WARNING: OVERCLOCK at your own risk
Compatibility:
Windows 8.1
32/64 bits
Windows 8
32/64 bits
Windows 7
32/64 bits
Hey, guys
Here is what I found after trying to overclock my 60hz with no luck for over a month.
As soon as I used an HDMI port instead , I was able to overclock my monitor to 78hz just fine using Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) (DVI port did not work for me)
SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD: http://www.monitortests.com/cru-1.1.2.zip
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.monitortests.com/
Interestingly enough I cannot overclock my HP 2511x monitor at 1920 x 1080, but I can do so 1440 x 900.
If you still have difficulty overclocking at 1920 x 1080 use a smaller screen resolution and use CRU to create a custom refresh rate.
Here is a good guide I have used myself: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/31526-overclocking-your-monitor-refresh-rate-amd-gpus/ that used as a base for my overclock.
Let's do it:
1. Run CRU
2. Select ADD
Cru1.jpg 96k .jpg file
3. Select screen resolution you are adding, then refresh rate that will be associated with it (this will be your custom setting).
Cru2.jpg 85k .jpg file
Hit OK
Add as many entries as you like, I have deleted unnecessary/redundant ones that I already had like 1920 x 1080 at 60hz from the box.
As there is a limit in CRU to how many entries w/custom refresh rates 8 entries MAX
My suggestion do small increments of 1-5 hz above 60 hz (or whatever is your standard refresh rate is: Ex: 144 hz, 120hz etc), so you can test them later.
It will look something like this (I did increments of 1 hz between to fine squeeze the max out of the screen)
TestValues.jpg 96k .jpg file
After adding test values, hit OK
RESTART COMPUTER
DO NOT forget to RESTART computer after adding a new refresh rate options in CUSTOM RESOLUTION UTILITY program, otherwise you will not be able to select them/see them
4. After you restart right click the desktop and select SCREEN RESOLUTION (change the size to what you need). SELECT APPLY and OK or you screen resolution will default to something else after restart/shutdown.
Then next go back to SCREEN RESOLUTION select ADVANCED OPTION, then MONITOR tab, you will see all the options you added for particular screen resolution here. *Note that the refresh options are screen resolution specific that you added yourself, so do not be surprised that you choose some other resolution but that extra refresh rate is NOT available. This is why.
Select refresh rate, and see if the screen goes OUT OF RANGE/or goes completely black with no image, if it does it will automatically reset back to the last working setting in 15 seconds. Or hit ESC on your keyboard to go back if your screen is completely black.
Selectingtheresolution.jpg 219k .jpg file
*Note that I was only able to go up to 78hz, you can always delete extra options through Custom Resolution Utility (don't forget to restart for the system to recognize the update)
I did small 1 hz increments till I found that I can go to 78 MAX.
5. I ran into the issue of having a screen having a black border of about 1 inch on each side (not a full screen), which I simply fixed in AMD catalyst.
(You may not have the same issue, so if you screen is completely filled on your monitor, skip this step)
Right click the desktop. Select AMD Catalyst Control Center
Go to MY DIGITAL FLAT PANELS tab on the left. Select SCALING OPTIONS
Move the OVERSCAN right until the screen is completely fixed/filled (this issue seems to show up on Win 8.1).
AMDCatalyst.png 113k .png file
Here is the equivalent on NVIDIA Control Panel
change_resolutions.gif 53k .gif file
What you choose to overclock to is up to you and you will see how your screen will respond.
If anything happens to your monitor keep in mind it is because you are overclocking it above its' standard capabilities.
I also noticed that selecting refresh rate in AMD Catalyst Control panel got rid of the OUT OF RANGE issue that happens sometimes in Windows Monitor Tab where you select the refresh rate.
Here is how you can select the refresh rate in Catalyst (if it did NOT work in Windows Monitor Tab)
Open AMD Catalyst Control Center again by right clicking the desktop and selecting it.
Go to DESKTOP MANAGEMENT Tab on the left. Select the resolution you have added in CRU software, and select the refresh rate. Hit APPLY.
AMDcatalyst2.jpg 259k .jpg file
*Please not that you should ALREADY have selected the proper resolution of the screen through Windows options and hit apply, since it has priority over what Catalyst dictates. Meaning if you have different resolution selected in Windows options, but you select the 1440 x 900 in Catalyst, it will change until you restart and it's back to the last selected Windows option which drove me crazy for 5 minutes till I figured it out
6. Select refresh rate, and see if the screen goes OUT OF RANGE/or completely black, if it does it will automatically reset back to the last setting in 15 seconds and it means the refresh rate is too high for the monitor to handle. Try a smaller value for an example you tried 80 hz, try 79 hz, 78hz, etc, until you can see your screen with no artifacts or visible errors.
Hopefully it helps some of you who struggled with it as me.
I overclocked because of screen tearing in BF4/BF3 that I was able to decrease by doing so, and also utilize the extra frames that my GPU actually generated. I did some flying around in the attack heli in game, and I have to say screen tearing was MAJORLY reduced. I have my frames capped at 78 FPS now.
How To Validate / Check for proper OVERCLOCK ?
7. Great way to check the validity of the screen overclock can be validated here after you followed all the steps needed to step up the refresh rate.
http://www.testufo.com/#test=frameskipping
Compliments to Twerk for giving me a link. Just follow the directions on the page to validate the screen refresh rate to confirm you will need a camera as you follow the steps.
Frame Skipping Check: Test for dropped frames & missing display refreshes.
(1) Take photo of this screen with camera. Screenshots won't work. Use 1/5th second exposure or longer to capture multiple squares. If camera exposure can't be raised, decrease camera ISO and/or reduce monitor brightness, to make camera do longer exposures. If you see only 1 or 2 white squares in your photo, try again.
(2) Photo should not contain any popup messages. Take photo when you see "VALID" at bottom of page. The message "VALID" does not confirm frame skipping.
(3) Check photo for frame skipping. Compare to example good photo and example frameskipped photo. The photo should have a sequence of multiple solid squares, with no gaps in between. If there are gaps, then there is frame skipping. For testing refresh rate overclocking such as IPS 1440p 120Hz monitors or HDTV overclocking, close all other apps and browser tabs, run this test with nothing running, and check browser requirements. For an alternative, see Refresh Rate Multitool from shurcooL.
8.
Last but not least: If you are using HDMI port and you want to use your SPEAKERS for sound. Otherwise HDMI cable will carry the sound through the cable to the monitor itself. Very few PC monitors have built in speakers/but TVs do. If you want sound coming from your monitor speakers, no need to change.
As most of us (NVIDIA and AMD)
Right click on Speaker icon on your taskbar of Windows 8.1
Also can be found by typing Manage Audio Devices in Windows 8.1 Start Menu to find it.
Select PLAYBACK DEVICES
screen12.jpg 41k .jpg file
Select what source you would like to use, select SET AS DEFAULT
Audioselection.jpg 115k .jpg file
APPLY,
OK.
DONE!
Enjoy
___________________________________
For gaming purposes:
Play around with settings in game. What I found for Battlefield 4 is that setting custom screen resolution and refresh at 78 hz, with frame cap of 77 FPS through console command yielded THE BEST look, with nearly no visible tearing.
On Battlefield 3 I noticed that if I have resolution at 78 hz, and FPS locked at 78 FPS I had the best visual response on the screen.
So certain things are game specific, so mess around with it till you find the sweet spot. Main thing being is that you will NOW be able to see the frames you video card is generating above your regular monitor settings.
____________________________________
Compatibility:
Windows 8.1
32/64 bits
Windows 8
32/64 bits
Windows 7
32/64 bits
Hey, guys
Here is what I found after trying to overclock my 60hz with no luck for over a month.
As soon as I used an HDMI port instead , I was able to overclock my monitor to 78hz just fine using Custom Resolution Utility (CRU) (DVI port did not work for me)
SOFTWARE DOWNLOAD: http://www.monitortests.com/cru-1.1.2.zip
OFFICIAL WEBSITE: http://www.monitortests.com/
Interestingly enough I cannot overclock my HP 2511x monitor at 1920 x 1080, but I can do so 1440 x 900.
If you still have difficulty overclocking at 1920 x 1080 use a smaller screen resolution and use CRU to create a custom refresh rate.
Here is a good guide I have used myself: http://linustechtips.com/main/topic/31526-overclocking-your-monitor-refresh-rate-amd-gpus/ that used as a base for my overclock.
Let's do it:
1. Run CRU
2. Select ADD
Cru1.jpg 96k .jpg file
3. Select screen resolution you are adding, then refresh rate that will be associated with it (this will be your custom setting).
Cru2.jpg 85k .jpg file
Hit OK
Add as many entries as you like, I have deleted unnecessary/redundant ones that I already had like 1920 x 1080 at 60hz from the box.
As there is a limit in CRU to how many entries w/custom refresh rates 8 entries MAX
My suggestion do small increments of 1-5 hz above 60 hz (or whatever is your standard refresh rate is: Ex: 144 hz, 120hz etc), so you can test them later.
It will look something like this (I did increments of 1 hz between to fine squeeze the max out of the screen)
TestValues.jpg 96k .jpg file
After adding test values, hit OK
RESTART COMPUTER
DO NOT forget to RESTART computer after adding a new refresh rate options in CUSTOM RESOLUTION UTILITY program, otherwise you will not be able to select them/see them
4. After you restart right click the desktop and select SCREEN RESOLUTION (change the size to what you need). SELECT APPLY and OK or you screen resolution will default to something else after restart/shutdown.
Then next go back to SCREEN RESOLUTION select ADVANCED OPTION, then MONITOR tab, you will see all the options you added for particular screen resolution here. *Note that the refresh options are screen resolution specific that you added yourself, so do not be surprised that you choose some other resolution but that extra refresh rate is NOT available. This is why.
Select refresh rate, and see if the screen goes OUT OF RANGE/or goes completely black with no image, if it does it will automatically reset back to the last working setting in 15 seconds. Or hit ESC on your keyboard to go back if your screen is completely black.
Selectingtheresolution.jpg 219k .jpg file
*Note that I was only able to go up to 78hz, you can always delete extra options through Custom Resolution Utility (don't forget to restart for the system to recognize the update)
I did small 1 hz increments till I found that I can go to 78 MAX.
5. I ran into the issue of having a screen having a black border of about 1 inch on each side (not a full screen), which I simply fixed in AMD catalyst.
(You may not have the same issue, so if you screen is completely filled on your monitor, skip this step)
Right click the desktop. Select AMD Catalyst Control Center
Go to MY DIGITAL FLAT PANELS tab on the left. Select SCALING OPTIONS
Move the OVERSCAN right until the screen is completely fixed/filled (this issue seems to show up on Win 8.1).
AMDCatalyst.png 113k .png file
Here is the equivalent on NVIDIA Control Panel
change_resolutions.gif 53k .gif file
What you choose to overclock to is up to you and you will see how your screen will respond.
If anything happens to your monitor keep in mind it is because you are overclocking it above its' standard capabilities.
I also noticed that selecting refresh rate in AMD Catalyst Control panel got rid of the OUT OF RANGE issue that happens sometimes in Windows Monitor Tab where you select the refresh rate.
Here is how you can select the refresh rate in Catalyst (if it did NOT work in Windows Monitor Tab)
Open AMD Catalyst Control Center again by right clicking the desktop and selecting it.
Go to DESKTOP MANAGEMENT Tab on the left. Select the resolution you have added in CRU software, and select the refresh rate. Hit APPLY.
AMDcatalyst2.jpg 259k .jpg file
*Please not that you should ALREADY have selected the proper resolution of the screen through Windows options and hit apply, since it has priority over what Catalyst dictates. Meaning if you have different resolution selected in Windows options, but you select the 1440 x 900 in Catalyst, it will change until you restart and it's back to the last selected Windows option which drove me crazy for 5 minutes till I figured it out
6. Select refresh rate, and see if the screen goes OUT OF RANGE/or completely black, if it does it will automatically reset back to the last setting in 15 seconds and it means the refresh rate is too high for the monitor to handle. Try a smaller value for an example you tried 80 hz, try 79 hz, 78hz, etc, until you can see your screen with no artifacts or visible errors.
Hopefully it helps some of you who struggled with it as me.
I overclocked because of screen tearing in BF4/BF3 that I was able to decrease by doing so, and also utilize the extra frames that my GPU actually generated. I did some flying around in the attack heli in game, and I have to say screen tearing was MAJORLY reduced. I have my frames capped at 78 FPS now.
How To Validate / Check for proper OVERCLOCK ?
7. Great way to check the validity of the screen overclock can be validated here after you followed all the steps needed to step up the refresh rate.
http://www.testufo.com/#test=frameskipping
Compliments to Twerk for giving me a link. Just follow the directions on the page to validate the screen refresh rate to confirm you will need a camera as you follow the steps.
Frame Skipping Check: Test for dropped frames & missing display refreshes.
(1) Take photo of this screen with camera. Screenshots won't work. Use 1/5th second exposure or longer to capture multiple squares. If camera exposure can't be raised, decrease camera ISO and/or reduce monitor brightness, to make camera do longer exposures. If you see only 1 or 2 white squares in your photo, try again.
(2) Photo should not contain any popup messages. Take photo when you see "VALID" at bottom of page. The message "VALID" does not confirm frame skipping.
(3) Check photo for frame skipping. Compare to example good photo and example frameskipped photo. The photo should have a sequence of multiple solid squares, with no gaps in between. If there are gaps, then there is frame skipping. For testing refresh rate overclocking such as IPS 1440p 120Hz monitors or HDTV overclocking, close all other apps and browser tabs, run this test with nothing running, and check browser requirements. For an alternative, see Refresh Rate Multitool from shurcooL.
8.
Last but not least: If you are using HDMI port and you want to use your SPEAKERS for sound. Otherwise HDMI cable will carry the sound through the cable to the monitor itself. Very few PC monitors have built in speakers/but TVs do. If you want sound coming from your monitor speakers, no need to change.
As most of us (NVIDIA and AMD)
Right click on Speaker icon on your taskbar of Windows 8.1
Also can be found by typing Manage Audio Devices in Windows 8.1 Start Menu to find it.
Select PLAYBACK DEVICES
screen12.jpg 41k .jpg file
Select what source you would like to use, select SET AS DEFAULT
Audioselection.jpg 115k .jpg file
APPLY,
OK.
DONE!
Enjoy
___________________________________
For gaming purposes:
Play around with settings in game. What I found for Battlefield 4 is that setting custom screen resolution and refresh at 78 hz, with frame cap of 77 FPS through console command yielded THE BEST look, with nearly no visible tearing.
On Battlefield 3 I noticed that if I have resolution at 78 hz, and FPS locked at 78 FPS I had the best visual response on the screen.
So certain things are game specific, so mess around with it till you find the sweet spot. Main thing being is that you will NOW be able to see the frames you video card is generating above your regular monitor settings.
____________________________________