Overclocking GPU

[Two|Bit]

Is it relatively simple to overclock a GPU? I know it will void your warranty, but how is it done? I have a Gigabyte Radeon X800 PCI-E, which doesn't have a fan... it only has a heatsink. My case, however, has a GPU duct that i can put a fan on. Is this nessessary for a good, stable overclock? Tell me the ins and outs of overclocking a video card.

[blue60007]

You can use a program called "ATiTool" to overclock. Even has a feature that will find the max overclock for you. Though since it only has a passive cooler on it, I would be closely watching temperatures through ATiTool. You really don't want to go much higher than ~65C

[Two|Bit]

Overclocking it doesn't affect anything else does it? I know that if you overclock your CPU it can effect your ram, does it go the same with Video cards? AtiTool shows the temperature of my card?

[blue60007]

Overclocking the video card will just pump out more heat and suck more power, but I don't think it affects anything else (could raise CPU temp if more heat is rising up to it). Keep in mind that overclocking voids your warranty and runs the risk of goofing something up. You adjust the core and memory speeds independantly.

It should show the temperature (my X800 XL does). You might have to go into the Settings, select "Temperature Monitoring" from the drop down menu and enable "Measure card temperature"

[Two|Bit]

My Video card came with a untility called Vtuner 2. Its a program by Gigabyte that allows you to overclock. Should i use this or atiTool? Also my card doesn't need anypower plugs... it gets all of it power from the PCI bus. Will the increase in power mess up the PCI bus?

[blue60007]

I'd use the software included with the card. I don't think it'll hurt it any...Can you plug in a PCI-E power cable?

[Two|Bit]

There is NO external power plug on my card. It has nothing on it...it gets all its power for the bus.
I don't think it'll hurt it any
Won't hurt what? the bus or using the program that came with the card?

[imbest123]

There is NO external power plug on my card. It has nothing on it...it gets all its power for the bus.

Won't hurt what? the bus or using the program that came with the card?
he means hurt the card. if you overclock it too far you can damage your card. ive overclocked a few older video cards (from the 9800 and lower generation and the geforce fx generation and lower) and ive had only one burned out card, a 9600 XT. its up to you, if you want to overclock it then go for it although i dont think its worth the performance gain since its minimal, especially if you are reluctant because then you wont push it so hard. i dont know how well that video cards overclocks however, ive kind of taken a break from the computer world.

[David M]

An overclocked video card can cause system crashes where you have to reboot and reduce the GPU/VRAM speeds. This is the only side effect external to the cards that I can think of.

[Tin]

Overclocking the video card will just pump out more heat and suck more power, but I don't think it affects anything else (could raise CPU temp if more heat is rising up to it).
A video card wont suck up any more power than stock when you overclock it, unless you break out the soldering iron and do some volt-modding ;).

[Two|Bit]

A video card wont suck up any more power than stock when you overclock it, unless you break out the soldering iron and do some volt-modding ;).

Well isn't that obvious? Im a pro with the soldering iron;). Do I won't see a big increase in performance? like what 5 fps? 10? 20? I won't risk it if its only minimul

[blue60007]

There is NO external power plug on my card. It has nothing on it...it gets all its power for the bus.

Won't hurt what? the bus or using the program that came with the card?

Hurt the bus...

Tin, I would think it would have to consume a little more power than stock, especially since there's usually a little bit more heat coming out. I guess it depends on how much over stock you go...

Do you really need to overclock the card? If you are getting good performance I wouldn't mess with it...

[Tin]

Well isn't that obvious? Im a pro with the soldering iron;). Do I won't see a big increase in performance? like what 5 fps? 10? 20? I won't risk it if its only minimul
Some cards will see a large performance gain, while others will not. Not even I will break out the iron and play with my card....no sense in wrecking it. I remember back when the nVidia FX and ATI 9xxx cards were big...some guy on another forum voltmodded his FX 5700 Ultra and it was mopping the floor with 9800XTs :eek:. He burned the first card, but the second was a success.

[Two|Bit]

Yeah I don't really need to overclock my card and probably won't... right now. It looks fabulous with half life 2, and isn't full spec with Battlefield 2. I can image within about 6 months having a tough time running games well, so it is an option in the future. Thanks for your responses

[Techdec42]

Is there a tool for nvidias cards that checks the temp on the actual chip?

[blue60007]

You should probably start your own thread but...

I think "Coolbits" should allow you to check temps *if* the card/chipset supports it. Newer ones should, but if you want to check the temp on the FX5200 in your sig, there's no guarantee there...