What's up w/the retail overclocking on 8800 GTXs???

[Phrozt]

So I'm in the market TO BUY. I hear the best of the best right now is the 8800 GTX. I check out newegg, and see that there are a few models that are overclocked at retail purchase. Is this good/bad/indifferent?? A cheap trick??

Stock retail 8800 GTX:
core clock: 575
Mem clock: 1800

EVGA 768-P2-N835-AR
core clock: 621
Mem clock: 2000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130079

EVGA 768-P2-N837-AR
core clock: 626
Mem clock: 2000
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814130078

BFG Tech BFGR88768GTXOCE
core clock: 600
mem clock: 1800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814143080



Problem is.. I've been out of the market since right after PCIE was introduced... so I'm almost completely new to PCIE

 

[burn-e86]

factory OC is a way of getting better performance outta a card. also since they are factory OC'ed its 'safe' meaning that they use (you hope) better components and are less likely to fail then a manual OC.

 

[rubix_1011]

factory OC is a way of getting better performance outta a card. also since they are factory OC'ed its 'safe' meaning that they use (you hope) better components and are less likely to fail then a manual OC.

Exactly...OC'ing with a warranty. To be brutally honest...there is no reason you would need to OC a 8800[insert model here] for any system, except to say, "I did it". It is such a powerful piece of hardware, your main concern should be getting enough data to it to process, by means of a fast processor. The 8800gtx will scream regardless if the core is clocked +/-50 mhz.

8800gtx=OMFG

 

[Phrozt]

So then... as long as it's affordable, buy a factory OCed gfx card, because of the warranty?

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Yep... unless its from a company who doesn't honor any of their warranties :roll:

 

[Phrozt]

Yep... unless its from a company who doesn't honor any of their warranties :roll:

Which was exactly my next question....

Like I said, I've been out of the game for awhile, so I have no clue about which vendors are reliable (in both reporting statistics and keeping true to their warranties).

Are EVGA/BFG good in those regaurds?? Are there other companies that are better?

I haven't seen a company vs company GFX article from THG for awhile...

 

[reaper87]

You should be A-Ok from either BFG of EVGA.
EVGA does have a cool program where u can upgrade your video card in the future for minimal cost. Called "step Up program"
(not that you would want to with a 8800GTX)

 

[Fxck]

You should be A-Ok from either BFG of EVGA.
EVGA does have a cool program where u can upgrade your video card in the future for minimal cost. Called "step Up program"
(not that you would want to with a 8800GTX)

8900 GTX

 

[reaper87]

You should be A-Ok from either BFG of EVGA.
EVGA does have a cool program where u can upgrade your video card in the future for minimal cost. Called "step Up program"
(not that you would want to with a 8800GTX)

8900 GTX
I suppose....but im not sure how long you have till you hafta upgrade......

 

[Phrozt]

You should be A-Ok from either BFG of EVGA.
EVGA does have a cool program where u can upgrade your video card in the future for minimal cost. Called "step Up program"
(not that you would want to with a 8800GTX)

Reeeally.... that sounds very promising...

What about XFX?? I've heard that they have double the normal warranty time?

 

[LAN_deRf_HA]

That step up program from eVGA sounds really nice.... does that work across chip makers? I mean could I get a gts now and upgrade to R600 through them later?

 

[Phrozt]

man... if only I could get this kind of info from the mobo board... I'm trying to find a mobo that will fit w/all this and a E6600.. and trying to find memory and a PSU for all of it.

Also, I heard these are really big cards... will I need a bigger case?

 

[Habber]

EVGA 680i FTW!!!

This board performs like a dream. no trouble overclocking. i have around 11500 3Dmark06 point with this setup.

 

[Phrozt]

I would like SLI, because down the line I'd rather just add another card than get a whole new system and crap...

 

[Phrozt]

I kind of need/want to build this rig fairly soon.. mine's failing...

 

[Phrozt]

does that eVGA trade in deal apply to their boards too? If so, perhaps I could be killing multiple birds w/one stone by sticking w/the eVGA brand and then just upgrading the board/card through them once it comes time to upgrade the proc.


So if I'm sticking to just 1 8800GTX and the E6600 (that *will* be overclocked) how much power do I need to run this safely? Are some PSU companies better than others? Last time I built a comp, you could pretty much grab any PSU and stick it in there.

 

[elrodvoss]

BFGs warrenty is a "true" lifetime warrenty. Its the lifetime of the owner, not the "shelflife" of the card that some card makers do (which is usualy 2-3 years at the most.

Plus since its OCed, you wont need to tweak it more.

So you could have this card for 6 years and if it dies they will repleace it for full value. The only thing not stated is if you did want a replacement after that long would they:

a) Give you the value of the card.
b) Give you a card they had in stock, if they have one)
c) Give you the current equlivent(sp)


Personaly that is why I would love the BFG 8800GTX OC Water Cooled version. It may be $899 (OW!!!!!), but that warrenty makes it damn tempting to know it can always be replaced.

 

[Habber]

As you can se my build is running with a 500W psu. it doesnt even get stressed. I have seen measurements of benchmark rigs that use around 350-380W with a 680i motherboard, Core2duo and 8800GTX. So if you get a good PSU, 500W or more shoud be sufficient.

 

[Phrozt]

pc p&c ?? I'm not sure what you mean by that?

I also plan on adding in some water cooling, but I've never done that, so I have no clue if it affects the needed wattage of the PSU.


Also, there's the new "2 rail vs 1 rail" thing with PSUs nowadays.... what is that? I can't seem to find any good articles on how that really makes a difference, other than the 2rails cost about twice as much...

I think to narrow my choices for a mobo, I'd like to get your recommendation for 2 mobos, one if I *do* plan on using SLI, one if I don't. The things I'm looking for in either are the same though:
- stability and efficiency of moderate overclocking
- longevity/quality

I have NO clue what the different north and southbridge chipsets are all about... does someone have a link to an article I can read about those??

Thanks again for all the responses

 

[Habber]

You need 1 rail for almost all pci-e cards these are 6 pin 12 volt and fits in the back of the cards like a normal molex would. You need 2 rails for the 8800GTX and ofcourse 4 to run SLI. each rail should deliver around 75W for the card, on top of that the pci-e port also deliver an amount of power.

This is one of the reasons why i didnt buy a better psu than the 500W i have know. it seems that 2 x 8800GTX cards wont give you that much increase in performance. so i figured i would go for one GTX and the maybe upgrade it when it got outdated. SLI is overrated and the 4 rail psu are somewhat expensive

im tired hope it makes sense

On top of that i would go for an Asus P5N-E sli board. its cheap, support SLI and is a great overclocker.

http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=2894

 

[Phrozt]

Eh.. I just looked into eVGA's tradeup program... you only get 3 months to trade up in... and I know I'll be keeping my GTX more than 3 months if I drop that much money on it... The way they have the program set up is basically for you to keep depositing more money. I highly doubt anyone would actually save money by doing this, and would more than likely end up spending MUCH more than if they just held onto their card, got use out of it, sold it on eBay and then bought another.


So... that's back to the drawing board for which manufacturer is better..

 

[Habber]

there is no manufacturer that is better than the other. They all sell the same reference design made by 2 or 3 different chip factories. so go for the bundle or the price the rest doesnt matter.

 

[reaper87]

there is no manufacturer that is better than the other.

Ah, thats not true. Are you kidding??? Some companys have better warrentys, and FAR superior customer servious. Ive found BFG warrenty and customer support to be FAR supperior to other. As a result 3 out of the last 4 graphics card i have bought have been BFG. If your looking for some higher clocks, OCZ hand picks memory chips from selected bins that clock higher than standard. You might also do a bit of reasearch on the difference between the black and green PCB's. If anyone has an links to info about that, im interested in the difference as well.
Thanks
Charlie

 

[Phrozt]

Yeah reaper.. I do know there is some difference.

I've purchased a vid card and a mobo from MSI, had excellent support, and a product that has never failed. Not to mention, their bundles are usually CRAZY full of good stuff! However, as I'm sure you guys know, MSI was the first to hit the market w/the 8800GTX, so if I were to take a guess, I'd say it was probably slightly sub-par to those who took a little more time to release it.

Not necessarily, but common sense would dictate that it could possibly be a factor.

 

[zenmaster]

Well this program could do a couple of things.....

1) Lets say you needed to buy today but new DX10 cards are coming out in only 3 months. In 3 months you could upgrade to a new 8600 from a 7600. Honestly, you may still make out better selling the old 7600 on E-Bay and buying the 8600 but it may save you some money.

2) Same deal but you find out that you did not buy high enough model.
Again since the prices listed at EVGA are higher than what you would pay at "NewEgg" you may be better off with E-Bay and a new purchase.

If nothing else, it does give you a litte bit of a safety net.