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Overclocking Who has experience overclocking a laptop's GPU?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Pete J, 20 Apr 2014.

  1. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Hi folks,

    I've been researching laptops and was just wondering if anyone had any experience overclocking the gpu in one? On the old internets, people seem to get anywhere from 5-20% performance increase.

    I would also ask about overclocking the CPU but none of the mobile versions seem to be 'K' editions (looking into Intel only).

    Cheers in advance.
     
  2. Darkwisdom

    Darkwisdom Level 99 Retro Nerd

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    It's definitely possible and a lot of people have had great success. I've done it with a couple of friends laptops.

    However, it will make your laptop run EXTREMELY hot if it doesn't have adequate cooling. It really is serious because it can seriously degrade the life of your laptop.
     
  3. xaser04

    xaser04 Ba Ba Ba BANANA!

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    The latest generation of Kepler mobile gpu's overclock very well. As long as you don't touch the voltages (custom bios) the temperatures should stay in check.

    My 780M overclocks from 849 to 980 on the core and from 5000 to 6000 on the memory, all whilst staying in the temperature & power threshold. With a custom bios it would go further on the core.

    For reference the mobile Keplers overclock in the same manner as the desktop models (you have a power and temperature target to stay within).

    Mobile cpu's can overclock a little bit (usually two extra bins - my 4700mq will go to 3.4ghz on all four cores). The XM models can overclock properly (like a K series) if the bios allows it. IIRC only Alienware allow the full overclocking options.
     
    Last edited: 20 Apr 2014
  4. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    That's a rather tasty overclock that must net you ~15%. Sounds like I can just go the usual afterburner route to overclock!
     
  5. Guest-44432

    Guest-44432 Guest

    Don't know if you remember my M18X R2 testing and upgrading?

    Here's a link to that thread, which will give you a lot of info on overclocking etc. Clicky

    I never did overclock my HD7970's, but over on the Alienware forum everybody had to flash the cards, and then they were getting a good 25+% overclock on the GPU's.

    CPU overclocking is down to whether the manufacture of the laptop has allowed this in the BIOS.
    Basically without using an extreme series CPU, you could only overclock the CPU to the turbo limit on all cores. Otherwise, the CPU will only turbo boost on one core.

    Well I managed 4.2GHz overclock on my 3920XM, which was pretty impressive.

    [​IMG]

    My 3920XM vs a Desktop 3770K

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited by a moderator: 20 Apr 2014
  6. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Thanks for the info Si - I remember the 'for sale' thread - did you sell it in the end? Damn, getting a mobile CPU to perform at desktop 2600K levels, that's incredible.

    If you're wondering, I'm interested in the upcoming Gigabyte P34G v2. I like the idea of having a very portable notebook that has enough storage to hold almost everything I own digitally, as well as being able to do some pretty intense CAD and gaming. I can always have it in a hidden compartment in my ever-present rucksack, meaning I'm never without technological means.

    The upcoming Razer Blade has also caught my eye but only has room for one SSD (max 512GB) and I actually find the ridiculously high resolution a bit of a turn off (I want to run at 1080p, which won't display well) - not to mention it'll probably cost a bomb. Still, the 870M is rather tasty...

    To be honest, I'd love to get a 12" netbook with the specs of the P34G v2 but I don't think that's going to happen. A shame really.
     
  7. Picky88

    Picky88 What's a Dremel?

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    Before overclocking a mobile GPU I would be tempted to re-apply the thermal paste with a good quality one, and check there is no dust build up in the cooling fins. You can usually improve the cooling a bit just by lifting it off the desk to give it plenty of space.
     
  8. Fruitloaf

    Fruitloaf Tinkerer

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    I have the P34G which is the same but with a hard drive bay instead of the larger battery and love. Keyboard is a bit dodgy sadly but I've learned to live with it and I use it for work programming all day. Considering its size/weight/performance there's very little to equal it, certainly in its price bracket.
     
  9. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    @Picky88: I'll see how the thermals perform before taking things apart!

    @Fruitloaf: Good to hear! Given the specs, the price (should be ~£1000) is very reasonable.
     
  10. Guest-44432

    Guest-44432 Guest

    Yes I sold it on Ebay for £2400. It was actually on par with the Desktop 3770K in Geekbench. :)

    So you're in the market for a 12-14" laptop, that can hold at least 2x HDD/SSD?

    Have you checked out Alienware outlet, as they have some good deals. Clicky
     
  11. xaser04

    xaser04 Ba Ba Ba BANANA!

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    At those overclocks it peforms basically the same as a decent GTX670.

    Picky is definately right about the thermal paste. Mine intially came with a **** poor pasting on the GPU which made it throttle after a few minutes of gaming. A few attempts later* it now no longer throttles even at max overclock in Crysis 3. It runs hot (mid 80's) but this is perfectly normal for a high end mobile GPU.

    *finally sorted with a decent repasting of MX-2.
     
  12. Guest-44432

    Guest-44432 Guest

    Can't go wrong with MX-2 - It's what I used on my Lappy CPU and GPU's. :)
     
  13. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Cheers for the link - I had a quick look but they weren't available, plus they're a little too chunky for my liking.
    That is awesome. As far as I can tell, the 860M should come in somewhere between a 560Ti and a 570 before overclocking, which is fine for me.
    I have some IC Diamond 24-Carat if it comes to that :) .

    Reviews are up for the P34G v2 and it's doing very well! Crysis whips along on very high at an average of 41FPS - at full HD :eeek: . Battery life is excellent, although I'll be getting one with a smaller battery to make room for the 1TB HDD. Thermals are also reported to be awesome (GPU reported at 70C after prolonged testing) so hopefully I can get a nice overclock - it does come at the expense of some fan noise apparently but only when running flat out. A few mention the 1080p screen as a weakness, saying it should be higher because who wants to run games at native resolution, eh? :wallbash:

    A colleague in the office has a laptop of similar dimensions, so I was trying it in my bag as well as general use - all very good!
     
  14. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Just a quick one for those interested - Tom's Hardware published a review of the 860M, 870M and 880M.

    Laptop performance is getting seriously good nowadays!
     
  15. rollo

    rollo Modder

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    880m is about as fast as the 670 difference is you can buy 2 670s at there launch price for the cost of that chip.

    Performance is improving the price gap is awful though.
     
  16. Sheiken

    Sheiken Wat?

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    I picked up my g750jw yesterday and it is fitted with a 765m, which I have now overclocked 135mhz on the core, but the slider in msi afterburner won't go any further! what to do?
     
  17. Pete J

    Pete J Employed scum

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    Good luck fitting two 670s into a laptop though - a hammer may come in handy :p

    I do agree with you though - the price of an 880M is insane. Still, the power of a 670 in a laptop is scarily powerful...
    First world problems, eh :D . Have you started overclocking the memory? Edit: I see you've maxxed that out as well!
     
  18. Sheiken

    Sheiken Wat?

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    And now I need more agressive settings even more! I think there is quite a bit of headroom.

    Why would Asus run the memory at 4ghz, when it runs at 6ghz no sweat?!
     

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