The Witcher 2 Prologue Cut-Scene. Running at 1366x768 making my 5650 (stock clock) gasping for air, however, still getting like 30 FPS.



In really heavy combat, FPS drops to 25 FPS... no fun...



However, it is still mostly playable in normal gameplay



This post has been edited by cowithgun: May 28 2011, 09:26 PM

My brick charger got PzzzzZZZZZZZZZZZZZ noise... Is it normal?

ya mine too, both Acer brick and AcBel. can only hear if you put your ear close to the brick.

ya that right 1 but i thought it come with something like this.. http://www.google.com.my/imgres?imgurl=htt...iw=1366&bih=627

No, that's not included in the package. You'll probably will get it if you bought your notebook from computer shop & they give it as a gift. If bought it online from Dell, it's not included.

@cowithgun, can you post a screenshot of the SetFSB when you overclock the CPU? I want to add it in the first post. If you can run benchmarks with 3DMark06 or Vantage or 3DMark11, that will be great too (optional).

That one you need to buy it yourself

My max stable is FSB 160.4mhz:



Max at 3.3Ghz (with TurboBoost):



The last I check, 3dmark06 only increased for about 370 points after overclock, from 10003 -> 10371. Which is not much fun.

Just tested my 3dmark11 score with:

- No CPU OC: P1455
- CPU OC: P1485

+30 scores

MediaEspresso:

Previous no CPU+GPU OC, Encode + Decode hardware: 2:11
Max OC on CPU+GPU, Encode + Decode hardware: 2:01



This post has been edited by cowithgun: May 29 2011, 05:50 PM

Thank you for the screenshots. Did you tried this?

To get better benchmark scores you'll need to overclock GPU too. When I overclock my Nvidia GT 335M, the 3DMark06 score increased 1000+ more. That with GPU alone.

I am not sure how to flash memory stick! Any more helps? Risky?

From what I gathered most 3820tg can only achieve FSB 160mhz. Those with higher OC are probably due to different based frequency.

Those result are with max GPU OC. 5650 is really very OC'able. My based speed is 550/800. Managed to push to 774/1113. 3dMark06 (1280x768) jumps from 7826 to 10003.

doesn't overclock harm/reduce the hardware span life?

When you say "In really heavy combat, FPS drops to 25 FPS... no fun...", you mean you're getting that fps when not recording with Fraps?

why not use lower resolution like 1280x720 (I like this the most!)

if the game runs below 30fps, I need to lower down the resolution, cant accept below 30 fps

i wanna try Witcher 2 also, for benchmark..

No, it doesn't reduce hardware life span. Even after overclock, the CPU or/and GPU still operate in their capability. Unless the BIOS is poorly written & the cooling system doesn't do it's job properly, there is no risk in damaging the hardware. There are protection mechanism built in BIOS & hardware that can prevent the damage from happening. Again, overclock only for advanced user.

That is when NOT even recording. The game is really kind of heavy on 5650. Tested on the part which the 'war' started like in the Youtube.

Agree with you that if less than 30 FPS, it's not really fun.

That's why I play the game with OC setting. However, I got some artifacts when using max OC (774/1113). Just discovered awhile ago after playing for an hour or so. In this setting, I am getting lowest 30 FPS. Mostly on 40++ FPS. Thanks to the new Custom Fan Control, the max CPU is 81C and GPU is on 77C. I have a cooler on whenever I OC and gaming.

Due to the artifacts, I will reduced the OC to 770/1100. Game seems fine in this setting. Need more testing later.

I'd really prefer to play all games at highest possible resolution, even if that mean to disable some nice features such as Water reflections, shadows, etc.

Hope to see your benchmark on the game too.

This post has been edited by cowithgun: May 29 2011, 10:22 PM

I always keep close watch on the temperature whenever I OC. If your temperature is controllable, there is nothing to worry about.

In my understanding, when manufacturer make a GPU / CPU of the same class (for example 5650, 5730, 6550, etc all with same SP), they are all made alike. They do internal benchmarking, those good quality chip will end up having higher default frequency. Make sense to reduce cost as well.

However, over the time of making the same chip, the process improved. Each chip can therefore run at even higher clock speed. But because there are still demand for low-end chip, they cant stop producing it. So, some 5650 are actually very high quality chip that can OC a lot.

Any fact about this? I dont know! Those are just what my understanding after reading from here and there...

This post has been edited by cowithgun: May 29 2011, 10:32 PM

hmmm OC makes CPU faster? How do you guys learn it? Did you guys fries some chips?

google is your friend!

i think GPU OC make more sense then CPU overclock in gaming. so, there is my max OC screen shot, 6550 can OC even better than 5650:

Sigh. This GPU driver thing is driving me mad. I did a system restore and tried reinstalling the driver. After DriverSweeper cleaned the drivers and reboot, my LCD went black. Sound is there though. So, I just installed in Discreet mode. Still unstable after a few hours in gaming. GPU-Z can't detect the 6550's BIOS.

How to recover to its "factory default" settings? I'll try to avoid reformat at all costs. Unless I'm desperate

Anyway cowithgun, I tried the fan profiles. Guess my 4820TG's firmware is not supported. Would be awesome if it works though

Is that mean, installing Catalyst in Discrete work? But it is unstable? In that case, I recommend you to continue using Catalyst 11.3 which was stable for you.

GPU-Z can't detect 6550's BIOS mean? You mean there is no drop down box to select 6550 near the close button?

A factory setting will wipe everything clean... you can do that by pressing ALT-F10 during boot up. Make sure you transfer all your data somewhere else before you do that.

Been playing Witcher 2 for awhi le, my personal observation:

1. Amazing story telling. The camera, conversation, screen effect are of those in full length movie.
2. Combat is hard! I am playing a normal difficulties, but it is still HARD! Have to reload game many times.
3. Some frustration gameplay which required you to press certain button at specific time, failure mean you die and reload game.
- The part where the Dragon attack, if you dont move in 3 seconds, you die...
- The part where you try to free yourself, a wrong choice, you will face the guard with barehand, 1 cut, you die...
- The part where Dragon chasing you and the king, must press right Mouse button, if not, you die...
4. Graphic wise, it has more options to chose than Dragon Age 2.
5. Need to run the game at OC setting to enjoy smooth gameplay!

To my surprise, I will play Witcher 2, instead of Fable 3!

bro~ u OC till 774? whereas the max is 650 only wor.. 1113??? i thought max can go 800 nia.. i wan main OC but dell bios not much room for OC since they purposely DC it!

This post has been edited by ngkhanmein: May 30 2011, 08:50 AM