Is it worth overclocking

[deadman_uk]

I have an Sapphire Radeon 9800pro 128mb 256bit R350 graphics card and was wondering what performance increase id get on games like DOOM3, UT2004, Far cry if i overclock my graphics card?

I have no experience in overclocking what so ever and I dont know anyone who could do it. How hard is it to overclock? and is it worth it? Could anything go wrong and is it all done via software?

Thanks for any help, please if you are explaining how to overclock, please give lots of details.

 

[kick@ss]

Check out the overclocking forum.

Is it hard? No, but it can become confusing as there is a lot of terminology and settings (especially with AMD CPUs).

Is it worth it? Yes, without a doubt.

Can something go wrong? Yes... but if you're careful the chance is fairly remote.

 

[deadman_uk]

Is it harder than flashing your BIOS cause i did that ok

Can someone explain how i would do this? Is there a benchmark that can show me a comparion between a 9800pro and 9800pro OC?

 

[kick@ss]

Is it harder than flashing your BIOS cause i did that ok

Can someone explain how i would do this? Is there a benchmark that can show me a comparion between a 9800pro and 9800pro OC?

Oh, if you plan on just OCing your video card it's easy. Try installing this, http://www.rage3d.com/index.php?node=r3dtweak, and then moving the sliders where it says clock frequency or whatever (can't remember the name of the tab) up a bit. Increase it a little at a time. You won't notice a big improvement as your CPU is really holding you back.

 

[SocketA]

Yes it worth it, and relatively safe. Especially given that your card is last generation. You may only get a few frames per second, but I'd take whatever I could get when playing games like Doom 3, Far Cry and Half Life 2. www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

 

[RAutrey]

Yes it worth it, and relatively safe. Especially given that your card is last generation. You may only get a few frames per second, but I'd take whatever I could get when playing games like Doom 3, Far Cry and Half Life 2. www.techpowerup.com/atitool/

Agreed. Are you sure that card is R350? Many R360s were sold as 9800 Pros. If it is then you could push that sucka quite a bit most likely.

 

[deadman_uk]

yeah its an r350 atitool tells me.. so does sandra.

My main worry is the card getting hot... its using the fan i got when i got the card. And since its a r350 i cant check the temperature can i?

 

[Copyright]

You can oc with stock cooling.. but you can usually get it a little higher with aftermarket cooling and being it runs cooler is a good thing when overclocking anyways. Artic Silencer, Aerocool, and Zalman offer some aftermarket coolers. Zalman is fanless but they make one with a fan option I believe that will fit your card. Use a good thermal paste and be careful getting artic silver as it has some conductive properites. OC is well worth it.. ive been overclocking my video cards since my dual voodoo2 in SLI

 

[deadman_uk]

I really am pleased i got some replies but the replies are too complex for me to understand.

I asked to keep it simple and detailed... lol i dont know what stock cooling and afer cooling is.

I am a completely newbie when it comes to overclocking, yet you are explaining it like i know a little bit about it already which i dont.

I have learnt a little bit... basically you raise the core and memory on the card little by little until you start to see bugs and graphical glithces, when you do, you lower it a little, check it again and then you are done.

What i am worried about is the temp of my 9800pro. If i buy a Arctic CoolingVGA silencer would i need to worry about my card overheating? if i do buy a VGA silencer what one should i get? there are so many http://www.overclockers.co.uk/acatalog/Arctic_Cooling.html

thanks

 

[RAutrey]

That VGA Silencer would be a good choice. Also try ATiTool for overclocking. It's a piece of cake!

EDIT: Urgh... I see you are already using ATiTool

 

[jaffy]

The stock 9800pro heastink/fan leaves a LOT to be desired. It is thin and contacted (usually) via a crappy thermal pad. A Silencer will lower temps a great deal, and will definately increase your overclock. The overclock on my old R350 core increased 50mhz when I got the silencer IIRC.

 

[deadman_uk]

I really dont want my card to overheat, i cannot afford a new one as im buying a new cpu/mobo.

Can i be 100% sure that my card wont overheat with this vga silencer on providing i overclock this 9800pro to similar speeds as what others have gotten?

 

[RAutrey]

I really dont want my card to overheat, i cannot afford a new one as im buying a new cpu/mobo.

Can i be 100% sure that my card wont overheat with this vga silencer on providing i overclock this 9800pro to similar speeds as what others have gotten?

As long as it's installed properly with good thermal compound (like AS3)... Yes.

 

[Copyright]

Stock cooling is just the cooling to comes with out of the box.. aftermarket cooling is something you buy to put on your card to help it cool better.

http://www.svc.com/avc-at1.html

That looks to be the correct cooler for your 9800 Pro card. Although it doesnt seem to have any memory cooling it will help cool the core a lot better then your factory heatsink/fan combo. If you can put this on and add a few ram sinks you should have no problems. I usually raise my core and memory seperate to find the max I can get.. then If i start to have artifacts or lock ups ill back it down 10-15 to get stability. Dont let it seem harder then it is. Very easy... best thing to do is to look around and see how high ppl are over clocking your card and start out a little lower then go up from there. Good luck!