Nvidia's latest driver disables GTX 900M series GPU overclocks

[HEXUS]

Some users are irritated by the update. Nvidia says overclockability was a bug.

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[raven1001]

Great PR for Nvidia recently.

[azrael-]

Great PR for Nvidia recently.

Yeah, they're really going to extreme lengths to please their customers.

Then again, the last thing I'd probably attempt would be to OC the GPU in a notebook. They're already pushing the thermal envelope as it is.

[boothy02]

People know the risks of overclocking so the fact there saying they removed it because "a user risks serious damage to the system" is ridiculous. if they kept it i don't think it would reflect on Nvidia so badly.

[LeetyMcLeet]

They must have their reasons for this? Not that it affects me personally, 'cause I'd never even think about 'clocking the GPU in my notebook. That's what the desktop's for lol.

[Marenghi]

seems to me that this is the lesser of two evils, considering the bad press they would receive if people started damaging their laptops/themselves because of this 'bug'

[shaithis]

After the drama a while ago about laptop GPUs, I guess they are erring on the side of caution.

Although I find all these nVidia announcements have started to come in just after all the AMD ones started tailing off.....coincidence?

[Corky34]

People know the risks of overclocking so the fact there saying they removed it because "a user risks serious damage to the system" is ridiculous. if they kept it i don't think it would reflect on Nvidia so badly.

It may not have reflected badly on Nvidia but would it have meant more people killing their laptop/notebook and higher returns ?
I'm not saying i agree with what they have done as i think it should be consumers choice, but how would you know if that choice resulted in a bricked laptop/notebook.

[spl]

After the drama a while ago about laptop GPUs, I guess they are erring on the side of caution.

Although I find all these nVidia announcements have started to come in just after all the AMD ones started tailing off.....coincidence?

Not sure what you're implying. Spell it out for us.

[shaithis]

Not sure what you're implying. Spell it out for us.

PR Bandwagoning!

[ZaO]

I'm sure this is frustrating for people. But, isn't it a bit stupid to overclock a laptop anyway? Those things get hot enough as it is, especially when gaming. Why would you want to make those horrible little encousures get any hotter, just for a few extra fps? I can see why Nvidia would do this. They're protecting their business from idiots that will burn out their laptops super quick. But at the same time, I would want to be able to OC my laptop, if I was someone that liked to OC laptops..

[enemys]

Well, no mobile GPU is designed for OC, but some of them can be OCed and there is nothing wrong about it. If I remember correctly, GTX670M could be easily overclocked and noone whined about "wrong design" or "damaging the system", because, you know, overclockers usually know the risks. And I personally have a Samsung ultrabook with Radeon 8750M overclocked by 25% and it has been working perfectly for over a year.

If this was about a mid-class GPU put in ultrabooks and multimedia laptops, that would be understandable. But in case of high-end cards used in expensive notebooks, which are almost only used by wealthy gamers, telling them "we know what's good for you better than you do" is just not OK. If someone spends that much cash on a mobile gaming computer, he probably knows how things work and what to do with his gear.

I'm sure this is frustrating for people. But, isn't it a bit stupid to overclock a laptop anyway? Those things get hot enough as it is, especially when gaming. Why would you want to make those horrible little encousures get any hotter, just for a few extra fps? I can see why Nvidia would do this. They're protecting their business from idiots that will burn out their laptops super quick. But at the same time, I would want to be able to OC my laptop, if I was someone that liked to OC laptops..

That is quite correct in some cases - but there are some notebooks with good cooling, that leave quite some place for overclocking. Not every mobile machine is already running on highest possible temperature.

[Jowsey]

I don't see why they don't just put a disclaimer for when you install mobile drivers that you accept the risks if you do overclock.

[plexabit]

I don't see why they don't just put a disclaimer for when you install mobile drivers that you accept the risks if you do overclock.

Or even just no NVIDIA-supported overclocking, but you can use third-party software. That would completely separate NVIDIA from any sort of liability as long as they have a disclaimer.

But really. OC'ing a notebook GPU will only give you MAYBE 10% better FPS real-world. So that's not a huge deal, especially for those higher-end GPUS. To each their own, I guess.

[aniilv]

Oc'ing mobile gpu is stupid enough, this will just give free fuel for internet warriors to say how bad nvidia is. Even if in real world it really doesn't matter what they have done.

[this_is_gav]

After the 8600M cluster**** (at stock speed) I'm not surprised. That cost Nvidia an awful lot, both in terms of returns and PR, so if there's even the slightest chance a part could degrade in a similar way through overclocking, I can understand why it has been stopped.

There's nothing stopping users from reverting to older drivers, but really, if you buy a laptop, you're limiting yourself performance wise from the off - if those few FPS gained actually mattered, do it properly and game on a desktop (even a cube which can fit in a full-fat GTX 980 if you want home/uni portable performance).