Overclocking Graphics cards

Hey all. I am still new to this overclocking thing. I gave up trying to OC my system, but would at least like to try to get more out of my graphics card. System is as follows:
AMD Athlon XP 2800
MSI K7N2 Delta 2 MOBO
1024 MB DDr3200 (not the best memory)
ATI Radeon 9550 256MB
WinXP Pro

 

Am not too sure but does the ATI software not allow you to OC it, am not too sure about that thou as am a Nvidia user, I do know however when you OC a gfx card you have to be really careful and not let it get too hot. Check this site out for some info on OC

http://www.tweakguides.com/ATICAT_10.html

Also two things to look for if card is over heating, Choppy performance and "Artifacts" if this happens stop OC and reduce the clock frequency right away (buying a better GPU fan will help when OC any gfx card). Can i suggest if you have not already tried them, download the Omega drivers and see if that helps 1st.

http://www.omegadrivers.net/

Best of luck.

 

you can use a program called powerstrip to oc your card, as p4 stated do it in increment and then test to make sure it is stable. I also have know experianxe with ati overclocking except with my 9200 aiw which oc good with powerstrip. have fun and post back with any concerns.

 

Also download a demo of 3DMark and run it b4 you OC then again after you have OC to see how better the proformance is.

http://www.overclockersclub.com/downloadcenter/download.php?action=file&id=14

btw no multi posting

 

Thanks for the info. And as for 3Dmark. I ran that and the performance was crappy. But all of my games play great. HF2, Doom3, BF2. So why did my card do so bad on the test. I think my score was 1200. Confused.

 

1200 seems a bit low for your card are you sure thats what it was? I got 9100 on mine b4 i clocked it i got 10423 after i OC.

 

Yes, something is not right. FPS is ave. of 7. The settings must be off somewhere. HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

Have you started clocking yet?

 

yes, but no change on the test. still slowwwwwwwwwwwww.

 

What type of card is it PCi or AGP x4/8? Do you have the latest drivers installed? Did you turn off all background applications when you ran 3DMark? Also how much did you clock it?

 

The card is AGP 8X. All background programs off. I OC'd from 250 to 270 core, and 195 to 200 mem. I have the latest drivers.

 

You’re going to have to get a better fan for you gfx card so you can clock it more, you want something like this below for clocking for a better performance except with a copper heat sink.

 

Striker68 you could also use this ATi tool 2.04 heres the download link http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=725, also try using a different driver as they can make a difference they are available from www.guru3d.com and use a driver cleaner before you install a fresh driver.....what 3dmark did you use ?

 

Ok, the first 3DMark I used was 05. Couldn't get that to work. I dl'd 3DMark2001 and ran the test fine. Score was 9100. I guess my card is too old for the 05 version? I have a coolmaster vga cooler on the way so I can OC. I'll post results soon.

 

Looking a pics of your board it seems some ave a NB fan so there’s a chance that it may not fit, I cant get one coz of the size of my NB heatsink and am going to have to get a smaller heatsink for the NB 1st. What one is you mobo?

 

Striker 3dmark05 requires an enabled directx 9.0 compatible card thats why it didn't work. P4 may I ask what type of vga cooler that is? I wonder if it would fit on my 6800gt?

 

Well on the site it says "Can be used on virtually any video card" BUT that all depends on your NB heatsink (if theres space or not)it's called CoolViva and seems really good.

http://www.coolermaster.com/index.p...&p_serial=VHC-L61&other_title=VHC-L61CoolViva

 

My board is the top one and yes, looks like the NB heatsink will be a problem. I will have to change the heatsink. P4, which heatsink are you thinking about using?

 

Well it being the top one you may just be able to fit it in but if you cant then a samller NB hs will be needed but i've not yet seen one that would be good anuff, but will let you know when if do.

 

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835103155

this one is pretty small and probaly would work and it's 7 bucks!