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How far to push 8800GTS'

P

p8ball4life

n00b
Joined
Mar 10, 2008
Messages
59
Hey,

I've think I'm ready to start overclocking my new pair of 8800GTS', but I'm not really excited about my temps already.

Specs: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127325

Core: 678
Mem: 1944
x2 (SLI)

Adjusting the fan speeds to 50% constant I get about 48C idle on Core 1 and 52C on Core 0. Is it common for Core 0 to run a few degrees hotter across the board (even under load)?
Under full load (Furmark) Core 0 will reach upwards of 80C if the fan speed is not increased.

I've set up RivaTuner to do it's thing scaling the fan speeds as the temps go up. With this I've been able to keep the cards below 70C while playing Age of Conan (1650x1080 all High settings 2xAA) and keep about 30-60 fps.

My questions are:
Are these temps about normal? They seem a little on the high side for what other people are reporting.

Do I have any room to overclock? What should my target "comfortable" temps be for load?

I went with the GTS' over the GT's because they were supposed to run cooler, and the dual slot cooler is a plus. So far I haven't been very impressed with my temperatures.

My cooling solution seems sufficient. I'm using the Xclio Windtunnel which features 2x250mm fans on the side blowing directly onto the PCI slots and hard drives. Would it be worth purchasing a Spot Fan to put dircetly between the cards?

Thanks for your help.

-Tyler

:edit: Is this chart still fairly applicable to the G92's?

b-e-s-t
40c -> 49c zone = awesome (if you're here you're likely water cooled or a 9800GTX on air)
50c -> 59c zone = great (high performance aftermarket air cooling)
60c -> 69c zone = good (good target for air cooled cards with stock coolers)
70c -> 79c zone = average (probably the ave load temp for most G80 based air cooled cards with stock coolers)
80c -> 89c = warm (G80 cards can run here just fine, it's warm, but they're designed to deal with that)
90c -> and up = too hot (artifacting and app crashing can occur at this temp. time to check all fans, sinks, and air passages for dust clogs and/or re-think the cooling scheme).
w-o-r-s-t
 
Yeah those temps seem right and arent bad at all, the top core is always gonna a little warmer, its sucks air from the backside of the other card. I like to use rivatuner and keep my fans at a constant speed, just below audible range.
 
ive got that card. ive gone decently high on them.


my fan is on 70%
775/1050 works but not crysis stable every other game is ok.
750/1025 is crysis stable

very nice card kinda wished i got the gtx so i can overclock better :( the mem doesnt move too much.
 
If I just leave my fan @ 50% the temps get up in the 80's which doesn't make me that comfortable.
 
OCing really doesn't do much for GPUs -- not near the same kind of jumps you will get from a heavy CPU OC. (this from one of the guys with a water loop for his GPUs...not the best decision I ever made, but it is shiny. ;))

Set up a custom fan profile in RivaTuner. Maybe improve your case airflow a bit. Problem solved. (Unless, of course, you just have really high ambients...)
 
Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't the G92 core rated to go 120c before the thermal failure circuit kicks in?

edit:
Just did a quick Google search on the G92 core thermal limits and every place I find keeps saying its 105C. If you are still worried about your temps, you might try creating more airflow with a high positive pressure in your case. A low or negative pressure will create hot spots.
 
p8ball4life said:
If I just leave my fan @ 50% the temps get up in the 80's which doesn't make me that comfortable.
Click to expand...

Damn that sucks, my wifes comp w/ an 8800gts 512, if I set it to 65%, it idles at 46-47, and gets to no more than the mid 60's, playing wow or even crysis. I think its all about ventilation, cause her case has about 3 good 12cm fans that keep good flow in there.
 
the case has very good ventilation. I'll admit that I haven't put a ton of time into my cables, but at the same time the case is so large that I just shove them up under the optical drive and out of the way.

I'm featuring 3 scythe 120mm fans 63cfm. One in the front of the case near the HD's, one in the Tuniq, and one out the back. The case also features 2 250mm fans blowing directly onto the motherboard components and a 200mm fan blowing air out the top of the case near the psu. Here's a link: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811103011&Tpk=xclio%2bwindtunnel

Recap: IN -> 2x250mm 1x120mm OUT -> 1x120mm 1x200mm

What temps are you getting tvdang7? I'll take pics of my new computer when I get home to asses the airflow situation.
 
I've gotten the card now to 772/1967/1077 stable. It hits about 69C in furmark on the one core and in the mid 60's for 3dmark06.

Does rivatuner automatically match the 2nd card to the 1st cards clock? Do I need to do something to have it overclock both cards? How can I double check that the clock on the 2nd card is indeed the same as the first?

Thanks!
 
Have my two cards at 770/1910/1020. 52C max at load.. My top card is always a few degrees cooler. I always thought the top card would be warmer than the bottom :p Isn't that true for most people?
 
How do you like your diamond syribo? I went with that on this build and am fairly happy with it. I just bought a 40mm scythe to zip tie to the heat sink so I can comfortably push the q6600 up to the 3.6 range.
 
p8ball4life said:
How do you like your diamond syribo? I went with that on this build and am fairly happy with it. I just bought a 40mm scythe to zip tie to the heat sink so I can comfortably push the q6600 up to the 3.6 range.
Click to expand...

I think she'll saying something along the lines of "It was not fun at the beginning but it works pretty good now" ;)

I personally got so fed up with mine I returned it and got a reference board. MSI's BIOS team should be ashamed of themselves -- he hardware is great, but the software is some of the worst I've ever seen.
 
p8ball4life said:
i had trouble with it as well, but you just have to over clock to get it stable...
Click to expand...

If only that'd been my problem. No, it completely failed to OC for me. At least, not well. The X3220 is probably partly to blame for this, but who knows. I've been through a number of boards --

EVGA 680i SLI SE - OCed my E6420 to 3.8Ghz prime stable, but would not OC the quad pretty much at all. Never had issues with the board, had it for ~6 months. No surprise about the quad though. Sold it, careful it went to someone who wanted to run a dual.
XFX 680i LT (x2 -- pre and post RMA) - First board worked well until I installed the second 8800 GTX and the secondary PCIe 16x slot died for no reason at all. 3.5Ghz tops even with northbrige watercooled, was not satisfied and unhappy with reliability, sold the brand new RMA board after testing it.
Abit IN9-32X-MAX-WiFi - non-reference 680i SLI, wouldn't OC past 3.1Ghz with /any/ BIOS. Great dual core OCer, hated quads, a lot like the 680i SE. Sold it, careful to tell buyer what to expect.
MSI P7N-Diamond - non-reference 780i. Everyone blamed my chip when it topped out ~3.4Ghz, not completely stable, but I'd had 3.5Ghz stable with less voltage on the 680i LT so I knew it wasn't that. It got returned, and exchanged.
XFX 780i - reference board. Thus far no issues at all, but I'm pretty much waiting for it to explode on me. Time will tell. Max OC of 3.8Ghz so far. I keep it at 3.6Ghz 24/7 as the voltage required for 3.8 is too much and it's a ton of heat in the room.
 
Since I'm keeping the cards at 766/1952/1069 should I be worried about the effect this will have on their lifespans? Obviously, higher clocks = higher heat = more wear and tear, but is it something to worry about? Should I just change the clocks manually when I go to play a game that would benefit from it?
 
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