OC'ing video card [Archive]

ness_25

10 Jun 2003, 6:20am

Ok I'm probably going to be getting a Radeon 9700 and will want to overclock it to pro speeds, if not more. What heatsinks/fans do you recommend, if I need anything over stock. And also how exactly would I go about oc'ing it? Thanks in advance!

Slacker

10 Jun 2003, 9:00am

The first thing you should look into is flashing the card so it's overclockable. The 9700 non-pro is clock locked. http://www.3dchipset.com/bios/index.php

The stock HSF is pretty decent already, but it isn't making good contact with the core. (there's a metal shim around the VPU that keeps the heatsink from pressing against the core firmly.) I recommend removing the shim. If you want to use something more robust than just the stock HS, find something made of copper.. otherwise scrape off the thermal interface material (the soft plastic like yellow stuff) and reattach it w/some Arctic Silver.

Once you've made all the modifications to your card, the actual ocing is pretty straightforward. Use a program like Powerstrip or rage3d tweak (http://www.rage3d.com/r3dtweak/) to change the clock speeds.

EDIT: good grammer is good.

Enverex

10 Jun 2003, 9:10am

I recommend against Powerstrip as it can be annoying and also has a delay at the start, but by all means try Rage3D Tweak, also try RivaTuner (its not just for GF cards) as it may have something Rage missed or you may just prefer it.

NS

^Ben

10 Jun 2003, 1:06pm

The Switech M-50 looks mighty tasty :D

CCW

10 Jun 2003, 4:45pm

I wish video card manufacturers would allow you to overclock from a video card BIOS instead of using software :(

Craig

stoopid

10 Jun 2003, 5:07pm

Originally posted by NightShade737
I recommend against Powerstrip as it can be annoying and also has a delay at the start...

Only if you don't register it ;)

But I agree, there are many decent video overclocking apps out there other than powerstrip.

Matt

10 Jun 2003, 6:59pm

I also dislike Powerstrip because of the delay at start up but that's the only thing i dislike about it. Im using riva tuner 2.0 or somthing it the one that supports ATI video cards and iv had no problem's with it.

Enisada

12 Jun 2003, 12:28am

I'm using the latest version Rage3D Tweak. I don't mind it at all.