1NVCLOCK(1) NVCLOCK(1)
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6 nvclock - Overclock your nVidia graphics adapter.
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9 nvclock [options]
10
12 This manual page documents briefly the nvclock command. NVClock is a
13 small program for tweaking nVidia videocards on FreeBSD, Linux and Win‐
14 dows. Originally it was only meant for overclocking but these days it
15 can do much more. For instance it contains hardware monitoring support
16 using which you can view the temperatures and fanspeeds on cards that
17 support it. Further it allows tweaking of OpenGL settings using the
18 NV-CONTROL extension supported by the nVidia Linux/FreeBSD drivers.
19
21 The program follows the usual GNU command line syntax, with long
22 options starting with two dashes (`-'). A summary of options are
23 included below.
24 --b, --backend backend
26 By default NVClock uses its so called 'low-level' backend for
27 reading and adjusting the clockspeeds of cards. Since NVidia
28 driver 1.0-7667 the drivers also provide an overclocking mecha‐
29 nism called 'Coolbits'. It is only supported on desktop versions
30 of the GeforceFX/6/7. The main advantages it has over the low-
31 level backend is that it allows you to set the clocks to use in
32 2D and 3D programs. The problem is that various modern
33 GeforceFX/6/7/8 cards run at different clockspeeds depending if
34 you are running a 3D application or not.
35 Possible values for backend are: coolbits, coolbits2d, cool‐
37 bits3d and lowlevel. The default option on GeforceFX/6/7 cards
38 is coolbits which sets the same clocks for 2D/3D, further cool‐
39 bits2d and coolbits3d set respectively the 2D and 3D clocks and
40 finally lowlevel lets you use the lowlevel backend.
41 -c, --card number
43 Most systems only contain only one videocard. On systems with
44 multiple cards, this option can be used to select the card to
45 overclock.
46 -d, --debug
48 Enable/Disable overclocking related debug info. This information
49 shows the data stored in the PLLs during various operations.
50 -D, --Debug
52 Print a long list of GPU registers containing their current
53 value. All this info is very usefull for debugging.
54 -f, --force
56 Force support for a card that is currently disabled. Cards can
57 be disabled by default if the code for them is experimental or
58 in case a Laptop is being used. Laptops are disabled for safety
59 reasons as overclocking on them is more dangerous. In case you
60 know what you are doing you can use this option to enable down‐
61 clocking of your GPU as a way to save power.
62 -F, --fanspeed speed
64 Using this option you can adjust the duty cycle of the fanspeed.
65 The value you can enter can be a delta like +10 or -10 which
66 increases/decreases the fanspeed with 10%. Further the value can
67 be a number like 20 which would set the fanspeed to 20%. Further
68 if your sensor supports automatic (temperature controlled)
69 fanspeed adjustments you can also use the value 'auto' to switch
70 back to automatic control. Note that in all cases the (final)
71 fanspeed should lie between 10% and 100%. A low duty cycle cor‐
72 respons to a low fanspeed.
73 Note that the duty cycle is NOT the fanspeed. The duty cycle
75 controls the percentage of time in a fixed time interval in
76 which the fan is 'on'. By choosing a higher value the fan is
77 enabled a larger part of the time which results in a higher
78 fanspeed. Changing the duty cycle from 20% to 40% doesn't double
79 the noise or fanspeed.
80 -i, --info
82 Print detailed card info
83 -m, --memclk speed
85 Memory speed in MHz
86 -n, --nvclk speed
88 Core speed in MHz
89 -P, --Punit mask
91 The Geforce6/7 are designed in such a way that one single GPU
92 can be used for creating different types of boards. For instance
93 they produce a NV40 (6800-class) GPU and when the GPU is func‐
94 tioning properly they turn it into a 6800GT/Ultra or when some‐
95 thing is damaged or when it can't reach high clocks they call it
96 a 6800NU/LE. The same is the case for NV43 based 6200/6600
97 cards. A 6800LE card ships with 8 disabled pixel units and 2
98 disabled vertex units. On various cards it is possible to re-
99 enable those units and if it works correctly it can greatly
100 improve 3D performance. The problem is that some units can be
101 broken which results in artifacts or instability. Further not
102 all GPU models can be unlocked either because Nvidia protected
103 the GPUs against modding or because there are no extra units to
104 enable.
105 Using this option you can enable extra pixel units. First check
107 using the -i switch which pixel units are masked. If none are
108 masked it means that none can be unlocked. For an explanation I
109 will take a 6800LE as an example which by default has 8 of its
110 16 pixel units disabled. The -i option showed the mask '1100'
111 which means that the first and second block of pixel units are
112 disabled. One block of pixel unit contains 4 pipelines in case
113 of most boards with the exception of NV44/NV46 which use 2 pipe‐
114 lines for each pixel unit. To enable the first and second pipe‐
115 line use -P 1111 (binary) or i you prefer hex 0xf. NVClock will
116 then try to unlock the pipelines note that even when there are
117 masked pipelines some can be locked in hardware so that they
118 can't be enabled.
119 -r, --reset
121 Restore the original clockspeeds
122 -s, --speeds
124 Print current clockspeeds in MHz
125 -S, --smartdimmer
127 For use on laptops Nvidia added functionality called smartdimmer
128 which can be used to adjust the brightness of the backlight. At
129 the moment the feature is limited to Geforce6200Go cards but if
130 needed more cards can be added if they really provide Smartdim‐
131 mer support. To use this option you can select a value between
132 15% and 100% and the brightness will be set to that level or you
133 can use a delta like +10 / -10 which should decrease the bright‐
134 ness with +10% / -10%.
135 -V, --Vunit mask
137 This option can be used to enable disabled vertex pipelines
138 which can appear on Geforce6/7 cards. For an introduction to
139 pipeline modding check the -P option first. The syntax and work‐
140 ing option is the same as the pixel unit one with the difference
141 that one bit corresponds to 1 vertex pipeline instead of multi‐
142 ple. Again check -i to see which vertex units are locked. On a
143 6800LE you might see '001111' which means that the fifth and
144 sixth unit are locked. To enable all units use -V 111111
145 (binary) or 0x3f (hex). Note that it isn't certain that a unit
146 can be enabled as on some cards units are locked.
147 Below is a list with Display / OpenGL related options
149 -l, --list
151 List OpenGL / Display options supported by your chipset/driver
152 -q, --query option
154 Query current setting for one of the options listed under OpenGL
155 / Display options.
156 -a, --assign option / option[display]="value"
158 Set a value for a supported option.
159 For OpenGL options like fsaa the following syntax is enough:
161 nvclock -a option=value
162 Display specific options like Digital Vibrance sometimes need
164 the display name: nvclock -a vibrance[crt-0]=value.
165 -x, --xdisplay
167 Choose another X display
168 -h, --help
170 Show summary of options.
171
173 This manual page was originally written by Wouter de Vries
174 <sax@debian.org>, for the Debian GNU/Linux system. Later on it got an
175 update by Kel Modderman <kelrin@tpg.com.au> and at last it got rewrit‐
176 ten for inclusion in NVClock 0.8 by Roderick Colenbrander <thunder‐
177 bird@linuxhardware.org>
178 0.8beta3 NVCLOCK(1)