ATI Radeon X 1900 XTX DO's and DO NOT's

[skyline7528]

I just bought a new X1900XTX, What are the best settings to change on this card to make it run awesome. If you set it to perform too high will it kill the card, and anyone have any warnings from experience of what not to do with it, cause I don't want to screw up an expensive card.

Thank You, any Feed Back is much appreciated.

 

[sdrawkcaBgoD]

Personally, I'd just crank up the core/memory frequencies a bit w/ either atitool or CCC. Don't worry about killing your card this way, just be ready to reset your system if you get errors or lockups. Take it a step at a time. There's not to much else you can do without volt modding, which is pretty risky. Perhaps a brand-name GPU cooler will help a little.

 

[skyline7528]

What kind is the best GPU cooler? and where is the best place to buy it, maybe something that cools better.

 

[the_stiffmeister]

I cranked the processor clock speed and memory clock speed to the max in the ATI overdrive app but only got about 2% gain when running 3dmark05 so personally I'm not sure it's really worth it, I think it's more a marketing gimmick than something that's gonna give much more performance.

 

[algisimu]

So you want to add extra 10 fps to your 100 and show it to your friends, that your card is better then theirs? LAME.
Or what's the purpose of this overclocking?

 

[Track]

What kind is the best GPU cooler? and where is the best place to buy it, maybe something that cools better.

For the X1900?

The Zalman VF900 or the AC Accelero X2 would do the trick.

With that, try to overclock past 725/1700. With those fans and a decent overclock ull see a significant performance increase, well worth the 20$ for the fan. Plus u CANNOT stick with the fan u got with the card, its just not possible to remain alive with it working near u.

 

[the_stiffmeister]

IMO overclocking is done for two reasons. First if you buy a lower spec model then OC up to a higher spec model thus saving you cash, the other is if you are a pro gamer and need the extra juice even on high spec components to try and give yourself an advantage. Otherwise I think it's people just seeing how much processing power they can achieve just for the sake of it, which I agree, is pointless.

 

[Parge]

IMO overclocking is done for two reasons. First if you buy a lower spec model then OC up to a higher spec model thus saving you cash, the other is if you are a pro gamer and need the extra juice even on high spec components to try and give yourself an advantage. Otherwise I think it's people just seeing how much processing power they can achieve just for the sake of it, which I agree, is pointless.

or because you have a computer thats starting to age, and you want to milk every last bit of juice outta it before upgrading (like me!)

 

[ivoryjohn]

IMO overclocking is done for two reasons. First if you buy a lower spec model then OC up to a higher spec model thus saving you cash, the other is if you are a pro gamer and need the extra juice even on high spec components to try and give yourself an advantage. Otherwise I think it's people just seeing how much processing power they can achieve just for the sake of it, which I agree, is pointless.

Or maybe you just want to play Oblivion.

 

[Vokofpolisiekar]

OC'ing a XTX, is like throwing methanol in a Zonda. Senseless, and not worth the risk.

As for settings, it will depend on what game you are playing. Older games (some of them), you can almost crank right up, while newer ones aren't so forgiving. No matter what top end gcard you have, there will always be something to bring it to it's knees - whether that be game engine or excessive settings. Bottom line, play around and see what suits you.

As for third party cooler, look for something that cools the GPU aswell as the memory chips. Arctic Cooling Accelero X2 to me is the best choice, as temps are lowered on GPU/VPU(does ati still go with this name?) and memory controller PLUS noise is dramatically reduced - check tomshardware.co.uk as they had a proper review on all major contenders for X1900 cooling.

 

[Parge]

IMO overclocking is done for two reasons. First if you buy a lower spec model then OC up to a higher spec model thus saving you cash, the other is if you are a pro gamer and need the extra juice even on high spec components to try and give yourself an advantage. Otherwise I think it's people just seeing how much processing power they can achieve just for the sake of it, which I agree, is pointless.

Or maybe you just want to play Oblivion.

......at a frame rate above 11

 

[pancito]

The Accelero X2 even if it´s wierd looking and throws air back in to the case is a real kickass aftermarket cooler.

I managed to oclock my X1900XTX with stock cooling and fan running at 100% to 690Mhz Core and 800Mhz Memory (Up from 650/750) im waiting for the Acelero and a few case fans to try to up some more.

At 700Mhz Core i get a lot of debries maybe i need to up the VCore.

With Company of Heroes Benchmark I get around 30fps all max out at 1650*1050 (20" Widescreen).

It´s always tempting to get another card for crossfire but I´ll guess i have to wait for DX10 Cards to see if they are worth it. If they are not a step forward like from P4 to C2D then i will have to stick with DX9.