6800GT overclock handicapped?

J

jarman

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 6, 2003
Messages
448
Yes, yes, we've all heard from one forum to the next (strangely from a lot of people without the cards), that the 6800GT is the card to get because it retains all technical specifications of the 6800U, minus one power connector and a few dozen MHz.

However, I haven't heard any mention of a phenomenon reported in this months PC Format, where a 6800GT was tested with a X800 Pro using the latest drivers. The results were as expected, with the 6800GT edging out the X800 Pro, however the interesting part of the article was the overclocking discussion.

PC Format reported that even though you could overclock the 6800GT from the nVidia panels, the card would reduce the actual overclock on the GPU due to a lack of power (one power connector). The results of the supposed "overclock" showed only a 2-3 FPS increase in performance, certainly not to the levels of the 6800U.

If this is the case, then how will OC'd X800 Prs vs. OC'd 6800GT compare?

If this is not the case, then do the 6800GTs have better GPUs than the $100.00 more expensive 6800U (doubt it), and why would an EE let a product ship with a redundant power connector?

Has anyone else picked up on this?
 
Yes i have wondered this to?Sniper_Merc was just good enough to post his What i think was his first run overclocked stats?And from what i can see and the other runs i have seen people getting with X800Pro, both perform almost identical while clocked?Give or take a quirk or two The ATI still suffering poor OGL support and the 6800GT looking to suffer from the one molex connector.
But it will be intresting when Cat 4.7's are realised to the public as the betta's are reporting very good improvments in OGL and gamplay?
It will also be intresting to see if a voltmod helps the 6800GT to higher speeds?
 
yea my watercooled gt hits this seemingly voltage ceiling.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=772075

but thats ok cuz i got the evga so if i feel inclined in teh next 90 days ill just upgrade for only the price difference.

i can always tell when it drops back cuz it hangs for just a sec.
my temps were stable the whole time. sure i can reach the ultra and a little more, but the chip

3d2003 :

350/1000 10916
399/1.17=12378
425/1.1= 12440
435/1.15=13120
444/1.17=9064
450/1.1= 8983

it runs great at the higher speeds but every 3-5 mins it will pause for 2-3 seconds which the hangs is enough to quickly kill the scores.

but i have never ever had it crash to desktop or random reboot on me, which still leaves me to think that there is some sorta watchdog stuff in the drivers.

but bottom line the card is so much faster then my 9800p. i really wouldnt bother with wanting more of an overclock except that work is pretty stressful and i like to think about how to tweak my computer during the day.
 
joobjoob said:
3d2003 :

350/1000 10916
399/1.17=12378
425/1.1= 12440
435/1.15=13120
444/1.17=9064
450/1.1= 8983

it runs great at the higher speeds but every 3-5 mins it will pause for 2-3 seconds which the hangs is enough to quickly kill the scores.
Click to expand...

Heh, looks like 435 is where you hit a problem. 435 is 35mhz higher than a stock 6800U, and 15mhz lower than a 6800EE. Wouldn't really complain that much ;)

The GT does seem to hit its OC limit around 420mhz or so, about 20mhz higher than stock 6800U speed. If you want to OC something to 450mhz and beyond, you need to buy a 6800U instead of a GT.
 
thanks, ive been quite happy with it considering it is nearly the first one of the line. my BBA 9800p was a crappy overclocker watercooled it wasnt even stable @ 412 xt speeds the core was cool. the capacitors were sizzling.

ive been sitting on that thing for a year it was no fun to tweak.
 
tranCendenZ said:
435 is 35mhz higher than a stock 6800U, and 15mhz lower than a 6800EE. Wouldn't really complain that much ;)

.
Click to expand...

agreed! especially for the SFF crowd, the ultra isn't really an option. Several people are running OC'd GT's on 250W and 220W SFF boxes with no problems.
 
Hmm, this is good important info.

Now the mystery of the 2nd molex connector is solved for me :D .
 
joobjoob said:
yea my watercooled gt hits this seemingly voltage ceiling.

http://www.hardforum.com/showthread.php?t=772075

but thats ok cuz i got the evga so if i feel inclined in teh next 90 days ill just upgrade for only the price difference.

i can always tell when it drops back cuz it hangs for just a sec.
my temps were stable the whole time. sure i can reach the ultra and a little more, but the chip

3d2003 :

350/1000 10916
399/1.17=12378
425/1.1= 12440
435/1.15=13120
444/1.17=9064
450/1.1= 8983

it runs great at the higher speeds but every 3-5 mins it will pause for 2-3 seconds which the hangs is enough to quickly kill the scores.

but i have never ever had it crash to desktop or random reboot on me, which still leaves me to think that there is some sorta watchdog stuff in the drivers.

but bottom line the card is so much faster then my 9800p. i really wouldnt bother with wanting more of an overclock except that work is pretty stressful and i like to think about how to tweak my computer during the day.
Click to expand...


Could you post some screen shots of your benchmarks and your card so that I can see the waterblock?
 
The Geforce series, since the FX series I think, have the ability to underclock themselves under stressful loads. The GT will also underclock itself, back to stock 370/1000 if you overclock it too far. You can verify this with Rivatuner's hardware monitoring. Also, you will notice it because it hangs for a second.

My GT will run UT2k4 fine at 430/1100, but it will underclock itself if I run Real-time HDR IBL, a program that really stresses the card. I have to leave it at 420/1100 to run that program.
 
What i think is a bigger concern would be heat issues. The GT is one hot running card. The BFG GT OC would hit 80 C which for me is very hot. So if you overclock past 400 whats to stop the thing from eventually frying.
 
SpitFire said:
What i think is a bigger concern would be heat issues. The GT is one hot running card. The BFG GT OC would hit 80 C which for me is very hot. So if you overclock past 400 whats to stop the thing from eventually frying.
Click to expand...

It needs to hit 120C+ to fry according to the makers of the card. And if it does get too hot, it automatically underclocks itself to prevent frying. No worries about the temps.
 
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