NVIDIA's shady trick to boost the GeForce 9600 GT

fornowagain · 29 Feb 2008 at 20:07

silversurfer said:
It is a bit weird, we had this on the nvidia chipset 650i and I wondered what is the point when pci-e frequency does not limit the cards anyway.

It's not about the PCI-e or GPU limit, its simply that for the first time they've linked the GPU clock gen to the PCI-e frequency. And that the actual core clock isn't accurately reported from the board.

silversurfer · 29 Feb 2008 at 20:25

Yea I just wonder they did that tbh, its not a bad thing because its stable just wondering why

I swear I heard it mentioned somewhere around the time 650i was released, on the website or a review of the chipset. It was like one of those bogus features that doesnt mean bugger all but makes the motherboard sound (before you buy it) like they just out did robocop for cool technology

willhub · 29 Feb 2008 at 20:51

So the reason the 9600GT looks faster is due to this? So I can make my 8800GT faster by upping the PCI-E frequency? In the bios there is something called robust graphics booster or something like that.

Rroff · 29 Feb 2008 at 21:16

I've run my 8800GT at 100 and 120 PCI-e frequencies and theres very little difference.

willhub · 29 Feb 2008 at 21:23

Wonder what would happen if you put a 9600GT bios on an 8800GT? They are the same cards just less SP's, it should work should it not?

sunlitsix · 29 Feb 2008 at 21:24

no, they are based on similar GPU designs
not the same cards

willhub · 29 Feb 2008 at 21:26

sunlitsix said:
no, they are based on similar GPU designs
not the same cards

Whats different apart from the lack of shaders then?

sunlitsix · 29 Feb 2008 at 21:28

well probably different layouts on the PCB, things such as different voltage regulators etc
the BIOS will control more than the GPU itself

Talrinys · 29 Feb 2008 at 21:50

Folks this isn't bad, it's just a smart little boost for people who could use it, and you can be sure that they tested stability with the Nvidia motherboards specifically for this?

fornowagain · 29 Feb 2008 at 21:51

willhub said:
So the reason the 9600GT looks faster is due to this? So I can make my 8800GT faster by upping the PCI-E frequency? In the bios there is something called robust graphics booster or something like that.

Its the reason it looks faster in certain NV boards. You can't make the 8800GT faster from increasing the PCI-e frequency because its GPU clock is tied the cards own 27MHz crystal. The 9600GT is referencing the PCi-e frequency as it clock generator.

Aod · 29 Feb 2008 at 22:09

nevertheless, you could always just overclock your 8800GT manually?

Richdog · 29 Feb 2008 at 22:11

Aod said:
nevertheless, you could always just overclock your 8800GT manually?

No, that would be impossible.

willhub · 29 Feb 2008 at 22:17

fornowagain said:
Its the reason it looks faster in certain NV boards. You can't make the 8800GT faster from increasing the PCI-e frequency because its GPU clock is tied the cards own 27MHz crystal. The 9600GT is referencing the PCi-e frequency as it clock generator.

So there is a different component on it?

sunlitsix · 29 Feb 2008 at 22:28

more than one, this isnt just an 8800GT PCB with a G94 GPU slapped on it

fornowagain · 29 Feb 2008 at 22:31

willhub said:
So there is a different component on it?

There's lots I should think. The final GPU core clock is based on a reference frequency. Just like the FSB on a cpu. The normal card uses a crystal to generate the base frequency, the 9600GT is using the PCI-e as the base.

So they take the PCI-e 100MHz/4 = 25Mhz x 29 = 725MHz.
Put up the PCI-e to 115MHz/4 = 29Mhz x 29 = 834MHz

pegasus1 · 1 Mar 2008 at 08:38

Richdog said:
Because that wouldn't be LinkBoost. It's a specific feature.

But surely the outcome would be the same. I would prefere to use something like EXPERTool (if supported) so i can OC the core, shaders and memory indipendently.

Richdog · 1 Mar 2008 at 09:17

Yes it would be the same... but that's not the point... no -one is saying you can't overclock manually, we're just saying that's not the point of LinkBoost as it's for dummies who don't like to do it themselves, or probably don't even know it's being overclocked!

steve258 · 1 Mar 2008 at 12:26

PCI-E trick aside it's quite amazing that these little chips can do around 800Mhz core! Probably because of less transistors.

So I think even if they implement the same technique for 9800GT/GTX/GX2 they won't be able to clock anywhere near as high.

ACESHIGH · 1 Mar 2008 at 12:38

If the cards are capable of running this fast then why not just sell them all running faster? If its for noobs, they wont even know it exists. If its for the more hardcore gamers they can overclock themselves. Sure i can see theyre trying to get people to buy Nvidia motherboards as well, but those that dont have Nvidia motherboards may well go for a 3850 / 3870 instead, as they wont get the performacne boost and may feel ripped of somewhat, so its a stalemate. But if they released a faster performing card for everyone, then it looks good all round.

Have i missed the point of this? I dont get what they were hoping for really.

Aod · 1 Mar 2008 at 14:09

Richdog said:
No, that would be impossible.