How do you exactly overclock a graphic card?

[Howard]

Until doing research about getting a new graphic card, I never knew that you can overclock GPU's. What is the exact process of overclocking one of these? Do I need extra cooling like I do overclocking a CPU? I have heard the Radeon 9700 non pro is a good one for overclocking, which manufactures of the 9700 non pro is the most suited for overclocking?

 

[FDTzeng]

Well as for your first ?, you can oc video cards using software. Examples:

For NVIDIA, theres the pretty standard "Coolbits" driver hack/tweak.
For ATIs u can get a program from Rage3D.com which is popular.
One that i THINK works for both is RivaTuner - its pretty popular i think.
I remember hearing about Powerstrip - thats supposedly a good one too.
Personally I "use" RadClocker - in quotes cuz its installed but I havent actually tried ocing yet

Athlon XP 2500+ @ 2225MHz (12.5x178 @1.850v), Volcano 7 w/Smart Fan2, A7N8X Standard Rev. 1.06, Kingston HyperX PC3000 512MB @177MHz, Radeon 9700Pro, SB Live 5.1

 

[TheGreatGrapeApe]

Rage3Dtweak is what I would recommend for Radeon cards. I got much better use (higher speeds) out of it than Radclocker. I have Radclocker on my machine NOW, but that's because I'm back down to stock and I'm running the Omega drivers (comes with Radclocker; and won't work with Rage3Dtweak [or so I think]). Rage3D tweak is what I'd use if I was going to keep it overclcoked for a long period of time.
Many people prefer PowerStip if if you are ONLY looking to overcock (don't want driver/control panel tweaks).

*NOTE, HOWEVER*: If you want to push your card to the MAX you may NEED to use Radclocker as it doesn't have an upper ceiling limit the way Rage3Dtweak does, and therefore you can push beyond the 'norm' (best for extreme cooling situations), especially on cards like the 9600P where I almost, ALMOST ran out of room with Rage3Dtweak.

- You need a licence to buy a gun, but they'll sell anyone a stamp <i>(or internet account)</i> ! <font color=green>RED</font color=green> <font color=red>GREEN</font color=red> :tongue: GA to SK

 

[rubikian]

You can get all the clocking and tweaking tools from <A HREF="http://www.guru3d.com" target="_new">Guru3D</A>.