Nvidia Generation 5.0 User Manual

Utlities for Windows

NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0 User’s Guide

Version 2.0

NVIDIA Corporation November 9, 2006

Published by NVIDIA Corporation 2701 San Tomas Expressway Santa Clara, CA 95050

Notice

ALL NVIDIA DESIGN SPECIFICATIONS, REFERENCE BOARDS, FILES, DRAWINGS, DIAGNOSTICS, LISTS, AND OTHER DOCUMENTS (TOGETHER AND SEPARATELY, “MATERIALS”) ARE BEING PROVIDED “AS IS.” NVIDIA MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE WITH RESPECT TO THE MATERIALS, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Information furnished is believed to be accurate and reliable. However, NVIDIA Corporation assumes no responsibility for the consequences of use of such information or for any infringement of patents or other rights of third parties that may result from its use. No license is granted by implication or otherwise under any patent or patent rights of NVIDIA Corporation. Specifications mentioned in this publication are subject to change without notice. This publication supersedes and replaces all information previously supplied. NVIDIA Corporation products are not authorized for use as critical components in life support devices or systems without express written approval of NVIDIA Corporation.

Trademarks

NVIDIA, the NVIDIA logo, NVIDIA nForce, NVIDIA nTune, GeForce, NVIDIA Quadro, NVDVD, NVIDIA Personal Cinema, NVIDIA Soundstorm, Vanta, TNT2, TNT, RIVA, RIVA TNT, VOODOO, VOODOO GRAPHICS, WAVEBAY, Accuview Antialiasing, the Audio & Nth Superscript Design Logo, CineFX, the Communications & Nth Superscript Design Logo, Detonator, Digital Vibrance Control, DualNet, FlowFX, ForceWare, GIGADUDE, Glide, GOFORCE, the Graphics & Nth Superscript Design Logo, Intellisample, M-BUFFER, nfiniteFX, NV, NVChess, nView, NVKeystone, NVOptimizer, NVPinball, NVRotate, NVSensor, NVSync, the Platform & Nth Superscript Design Logo, PowerMizer, Quincunx Antialiasing, Sceneshare, See What You've Been Missing, StreamThru, SuperStability, T-BUFFER, The Way It's Meant to be Played Logo, TwinBank, TwinView and the Video & Nth Superscript Design Logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of NVIDIA Corporation in the United States and/or other countries. Other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated.

Intel, Indeo, and Pentium are registered trademarks of Intel Corporation. Microsoft, Windows, Windows NT, Direct3D, DirectDraw, and DirectX are trademarks or registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Silicon Graphics Inc.

Other company and product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of the respective owners with which they are associated.

NVIDIA Corporation

2701 San Tomas Expressway

Santa Clara, CA 95050

www.nvidia.com

Driver Utilities NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0 User’s Guide Version 2.0

Table of Contents

1.About NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

System Requirements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Installing NVIDIA nTune. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Before You Begin. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Installation Instructions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

2.Using NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Starting NVIDIA nTune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6

Accepting the End User License Agreement. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

About the nTune Performance Page. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8

Quick Start/Reference Guide to Using nTune . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Tuning Your System for Optimum Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

Monitoring Your System Performance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Overclocking Your System and Adjusting Voltage and Fan Speed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10

Dynamic BIOS Access . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12

Overview of Other Menu Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .13

3.Automatically Tune Performance and Adjust Custom Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

Tuning Your System Automatically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Automatic Tuning. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .16

Understanding the Tuning Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .17

Adjusting and Creating Custom Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .20

4.Monitoring and Logging System Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

About NVIDIA Monitor. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .24

Adjusting NVIDIA Monitor Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .26

NVIDIA Monitor Appearance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .27

Logging Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Adjusting Event Logging Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

Launching the Event Logger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28

5.Supplemental Information for the Adjust Motherboard Settings Page . . . . . . 29

System Clocks Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Hints and Cautions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

System Clock Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .31

Memory Controller Timing Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33

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NVIDIA Drivers NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0 User’s Guide Version 2.0

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NVIDIA nTuneTM Generation 5.0 is a full-featured application that lets you easily modify system settings and test them without having to reboot your system.

With NVIDIA nTune, you can

• Modify system performance settings, such as bus speeds, CPU voltages, fan speed, and other system performance options that are supported by the BIOS

• Save the modifications to a profile so that you can quickly apply settings to suit specific application environments

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• Monitor hardware temperature, voltage, timing, and fan speed

• View other information about your system, such as hardware and software revisions and other capabilities

This document applies to all versions of NVIDIA nTune within NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0. The following sections in this chapter introduce NVIDIA nTune:

• “System Requirements” on page 2

• “Installing NVIDIA nTune” on page 3

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System Requirements

• Supported Operating Systems:

• Microsoft Windows

• Supported Motherboards:

NVIDIA nTune version 5.0 supports only motherboards with nForce processors, with the exception of the following:

• nForce1

• nForce mobile edition processors

• nForce server class processors

NVIDIA nTune version 5.05 and later supports all motherboards, not just motherboards with nForce processors, for the following features:

• GPU overclocking and fan control using the nTune Performance page in the

NVIDIA Control Panel

• System performance monitoring and GPU temperature monitoring using the

nTune NVIDIA Monitor

XP (32-bit and 64-bit)

Vista

• Supported Processors

• All AMD K7 (except Duron) processors

• AMD Athlon 64 FX processors

• AMD Opteron processors

• AMD Sempron processors

• Intel

Pentium® 4 processor with Hyperthreading support

Note: nTune does not support overclocking, underclocking, or performance auto-

tuning on multi-processor systems.

2 NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0 User’s Guide – Version 2.0

Installing NVIDIA nTune

Before You Begin

• Make sure your hardware meets the “System Requirements” on page 2.

For nTune 5.0, the installer will not install NVIDIA nTune on non-supported systems, including non-supported nForce-based motherbaords.

nTune 5.05 and later will install on all motherboards.

• Uninstall any previous versions of NVIDIA nTune or NVIDIA System Utility before installing the latest version.

Installation Instructions

1 Download the zip file, then unzip to a temporary folder.

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2 Double-click Setup from your temporary folder.

The InstallShield Wizard starts, and directs you through the rest of the installation process as described below.

3 At the Welcome window, click Next.

4 Read the license agreement, then click Yes if you agree to the terms.

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5 At the Select Features screen, select all the nTune features and then click Next.

6 At the Choose Destination Location window, browse to locate the folder where

you want the NVIDIA nTune files installed, or just use the default location and click Next.

Setup proceeds to install the files.

7 At the InstallShield Wizard Complete window, click Finish.

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This chapter provides basic instructions for starting and using nTune 5.0. It contains the following sections:

• “Starting NVIDIA nTune” on page 6

• “Quick Start/Reference Guide to Using nTune” on page 9

• “Overview of Other Menu Options” on page 13

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Starting NVIDIA nTune

You can start NVIDIA nTune in several ways:

• From the Windows desktop, click Start, then click All Programs->NVIDIA Corporation->NVIDIA Control Panel-> Performance, or

• Right-click the Windows desktop, click NVIDIA Control Panel from the pop-up menu, then from the Select a Category page, click Performance, or

• From the Windows Control Panel, double-click the NVIDIA Control Panel icon, then from the Select a Category page, click Performance.

Figure 2.1

6 NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0 User’s Guide – Version 2.0

nTune Performance Icon in the NVIDIA Control Panel

Using NVIDIA nTune Generation 5.0

IMPORTANT!

Depending on your motherboard settings, the following warning message may appear when nTune starts:

Warning: Your PCI clock is currently set to track the HT bus. If you adjust the clock for the HT bus, the PCI bus clock will change as well. Please consult your motherboard manual to determine how to disable this behavior before proceeding.

If this warning appears, follow the directions from the motherboard manufacturer to enter the BIOS Setup and disable the Spread Spectrum features.

NVIDIA is not responsible for data loss or hardware damage resulting from ignoring this warning message.

Accepting the End User License Agreement

After selecting the Performance icon, the user must select “Accept End User License Agreement” link and agree to the EULA to begin using nTune.

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About the nTune Performance Page

nTune Generation 5.0 is incorporated into the new intuitive NVIDIA Control Panel design. Explanations of the various pages are provided within the page, so this manual focuses on providing an overview of the functions available with nTune 5.0.

Figure 2.2 shows the nTune Advanced View.

Figure 2.2

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nTune Advanced View

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