Clocking down the ATI Radeon X600?

[Peter Frank]

Hi,

In my laptop computer FSC LifeBook E8020 there is an ATI Radeon
Mobility X600. Its performance is OK but its fan is too loud IMO.
Therefore, I would like it to be quiet unless the performance and
hence cooling is really needed.

ATI even provides an energy management tool called Powerplay
integrated into ATI Catalyst drivers *but* this feature also has to be
supported by the system BIOS. And mine doesn't. So I am looking for an
alternative to clock down my ATI X600 in order to reduce its power
consumption -> heat production so that the fan will not run
permanently. I found a tool called Notebook Hardware Control, which
allows clocking down ATI graphics cards. The default values for ATI's
core are 400 MHz and 250 MHz for memory.

How far can I clock down without making the system instable or crash
(during normal MS Office usage)? Which (ATI's core frequency or memory
frequency) has a stronger effect on heat production?

For Dell computers there is a tool called I8kfanGUI providing even
more control over the fans but unfortunatley it does not work with my
computer. Do you know any other solutions to get the X600 quiet?

Regards,
Peter

P.S.: Does anyone have any experience with ATI's Powerplay? Does it
work effectively meaning the graphics card fan is really OFF most of
the time or does it just run more slowly?

 

[bandit]

Hi,

In my laptop computer FSC LifeBook E8020 there is an ATI Radeon
Mobility X600. Its performance is OK but its fan is too loud IMO.
Therefore, I would like it to be quiet unless the performance and
hence cooling is really needed.

ATI even provides an energy management tool called Powerplay
integrated into ATI Catalyst drivers *but* this feature also has to be
supported by the system BIOS. And mine doesn't. So I am looking for an
alternative to clock down my ATI X600 in order to reduce its power
consumption -> heat production so that the fan will not run
permanently. I found a tool called Notebook Hardware Control, which
allows clocking down ATI graphics cards. The default values for ATI's
core are 400 MHz and 250 MHz for memory.

How far can I clock down without making the system instable or crash
(during normal MS Office usage)? Which (ATI's core frequency or memory
frequency) has a stronger effect on heat production?

For Dell computers there is a tool called I8kfanGUI providing even
more control over the fans but unfortunatley it does not work with my
computer. Do you know any other solutions to get the X600 quiet?

Regards,
Peter

P.S.: Does anyone have any experience with ATI's Powerplay? Does it
work effectively meaning the graphics card fan is really OFF most of
the time or does it just run more slowly?

Try ati tool its got fan control settings
http://www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

 

[First of One]

How far can I clock down without making the system instable or crash
(during normal MS Office usage)? Which (ATI's core frequency or memory
frequency) has a stronger effect on heat production?

Today's video chipsets are simply overkill for 2D office work. You can clock
it down as much as you want and it will remain stable. Even at 25% core and
memory frequency the Mobility X600 is still faster than many
integrated-video chipsets on low-end laptops. Core frequency has a greater
effect on heat production. However, a high memory frequency really has no
benefit for 2D office work.

Do you know for sure the fan speed is temperature-sensing, so that it will
automatically slow down if the heat is reduced by underclocking?

P.S.: Does anyone have any experience with ATI's Powerplay? Does it
work effectively meaning the graphics card fan is really OFF most of
the time or does it just run more slowly?

Haven't used Powerplay myself. However, below a certain threshold, the video
chipset fan noise becomes inaudible over the other fans in the laptop.

 

[Peter Frank]

Today's video chipsets are simply overkill for 2D office work.

Very true. But for other applications their performance may be
necessary, therefore I think adaptability should be incorporated in
today's video chipsets.

You can clock it down as much as you want and it will remain stable.

Interesting. I didn't know that. Besides, this tool Notebook Hardware
Control that I tested said that underclocking the graphics card too
much might make it instable.

Even at 25% core and memory frequency the Mobility X600 is still faster than many
integrated-video chipsets on low-end laptops. Core frequency has a greater
effect on heat production. However, a high memory frequency really has no
benefit for 2D office work.

OK. I see.

Do you know for sure the fan speed is temperature-sensing, so that it will
automatically slow down if the heat is reduced by underclocking?

I assumed so because
a) after starting up the notebook the graphics card fan remains silent
for the first 5-10 minutes
b) the fan starts running faster when certain 3D applications are run.
However, I haven't noticed any considerable effect of underclocking
the graphics card even when not running any 3D applications. The fan
still starts running after 5-10 minutes and does not turn off anymore.
This was the case for clocking down to around 50 % of the default core
and memory frequency.

Haven't used Powerplay myself. However, below a certain threshold, the video
chipset fan noise becomes inaudible over the other fans in the laptop.

Well, actually there is only one other fan in the laptop, the CPU fan.
And the CPU fan only starts running from time to time and is
completely off most of the time. Of course, there is one other source
of noise and that is the harddisk drive.

Peter