x1950XT - why not?

[CoreOxide]

I've been trying to OC my X1950XT for some extra FPS in games like Assasin's Creed and Crysis.
With that said, I can't seem to actually do that... well, not a lot.
I use ATItool, and raise by the smallest amout possible. When I get to 648 Core I hit a brick wall. It starts artifacting.
I, thanks to being a smart person, turned that cube off, and ran 3DMARK06, for 3 times - all good.
The card's temeperature seems to be fine... 73-75 under full load, pretty good for that chip.

So... 3 thigs:
1) Is it safe to use higher OC speeds than ATItool approves? Will it make my card into an expensive paper weight?

2) Is 3DMARK06 a good way to check the stability of the OC?

3) How far can I push it?


Thanks

 

[Evilonigiri]

1.) OCing anything isn't exactly 100% safe, so the higher you go, the more dangerous it becomes. However, I have not have any problems with a little artifact in ATI Tools, as long as it doesn't show up in games.

2.) Yes, leaving it on loop and running it 10times in a row is a good idea to make sure your card will be able to handle intense gaming.

3.) Take a guess, a wild guess.

 

[pitbulltko]

Run automated clock configuration utility in Catalyst control center under ati overdrive tab, this work for me and I have a X1900XT it work fine