Polska

I have overclocked my 8800 640MB GTS to 575 / 900 (up from 500 / 800) and am wondering what I can do to ensure stability (other then blowing money for more cooling.

I have played some games, and ran ATITool for over 1.5 hours. Max temp while running ATITool was 76C. I have read that that is an acceptable temperature but it makes me feel rather uneasy. I have had no artifacting /crashing / rebooting, but I still feel a little uneasy about any ocing .

Also, how does an oc like this affect the lifetime of a video card. I know it's not an exact science but any rough ideas. Also Is heat the main factor when it comes to the lifetime of pc parts (other then getting unlucky :P)?

Is there other tools you suggest I try to stress / monitor temps/artifacting?

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=Sarc=

Heat can affect the life of a component but I don't really know how much stress it adds when the temp is increased several degrees over a lifetime. I imagine it's not going to make a big enough difference to significantly diminish the life of the part. Plus, it's most likely going to be replaced in 3-4 years for a faster card.

If you haven't had any artifacts so far, I think you're doing pretty well. If you do get artifacts, it's not like you just destroyed the card. It just reached its limit and you won't see any lasting effects if you lower the OC.

Personally, I don't bother with overclocking a GPU. It's just way too much work because you have to monitor for artifacts. Although, it's pretty easy to do with the artifact autodetection in ATITool. Still, overclocking in general is quite time consuming.

Don't be worried about a 76C load temp. If it's within expected temperatures, you're absolutely fine. GPU's are very different from CPU's and the way they tolerate temps. Lastly, don't overclock if you're not comfortable with the risks. It's not worth the worry and the possibility of screwing something up.

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JO Guides & Tutorials
Team Element - It's who you game with.

-=DW=-Hitman

try riva tuner 2.0.2 ,thats the best for ati and nvidia at guru 3d

Polska

Logging 3 hours of gaming (Bioshock, ET:QW, C&C3, all maxed at 1680:1050) I got the following.

Average Temp: 63.57C (not all was gaming so avg may seem low)
Max Temp: 75C
Min Temp: 59C (Idle, is 58C)

I think I will stay with the oc a while see how it goes. If I read the EVGA RMA it says nothing about damage from ocing, which means I shouldn't worry about it getting destroyed (at least as far as replacement goes). I will have to check again tomorrow as I am beat today and may have read the wrong thing.

EDIT: Limited Lifetime Warranty states "There is no physical damage to the PCB, GPU/chipset, or components that are caused by: Damage due to improper installation, damage during modification of any kind, damage during any type of Aftermarket cooling installation, and water damage of any kind." I wonder if the bold means ocing ><.

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=Sarc=

It should be interpreted as "There is no physical damage from anything we can find out you did to your card"

If they can't figure out that you OC'ed it, you're in the clear. And they probably can't figure it out. The OC is done with software so popping in your card into another system won't show any evidence of an overclock. It would be tough to determine what went wrong with the card or what caused it.

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JO Guides & Tutorials
Team Element - It's who you game with.

Polska

I ran ATITool overnight and bumped it u to 620/950. No artifacts detected for the 7+ hour duration of the test.

Temps:

Average: 77.37649402 C
Max: 80 C
Min: 63 C
Idle: 57 C

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Zoopy

I have to RMA my 8800GTX cause I broke it after installing a new cooler on it... hopefully it works.

venman

I have overclocked many a vid card and benched and compared and honestly...for the 2-5% increase in performance it's not worth the heat stress and risk of smoking a card. I have never seen anything over 9 fps gain after pushing them to there max. to each there own but if you look at getting a vid card get one that will do what you want.

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GOD SORTS THE WICKED FROM THE GOOD.....I ARRANGE THE MEETING.

KILL EM' ALL AND LET GOD KEEP TRACK OF THE XP

Polska

I had already stretched my budget when I built this system, believe me I really wanted a GTX . The more I think about it, I probably should have gotten it.

I thought this system would be good, but even new games coming out require more juice then it provides to run @ max with 1680x1050 or more.

I havent really tested enough games yet, but if we take Company of Heroes, max settings @ 1680x1050, prior to oc 70fps avg vs 80fps after on their stress test.

Now that particular game it's not a big deal, but something like crysis or qw:et I may start to struggle for good fps with maxed settings. Having said that, I can live with turning down aa a couple notches .

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venman

my 7950 gt runs QW silky smooth maxed out....and I would gather to say that I will be able to run crysis in the med high category....that 8800 should stomp all over a 7950???

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GOD SORTS THE WICKED FROM THE GOOD.....I ARRANGE THE MEETING.

KILL EM' ALL AND LET GOD KEEP TRACK OF THE XP

Zoopy

There is a major difference between dx9 and dx10 in terms of performance.

jonan_

What program did you use to overclock the 8800? I tried using nTune on mine but I couldn't get it to keep the settings. I think it is because I don't have an nForce motherboard.

Zoopy

He used ATItool (if you read the whole thread, you'd know).

nTune doesn't rely on the chipset, so not sure what you are doing there.

Polska

AA slider maxed (16x)? 1680x1080 resolution? all the other sliders maxed? (i forget their names). When I say max settings I mean everything possible maxed. Also depends on the rest of your system. I mean it still runs fine, but when I zoom with the railgun for example I dip down to 30-40fps with everything maxed.

This is dx9 btw, I don't know maybe other factors come into play (background programs, quality settings in nvidia panel, other settings there). Or maybe my system is just fubar

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venman

16xaa ?????what On Earth For....i Run 2x And It Looks Gorgeous....and I Turn Shadows Off....never Really Understood The Purpose Of Seeing A Shadow In A Game....i Shoot People Not There Shadows Ya Know??? Its A Waste Of Vid Power. Now If I Play A Single Player Game Then Heck Yea I Want Shadows On....especially In Jungle Settings And Stuff But For Multiplayer Online....the Game Moves To Fast To Even Enjoy Them Really.....my Processor Isn't That Great Either I Have The Older 939 Socket 4400 Dual Core.....slow By Todays Standards.

__________________
GOD SORTS THE WICKED FROM THE GOOD.....I ARRANGE THE MEETING.

KILL EM' ALL AND LET GOD KEEP TRACK OF THE XP