Help w/ OCing Graphics Card

[pchoi04]

Alright... You guys have helped me out quite a bit with overclocking my CPU and I appreciate all the response I've been getting.

So I dont even know where to start. I have a Gigabyte 7950GT and I'm running Vista Ultimate and I have no clue where to start.

Thanks

 

[choirbass]

you would probably have to use an application such a ntune to OC your gpu, because i believe OCing is no longer supported through the nV control panel (at least when using vista anyhow)

 

[pchoi04]

Hmm... I can take my GPU up to 550mhz and my memory up to 700mhz.

Is that good? Doesnt seem like a whole lot?

Anything above that it fails.

 

[skyguy]

GPUs don't OC much.....certainly not compared to CPU. A 10% OC on a GPU is considered good. A 10% on a CPU is nothing. So don't be disappointed by a "small" OC.

 

[choirbass]

yeah, thats pretty much what i was going to say. aside from voltage modding, there doesnt seem much that can be done as far as increasing gpu speeds (wouldnt recommend doing that anyhow, you might end up with a dead card, eg, gpu bios updating)

 

[pchoi04]

gotcha... Looks like I just need to get a 8800

 

[orangegator]

GPUs don't OC much.....certainly not compared to CPU. A 10% OC on a GPU is considered good. A 10% on a CPU is nothing. So don't be disappointed by a "small" OC.

Not necessarily. I got my 7600GS overclocked to 521/958 from a stock 400/700. Thats a GPU OC of 30% and memory OC of 37%. Not too bad. Probably just depends on the card. All I did was attach a 40mm fan to the passive heatsink to keep it cool.

 

[lx_flier]

I used Ati tools on my 7950GT KO, i o/c'd the core speeds to 600mhz and mem speeds to 800mhz. My 7950GT Tops out at 612mhz and then you start seeing artifacts and it gets about 10c hotter (76c) when playing intense games, so i decided to keep at 600mhz. I only o/c'd the 3d settings and not the 2d settings. Now i call it 7950GT KO Superclocked .

 

[pchoi04]

OK... looks like 550mhz is stock speed. So.. I got my GPU up to 600mhz seems to be running alright. But when I try to take my memory bus up to 750mhz my screen just tweaks out on me and I have to reboot the computer.

So whats the problem? Hopefully no harm has been done?

 

[lx_flier]

it just means your memory isnt as good

 

[pchoi04]

it just means your memory isnt as good

I thought Gigabyte cards were supposed to be pretty solid.

 

[pchoi04]

Hmm... Weird... I was reading a review online and they said they took it up to 612/800mhz and I just gave it a shot at 600/800 and did it with no problems and I'm running stability tests right now.

Hmm... For some reason 750mhz was the only one that gave me problems.

 

[lx_flier]

Well not all cards are made equally, i am actually able to get to 612/900mhz but the heat is more then i would want. Im glad you where able to get to 800mhz though .

 

[nvalhalla]

Hmm... Weird... I was reading a review online and they said they took it up to 612/800mhz and I just gave it a shot at 600/800 and did it with no problems and I'm running stability tests right now.

Hmm... For some reason 750mhz was the only one that gave me problems.

As is true in all OCs, YMMV. I used ATI tools to find a best OC for my card. It has saved me SO much time... I haven't heard of a "hole" in memory speeds but I'm sure you are familiar with FSB holes in OCing your CPU. I'm sure it's the same concept.