GTX 460 Overclocking

[Guest]

Hello

I am trying to overclock my EVGA GTX 460 1GB GPU. It is a regular 460, 720mhz core, 900mhz memory.

I overclocked it to GTX 460 FTW edition specs, (850core/1000mem) and it runs stable 62 degrees while gaming with a slight increase in voltage

my question is, is there a negative effect on the card itself, ftw edition has mosfet coolers which my card does not, is it safe for me to be running it at these speeds?

THNX

 

[muz_j]

Hello

I am trying to overclock my EVGA GTX 460 1GB GPU. It is a regular 460, 720mhz core, 900mhz memory.

I overclocked it to GTX 460 FTW edition specs, (850core/1000mem) and it runs stable 62 degrees while gaming with a slight increase in voltage

my question is, is there a negative effect on the card itself, ftw edition has mosfet coolers which my card does not, is it safe for me to be running it at these speeds?

THNX

If you do some long term stress testing - eg: leaving a high end game running overnight on your PC and don't have issues with temperatures or artifacting, then it's highly likely you won't have an issue.

FYI I have the same video card and the EVGA's are suspiciously good at overclocking. Mine does the same speeds with ease and I've tested it at 900 MHz without an issue.

One tip you might like, is that I quite like MSI's Afterburner for overclocking settings and also real time monitoring of the GPU - it's a good tool and can be used on both NVidia and ATI cards.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for your reply, I use afterburner too, I raised the voltage to 975 from 950 stock, what voltage did you set it to?

btw what would be a good power supply wattage required for these cards at overclocked settings?

 

[muz_j]

Mine runs happily at 850 MHz on stock voltage - so I haven't increased yet, as there's no need. Think I bumped it up one notch on the scale to run it at 900 MHz, but to be honest, I can't recall. I only tested it briefly at that speed, then reduced it for everyday use (for now).

PSU Wattage is often over specc'ed I think, so it depends on the rest of your system really.
The GPU itself isn't going to use crazy amounts of power. If you check the card spec's you'll see it's rated for 160 Watts at normal speeds - so I'd increase roughly in proportion to your overclock then add a little head room.
In highly doubt you'd use more than 250 Watts, even with the card cranked to 900 MHz, but I could be wrong.

GTX 460 Specs:
http://www.gpureview.com/GeForce-GTX-460-1GB-card-632.html


The most accurate way of measuring power draw is to put a meter on your wall socket and measure the difference at the wall plug, before and after installing your video card. That will tell you the actual "real world" difference, rather than some "in theory" measurement.

Personally I've been using a 750 Watt PSU for the last few years and it suits me perfectly. It's got enough power to run 2 normal level GPUs in SLi or Crossfire (by "normal" I mean nothing too crazy - like twin GPU cards etc), about 4 HDDs, an SSD, a DVD combo drive, sound card etc - with a bit of power up its sleeve - but being honest, I think I could probably get by on about a 550 Watt supply, assuming it was decent quality.

So I think - some where around 650 to 750 Watts for a relatively normal system, that might get a second video card added to it down the track etc - depending on the exact components.


Brands - depends on what you can get in your part of the world - brands like ThermalTake (the toughpower series), Corsair, EnerMax, EverCool, CoolerMaster & Antec all make good PSUs. Go for a nicely made modular that gets good reviews. You want something stable, that doesn't drop volts too much, when the loads increase on the various power rails. PSUs are one area where it's better to spend an extra $50 for better quality parts, as you want a reliable system.



You might get some value out of this page too - list of 460 GPUs and their respective overclocks (don't take it as gospel, use it purely as a rough guide - all cards are unique and your exact results may vary etc).

http://www.gpureview.com/gpureviews-gtx-460-overclocking-roundup-article-858.html

 

[Guest]

I had a pretty bad 500W (Wasn't actually 500w) PSU before upgrading, made by Cooler Master. I decided to go for a good brand so I got a Corsair HX650W Modular PSU from Newegg. At the time I thought it would be more than powerful enough to handle my system but now I am a bit worried since it does get pretty warm to the touch, especially when I am gaming. When I tested my friend's GTS 450, the PSU ran cool thats why I started to think that the 460 might be pulling too much. Not sure if it is normal for a Corsair PSU to run warm though. I remember even my crappy old Cooler Master PSU ran pretty cool to the touch so I am a bit concerned.

System Specs:
Core i7 860 3.45GHz stock voltage
8GB DDR3 1600MHz RAM
MSI P55 GD65 Motherboard
GTX 460 1GB stock/overclocked
Corsair H50 Liquid cooler
Corsair HX650W PSU
WD Caviar Black 500GB HDD
Seagate 160GB HDD
OCZ Vertex 2 60GB SSD

 

[muz_j]

Hmmmm, with the system you've listed, I 650 Watts should be ample. The Corsair HX series are good PSUs - I almost purchased one myself and know a couple of people with them. They're generally regarded as a nice reliable power supply.

I very rarely touch the back of my case when my system is running, but I will make a point of checking if my PSU warms up over the weekend. I do check the exhaust temperatures regularly & when I build my PCs and the PSU exhaust or the vents are nice and cool, so I don't think that's a problem for me.

The main other thing I am thinking about your system is general air flow within the case. Is it possible the PSU's getting hotter than it should because of bad air flow, a hot spot in the case or perhaps something is outputing hot air into the case - like your GPU ???

Just thinking out aloud really...

Depends on the layout of the case internals I guess.

My system's a little over the top on internal air flow - but it keeps things very cool and quiet. 3x 140mm intake fans on the front side of the case, with a single 140mm fan at the rear for extraction. The idea being to keep a positive air pressure of cool air in the case - i.e. the static air sitting in the case should be cool and the effect of having more intake vs exhaust helps to push the air out the back. I've seen some people do things in reverse (more extraction fans than intake), but this idea works very well for me and I've used it for the last few years on multiple builds.


If you're concerned about the power load, then I'd recommend buying a power meter plug and measuring it. They're quite cheap and that will answer your concerns once and for all and you could also use it to measure other appliances in your house / flat, so you'd get your money's worth out of it. They retail for $20 where I live.

 

[Guest]

How did you position your power supply? Is it bottom mounted or top? I took a picture of the layout and my PSU is bottom mounted, I clean the dust filter every week or so, today I glued larger feet to the bottom of the case for more clearance so the PSU gets more airflow but even now, as I am doing very basic work, browsing, the PSU is still kind of warm. I use a 140mm top and 120mm fan for exhaust with 140mm front intake fan. The case I am using is a cooler master storm scout.



http://img190.imageshack.us/i/dscf6074e.jpg/
http://img689.imageshack.us/i/dscf6073t.jpg/

 

[muz_j]

Hi again,


I have quite a large case - it's pretty ugly, but nice and functional - it's an iCute Super 18.

My PSU is close to the bottom of my case, just above a removable drive bay cage.

Here's a photo after the CPU, motherboard & memory were installed - and yep, the case internals were a little messy in that phoot and are still being tidied up a little with the cables etc - but it's much better now and I've re-installed the rear extraction fan behind the CPU heat sink.

http://img3.imageshack.us/i/cartman1cq.jpg/


Fan layout in my case is:
-------------------------------
3x 140mm intake fans - covering basically the entire front surface of the case, which is fully vented. Bottom fan sits at a 45 degree angle blowijng air upwards.

1x 140mm exhaust fan

1x 25cm intake fan on the side of the case


That layout works well for me.


I did check my PSU over the weekend and didn't notice it getting warm to the touch, but I will check it again this evening.
I don't believe my PSU is heating up significantly at all, but it's got pretty good air flow to it.

The only problem I've discovered over the last couple of days is my GTX460 heating up to about 65 degrees when running for extended periods of time at 100% utilisation. I've improved that by changing the fan layout and placing the highest CFM fan in front of the GPU, but I have decided my current 140mm fans aren't good enough, so bought some shiny new ones - Prolimatech Red Vortex 140mm fans, so that should drop temperatures a bit more when the GPU is getting heavily used and I'm also hoping it will lower the fan noise in the case even more.



....


Anyway back to your problem...

So the 140mm intake fan in your case -

Is that in FRONT of the HDDs?

As it looks like there's a big drive cage in between the PSU and the front of the case.

If that fans on the front of the drive cage, then I doubt your PSU is getting much cool air from it. Even if that fan was on the back of the drive cage - it would still struggle, as it would be intaking air past the hard drives, which would impede air flow a bit and if the drives were hot...that might end up warming up the air a bit.


From looking at your photo's, my gut feeling is your power supply is not getting a good enough supply of cool air, so it's warming up a little bit as it's fan isn't cooling it quite as well as it should.

Ideally....it would be nice to have a fan sucking in air on the front side of your case roughly where that drive cage is, but without the drive cage in the way, so that there's a nice direct air flow back to the power supply.

Where exactly are the fans on the power supply?

..because from that photo of yours it looks like the top surface of that PSU has a big sticker over it, making me think that the PSU fans are not on that side of the power supply.

...I'm really hoping your PSU is not sucking air up from underneath - using some sort of "air gap"....


your comments around "using larger PSU feet to improve air flow" are making me think you might have installed that PSU so it's drawing air in from the bottom...



I'm not going to jump to conclusions yet, but if that layout is how I think it is, then it doesn't surprise me at all, that your power supply is getting warm .... it's struggling to get a decent flow of cool air.


FYI - the PSU in my case, is mounted upside down, so that the exhaust fan points directly upwards (some cases use this layout and I think it works very well). The front and rear surfaces are also fully vented.