Uhhhhh...X1600 in iMac horribly underclocked?

[BlizzardBomb]

Just brilliant, so Apple overcharges you for hardware that only appears on their marketing papers but generate absolutely zero improvement in performance as they have to underclock it due to aesthetics.

Actually it probably is a large improvement still as it has 12 pixel and 5 vertex processors compared to the X600 XTs 4 and 2.

 

[biohazard6969]

is there something like aticellerator that would work with an nvidia card on a powerpc mac?

 

[BlizzardBomb]

is there something like aticellerator that would work with an nvidia card on a powerpc mac?

Try this out, follow the link and click the graphiccellator button on the right.

http://thomas.perrier.name/software/ATIcceleratorII.html

 

[superted666]

imac rev c

I have the last of the power pc macs (RIP)
With the ATI Radeon X600 xt

What do i have to do, is it worth it on my mac?

EDIT: ok i have got the ATI app
It shows 499/351 which i presume is current speed, it worth going up?

 

[Lord Blackadder]

This discovery has made news over at Anandtech...must be an Anandtech member lurking here.

The reduction in battery life is a bummer - which is why they underclocked it in the first place, probably.

 

[harveypooka]

So we have the default clock speeds for the X1600's, we can therefore ramp up the cards in the iMac without any performance issues? Obviously the life will decrease but it won't unexpectedly cut out...or shouldn't.

 

[AP_piano295]

Here's the link:

http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/259

Just download, install, then hit the Find Max Core/Find Max Mem buttons, and give it a while.

Keep in mind that BF2 is a real RAM hog, I wouldn't try playing it with less than 1GB, and 2GB is better.

ive found bf2 is a major grphx card hog and the ram has little to no effect on the game except for loading times.

 

[rayray1017]

bf2 is a HUGE ram hog and it can load up a graphics card quite easily. I have a a 2.0 duo w/1.5gig ram and 128 graphics card. I run bf2 on the highest resolution setting, with all the quality settings on highest and no antialiasing. With it overclocked to 475core and 510 memory i get a range of about 30-50 frames per second using a program called fraps. the game looks superb, but i definately need a new mouse because the mightymouse doesnt work well for me and gaming.

 

[bugfaceuk]

Yes. The speed settings are saved in the ROM. If you fry the card and take it in for repair a technician could read the ROM, find your overclock setting in there and tell you to get lost.

Of course, you could always change it back to stock numbers before taking it in for repair, assuming the computer is still usable. But OC'ing to failure DOES void your Applecare, and Apple MAY be able to tell, or at least be suspicious enough to give you a hard time.

Gads, the speed settings may very well be saved in a way that means Apple can see what was done, but this thread is littered with rubbish.

Speed settings saved to Read Only Memory (ROM)??

*sigh*

 

[Felldownthewell]

I just installed boot camp last night and while I was DLing HL2 from steam (I bought the game online so I don't have a CD, I can just DL from steam) I installed ATI tray tools, which told me that I was running at 300/297. So I ran ATItools and upped it back to 400/400, then launched HL2.

With everything on high and the highest widescreen resolution everything was smooth. When I say last night I actually mean early this morning, and I was tired, so I didn't have time for a full test. However, that last thing I did was quickly switch back over to OS X and take a loot at istat nano, which only shows the HDD temp, which was running bit hot at 47C. (CoD mac version usually runs at 45C) I may try OC'ing the card, but I'll probably just leave it at its regular speed (I.E the speed intended by ATI, not Apple of 400/400. It resets itself when I restart anyway, so OS X still runs relatively cool and with the same battery life as before)

 

[Nar1117]

I just installed boot camp last night and while I was DLing HL2 from steam (I bought the game online so I don't have a CD, I can just DL from steam) I installed ATI tray tools, which told me that I was running at 300/297. So I ran ATItools and upped it back to 400/400, then launched HL2.

With everything on high and the highest widescreen resolution everything was smooth. When I say last night I actually mean early this morning, and I was tired, so I didn't have time for a full test. However, that last thing I did was quickly switch back over to OS X and take a loot at istat nano, which only shows the HDD temp, which was running bit hot at 47C. (CoD mac version usually runs at 45C) I may try OC'ing the card, but I'll probably just leave it at its regular speed (I.E the speed intended by ATI, not Apple of 400/400. It resets itself when I restart anyway, so OS X still runs relatively cool and with the same battery life as before)

You wouldnt happen to be able to run BF2 on your macbook would you? If you can, i am greatly interested in what sort of results you get in terms of performance.

 

[Felldownthewell]

You wouldnt happen to be able to run BF2 on your macbook would you? If you can, i am greatly interested in what sort of results you get in terms of performance.

I have BF2, but since I only partitioned 10GB, and I already have AoE 3, HL2 and CS:S, I can't fit it on the drive. When I get bored of AoE 3 Ill load up BF2 and let you know, but it may not be until next weekend. However, I'll post the results (FPS and my impressions) when I put it on.

 

[starstreak]

I dont think I would even want to oc the unit. You can fry an egg on mine. I dont know why the fan doesnt kick on sooner in this laptop. But shoots it gets super hot by the screen, under the notebook and very warm on the left side.

 

[Nar1117]

I have BF2, but since I only partitioned 10GB, and I already have AoE 3, HL2 and CS:S, I can't fit it on the drive. When I get bored of AoE 3 Ill load up BF2 and let you know, but it may not be until next weekend. However, I'll post the results (FPS and my impressions) when I put it on.

Thanks.

 

[PatrickF]

Thanks.

I can't quote you any FPS figures but I can say that BF2 runs pretty well at medium settings without the card being overclocked.

 

[Nar1117]

I can't quote you any FPS figures but I can say that BF2 runs pretty well at medium settings without the card being overclocked.

Can you define 'pretty well' without using a FPS measure?

 

[Aurred]

Possibly, but why reduce them for the imac though?

This may very well be due to a decrease in manufacturing costs associated. By using the x1600 card that is underclocked for it's power saving function. Since from a manufacturing standpoint there is no need to have two seperate versions of the card, the same card goes in to both and thus no reflashing needs to occur. I'm positive they get a better deal by purchasing and using the cards as such.

Fan silence may be another contributer to why it's never reflashed but it's most likely more of an arbitrary one. I doubt the imac was designed around the x1600 but actually around the mac book.

I'd like to see the gpu/vram clock speeds of the 256mb counterpart.

I'm guessing (though not nessisarly) the 256mb version has a slighly higher clock.