Overclocking the BFG 6800 OC

over_c

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May 27, 2003
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18,780
I am interested in overclocking my new card, to see if I can get the most out of it. It is a BFG 6800 OC that I picked up this week. I have already downloaded Rivatuner and NVTweak. I successfully unlocked the extra 4 pipes and the extra vertex shader with Rivatuner, and have not noticed any artifacts or other problems. Using NVTweak I unlocked the overclocking options and was able to raise the CPU and memory clocks by 5 MHz or so, successfuly. Therefore it stands to reason that I have an unbroken 6800 GT GPU in my card, right?

Anyway, I would like to overclock this card while minimizing the risk of damaging it. Can anyone suggest a newbie-ish guide I could look over? Also, NVTweak unlocked the temperature monitor on the GPU. It was running at about 50 C or so while the desktop was up. It this a normal temp? What is the maximum temp I should risk with the card? The temperature monitor screen had the temperature alarm set at about 120 C or so. That seems quite high, but I have no idea really.

While I did not apply it, the optimized OC settings from the overclocking page were for 385 GPU / 780 memory. Is that good considering I will be using the stock cooling solution?

Thanks for all your help in advance.


Edit:
Relevant system specs:
P4 2.8C
Asus P4P800
BFG 6800 OC
2x512MB Patriot PC3200 @ 2-2-2-5<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by over_c on 01/31/05 10:13 AM.</EM></FONT></P>
 

Vapor

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Jun 11, 2001
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Here's how I would do it: raise mem 3MHz, test. Repeat until artifacts after a couple of runs of 3DMark03. Lower frequency 5MHz below the higest one that didn't artifact.

Repeat process, just on the frequency of the core.

Good luck!

Note: Sometimes the 'optimized OC' numbers are close or even correct, but it's always better (although much more tedious) in terms of either getting the best gaming OC possible (maybe 385/780 is well below the capabilities of your card, this method will tell you that) and for the life of the card (don't automatically raise the speed up above its limit).

Maxtor disgraces the six letters that make Matrox.
 

over_c

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May 27, 2003
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What about temperature of the GPU? Will artifacts appear due to a too-high temp, GPU limits, or both? Should I worry about temp at all? I am unwilling to attempt the removal of the BFG stock cooling solution.

Also, you said "a couple of runs of 3DMark03..." Should I run 3DMark03 multiple times for each frequency setting?

Thanks again.
 
I use 3dmark 03 for heating it up. Set it to repeat the 4 game tests 10 times each or so, Then run 03 or 05 a couple of times. Just the game test . The cpu test dont stress the video at all.

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Both
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Too high a temperature can cause a wide variety of visual artifacts. You will know when you get snow or missing textures. black triangles,flashing textures. etc,etc,etc.
As long as you turn it off or down as soon as you start seeing artifacts you will not hurt your card.

I aint signing nothing!!!