Is nTune worth a damn?

[lOnGjOhN]

I've been thinking about oc'ing my XPS 710 (C2D 2.4GHZ 6600, 3gb ddr2, (1) 7900gt).

I've never really tried to do this before, so I turned to nTune to do the work for me but it just doesn't work.

Whats a reasonable OC for my CPU and GPU? Should I expect to hit 2.8ghz? Should I get another 7900gt and sli or just wait for a better solo dx10 card?

 

[krnmastersgt]

Dells don't overclock like a hand built system, theres a thread on how to OC a dell somewhere though but you won't be able to go through the standard procedures of overclocking.

 

[lOnGjOhN]

I thought XPS's were different? The mobo has a dell logo on it, but its still a nf 590i sli and has options for oc'ing in the bios....

 

[taltamir]

nope. ntune is worthless

 

[lOnGjOhN]

can I still oc my XPS though? I thought dell allowed it.... I mean whats the point of selling a watercooled PC if you can't oc it?

 

[krnmastersgt]

Ah, lol yeah nTune isn't really helpful for anything, but as it stands you could use SetFSB to OC from within windows, faster than rebooting with 1 mhz higher fsb and seeing if it posts

 

[sutahz]

nTune blows.
Doesnt matter if you see it has a 590i chipset, dell made the mobo (or paid another company to make it to their specs) so they can lock the clock generator(s). BIOS's can be changed to fit a companies preference.
"I mean whats the point of selling a watercooled PC if you can't oc it?" To get your money.

 

[myocardia]

If your BIOS has overclocking options, then this is what you should be reading. Overclocking from within Windows just doesn't really work, no matter which software you use.

 

[krnmastersgt]

SetFSB or clockgen can work for the fine tuning if you ask me, since you dont have to reboot with 1 mhz higher fsb.

 

[myocardia]

Originally posted by: krnmastersgt
SetFSB or clockgen can work for the fine tuning if you ask me, since you dont have to reboot with 1 mhz higher fsb.

Yeah, but that's only when used with BIOS overclocking. The OP was asking about using it instead of BIOS overclocking, which are two totally different things. BTW, ClockGen or SetFSB have heir place in overclocking, for sure. When you've booted to Windows, and your overclock is completely unstable, you should already have one of the two installed, so you can lower your FSB, before rebooting. That way, you won't keep having to reload Windows, since you can easily damage a Windows install, with an unstable overclock.

 

[Alastria]

I destroyed an NF3 mobo once using nTune to OC from within Windows. I ended up having to RMA the thing. Don't use nTune.

 

[Amaroque]

Your best bet is to buy a new MB. Some Dell's use standard ATX MB's now.

 

[lOnGjOhN]

I used nTune to manually bump my FSB and I eventually got it to 279mhz x 9 so I'm just a little above 2.5ghz. I have no idea how stable this is, but it hasn't crashed so I'm satisfied I suppose. Its pretty pathetic that I could only get a 100mhz increase but eh.... My 7900gs faired a bit better. Its sitting at 550mhz/800mhz without any artifacts.

Oh well I guess down the road I could invest in a new mobo and just gut the XPS... though I'm keeping the case

 

[exar333]

Originally posted by: Alastria
I destroyed an NF3 mobo once using nTune to OC from within Windows. I ended up having to RMA the thing. Don't use nTune.

Ntune was the devil for NF3 and NF4 boards, not sure about more recent ones. I thought some XPS Dells allowed OCing, but i don't think all do...

Stick with BIOS OCing

 

[taltamir]

actually... I know I said ntune is worthless... but before finding out how to modify the rivatuner cfg files to work with an 8800GTS 512MB I used ntune to increase the fanspeed on my video card. It probably saved it from dying from heat. Then I modified rivatuner to be able to do it. funny that ntune which was last updated long LONG before 8800GTS 512MB was able to do it with no messing around.

 

[lOnGjOhN]

Originally posted by: ExarKun333

Originally posted by: Alastria
I destroyed an NF3 mobo once using nTune to OC from within Windows. I ended up having to RMA the thing. Don't use nTune.

Ntune was the devil for NF3 and NF4 boards, not sure about more recent ones. I thought some XPS Dells allowed OCing, but i don't think all do...

Stick with BIOS OCing

That's what I thought... Though you can't OC in the BIOS there is still an option which will allow OC'ing through windows I'd suppose.

 

[mooseracing]

ntune crashes windows on everything I try, before the OC even. The only thing that has worked for me on computers with no BIOS options is clockgen. i finally found a clockgen version that works on my nforce4 Tyan board, Oc'd ~300mhz.

 

[heyheybooboo]

Use at your own risk

AMI, Award, MR BIOS, or Phoenix brand BIOS may be able to take advantage of an upgraded BIOS from Unicore ... A Unicore BIOS upgrade chip may not be available if your system BIOS chip is soldered onto the board - you will likely not be able to purchase a BIOS upgrade...

BIOS Upgrades

Some folks like BIOS Man specificly say that they will not upgrade Dell computer BIOS's.

 

[lopri]

Have you guys used the new nTune? Ver. 6 I believe. It actually works. I was skeptical until I tried but now I regularly use it and it comes quite handy often times.

Edit: Nevermind. Apparently it only works wit 680i/780i.