Can temps be misleading?

[Cali3350]

Hey guys, i have a EVGA 216sp GTX260 ive been running at 702/1404/1053 since i got it. Now im perfectly happy with these clocks, but im wondering if i can get more.

When i bump it up to 729/1458 it can crash. Sometimes after minutes sometimes after hours. Temp never goes above 65, however i still have the fan stock at 40%. Wondering if even though the temps are low if i bump it up its reasonable to expect more. When the card fails at the above speeds it locks the comp, it doesn't start to error out.

Not currently home so i cant test it. Was just curious what you guys thought. Thanks guys.

 

[Hornet]

I believe that temperature isn't always the main factor that limits how far a GPU can be overclocked.

All GPU overclock differently. My GeForce 6800 use to overclock so well, but my 9800GTX+ starts to artifact even with 20MHz increase. I can only overclock it 10MHz extra for the core, while many review I've read can overclock close to 800MHz, while mine is only at 750MHz, anything more and it will artifact. However, the memory can overclock to 1200 easily, like those I saw in review, despite my temperature all remains ok.

My point is that, its just our luck how far our chip can overclock. All the manufacturer does is to ensure that it runs well at normal clock speed. Anything more is down to our luck.

Maybe a small increase in core voltage may help, but I've never done that myself. Again, this too isn't a surefire way. It works well for some while others may finds no benefits