In most of the video cards, cpu's and so on it's possible to manually set the clock frequency/ies. Set it higher => you get more performance.
For instance when i overclocked, tweaked and "unlocked" my old 6800le my 3dMark05 score doubled. And so did gaming performance. Performance gain depends from your hardware and its oveclockability.
I've always wondered about this also. I'm jsut wondering where can we find out how to overclock and a safe number to overclock too. I have a GeForce 6800 so any help you can give me would be appreciated.
I've always wondered about this also. I'm jsut wondering where can we find out how to overclock and a safe number to overclock too. I have a GeForce 6800 so any help you can give me would be appreciated.
Every card is different, so no one can tell you a specific number. Overclocking is just getting the most out of your card.
To start with go to http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=201
and run that registry entry. It will then unlock your Nvidia drivers, assuming you have newish ones (forceware). You will then be able to play around with core and memory timings.
A simple way is to click on the "optimise" button in the driver window, save and restart.
Also make sure you check the temperature of your card, if it gets to hot you could fry it.
If you notice any strange colours or textures while playing a game, turn down the timings a bit.
TweakGuides has excellent resources for overclocking both NVidia and ATI cards. Check them out. You will notice at least a marginal improvement in FPS and in 3DMark.
Caveat emptor, OC'ng can lead to heat issues which take away the gains you thought you had. I tried OC'ng my 7800's and they worked really well until you played for 30+ minutes. Then graphical tearing would start to occur and system slowdown. Checking temps proved them to be almost 10 degrees higher than with no OC, so that was the culrpit. As soon as I turned the OC back down things stabilized.
Weren't you thinking of getting 7800 or 7900's anyway? If you get an SLI rig why bother with OC'ng? They can run BF2 at highest without upping the clock.
EDIT: BTW, this should be posted in the Hardware Forum.
BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU ARE JUST GETTING STARTED. OC'ING CAN AND WILL PIFF YOUR VIDEO CARD IF YOU PUSH TOO FAR.
I can't stress enough how true this statement is. Overclocking is a very tedious process when done correctly because it requires very small changes and testing. If you try to make a big jump it is more likely to end up in disaster.
Again, do a Google search on TweakGuides. They have OC'ng guides for video cards, CPUs, etc etc. I've found their methods to be quite credible.
nobody has mentioned that it also increases the heat, lol
make sure u have good airflow in ur case & i recommend u use a 3rd party cooling solution for the GFX card or what ever ur over clocking, ie water cooling for the extreme or..a top brand GPU cooler.
nobody has mentioned that it also increases the heat, lol
I did. Check my post (Caveat Emptor...).
I'm aircooled but the vid cards have their own fans. Wish I would have liquid cooled. It cuts the nuts off of any OC'ng ideas I might have. Definitely will do it next time.
Just download rivaturner and start pushing your mhz up by 5-10 at a time. Then run some 3D test like 3dmark for example. If the screen is clear and dosent freeze then your fine , repeat this until you fail 3dmark or it starts showing artifacts. Nowadays gfx card dont fry so its not a problem , dont be afraid.
They can hold up around ~100 C and still working . Plus OCing with soft based program you cant add extra volts to core or mem ( voltmod ) altho X1800/1900 have this ability. Buying a good aircooler to your videocard helps alot when it comes to OC. Zalman VF-700 CU with mem rads is a very good and its quite cheap as well.
I'm too paranoid to overclock. Usually i get brave and do it, but the minute i see a video flicker i freak out and reset it back to default. These damn cards are wayyy to expensive to chance a bad OC.
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