Friday, February 20th 2015

NVIDIA to Restore Overclocking on Mobile GPUs

Under pressure from users angry with NVIDIA for disabling overclocking on mobile-GPUs in the GTX 900M series, with its most recent driver update, the company decided to restore overclocking with its next driver update scheduled for March. To those who want overclocking right now (to make certain games at certain settings playable again), NVIDIA suggests reverting to the older GeForce 344.75 drivers. With the most recent driver update, NVIDIA controversially disabled overclocking on its GeForce GTX 900M mobile GPUs, causing angry comments on its GeForce user forums.
Source: GeForce Forums
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43 Comments on NVIDIA to Restore Overclocking on Mobile GPUs

#1
qubit
Overclocked quantum bit
Yup, disabling it was pretty stupid.
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#2
NC37
Awww booo, I was hoping AMD would have gotten a few blows in before they patched it. Would have been hilarious to see them both fighting over mobile GPUs.
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#3
matar
NVidia unlock the GT640m so we can push it above the 135MHZ.
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#4
Fluffmeister
NC37Awww booo, I was hoping AMD would have gotten a few blows in before they patched it. Would have been hilarious to see them both fighting over mobile GPUs.
I'm sure they are halfway through filming another shitty fixer video...

Still good news for Maxwell mobile users, those puppies really do fly.
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#6
bogami
It seems that it is very necessary to complain and then they move but I think that this was sand in the eyes, deception attention with 4 gb problem , gluttony is not dropped, since the price has not dropped. GTX970 is a good thing bugss up or down and fall in the $ 250 category in its best version.
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#7
TheDeeGee
I guess OCing Laptop is one way to get rid of Pubic Hair.
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#8
alwayssts
A large part of me sees this as possible incompetence; a smaller part could see it as well-orchestrated damage control.

'Oh, look at what we (took away and then at the trailing-edge of the news cycle) gave you (back) for free!' (*Throws blanket on 970 mess, kicks some dirt over it*).

If it smells like drumming up positive PR because right now their public image is on fire, it probably is.

I mean, doesn't the most-likely scenario seem that this was disabled because at some point they probably decided (perhaps just recently) that they are going to repackage and sell these chips with higher clocks (or something different but performance within overclocking range) as a newer generation? Maybe that's me being cynical, but nvidia is the type of company where cynicism often is the right approach.

When they say they spend countless time perfecting an experience, they mean countless time perfecting a product's placement; both now and in the future. If/when they realize their next series isn't going to make it's date (be that 14/16nm etc) they still need a product, and vicariously this reversal could be done because a new product has been decided upon that will not be effected by these chips ability to overclock.

I respect all ya'lls opinion if you don't agree, but this company has proven itself continuously so goddamn shady it's hard to think this is genuine 'remorse' due to consumer outcry. Everything they do is very well-planned and always about dat green. They are, and always have been, the marketing masters of the tech world...almost apple-like in their half-truth/manipulation/mind-game/means-to-an-end tactics.

I'm not a conspiracy theorist, but I wouldn't put this being a stunt (on conceivably multiple levels) past them (to attempt to create good will), if not, like I said, something to do with a rejigger of how future products are placed. If I'm giving them too much credit for being evil geniuses, then we're back to incompetence...not unlike the (and I'm incredibly sorry I'm bringing it up) 970 debacle.

I don't see how this paints nvidia any better than how many saw them yesterday other than this conveniently gives them something to point to when people criticize the 970 situation. They can point to this as how they were more after-sale consumer friendly...obviously phrased in a way where they look like heroes and take no responsibility for customers getting less than they initially had or expected from their products.

The way I see it, up until recently nvidia has generally been extremely cunning in their anti-consumer tactics (including but not limited to: sli on amd chipsets until 2011 when they stopped making chipsets, crossfire on nvidia chipsets ever, AA for unreal engine being locked out from amd, gameworks coding non-transparency, physx support [including mixed cards] when an amd card is detected, Project Greenlight [which limited 680 so they could milk people with 770 for example] amongst COUNTLESS others I could list over the years pertaining to what should be vendor-agnostic sofrware or simply use of their own hardware) with plausible-enough excuses for certain choices. Only because of the insane amount of coverage concerning the last couple debacles (mobile gsync included) have the vast public stood up and taken notice, while outspokeningly rejecting it. nVIDIA can (now) try as they may, but there just ain't no putting the cork back in the bottle...they pushed their hand a little too far and now more people are rightly watching every decision they make and how they present it to the world.

The most important thing about all of this is that that large crowd (known as their current and potential customers) is now loudly and collectively calling them on their bullshit. I don't know wither to applaud those that have spoken and continue speaking out on these issues and impacts they make (ie the guy that found the mem problem, those that tested stutter, those that checked playable settings differences on laptops), the press for reporting it (granted preferably not the same story 7 times), or just say it's about damn time this issue of how they conduct their business came to the forefront, rather than just splintered across the web mixed with fanboy/crackpot complaints buried in comments sections and forum posts.
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#9
john_
But...but....but....but.... it's a BUG.

All those posts in the other thread defending Nvidia's first decision? Nvidia have pity on your supporters :laugh:
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#10
AsRock
TPU addict
A positive move at the least for what ever reason(s).
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#11
Sasqui
All I can say... is LOL
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#12
RealNeil
TheDeeGeeI guess OCing Laptop is one way to get rid of Pubic Hair.
Or have a weenie roast!
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#13
GhostRyder
Smart move, they realized pretty fast that this was just going to infuriate people further and not help them out in their image.

A great decision, guess I will be picking up a GTX 970m for my laptop soon enough.
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#14
Jorge
OC'ing mobile GPUs is pointless anyway so it was a big deal over nothing.
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#15
ZoneDymo
sooo this now puts Nvidia in a positive light?

Well shit, this business model should work for all: take away something consumers have, then give it back.
Minimal effort for positive results it seems....

come on people, this is some bs
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#16
64K
Nvidia needs to be making better decisions. I don't see how the CEO didn't expect such a response from the overclocking community.
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#17
CrAsHnBuRnXp
Why do companies have to think they know what is best for us?
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#18
xfia
lZKoce
does this kid get anything from being plastered allover the internet?
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#19
Chaitanya
I still think overclocking on mobile gpus with really tiny gpu coolers is useless and pointless feature anyway.
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#20
PLAfiller
xfiadoes this kid get anything from being plastered allover the internet?
I really couldn't find that many memes with nVidia fan slogans. Plenty for Radeon vs NV though.
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#21
Xaser04
ChaitanyaI still think overclocking on mobile gpus with really tiny gpu coolers is useless and pointless feature anyway.
Hmmm my 780m running at 980/6000 (up from 772/5000) wants a word..
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#22
xfia
I don't really think they where doing a bad thing but they went about it totally wrong.. why not they be involved with manufacturers on overclocking and have cheaper models without extreme cooling that have overclocking disabled and different types of warranties. why not even bin mobile gpu's for it.
they could include special branding that says like your laptops cooling solution has been approved by nvidia for overclocking and your mobile gpu's chip has been binned for high overclocking headroom. fine print blah blah..
obviously there is enthusiasts that want certain features but those features are what other users don't want at all.
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#24
newtekie1
Semi-Retired Folder
NC37Awww booo, I was hoping AMD would have gotten a few blows in before they patched it. Would have been hilarious to see them both fighting over mobile GPUs.
AMD's GPUs are so power in-efficient they make horrible mobile GPUs, so AMD is probably best avoiding this topic.;)
qubitYup, disabling it was pretty stupid.
Enabling it in the first place was pretty stupid if it really wasn't intended. Someone on the driver team probably got a talking to...
TheDeeGeeI guess OCing Laptop is one way to get rid of Pubic Hair.
I'm not sure why people think overclocking laptop GPUs causes them to get insanely hot. The temps go up a few °C at most. You aren't increasing the voltages, so temps really don't go up.
JorgeOC'ing mobile GPUs is pointless anyway so it was a big deal over nothing.
Hardly pointless. Overclocking my 840m made a big difference in games.
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#25
Xzibit
:peace:

ManuelG@Nvidia - "It's a bug, Chips were not designed for overclocking"
PeterS@Nvidia - "I know you didn't buy our BS statement and called us out on it so we are sorry and will re-enable it next driver update."

All we need now is for PeterS@Nvidia to redact this statement like he did his 970 one for the drama to continue. I can picture it now in a few days.

PeterS@Nvidia - "Just like I spoke out of turn on the 970 and said there was a driver fix coming to enable full use of the 4GB, The driver does fix a bug and is working as intended"
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