GPU Guru Needed

mtb211

Active Member
I just upgraded to an 896 mb evga gtx 260

I was wondering how much I can overclock this card... Im a bit scared to experiment myself... It came with this evga advanced graphics overclocking tool, should I use this or maybe try something thrid party...

thx everyone

ps. Im asking about overclocking because i wasnt as happy with the performance from my upgraded sli 7900... I get about 50 FPS maxed out @ 1440 x 900 Res in Left 4 dead... some people say they get over 100 FPS with the same card... guess my MOBO is bottlenecking it

Cheers

Matt
 
my friend has a similar setup, but he has no problems. Download 3dmark and compare your system to other similar spec computers. If your score seems low then theres a problem with your computer (hardware, driver, os), if its similar 2 other peoples scores then theres a problem with the game itself. Your mem speed is a bit low being 553, but this should not b a problem. As graphics card ocin goes, just oc the gpu as far as u can until temps r a problem.
 
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thx for the quick response. Yeah ive noticed that when I play the game in xp i get 10 more FPS. I am running windows 7 so Im sure that causes a few problems.

Thx man
 
Shlouski is correct. You can also download SiSoft Sandra (a benchmarking/diagnostic program for the entire system), and you can benchmark your CPU, memory, cache, HDD, etc, and compare it with scores (that come with the program, no need to go online) from other similar systems, and/or faster/slower systems. This will tell you if you're CPU/RAM is running as fast as a C2D should with those specs. Is your memory running in dual channel mode?
As for overclocking, it is relatively simple nowadays... What I would do is start overclocking 5 mhz at a time on both core and RAM, then, while you're GPU temp monitor is running and recording, play a very graphically intensive game for at least 30 minutes... then go and check the temps on the monitor program, and assuming you seen no artifacts or other graphical errors, go up another 5 mhz.
Personally, I don't overclock until I actually start seeing artifacts or stability problems, I OC until my GPU reaches a maximum of 70*C, and then clock down 5 - 10mhz, just to be safe in case the next time I play it's hotter in the room than before... 70*C is not a guideline for ALL cards, some GPUs handle heat better than others, 70 is just as far as I'd like to push my personal card... Some cards might be able to hit 80 - 90*C before getting problems...
Also, do you have good case ventilation? Ambient case temps have a lot of impact on this - even though your card exhausts hot air out the back.
IMHO, you would probably see more results from overclocking your CPU/RAM than you will by OC'ing your GPU. Hope this opinion helps out!
 
Thx for the quick responses, I am just wondering what kind of FPS people get in games, Cant find a similar system like mine, ill try this program that you speak of. I get like 98 FPS in COD4 maxed out. I think its good but some kid said he gets 200+ and 300+ in CSS
and I find that hard to believe
 
well ccs is an old game, so maybe if he is playing it on low setting and he has a gd cpu, i dunno. As far as fps out im no expert as the only program i had that told me the fps was gamerOSD and i had to uninstall that a long time ago, as it was stopping a couple of games from workin even tho it wasnt running. These days i just put the settings up until i start to notice that a game is lagging, as i prefer smooth graphics to higher graphics.
 
Thx for the quick responses, I am just wondering what kind of FPS people get in games, Cant find a similar system like mine, ill try this program that you speak of. I get like 98 FPS in COD4 maxed out. I think its good but some kid said he gets 200+ and 300+ in CSS
and I find that hard to believe

pretty easy to believe, I get 300-350 fps ingame css, and all my settings are on max

and for the stress video test im get 598 avg fps
 
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