7900gs KO overclock? Looking for other's experiences

[avakin]

just bought an EVGA 7900gs KO and am wondering if this is still overclockable(its the KO version)? I haven't ever attempted a VGA overclock so i'm a bit hesitant. Plus i might try to use the EVGA stepup program in a month or two if the nvidia 8xxx prices drop.

My question is how much performance gain would I get from overclocking this as much as possible without a cooling upgrade?

 

[Avenger_K]

Hey avakin, I have the exact same model as you, and using Nvidia's NTune software I have overclocked this thing to 600MHz core clock and 1650MHz memory clock. This is in a Coolermaster Ammo 533 case with one low noise/low airflow 120mm fan and one high noise/high airflow fan on stock cooling for the VGA. Now, that was in the winter though, and in the summer it really doesn't like to be overclocked much, but that's OK with me because coupled with a PD 2.8GHz dual core and 2GB of DDR2 667 RAM it runs BF2 all on high (except no shadows) with 4x AA and 16x AF. So on your system, you'll probably just want to get an 8800 or something if you really want more speed. If you have the proper cooling (enough so that it doesn't overheat at those speeds) then you should definitely go ahead and overclock, as long as you remembered to register and get Evga's great lifetime warranty that will allow you to overclock with being voided.
P.S. Sorry for throwing so much info at you!

 

[jeb1517]

Does the 7900GS have any unlockable pipelines? I know the 7900GT has 24 pipelines and the GS has only 20 pipelines so I'm hoping it can be done but I have no idea...

 

[Avenger_K]

I don't know for sure but I've heard that the pipelines are laser locked, so no modding them open .

 

[vip3569]

avakin, i have the same exact video card as you. I bumped the core from 450 to 560, and the memory from 1400 to 1650. All of this is stock cooling. My system is very stable, and the cpu never runs hotter than 56C at full load during games. Hope this helps.