Overclocking my 9800np

[jesteadt]

I have an ATI 9800 non pro, and was thinking of overclocking it using the ATI Tool. I gave it a whirl, and the Core easily reaches 9800 pro speeds (over 380), but the memory won't. it's the cheaper Infineon ram, and it tops out around 320 or 325. Is this kind of speed boost worth overclocking, since the memory will obviously be bottlenecking things somewhat? I tried doing some benches, and the difference wasn't amazing or anything. It beat out speeds of a 9700 pro, but didn't come close to 9800 pro speeds.

So is it even worth me overclocking my card? I read that ramsinks aren't going to help if the ram just isn't up to the task (i.e. not a heat problem).

Thanks,
Jesteadt

 

[Yonkec]

definately if you want the extra few fps, and i think the 9800s are more limited by core speeds than memory? but im not sure

 

[Deleted member 12106]

You need micron mem to get to pro speeds.

I had a 9800 with the micron ram, hit pro speeds and then some

 

[jesteadt]

I did some testing in doom 3, using 1024x768 at high quality and the timedemo feature.

325/290 (stock): 37.2 FPS
380/320 OC: 42.1 FPS

Not too shabby. I think I'll be using my OCed settings, unless I start seeing artifacts. The alternative is running in medium quality instead of high, since I'm pretty sure I'd notice dips into the 20 to 30 FPS range. I'll do some more tests with FRAPS just to make sure, I guess.