Arch Linux

LinuxLover471

Member

From: Asia, India

Registered: 2025-02-23

Posts: 172

Memory OC doesn't work but Core OC does on nvidia-470xx driver

Hi! I hope that you are doing well.

I recently decided to OC my GPU's memory as Core OC doesn't seem to have much effect even with big offsets. I enabled Rootful Xorg and removed nvidia_drm.modeset=1 and set Coolbits=8 according to Archwiki: NVIDIA/Tips_and_tricks#Overclocking_and_cooling.

I then ran `sudo nvidia-settings` and applied core OC, which worked flawlessly. But when I applied the Memory OC, the memory speed didn't change for some reason. It showed that offset applied successfully but the max value didn't change, whereas with the core they did change. Also mangohud's GPU section ceased to work, which was later fixed when I enabled nvidia_drm.modeset=1. Enabling DRM didn't have any effect on the settings, OC still applied on core, but still failed silently with memory.

Summary
- Enabled Rootful Xorg, Set coolbits=8 and disabled DRM.
- Core OC works but memory OC fails without any error. The Max value changes for Core but not for Memory.
- Rootless Xorg doesn't let nvidia-settings set any OC at all.
- Disabling or enabling DRM doesn't have any effect on settings. Core OC still works and memory OC still fails.
- Mangohud GPU related data only appears with DRM enabled. Disabling DRM causes the whole GPU section to disappear.
- It seems like only one P-State exists, P0.

Output of `nvidia-settings -q [gpu:0]/GPUPerfModes`:

  Attribute 'GPUPerfModes' (cosmos:0[gpu:0]): perf=0, nvclock=330, nvclockmin=330, nvclockmax=993, nvclockeditable=1, memclock=667, memclockmin=667, memclockmax=667, memclockeditable=1, memTransferRate=1334,
  memTransferRatemin=1334, memTransferRatemax=1334, memTransferRateeditable=1

Trying to apply memory OC with CLI:

❯ nvidia-settings -a [gpu:0]/GPUMemoryTransferRateOffset[0]=100
nvidia-settings -q [gpu:0]/GPUMemoryTransferRateOffset[0]

  Attribute 'GPUMemoryTransferRateOffset' (cosmos:0[gpu:0]) assigned value 100.


  Attribute 'GPUMemoryTransferRateOffset' (cosmos:0[gpu:0]): 0.
    The valid values for 'GPUMemoryTransferRateOffset' are in the range -1000 - 1334 (inclusive).
    'GPUMemoryTransferRateOffset' can use the following target types: X Screen, GPU.

System Information:

GPU: GT 740 GDDR3 4GB Zebronics
Driver: nvidia-470xx-dkms (470.256.02) proprietary.

Output of `inxi -Gxxz`:

❯ inxi -Gxxz
Graphics:
  Device-1: NVIDIA GK107 [GeForce GT 740] driver: nvidia v: 470.256.02
    arch: Kepler-2 pcie: speed: 2.5 GT/s lanes: 16 ports: active: none
    off: HDMI-A-1 empty: DVI-I-1,VGA-1 bus-ID: 01:00.0 chip-ID: 10de:0fc8
  Display: x11 server: X.org v: 1.21.1.21 driver: X: loaded: nvidia
    gpu: nvidia,nvidia-nvswitch display-ID: :0 screens: 1
  Screen-1: 0 s-res: 1920x1080
  Monitor-1: HDMI-A-1 mapped: HDMI-0 note: disabled model: LG (GoldStar) FHD
    res: 1920x1080 hz: 100 dpi: 102 diag: 546mm (21.5")
  API: EGL v: 1.5 platforms: device: 0 drv: nvidia device: 2 drv: swrast
    gbm: drv: kms_swrast surfaceless: drv: swrast x11: drv: nvidia
    inactive: wayland,device-1
  API: OpenGL v: 4.6.0 compat-v: 4.5 vendor: nvidia mesa v: 470.256.02
    glx-v: 1.4 direct-render: yes renderer: NVIDIA GeForce GT 740/PCIe/SSE2
  API: Vulkan v: 1.4.341 surfaces: N/A device: 0 type: discrete-gpu
    driver: nvidia device-ID: 10de:0fc8
  Info: Tools: api: eglinfo, glxinfo, vulkaninfo
    gpu: nvidia-settings,nvidia-smi wl: swaymsg x11: xprop,xrandr

If any other information is required, please ask for it.

Thanks!

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--- asyync1024

LinuxLover471

Member

From: Asia, India

Registered: 2025-02-23

Posts: 172

Re: Memory OC doesn't work but Core OC does on nvidia-470xx driver

I just tried Overclocking on Windows 10 LTSC through MSI Afterburner, and it has the same behaviour with memory. When I set memory offset to anything, and hit apply, it resets the slider back to 0.

It seems this is a GPU BIOS limitation? Any response is appreciated.

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--- asyync1024