Ocing and driver question

[KyeC]

I play a 2D game online game, and im really hooked, but this was soon after i brought a beefy PSU, a NV5 silencer, and a new CPU cooler.

Although power consumption was the first concern, since i did not want to OC a system and have it suck up power when i dont have too...but, since the Graphics card only uses as much as it needs im gonna overclock it.

Its a XFX 6800 vanilla. The question is...if i use Rivatuner to overclock...and a new version of Rivatuner comes out, do i have to put the OC back to default before installing? Also same with the forceware drivers, do i have to default the OC before uninstalling the drivers?

Once that is cleared, i will OC.

Kye
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[theuncharmed]

my 6600GT has had an overclock on there through 2 driver updates, no problems at all.

If your worried (no reason to be) then just take the overclock off and then update the driver and then start again.

[KyeC]

Merci ^_^

Also, what would you prefer? Unlocking pipes and vertex shader or with no increase in core and mem or vice versa?

Kye

[theuncharmed]

actually do you need to OC? its a 6800!

I dont *edit actually it is now - but theres no need*, I only play HL2 and I never up the settings (in game) - i played the original game in 460x620 or whatever it was, simply the game play was so intense that I never bothered with the settings until the second time around!

However, if you do want to OC. try the core and the mb first - see what you get, if the card is fine (read:stable) and you get what you want from it for your games then fine. stop there. Always run benchmarks for a few hours repeating and then try again if its fine (read:PC doesnt reboot/no artefacts) *edit go in 10mhz jumps and then 5mhz after 3 x 10*

If you want to go further, tell the forums which card spec you have (serials etc) and do a google search to see who else has unlocked the pipes. Unlocking pipes is tricky and only works on some cards, others will simply never OC and you will never unlock pipes :(

I use forceware and have never tried to unlock pipes - simply no need :D

Sean

[KyeC]

My card unlocks and is stable. Although, i have no a benchmark i can loop, apart from this sexy directX 9 ball thingy.

I should make another thread, but still...i have a benchmark summary i have from a while ago, nothing has changed in the comp. I kept this, and here are the results from a few overclocking attempts. Everything was stable during the tests.

Aquamark - 49,969 no vertex shader or extra pipe
3D Mark 05 - 3025 " " "
3D Mark 03 8189 " " "

Aquamark - 50,044 WITH EXTRA VERTEX SHADER
3D Mark 05 - 3087 WITH EXTRA VERTEX SHADER
3D Mark 03 - 8274 WITH EXTRA VERTEX SHADER

Aquamark 51'135 WITH EXTRA PIPES
3D Mark 05 3266 WITH EXTRA PIPES
3D Mark 03 8961 WITH EXTRA PIPES

Extra RAM -
Aquamark - 53'464
3D Mark 05 -3110

Aquamark - 55'328 WITH PIXEL AND SHADER ENABLED
3D Mark 05 -
3D Mark 03 - 9358 WITH PIXEL AND SHADER ENABLED


NEW CPU BENCHMARK - Antialiasing 2xQ Anisotropic 4x

2.2GHZ

Aquamark - 50,561
Graphics - 6,924
CPU - 9,368

3D Mark 05 - 3190
3D Mark 03 -6936

2.0GHZ

Aquamark - 49,199
Graphics - 6,894
CPU - 8565

3D Mark 05 -
3D Mark 03 - 6838

I know theres no in-game benchmarks, but i know how to relate those tests to real world preformence. I will post back with mem and core results ^_^

[theuncharmed]

stil,l do you need to OC?

Those results look alright, my 6600GT is only 400 behind even with your extra pipes... I've never used aquamark so cant compare and dont really know much about them :(

tbh, OC the core and the mb and tell me what happens... do you have CS:source?/FRAPS?/Doom 3 timed demo? if you do use them to test before the OC and then after. Also try FRAPS on your 2D game.

whats the spec of your PC?

[KyeC]

I didnt keep a record of the freq on mem and core...but...a small overclock gave a little preformance, anything over that and i had a big preformance loss. Anyone recommend another OC utility apart from Rivatuner? Kinda baffed at the preformance hit but still, it was all stable ^_^

[KyeC]

From 325/750 to...

370/830! I have no idea if thats a good OC or not. Using coolbit's. It would not past the test at anything higher then that. Its stable so far but futher testing is being done.

This is with the card not unlocked. I only tested on Aquamark so far, its gone from 49,340, to 53,709.

Kye

[theuncharmed]

thats a nice overclock - put theres still plenty more to go :D

Whats your cooling like on the card? Can you direct any more fans over the card?

[KyeC]

The NV5 Silencer is coolin it ^_^

And, no more coolin can be applied so...thats as far as it will go. That is without unlocking the card which i will try later. Problem is it OC's for 2D as well, which i really dont need since i play a 2D game all day ^_^