NVIDIA CoolBits For Linux Guide

The first step in setting up CoolBits for Linux, is well acquiring the latest drivers. At the time of publication, the latest available 32-bit and 64-bit NVIDIA display driver is version 1.0-7664. These drivers weigh in at 11.0MB and are available here. After we ran and installed NVIDIA-Linux-x 86-1.0-7664-pkg1.run, we adjusted the xorg.conf, and performed the final steps to properly setup the NVIDIA drivers on the FedoraCore3 systems we were using today for testing.

With the standard NVIDIA 1.0-7664 drivers installed and working accordingly, just like any other previous driver release, it was now time to tweak with CoolBits. In order for CoolBits to appear in the nvidia-settings display utility, the X configuration needs to be tweaked slightly. In the Device section for the NVIDIA graphics card, one additional line needs to be appended to the configuration. A line that reads Option “Coolbits” “1” should be added to the section. After restarting the computer and entering run-level 5, the CoolBits page should appear in nvidia-settings. For more information about enabling CoolBits, refer to the NVIDIA README.

Option "Coolbits" "integer"
Enables support in the NV-CONTROL X extension for manipulating GPU
clock settings. When this option is set to "1" the nvidia-settings
utility will contain a page labeled "Clock Frequencies" through which
clock settings can be manipulated.

When CoolBits is enabled, a new option should appear called “Clock Frequencies”. Upon enabling the actual overclocking from the “Enable Overclocking” checkbox, a new window appears with the License Agreement. The agreement basically alerts to the hazards of overclocking. Upon agreeing to the conditions, the two sliders and drop down menu appear are enabled. The drop down menu contains the option to either adjust the 2D or 3D clock frequencies, most of the adjusting should generally occur from the 3D frame. When in 3D overclocking mode, the “Auto Detect” button no longer remains dimmed. The Auto Detect feature is not new to CoolBits for Windows but is very welcome to us Linux users. Once the CPU and/or memory frequency is altered, the Reset Hardware Defaults button can be used to reset the clock speeds. If the card doesn’t support the new specified frequencies, and artifacts appear or the system locks up, you can safely reboot the system and the clock speeds will be reverted to their default settings.

Overall, CoolBits for Linux is a great and easy overclocking utility for NVIDIA based graphics card. Luckily, we are able to independently adjust the 2D and 3D clock speeds for newer FX and 6XXX cards, resolving the clock problems we’ve seen previously with NVClock. In addition, the auto detect feature is welcome to help detect the superlative speeds for the memory and GPU.