Overclocking = More Voltage?

[t33lo]

I'm curious as to how far I can overclock my bfg 7800gtx. I let coolbits detect my optimal settings at 502/1.38.

-Can I keep upping the frequencies till the card gets to hot?

-If I do up the freq, do I have to increase the voltage too?

-Also, I have a threshold set at 115. That is super hot and would the card damage at the temp?

-What is the highest I'd probably want to get it under load?

-What are some typical artifacts that I would begin to notice?
Where does it end? (well other than frying the card )

<i>I pretend to know what I'm talking about.</i>
<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1><EM>Edited by t33lo on 08/12/05 11:41 AM.</EM></FONT></P>

 

[tenaciousleydead]

1. It dosent matter if it gets hot or not the card could lock up, but yes until it does you can.
2. You dont have to but youll hit a barrier where youll want more stability and more oc'ing.
3. Ya youve got a problem if its that high, when you overclock your slowly killing it anyway. it depends on how long you want to keep it also if you let it stay hot it will fry the chip.
4. around 89c id think.
5. Youll get little white dots if the memory is overclocked to high, and on the core youll see missing pieces of the image or get weird lines going through your screen plus lockups. it ends when you back down i guess unless youve overclocked to much and your card is damadged for life, Good Luck!

Asus A7N8X-Deluxe (Nvidia Nforce 2)
AMD AthlonXP 2500 at 3200 (stock voltage)40c Load
Leadtek Nvidia 6800LE 12p,6v 550/700
Antec TruePower 400 watt ps
1x256 Meg Corsair ValueRam 2.5,3,3,7

 

[t33lo]

When I have the card at 510/1385 it runs at about 67-70*C under load. I guess I can overclock it a tad bit more and maybe even get the silencer for it. I hear that can drop the temps a bit. Where would you notice the stability issue because of a lack of voltage? How many volts do you increase it?

<i>I pretend to know what I'm talking about.</i>

 

[tenaciousleydead]

Stuff might get flakey and not work you might notice anamolies in random things, and yes voltage does help but wont always get rid of the instability.

Asus A7N8X-Deluxe (Nvidia Nforce 2)
AMD AthlonXP 2500 at 3200 (stock voltage)40c Load
Leadtek Nvidia 6800LE 12p,6v 550/700
Antec TruePower 400 watt ps
1x256 Meg Corsair ValueRam 2.5,3,3,7

 

[addiarmadar]

I got the same card and was about to start OCing it to just find the cap. Actaully I got this card underclocked since its overkill for all the games our there right now ;-). My load temps are as high as 70c at load with 460/1300 with a 120mm fan blowing on it. What is your ambient room temps when you took those temps?

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

 

[t33lo]

The ambient room temp was probably around 18* celsius (basement). If I were to keep the card at 510/1400, which did run stable and left behind no artifacts and had a load temp around 68-71*celsius while running F.E.A.R., HL2, and even lower when running 3dmark05, how long will the card last? I hear that overclocking ruins the life of the card. I plan on having it for about 4 years tops. Is this wishful thinking or a good estimate.

I might even consider getting 3rd party gpu cooling in the distant future.



<i>I pretend to know what I'm talking about.</i>

 

[t33lo]

How about the life on the card? I know there are a ton of variables but is it feasible for this card to last about 4 years set at an aggressive 510/1400 with a temp never reaching 80*celsius? I just want to get the best out of the card over that period of time.

<i>I pretend to know what I'm talking about.</i>

 

[t33lo]

Heh Awsome... I see there are a few of the AC NV Silencer's available. Which one works best witht he 7800gtx? I see different rev.'s and I also see some that are designed for Nvidia and ATI.

I'm confused as to why my card has a threshold of 115*celsius. It will turn off it it reaches this high. That is just insane at 15*celsius over the temp of boiling water. Why does it even bother going up this high if the card will virtually melt if it ever comes close to that. It has a little display where at around 70* it shows yellow and red at higher temps. Green is anything lower than 65ish i believe.

<i>I pretend to know what I'm talking about.</i>

 

[addiarmadar]

Ah your room temps are much higher than mine.

OCing a VGA card DOES shorten the lifespand of the product. It just the price to pay when one wants to get more that wat they paid for. For those high core clocks, you may wanna invest into better cooling solutions. However I am a bit concerened with your RAM clock right now if you are still using the reference cooler.

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

 

[t33lo]

Ok I'll probably bump them back down to the default speed that coolbits allows me to overclock it to. I plan on using a 3rd party cooler for it sometime in the future. Will the speeds I have it now be acceptable on a AC Silencer 5 Rev. 2 providing the temps stay below 60ish?

<i>I pretend to know what I'm talking about.</i>

 

[addiarmadar]

Your temps are not the problem, yet. Just the concept of OCing reduces the lifespan. I believe with the 7800gtx, as long as your temps stay below 80c then your fine.

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>

 

[RichPLS]

Damnit, I knew it was a body part, finger eh?

<pre><font color=red>°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°`°¤o \\// o¤°`°¤o,¸¸¸,o¤°
And the sign says "You got to have a membership card to get inside" Huh
So I got me a pen and paper And I made up my own little sign</pre><p></font color=red>

 

[addiarmadar]

And if you smell something good during that minute, then its OCed too much.

<i><font color=red>Only an overclocker can make a computer into a convectional oven.</i></font color=red>