PC Hacks

Hack #72. Overclock Your nVidia Adapter

Specifically designed for video adapters that use the nVidia chipset, nVidia's Detonator driver or the RivaTuner utility give you control over your video clock speeds.

The first thing you need to make your nVidia chipset overclockable is a small bit of Windows Registry hacking, which is made simple by downloading a file named geforce_overclock.reg within geforce_overclock.zip (link and content subject to change) from http://www.softpedia.com/public/cat/12/1/12-1-31.shtml. To merge the Registry entries in this file into the Registry:

1. Download and unzip geforce_overclock.zip.

2. Locate and double-click the reg file within the zip file to merge it into the Registry.

3. Click OK and reboot. First part accomplished.

Tip

If you want to manually apply this Registry hack (or if you can't find the download), launch regedit.exe (click StartRun and then type regedit and press Enter), navigate to (or create) the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\NVIDIA Corporation\Global\NVTweak, and add a DWORD value named CoolBits and set its value to 3.

With the geforce_overclock Registry modification applied, if you already have the nVidia Detonator driver and utility software, you're all set to begin the overclocking by following these steps:

1. Right-click the desktop and select Properties.

2. In the display properties dialog, select the Settings tab

3. Select the Advanced button.

4. Select the tab with the name of your card, and you will be taken to a dialog with an option named Clock Frequencies, ...