# Overclocking the 780G/HD3200



## whe3ls

wow thats a nice on board chip


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## will25u

I wonder what the sweetspot is for VRAM for that chip for HD playback. It looks like in terms of VRAM for 3dMark is 128mb.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:



Originally Posted by *will25u*


I wonder what the sweetspot is for VRAM for that chip for HD playback. It looks like in terms of VRAM for 3dMark is 128mb.


From the charts, the GPU needs over 64MB for 1280x1024 3DMark06. After that, it levels off. It is safe to say there is no performance difference for 128, 256, or 512MB at that resolution. I can't run 3DMark at higher resolutions but 128MB or 256MB should be fine.


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## Mr. Stroker

In case antone wants to see here is TomsHardware review of this chipset

http://www.tomshardware.com/2008/03/..._780g_chipset/

Looks like a great option for htpc


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## RonindeBeatrice

I have the same motherboard. Perhaps duckie would like some more data for his pretty chart?


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## dhrandy

I'm not going to overclock mine.







I don't need more heat in my case and it's strictly a HTPC. No gaming.


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## RonindeBeatrice

I just did a baseline 3DMark with the Phenom 9500 at stock clocks and 1.8Ghz HT link and 4 (2x2) GB of DDR2-800 I'm getting *1297 3DMarks*. I'm going to give her a reboot, experiment with some things and see how far she'll go. The tests are done on Vista Premium 64 pre SP1 like duckie above.

Edit: Realized I was running at DDR-800 5-5-5-15.

Test1: Phenom 9500 CnQ enabled, 1800HT, 2x2 DDR2-800 5-5-5-15, GPU 500Mhz memory buffer auto*1297 3DMarks*

Test2: Phenom 9500 CnQ enabled, 1800HT, 2x2 DDR2-1066 5-7-7-20, GPU 500Mhz memory buffer auto*1354 3DMarks*

Test3: Phenom 9500 CnQ enabled, 2000HT, 2x2 DDR2-1066 5-7-7-20, GPU 500Mhz memory buffer auto *App Crash...*

Test4: Phenom 9500, 1800HT,memory controller 2000Mhz, 2x2 DDR2-1066 5-7-7-20, GPU 500Mhz memory buffer 256MB

Next, Test let's see how the NB/HT clocking goes...


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## RonindeBeatrice

Okay... So I've spent the last couple of hours with this board and cannot figure a thing out... I'm not having much luck getting _anything_ stable, so I'm going to get some assistance.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:


Originally Posted by *RonindeBeatrice* 
Okay... So I've spent the last couple of hours with this board and cannot figure a thing out... I'm not having much luck getting _anything_ stable, so I'm going to get some assistance.

What stepping do you have? A11, A12, or A13?

http://www.overclock.net/htpc/312235...-stepping.html


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## RonindeBeatrice

Quote:



Originally Posted by *DuckieHo*


What stepping do you have? A11, A12, or A13?

http://www.overclock.net/htpc/312235...-stepping.html


I'm not sure. I could check, but how is this affecting me again? I'm running at 1.8 HT.

I'm experiencing issues running my G.Skills at 1066 also, despite that they get set to 5-7-7-20 in the bios and are confirmed to do 1066 5-5-5-15 at 2.1 by many others. Attempting to run my ram at 1066 will lock up the system though.

It may be the cause for some of the issues I'm having.

Regarding your inability to overclock the GPU: Have you noticed how hot that little bugger gets? I don't believe that gigabyte's laughable little heatsink is well suited to pushing the HD3200 as far as it can go.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:



Originally Posted by *RonindeBeatrice*


Regarding your inability to overclock the GPU: Have you noticed how hot that little bugger gets? I don't believe that gigabyte's laughable little heatsink is well suited to pushing the HD3200 as far as it can go.


80C. However, the HS is barely hot. I reapplied the thermal grease and my Zalman 7700 is blow air over it. The chip is so smaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!


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## RonindeBeatrice

Quote:



Originally Posted by *DuckieHo*


80C. However, the HS is barely hot. I reapplied the thermal grease and my Zalman 7700 is blow air over it. The chip is so smaaaaaaaaaaaaaaall!


I'm not sure you and I agree on barely hot... I'm sure a reapply of AS5 will not change the fact that after doing _anything_ it's very difficult to touch the tiny heatsink...

What was the surest way to determine if you had a 12 or 11 revision again?


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## pheonixsingh

nice to know the onboard gpu can be oc'ed but it was never really designed for that, more htpc use, so quiet and cool, but kudos for gigabyte to give the options in the bios


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## dhrandy

You can also use the ATI Overdrive overclocking utility on this motherboard.


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## RonindeBeatrice

Duckie, are you using AOD, or just the bios?

Note to self: Gigabyte's bios are unlocked with Ctrl+F1 at main menu.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:



Originally Posted by *RonindeBeatrice*


Duckie, are you using AOD, or just the bios?

Note to self: Gigabyte's bios are unlocked with Ctrl+F1 at main menu.


You can tell revision only by look at the die.

I am using the BIOS to overclock. The AOD wasn't working for me. Thanks for the unlock info though.


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## RonindeBeatrice

Quote:



Originally Posted by *DuckieHo*


You can tell revision only by look at the die.

I am using the BIOS to overclock. The AOD wasn't working for me. Thanks for the unlock info though.


NP, I believe it allows for extra ram tweaking, but am not sure what else. I have to test tonight.


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## jameskelsey

Quote:



Originally Posted by *DuckieHo*


You can tell revision only by look at the die.

I am using the BIOS to overclock. The AOD wasn't working for me. Thanks for the unlock info though.


I've got the Gigabyte 780g MB ordered and read in a review that recommended getting a active cooler if you OC the OB graphics.What do you think of that suggestion and do you know of a good one that would work on that MB?


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## RonindeBeatrice

Quote:


Originally Posted by *jameskelsey* 
I've got the Gigabyte 780g MB ordered and read in a review that recommended getting a active cooler if you OC the OB graphics.What do you think of that suggestion and do you know of a good one that would work on that MB?

I'll try out a couple of mine and see if I can get a scale for the amount of space/cooling required.


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## jameskelsey

Quote:



Originally Posted by *RonindeBeatrice*


I'll try out a couple of mine and see if I can get a scale for the amount of space/cooling required.


I emailed ThermalRight and they said these were compatible.
NB: HR-05 IFX
SB: HR-05 SLI/ IFX


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## Choggs396

Wow, a 33% improvement in the 3DMark06 score. Nice!


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## KSIMP88

wait, doesn't this chart basically say that 512MB yields the best performance?


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## Kiwijunglist

Hi

Gigabyte GA-MA78GM-S2H (780 Chipset) Rev1.0 Bios = F7
AMD X2 4200+ CPU
Onboard ATI HD3200 Video (512 mb shared Ram)
1x ADATA 2GB DDR800 RAM
Stock CPU fan + extra fan blowing on the NB Chip
Windows XP SP3

I want to increase the HT frequency as well to improve hardware acceleration of 1080i H264 HDTV. In terms of temperatures I'm not worried as the case has fairly good airflow and is usually about 25-35 degrees celcius.

I've tried the following overclock in bios
FSB = 220 (Increased from 200 default)
Multiplier = x10 (Decreased from x11 default)
VGA Core = 600 (Increased from 500 default)
Everything else = Auto

I'd really like to get the HT frequency up to around 1200. I don't want the VGA core/CPU any higher. I don't know how to setup RAM timings all the other setttings in bios. I am worried about overclocking my RAM, and I don't know *what settings I should use to get the HT up higher without overclocking the ram/cpu? And what timings should i use?
.


















*


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## Kiwijunglist

I've tried the following overclock in bios
FSB = 240
Multiplier = x10
VGA Core = 600
Everything else on Auto
.


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## RonindeBeatrice

Why only increase the HT link speed? Changing it won't greatly alter your system's performance. You should modify your RAM multipier if you don't wish to change it also (it is linked to the HT speed). 1200 HT should be a snap for this motherboard, with it you should be able to get a few hundred extra mhz out of your CPU too.

Fill out your system specs in your profile.


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## Kiwijunglist

It's just an HTPC, the cpu is overkill only ever gets to 25-40% max that's why i lowered the multiplier with uping the fsb.


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## DuckieHo

Quote:



Originally Posted by *RonindeBeatrice*


Why only increase the HT link speed? Changing it won't greatly alter your system's performance. You should modify your RAM multipier if you don't wish to change it also (it is linked to the HT speed). 1200 HT should be a snap for this motherboard, with it you should be able to get a few hundred extra mhz out of your CPU too.

Fill out your system specs in your profile.


Increasing the HT clock improves the IGP's memory access. This is why SidePort models with dedicated memory show such improvement.


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## Kiwijunglist

It should speed up IGP without sideport memory (ie shared memory) too?


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## CallmeRoth

I may not understand the chart correctly but I'm reading that you only went to 700MHz... I easily had mine to 900 something. I think I passed 1000 with .3 to the voltages.


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## RonindeBeatrice

Quote:


Originally Posted by *DuckieHo* 
Increasing the HT clock improves the IGP's memory access. This is why SidePort models with dedicated memory show such improvement.

Quite right, Duckie. I imagine running his ram in dual channels would aid too.


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## Kiwijunglist

only have 1 x SIMM


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## Bugmenever

Do you need to get a new fan/heatsink/thermal paste to overclock an hd3200 safely(I have a Gateway GT5694 desktop), even if you just overclock a little bit? What's a safe way/amount to overclock without risking anything, or at least risking VERY little. Sorry if I'm being a dumb noob. Thanks


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## RonindeBeatrice

Nah, a fan blowing on the heatsink can certainly help as the 3200 does run hot, but it's not necessary to overclock a couple hundred Mhz. If you're running a gateway you might just wish to check if AMD Overdrive is still available (it's been a while since I heard any mention of it) if not, you can check if an overdrive option is available in Catalyst Control Center (download latest driver package from AMD directly).


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## Bugmenever

Quote:



Originally Posted by *RonindeBeatrice*


Nah, a fan blowing on the heatsink can certainly help as the 3200 does run hot, but it's not necessary to overclock a couple hundred Mhz.


Cool, thanks for the quick reply


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## DooSPX

overdrive is still available as a download from amd. 
also, I do not know how the OP clocked his, but I run my HD3200/780G at 700MHz up from stock 500MHz and never have an issue. Not to mention that it has never gotten above 59C.


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