Amiga.org
Amiga computer related discussion => Amiga Hardware Issues and discussion => Topic started by: AmigaMance on August 15, 2005, 06:01:38 AM
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http://xoomer.virgilio.it/giorsign/bvision.html
When i read it for the first time, i thought that it was a joke. Just look at the tooltypes and you will understand why. :D
Well, i follow the instructions and i can say it works! I wonder why such a great feature is being kept "secret"...
Using google and the tooltypes as keywords, i only found 3 sites referring to this trick.
Why? Because of the overheating/stability problems that may arise if you set the MELTDOWN argument too high, or are there more problems with this?
I was able to overclock it at 88 Mhz max. without any stability problems. (I haven't test it extensively, though)
Anything greater than 88 makes all the games/demos that uses 3D acceleration to crash after a few seconds.
At 90 Mhz and greater they crash (freeze to be precise) almost instantly.
Non-3D accelerated software isn't affected much by higher numbers.
I have a heatsink/fan attached on the permedia 2 chip.
I'm curious to find out what kind of overclocking other ppl have achieve. So, feel free to post your expiriences along with the way that you cool down your BVision.
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I wonder why such a great feature is being kept "secret"...
It's not. It's common knowlege, or at least was few years ago.
I'm curious to find out what kind of overclocking other ppl have achieve.
I managed to get 96 (always stable), or 97 (sometimes unstable). I had a heatsink + fan from GeForce card. The BVisionPPC board was a Phase5 one.
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I'm curious, I have a CvisionPPC, what kind of speed increases in say,3d games can be achieved from overclocking the card?
I remember from my PC days that sometimes overclocking can give little speedup.
Robert
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It sure is good seeing people overclocking!
overclock those bourds now !!!!!!!
GO GO GO GO GO GO GO GO !!!!
:-D
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@piru
Wow, always stable at 96! Now i wonder why i can't push it above 88 without losing stability.
@Robert17
"I'm curious, I have a CvisionPPC, what kind of speed increases in say,3d games can be achieved from overclocking"
I haven't done any speed tests, but there is a little benchmark at the bottom of the url that i've post.
Btw, how the heck can i quote in here? :)
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Mmkay I might have a bash at overclocking my CvisionPPC, where can I get the pre7 patch for CGX4 though? I managed to get rc5 from somewhere.
Better go buy me an active heatsink then, it's only got a passive on it currently
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I don't know about that version. I'm using rc5 too.
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Btw, how the heck can i quote in here? :)
by using the QUOTE button or encasing the quotable text in {quote} TEXT {/quote}, replace "{" with "[" and "}" with "]"...
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i once read somewhere on a website that the PERMEDIA 2 chip has been overclocked @ 120MHZ..
my bvision is overclocked with a **new** osc from 14.3mhz to 15.2mhz..
overclocking via the tooltype should not give u lock-ups..
at lease not on my set-up..
i can type in anything i like..
ie..if i type in MELTDOWN=170 or even 200 3d software will just go slower..no lock-ups
the best result for my set-up is something between 98 & 110,but im not useing this at the moment as my bvision is overclock with a new osc..
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ie..if i type in MELTDOWN=170 or even 200 3d software will just go slower..no lock-ups
The value is limited to max 100.
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@ PIRU
that explains why anything as high as 200 everything slows down..
but i do not get lock-ups..
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do you have an active cooling on the Permedia?
I don't get lockup but some GFX corruption above 95 Mhz (CVPPC active cooling)
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by using the QUOTE button or encasing the quotable text in {quote} TEXT {/quote}, replace "{" with "[" and "}" with
Thank you for the info BadBigBen. I have try the quote button in the past but it doesn't do anything, both in Aweb and ibrowse. But as you can see the syntax works.
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overclocking via the tooltype should not give u lock-ups..
at lease not on my set-up..
i can type in anything i like..
ie..if i type in MELTDOWN=170 or even 200 3d software will just go slower..no lock-ups
Sorry, but you are completely wrong (well at least in my case). As i said, values above 89 causes 3D accelarated software to crash.
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@ FRAMIGA
i have the following on my BVISION..
1x socket ( for changeing osc )
4x thermaltake heatsink on BVISION ram..copper
the other chips including PERMEDIA 2 has standard heatsink..no fans..( A1200 in desktop case cooled by three main fans..
NOTE: you must cool the other chips as well..
**ALL** heatsink have a wire sent to earth..
this not only reduce noise when useing prelude sound card but also inproves image...
if you get GFX corruption ( when overclocking ) it may be down power..as my BVISION has no regulator & is powered direct from powersupply..
BVISION is 3.3v..& i think CVPPC will be the same..
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@Framiga
I have a standard heatsink/fan glued on the permedia2 and a big 8cm fan blowing on the card.
@all
Do you think that the lock-ups are caused from overheating or underpower?
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its a while that i'm thinking about your solution (seen that my CVPPC IC regulator goes hot)
Have you totally removed the IC regulator and tied directly the 3.3v from the PSU? on the BPPC?
I remember that you have an Antec True Power PSU, right?
oh, btw . . . mine is a CVisionPPC (P5).
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@ Framiga
no i have a ANTEC TRUECONTROL..
BVISION & BLIZZPPC is powered direct from power supply..
this has lots of advantages..
1. reduced heat ( no regulators )
2. less load on the 5v rail..more power for other chips/devices..
3. BVISION & BLIZZPPC processors get cleaner & more stable power..
ie: during boot-up only 5v rail drifts from 5.05 to 5.03.
...3.3 & 12v rail no change..
if i reduce 3.3 voltage a get GFX curruption.& lock-up...
answers: only the BVISION regulator is totally removed..
BLIZZPPC regulator is disabled..
power goes direct to both cards..
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typeing this with two 67.66MHZ osc fitted to BLIZZPPC
& one 15.2MHZ osc fitted to BVISION..
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@AmigaMance
i had the same problem..
then i did this..
*** DO NOT DO THIS TO YOUR CARD ***
i lifted up regulator on the BVISION & added a heatsink on the back of the regulator with thermal glue..
this improved things a little but not a lot..it seems when overclocking BVISION along with a overclocked BLIZZPPC you will get lock-ups..
i changed all this by removing the regulator on BVISION & disable regulator on BLIZZPPC..
if you get lock-ups/GFX corruption ( when overclocking ) its more likely a power problem..
the regulator only gives out something around 3.314 ( if i remember correctly )..
im typeing this with a ( overclocked a1200 )running with two 67.666mhz osc on BLIZZARD..BVISION also overclocked with 15.2 osc..
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if you have 256MB of ram **do not** fit anything above 68.66MHZ osc with all precharge turn off in the boot menu on the BLIZZPPC..
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Is this still possible with MorphOS? This way or another?
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Sorry to Bump a really old thread, but I'm trying to do this overclock tooltype and it doesn't seem any faster. I added 2AIDEMREPYMNONAFADELLATSNII and Meltdown=xx (xx being a number between 80 and 100) to tooltypes in my monitor in Devs. I started on 80 to be sure it worked and all was fine still running as i'm used to, but going to 90 seemed to make no difference in Wipeout and a few PPC Mega Demos I tried. Some show frame rates at the end (Khesh Khash being one), the frame rates reported very similar at 80 and 90. I tried at 100 and still the same, no speed up. I have CGX v4.3 RC6 installed which AFAIK is the last known release and after Pre7 so should have the feature.
For info my CGXSystem.library is V42.7 (2002/03/08), CGXVideo.library is V42.1 (2000/02/10) and BvisionPPC monitor in Devs is V4.3 (2002/01/20).
Hope someone can offer some advice :)
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On my CVPPC I found it pretty useless - GFX corruption started at 90+ and fps gain was minimal.
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Without reading the whole thread, the idea of this grates on me. Sure you can do it, but why would you risk damaging such rare and expensive hardware? :angry:
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I'm trying it just out of curiosity. I have installed fans and heatsinks on my BVision as well as 3 case fans above and it runs "cool" considering. I've fine tuned this system over the last 5 years and have pondered this overclock for a while. I feel its running stable enough to try it. But if the FPS difference isn't much then I can see why its not worth it. I'm more wondering why is doesn't work for me now than anything.
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Or if anyone knows of a util that will show me the current speed the BVision is running at then I can try and figure it out myself :)
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Some of my posting in the past is incorrect, so I will delete and clear this mess up. Let's start.
Overclocking the Bvision ram has little impact, the real speed is from the "PCI bus". The danger here is the chipset will overheat when running near their top end speed. but works perfect if you have address the proper cooling requirements.
It seems I also may have made an error in the Permedia 2 cooling, but I can't change it. All three of my Bvision has thermal glue.
When testing at high speed, Permedia 2 with alloy heatsink with a fan, Permedia 2 was still very hot, but the heatsink was very cool to the touch, which suggest the Permedia 2 may need a copper shim, then a alloy heatsink added on top. I have no idea if this method will work or will solve the problem.
If Bvision locks-up when overclocking SGRAM, it may need a small bump in the voltage beyond 3.3v. via the regulator ( don't exceed 3.6v) there's nothing to gain beyond 3.6v & even 3.6v is not required. ...3.4v - 3.45v should be enough.
How far you can overclock the standard SGRAM with a small voltage bump depends on what make SGRAM is fitted.
Note: With a small voltage bump via regulator, SGRAM & Permedia 2 will benefit from this and will stop some unwanted lock-ups when overclocking. ...Regulator is on the Bvision card.
ALL MODIFICATION(S) AT YOUR OWN RISK
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I really dont see a reason to risk damaging my BVision with OC.
The small benefits are not worth the risk, IMO.
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There is always a risk whatever device is overclocked, but user(s) still do it. Even manufacture(s) are doing it.
Permedia 2 chip failed at 4.5v+, so the absolute limit is 4v, but I would not go anywhere near that voltage, my Bvision(s) are at 3.6v and is still working. But if something goes wrong, it's not a problem for me as I can fix the problem.
The real performance is in the bus speed & lowering the Latency in EDO memory.
When the bus speed exceeds 75Mhz you will be able to play most games with 800x600 screenmode, as the bus speed also overclocks the PCI bus.
When the bus speed exceeds 92Mhz you can play Freespace with 1024x768 screenmode
Lots of time was spent getting the 2x128MB ram working at this speed (75Mhz+) completely error free. This is where no other user will see very high performance from their card, as the Dram chips are very rare & was already limited when ordered a few years back.
Permedia 2 can operate on 66Mhz bus, but I think something under the Permedia 2 tracks needs to change, not sure but I think it's wired for 33Mhz bus.