Too chicken to reach GPUs limit, nudge me please

[Titanion]

So far with my overclocking efforts, over the last two years, I am not sure if I have ever reached my GPUs limits… I have never had a great cooling system… I have reached the limit of my ram every time… After my AS3 settles on my 9500, I would like to reach my limit and then drop back to a safe level… I am running at 351/301.5 right now…

Compared to ram artifacts, what do artifacts caused by a hot GPU look like? Does everything just slow down or what. The CPU test on 3Dmark2003 scared the #@#@ out of my the first time I ran it (the graphics are supposed to be slow, right?)… I was thinking my card was about to blow or something…

I know when my old GF2 was overclocked too far, my 3Dmark2001 score started getting worse as the card heated up… do I need to test it like that or will I see it? I just do not trust my little Artifact Tester 5 utility any more (it does not help me find ram artifacts with my 9500)… but does it actually do a good job with the GPU?


<font color=red><b>To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n.</b></font color=red>
John Milton, <i>Paradise Lost</i>, II 262-263

 

[scottchen]

I think your memory should be able to go further, u flashed the bios right? Make sure you using the correct memory bios.

-Intel PIV 2.4C @ 3.84G -Asus P4P800 -OCZ Copper 2x256 4000EL memory @ 275mhz 3-4-4-8 -Sapphire 9800pro @ 490/780 -SB audigy -80G Maxtor Diamond Plus9 Ultra ATA-133 hdd -450 Enermax PSU

 

[Titanion]

No, I have not flashed the bios on this card... I have not needed to to overclock it... it is a Sapphire... I actually just ran some 3DMark03 tests and ram at 303.75 seemed OK. It it 3.3 ns ram. I got some cheap ramsinks to try and make the ram go farther, but have not put them on yet... still researching that project... cheap may not do crap, but I could not see $20 for 4 ramsinks, etc. I thought the only way to go farther was with a volt mod, and I have not looked into that at all. How far can 3.3 ns ram be pushed, anyway? What will a bios flash do for me...

<font color=red><b>To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n.</b></font color=red>
John Milton, <i>Paradise Lost</i>, II 262-263

 

[Titanion]

I have artifacts with my ram at 303.75... am back to 301.5... Core currently at 351 MHz...

<font color=red><b>To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:
Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heav'n.</b></font color=red>
John Milton, <i>Paradise Lost</i>, II 262-263