The Official OC (OverClocking) Thread!

Well one of them's AGP so you definitely can't use that. As for the 8600GT, it's not exactly a great gaming card, for that sort of money you can probably get an 8600GTS which is much better.

 

chop2113,
You might want to consider one of these. It's a pretty good all around card and the price with the rebate is good. Will play most games with no problems.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150197

It's a better performer than the 7600GT at about the same price!

sammorris,
Here's the 3DMark 06. I only have the basic "free" version so I can't adjust anything. Poor I know, but I'm not a heavy duty gamer



Clockin On at the Speed of Light,
theone :>)

 

The nomenclature on cards has got me all confused. I would have thought that the higher number would mean a better model but i guess
not.

I found this one for $150


XFX GeForce 8600 GTS Video Card - FREE Company of Heroes PC Game, 256MB DDR3, SLI Ready, PCI Express, Dual DVI, HDTV, Video Card

 

chop2113,

Yeah, they do like to play the numbers game. A lot of folks that don't know better buy a lot of garbage that way. Same thing with the memory. There are some really crappy vid cards with 512MB of memory. people see that "512" and think they are getting something good! LOL!!

Clockin On at the Speed of Light,
theone :>)

 

Built a 680 SLI machine...with a 6600 quad...and (2) 8800GT 512MB cards in SLI...over the weekend...

Not OC'ed...In SLI it hit a little over 19,000 in 3D Mark 2006...a little over 11,000 with a single card...

The GT cards are much faster then the 8800GTS...but...they are also much noisier then the GTS as well...Nice cards for the price...definitely the best bang for your buck on a Gaming Video Card right now...

 

LP531,

For gamers, yes but there's a lot of better buys for non-gamers that don't need to spend that kind of money. I only spent $120 ($99 w/MIR) for my XFX 7600GT. I play Quake, Quake Arena and Delta Force Extreme with it and it plays them just fine at max widescreen resolution. I'm not a serious gamer so I don't need to spend the big bucks to get what I need! Don't want to confuse the Newbies! LOL!!

Best Regards,
theone :>)

 

@theonejrs
Your right...I added "Gaming" in my above post so as not to confuse the newbies..

Just wanted to let people know the 8800GTS...is No Longer the Card that occupies the "Sweet Spot" of..."Best Bang for your Buck"....for a Gaming Card under $300...It is now the 8800GT...

 

Soon the 512MB 8800 GT will be 200! Now THAT is awesome.

 

Lp: indeed
Russ: That's really good considering what GPU you have.

 

double post. :-(

 

sammorris,

Yes, it's a good deal better than when it was in the 965P with the E4300. Looking at the price of that 7950GT I posted the link to chop2113, sounds tempting at $160! I need some 1066 memory first. I think that's what's limiting me to around 3.5GHz. At 3.6GHz with the 1066 and a 2.4 multi it will run at 1080, which should be a piece of cake for the Tracers.

I noticed in your post about the fans, you have discovered that it's not the total airflow going through the case that makes a difference, but where and what that air flows through! If all the heat in the case has to go through the CPU cooler, then the temps are going to be hotter. My method keeps the video card and memory heat away from the cooler, so it runs cooler. In other words you don't have to remove the heat twice! That's why Dells "Roar" when you load them down. Their green tunnel pulls all of the heat in the case through the CPU heat sink and the single thermostatically controlled fan just screams!

So how is your new machine running? What's the benchmarks look like? Is it performing up to your expectations? Need answers man! The curious (read nosy) want to know! LOL!!!

Clockin On at the Speed of Light,
Russ :>) :>) (<: (<:

 

Just my point, as said the other day. People on this form have the money and will spend it if that's what they want. He had to have spent anywhere from $540.00 - $620.00+ just for VGA alone just to games, then add cost of decent mobo, CPU and RAM. Fine, that's what he likes. And I by what I like.

Myself, I like a good solid foundation under my CPU/RAM and OS. I like god video too, but not need to be to gaming specs all that much and I even cutdonw on my VGA spending so I can put it toward better mobo and RAM for cool overclocking.

As for a god PCIE for the dollar, have you guys looked at ATI solutions from MSI: RX2600XT Diamond Radeon HD 2600XT 256MB 128-bit GDDR4 PCI Express x16 OC Edition HDMI HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Retail $114.00 today aft $20. rebate.

I am thinking of a set of thesefor Crossfire set up test on X38. Anybody here using them already? I do want HDMI for 1080P out to Plazma monitor.

Clock On!

 

Hehe the silent PC's running very well thanks, now getting the new motherboard has given me an opportunity for a clean install of windows. Since getting it, my CPU uses far less power and puts out far less heat, and consequently it's now nearly silent (and that's to my ears). The PSU fan stays pretty much at idle no matter whether I'm gaming or not, and the temps are crazy low even with 500rpm case fans. (Read max CPU under load of 41C). I managed to get my 3dmark up to 6877 with my 3.15Ghz overclock, so I'm happy. Superpi 1M runs about 19 seconds. Haven't run any Sandra tests yet.

 

Well the 2600XT isn't all that great. These would be a much better deal, but you won't be able to do SLI I guess.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127284

 

ATI Crossfire, anybody here using it now? I only ask cause seams to be a lot of gamers here and mostly Intel based solutions and of corse meaqns "no" SLI. I went SLI on nVidia for Intel and wasn't impressed with the difference for the money spent and with the monitors of choice then (summer of '05).

Which brings me to this, what kind nVidia of monitor and res are you needing to get the fullest out of good SLI? I find the average monitors in the lower $300.00 dont cut it for the most part. So if I have to spend another $600.00 (cause my $550. Sony then, barely made the grad for SLI on 6800 Ultras when new) just to keep it looking good for a few games, you have to figure that into the overall SLI cost to GAME.

So, who can share results with quality high end single or good dual's for ATI solutions? I want at least 512MB of GDDR4 and HDMI out to 1080P/I. I dont game, my family does, but their not too picky, just happy it look sbetter then the last build. I want it to look sharp for video renduring. I am open to a single now for addition of a lesser slave in Crossfire aft the new year.

What happen to the "built by" ATI? is it all AMD/ATI now?

 

Actually, this is an SLI based, it's nVidia. Also, I'm not running SLI on Intel anymore, only AMD. So I'm looking for Crossfire ready, midrane for today, till better PCIE 2.0 come. Or are they out yet?

 

abuzar1,

I have a friend that bought one (against the advice of the reviewers/tester's. He says he's just waiting for the day he can practice throwing it through a closed door! LOL! He says POS and that doesn't mean positive! LOL!!

theone

 

Maybe you misunderstood me. What I meant is that since you are using X38(I think it does crossfire) you can not SLI those 8600GTS. If you get the 2600XT card you can do crossfire, but from what I've heard:
crossfire=bad
2600XT=POS(Russ, I think we all know it doesn't mean Positive lol. )

 

The 2600XT isn't that bad at all, but it's not exactly brilliant. It's much better than ATI's midrange offerings used to be. As for dual VGA. Avoid crossfire, it only works on maybe 30% of games at best, only gives you large improvements maybe half that time, and on numerous games if it's not supported, it'll crash the game as well, or give you hideous rendering errors. SLI is the only way to go with dual video, but I'm not a fan of that either, for the same reasons, but they occur less often. It's only worth going with SLI if you have enough money to get two of the fastest card (8800GTX/Ultra at present). On lower budgets it's better just to get a faster single card, often more cost effective too.

 

Is this based on experience on the same mobo? I'm open. I may just wait for 2.0 PCIE Crossfire to see how it does. I'm not really looking for fan boy opinions. I know Crossfire wasn't up to par back in '05. I can say this cause I bench tested side by side and chose the nVidia 6800 Ultra set on nF4 Intel Ed. over my ATI 1900+1800 on !975X.

2 1/2 yrs have passed, so I find it hadr to believe ATI hasn't caught up for at least a good single to single card comparison. I am not so much looking to compare todays' Crossfire with SLI, rather just a goot mid to high end ATI to comparewith mid 76/8600 nVidia counterparts. For example, I still have my 5yo Radeon 9800 Pro for AGP and when new, it layed down hands on my new GeForce FX5900 Ultra on the same ASUS P4C800-E Deluxe. I know, that was 2003, so much has changed for ATI.

Currently all but 1 of my mobo's are Crossfire on each !975X, P35, and X38 (PCI-E rev. 2.0).