Video OC Questions

[dbunder]

Have an eVGA 6800GT that runs insanely hot cause the eVGA stock coolers are junk. They may as well just glue on a peice of aluminum foil and call it a cooler. So naturally, I haven't overclocked much.

I ordered a Zalman GPU cooler with the ramsinks yesterday (not the fatality aka jet engine, but the plain one) with AS ceramic to get those shoddy (as in shoddy contact tape) Zalman ramsinks to stick instead of just shift around and fall off as they did when I was using a heatpipe cooler on my old 9800XT. Using regular AS5 for the actual GPU.

My question is - what's the best overclocking tool, in your opinion? I've been using Coolbits 2 and just hitting the "optimal settings" option (which sets laughable OC speeds, but at least it's something) in the overclock screen. My card can actually overclock a LOT more than optimal settings says it does, but since it already runs hot, I don't want to push it. Is this the tool everyone uses for nvidia cards? If so, what's the best way to do it, and what's the best benchmark/game to test for artifacts after an OC? I'm expecting a huge temp drop in my GPU and graphics memory once it's all set up. My Zalman CPU cooler dropped my temp by 20C at idle and load, and I don't think it's even on full speed. So I have mad faith in the Zalman GPU cooling setup.

Is optimal settings the way to go with coolbits, or just trial and error, incrementing the memory and clock speed and testing for artifacts with whatever program? Or is there a better OC software out there?

So excited about a newly speedy video board, as its starting to show its age in games like Oblivion, FEAR, and especially Condemned. I'm just not sure what the best way to OC and test is.

Thanks much for any help, guys. You've been nothing but helpful before. Willing to try anything you guys recommend, within reason of course.

btw, how long does it take for the AS ceramic to set up completely? 24 hours of load? 48? A week or two like the regular AS5 goo?

 

[ChingChang]

I just use coolbits and do manual overclocking... increase clock speed then stress the GPU. Luna (nvidia demo) is a good program to do this, and also 3dmark06 if you don't want to play a game to test You can also run Luna in the background.

You might want to use some epoxy with the ceramique.. cause ceramique won't hold the sinks on by itself.

also from the ceramique website:

Due to the unique shapes and sizes of the particles in Céramique, it will take a minimum of 25 hours and several thermal cycles to achieve maximum particle to particle thermal conduction and for the heatsink to CPU interface to reach maximum conductivity. (This period will be longer in a system without a fan on the heatsink.) On systems measuring actual internal core temperatures via the CPU's internal diode, the measured temperature will often drop slightly over this "break-in" period. This break-in will occur during the normal use of the computer as long as the computer is turned off from time to time and the interface is allowed to cool to room temperature. Once the break-in is complete, the computer can be left on if desired.

 

[dbunder]

Doh! Where I got the Ceramique it implied that it was also an adhesive.

Just went through AS's site and they don't have instructions for using the epoxy + the ceramique. Are you even supposed to do this, or is it one or the other? If you can do both, what is the process you use? Equal parts epoxy and Ceramique? I've only ever used AS5 paste on CPUs and GPUs that screw onto the board, so no need for adhesion.

Please enlighten me, cause now I'm just confused.

Another point of confusion - what's the difference between the AS5 paste and the Ceramique? Better/worse heat transfer? Cost? Personal preference, what? Why offer both if AS5 works just fine?

... and a question. For GPUs, what have you guys found works better? Spreading the AS around so it covers the chip, then applying/screwing on the sink, or putting a blob in the center and putting the sink straight back on? I've found for my cpu, the second method works best. I've only ever tried spreading it on my GPU.

 

[ChingChang]

Just went through AS's site and they don't have instructions for using the epoxy + the ceramique. Are you even supposed to do this, or is it one or the other? If you can do both, what is the process you use? Equal parts epoxy and Ceramique? I've only ever used AS5 paste on CPUs and GPUs that screw onto the board, so no need for adhesion.

I don't think Arctic Silver ever suggested combining AS epoxy+ceramique, but I do know that people have mixed them and say it works fine for something that they don't want to be permanent. I've heard 50/50 works well, but I have never done it. It can be mixed with ceramique or AS5, doesn't really matter I don't think.

what's the difference between the AS5 paste and the Ceramique? Better/worse heat transfer? Cost? Personal preference, what? Why offer both if AS5 works just fine?

Arctic Silver 5 should have better transfer, the difference is so small that it usually does not matter. Also, AS5 is slightly capacitive but not much.. ceramique is not at all.
The biggest difference is that AS5 is a lot more thicker than Ceramique.

... and a question. For GPUs, what have you guys found works better? Spreading the AS around so it covers the chip, then applying/screwing on the sink, or putting a blob in the center and putting the sink straight back on?

I like to draw a smiley face on the core with some AS5, then put the heatsink on so it stays happy
err... All recent GPU's have bare cores, so you will want to spread the thermal compound over the core evenly, with the smallest layer possible. I would also spread it on older cards.

 

[dbunder]

I don't think Arctic Silver ever suggested combining AS epoxy+ceramique, but I do know that people have mixed them and say it works fine for something that they don't want to be permanent. I've heard 50/50 works well, but I have never done it. It can be mixed with ceramique or AS5, doesn't really matter I don't think.

I think I'll do some more research on mixing compounds, be it paste or ceramique. I don't have a problem having the sinks stick on there forever if the epoxy provides very good heat transfer already, which I've heard it does. As far as buying the ceramique, hell, at least I have another tube of quality thermal goo lying around in case I run out of my AS5 paste. May try the ceramique on my NB heatsink/fan, since I never bothered applying anything to that. It's just running with the stock goo that MSI ships on it. Should help a little bit. I just gotta find a way around my Zalman CPU cooler to get the last screw out of the NB fan. Don't wanna go messing with the compound on the CPU, cause I think last time I did it absolutely perfectly and I get an insane amount of cooling on the CPU with just air, and not the best airflow through my box. Airflow is decent, but not optimal, just by the way the case is built (it's a Lian Li PC-65B - it has space for a couple more 80mm fans, for sure, but they didn't bother to add the vents... baffling).

 

[dbunder]

I emailed Zalman about mixing compounds, cause I wasn't able to find much else about mixing by googling it. Just a few "i do it and it works" and a few "don't do it" threads. 50/50. Who knows how long Zalman will take to reply?

Quick question - would it be safe to install my HSF without the memory coolers (and NOT overclocking) before getting the epoxy and applying the memory coolers, or do they run too hot without any kind of sink on them? On my stock eVGA, it has thermal tape and copper heat sinks on the bigass (yet useless) HSF on the top of the board, but no memory coolers on the memory on the bottom of the card. So I'm torn. Will likely be getting the epoxy a couple days after the ceramique and Zalman video cooler. Should I just wait for the epoxy to be safe? I'm thinking yes. What do you guys think?

 

[dbunder]

Got the cooler today, installed with the stock tape on the memory sinks - epoxy once it arrives.

-15C on my GPU, and the AS5 isn't even cured yet.