count, never has, never will :p
 
TheRapture said:
Bullshit...it's not a bottle neck in REAL games at HIGH resolutions...3DMark does not count, never has, never will :p
Click to expand...
How about if Talonman run CrysisBenchmarktool at a given setting and give them i will run the same thing while i OC down my card to SSC-level later after i go up in about 6-7 hours?.
Or he can OC his card to 740/2280 and run Crysisbenchmark tool at 1920x1080 noAA and DX10 Very high X64-mode and se if he beets my new all time high of 32.31FPS average.

I must warn you i found a setting that not was right in NV-controlpanel and had an impact of about 4-5FPS on performance in Crysis@1920x1080.
EDIT:Linked shader in Rivatuner was my setting to.
 
I am about to flash to BIOS 1004 on my Maximus tonight or tomorrow a.m. Wish me well and I hope to return soon... ;)

I figure if I am going to take a run at OCing my Q6600 to 3.8GHz again, I might as well do it on the latest BIOS. I currently am on 907.

I have seen some post that they are getting the same speed out of their processor, with less volts. Some others say It also is better with memory...

Mabey I might give my second 2GB stick one more try too? 1004 might like it...

As far as Crysis locking up I havent played it too much yet. I haven't noticed any odd pauses, but I am used to a 8600 GT. I might not be the best guy to ask! :D

I am getting greedy now, and having dreams about the 20K club. :eek:

I think I really want my 3.8GHz back for shere animal speed...
Heck, I watercooled, and keep my PC in in a cold basement. I should get 3.8!! :p

I think there may be a few more games around the corner, that could also put it to good use.
 
I have my FRAP scores too... :)

I would be able to tell what exactly 3.8 will do for me over 3.4 in game performance, not just 3DMark.

Mabey I will get lucky and eak our 3.9? That would be fun!
 
I got my Quad SLI up and running last night, but i cant seem to find anything that will let me overclock these suckers. Is there a working version of atitool or rivatuner around? I also dont think my ntune is working right, as the temps on the cards NEVER change from idle and full load.
 
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