Windows 7 - Help with AMD overdrive? Freeze issues

Hey, new to the forums here (be gentle!).

I've had this AMD Sapphire Radeon HD 4650 1Gb DDR2 for a while, and just recently found out about the AMD overdrive feature.

It was locked, so i decided i would unlock the settings and figure it out for myself. I check it out, and click on the "auto tune" button. About 3 minutes into it, i get a white screen, and it freezes up until after 25 minutes (I let it sit) i decided to restart my computer. After that, it would consistently freeze up anywhere between 30 seconds and 5 minutes after I got to the main desktop screen.

However, when I unchecked the box that said "enable AMD overdrive" the auto tune worked perfectly; It went through all the settings, and the card stayed at a steady 48-55 degrees celcius. The final values were a 715 core clock, and a 545 memory clock (max values are at 800-550, respectively). It initially starts the test out at 300-400 respectively, and without overdrive on, the card stands at 600MHz core-400MHz memory.

EDIT: The Core clocking switches between 600 and 165 MHz. If that matters.

So I guess what I'm asking is, what's causing the freezing, and what can I do about it? During one of the computer seizures, i had the chance to open up task manager, and it clocked my CPU usage at 100%.

What's weird, is that when it's not enabled, the auto tune runs it up almost all the way with no problems. It's when the box is checked, however, that it doesn't last 30 seconds.


EDIT2: Just updated my Bios from 1.9 to I believe 1.11..I'll run the app again and see if the update did anything.

EDIT3: Alright, decided to start from the bottom and go up. Got my core to 670MHz, and my Memory to 515MHz, with the box checked, and no freezing/white/black screens.

^^Anyway I can increase that number? It's wierd that when the box is unchecked it goes much higher. Anyways there's no more freezing/white screens so I'm good on that front.

Sorry to bother anyone with this, if you want to delete this thread go for it; However it could be useful for anyone who needs help with their computer, and when searching (i.e. google) they could stumble on this.

I don't use Radeon cards, but my guess is it's just not getting enough voltage, so you're seeing freezing/crashing.

That'd be it.

Autotune is not much chop. It generally sets clocks higher than what stock voltages can handle.

Well my PSU is actually upgraded from what I think was 400 to a 500 watt at 80%...if t makes a difference. Either way, what you both are saying makes sense; the program setting the overdrive above what the PSU can handle.

No, the PSU is fine - the 4650 isn't a 'power hungry' card.

Just like the motherboard has a BIOS, so to do video cards.

In the video cards BIOS, there is a voltage limit. When the clock speed of the card exceeds what the cards BIOS specified voltage can handled, problems occur.

AMD Overdrive/Autotune only adjusts the cards clock speed and not the voltages.

On cards with adjustable voltage chips, the voltage can be raised via software. Otherwise a modified BIOS flash is needed. Basically, more voltage=more clock speed.

But with the 4650, it's best to just find the max that the card can handle on the stock voltages. It's better to adjust the sliders in AMD overdrive manually vs using autotune.

I would agree w.Smarteyeball about the Auto Tune feature.
Ive found little use for it, and it always seems to overshoot. Not worth the effort IMO.


Although I seldom OC my GPUs, I found its best to do similar to what you would when OCing a CPU.

Just to bump the Core up in increments of 5-10, and stress test.
Keep going till artifacts appear, then come back down to last stable clock.

Then work with memory speed in the same manner.
At this point youll have your MAX clocks the card can do.
I would go a step further, and back both Core and MEM down a bit from the MAX, and test again and make sure temps are OK.

Not sure what kind of OCs others with those cards are getting. But, it is possible you have a card that just a bad Overclocker. It happens.
Not that you do, just keep in mind its possible.

Download MSI AfterBurner download from Guru3D.com
It's considered the best Graphics Card Overclocking software out there as far as I'm aware...Not sure how well the stress testing software is though (Kombuster) so I'd be careful about using that to test your card with.
cheers