Tweaking Voltages - ATI Mobility Readeon X700

[killer_cow]

Hi there PC Tech Talkers,

Am back with another crazy computer query

I have a laptop (Acer Aspire 5021) which has done me well for the past year and a half, but has always had issues with overheating, so any CPU and GPU intensive work/gaming was always a struggle!

Fortunately, I have found (half!) a solution to this overheating issue, which has turned out to work wonders! I think I may actually post up my solution on these forums just after I drop this off for anyone else with similar heat problems (which I know Acer laptops do seem to have!).

Anyhoo, by tweaking the CPU's voltage (ie. under-powering), I have managed to decrease the heat produced from CPU under full load, whilst still maintaining stability. And this works great for any CPU intensive applications, as the CPU will not clock-down due to overheating anymore! (as well as add about 20minutes onto battery life!! :])

Now! Unfortunately for me thats only half the battle because the GPU (ATI Mobility Radeon X700) still overheats when graphically intense applications are run... so I was wondering if I can try applying the same principle to my GPU as I did my CPU to prevent overheating...?

Well, after doing some intense Google-ing and research, all I've managed to pick up so far is the fact that the X700 mobility generally isn't supported by ATI "hacking" software (such as ATI Tool and ATI Tray Tools) in terms of voltage adjustment! BUT I did read that my GPU actually does have the ability to interact with software in order to adjust its voltage (via the PowerPlay settings in my Catalyst drivers)!

So, in hindsight, I'm wondering if anyone has any better a blue's clue about software GPU voltage adjustering for my type of graphics card, because if I (we!) can pull this off, it would bring new life to my laptop!! and other Acer laptop users suffering from heat issues!


Any help/ideas would be really appreciated, please plop em down!

A thousand thanks,

KC

[technobeast]

Don't you think that if anything on the laptop "overheats" it's the manufacturer's fault and if you still have warranty service for it, you should use it?

[killer_cow]

Originally Posted by technobeast

Don't you think that if anything on the laptop "overheats" it's the manufacturer's fault and if you still have warranty service for it, you should use it?

In an ideal world, you bet! but unfortunately Acer have decided my laptop (with its dedicated graphics card and high (at the time) end 64-bit processor) is not meant for intensive/gaming use! It overheats... and has protective measures against the overheating (ie. downclocking the processor and turning all fans to full blast). Which would be fine if you were just web browsing etc. but if your in the middle of a game online and suddenly ur PC starts working at half the speed... its more of a problem