Vaoi A 117S : Radeon Troubleshooting

[Seraph]

Hi dear Vaio fans,

I have bought 10 months ago a Vaio A 117S equipped with a Radeon Mobility 9700. My Vaio is fully up-to-date (latest bios, drivers, ...etc).
The problem started last week : when using a DirectX intensive application (ej : latest games) the notebook auto shut down after 5min!!! I can only think of two reasons :

1) the GPU is overheating
2) syncro with memory is lost

I checked the frequency of my GPU : it's running at 384,75, and its memory is at 222,75. These are the defaults values, and are way under ATI's announced 445/263 for a Mobility 9700. The GPU has no readon overheating.

So do anyone knows :

1) If someone else had this problem.
2) Any solutions ?
3) If I underclock the GPU, will I loose Sony's warranty ?

Thanks in advance,

--Seraph

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Cher aficionados de Vaio,

J'ai acheté il y a 10 mois un Vaio A 117S équippé d'une Radeon Mobility 9700. Mon portable est bien sûr à jour (dernière version du BIOS, des drivers, etc). Mon problème a commencé la semaine dernière : après 5min d'utilisation d'une application DirectX (bref un jeu récent) le pc s'éteint soudainement. Je ne vois que 2 raisons possibles à ce bug :

1) La carte graphique surchauffe.
2) Il y a désyncronization entre le GPU et sa mémoire.

J'ai vérifié la fréquence du couple GPU/ mémoire : j'ai du 384,75 / 222,75 , ce qui est très en dessous des 445/263 annoncés par le constructeur ATI sur son site. Logiquement la carte graphique ne devrait donc pas surchauffer.

Donc savez-vous si :

1) Quelqu'un a déjà eut ce problème ?
2) S'il y a des solutions ?
3) Si je peux underclocker mon GPU sans perdre la garantie Vaio ?

Merci d'avance,

--Seraph

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[inectarios]

Hi there, thing is ...the only reason that a laptop (or PC anyways) would shut down unexpectedly would be due to overheating or a short circuit. Overheating is more common on laptops though - especially old laptops.

I have the same model with you and i haven't had any problems.

I have actually overclocked my MR9700 to 450Mhz core and 261Mhz mem speeds (ATi defaults) and i didnt have any problems. OK.. the laptop got really hot but never exceeded temperatures of 69 degrees Celcius EVEN when i was playing Half Life 2 and NFS Underground II for HOURS....

I bought my self a laptop-cooler though just in case...with the laptop cooler the temp. dropped to 45 or so which is perfect for a laptop running such games...maybe you wanna try this link www.vantecusa.com

Maybe you want to try better drivers for your Radeon as well...
www.omegadrivers.net (the best you can get if you ask me).

PS. (I even ran the MR at 504Mhz core and 290Mhz mem respectively just for testing and it stil was ok so it shouldnt be the Radeon's fault...Dont know about the motherboard though..but still there is nothing to mess it up since i've been using the latest BIOS available from vaio-link for months now and again no probs.)

If you decide to underclock ur MR though...there's no way for anyone to find out once you "recover" your laptop to its original state (in case it has to go in for service lets say) - so i wouldnt worry about that.

[kee-lo_]

Make sure you keep the fans and vents clean - so the system can breathe

[mvanwambeke]

Make sure you keep the fans and vents clean - so the system can breathe

A vacuum cleaner to the air shaft sometimes does miracles

[kee-lo_]

True

[jammold]

That and lots of compressed air I find works a treat, even better still when used in combination with each other!

[Perjescu]

Hi there, thing is ...the only reason that a laptop (or PC anyways) would shut down unexpectedly would be due to overheating or a short circuit. Overheating is more common on laptops though - especially old laptops.

I have the same model with you and i haven't had any problems.

I have actually overclocked my MR9700 to 450Mhz core and 261Mhz mem speeds (ATi defaults) and i didnt have any problems.  OK.. the laptop got really hot but never exceeded temperatures of 69 degrees Celcius EVEN when i was playing Half Life 2 and NFS Underground II for HOURS....

I bought my self a laptop-cooler though just in case...with the laptop cooler the temp. dropped to 45 or so which is perfect for a laptop running such games...maybe you wanna try this link www.vantecusa.com

Maybe you want to try better drivers for your Radeon as well...
www.omegadrivers.net (the best you can get if you ask me).

PS. (I even ran the MR at 504Mhz core and 290Mhz mem respectively just for testing and it stil was ok so it shouldnt be the Radeon's fault...Dont know about the motherboard though..but still there is nothing to mess it up since i've been using the latest BIOS available from vaio-link  for months now and again no probs.)

If you decide to underclock ur MR though...there's no way for anyone to find out once you "recover" your laptop to its original state (in case it has to go in for service lets say) - so i wouldnt worry about that.

What program did you use to overclock your video card?
Is the system unstable after the overclocking? Does it freeze in games or stuff like that?

[jammold]

Inectaros probably used the built-in overclocking tool inside the Omega Radeon Driver applet.

Please use this with extreme caution. In some circumstances, you will overheat your GPU with this tool and burn it out altogether.

It could end in tears, especially when your warranty does NOT cover damage caused by overclocking a GPU.

Tread very carefully...:smileywink:

[kee-lo_]

I wouldn't overclock a GPU within a laptop.

[inectarios]

What program did you use to overclock your video card?
Is the system unstable after the overclocking? Does it freeze in games or stuff like that?

It is possible to use the overclocking facility of the Omega drivers but I used ATI Tool. It detects the Maximum possible speeds for you so there is no fear of OVER-overclocking it.

No I had no freeze or similar problems (I only played at the ATI design settings though..That's not really overclocking. Its just benefiting from the power u paid for. Sony underclocks the ATI for battery reasons mainly...)