Overclocking Gainward 8600 GT PCX 512 MB? New to this :)

[Amidar]

Hey !

I'm new to this overclocking buisness, didn't even know you can until a week ago..

I have a pretty strong computer now.. Pentium 4, Core Duo, 4GM Ram, Chipset P35, Windows XP and ofcourse a video card which is Nvidia Geforce 8600 GT (Gainward 8600 GT PCX 512 MB to be exact).

Thing is.. I thought I was buying a good enough card but I'm not happy with its performance due to the fact the PC is new and all.. and unfortunately I can't send it back and get the 8800 GT now..

I was thinking of maybe overclocking it...

1. Can I overclock it without harming it or shortening its "life"?

2. What program should I use and how would I go about overclocking it without harming it?

I don't have and probably can't get another cooling system for the card and I understand that's important..?

I'm working with graphics and really want my card to be stronger without harming it in any way... would also be nice to run Crysis on high settings instead of medium..

Thanks a lot !

 

[!TIMMY!]

Running Crysis on High requires one hell of a PC, but will also depend on what resolution you run it at.

1. If you have good enough cooling then the life span shouldn't be shortend too much. You can buy aftermarket coolers, some graphics cards even come with them when you buy them. There is quite a few Gainward 8600GT 512mb, does your have a fan on it or just a big red heatsink?

2. I use RivaTuner 2.08 to overclock. It is a windows based program. As long as you increase your overclock by small amounts at a time and test it properly then you shouldn't harm your graphics card. Just stop when you see graphics courption while testing and lower the overclock back to where it was stable.

 

[Amidar]

1. If you have good enough cooling then the life span shouldn't be shortend too much. You can buy aftermarket coolers, some graphics cards even come with them when you buy them. There is quite a few Gainward 8600GT 512mb, does your have a fan on it or just a big red heatsink?

Just a big red heatsink

Would an aftermarket cooler make a big difference? Do I have to have 1?

What is the best one for my card?

Looking at the temp level of the card on the nVidia control panel it seems rather high for a non OC'ed card.. it's C67 without any game on.

2. I use RivaTuner 2.08 to overclock. It is a windows based program. As long as you increase your overclock by small amounts at a time and test it properly then you shouldn't harm your graphics card. Just stop when you see graphics courption while testing and lower the overclock back to where it was stable.

And I shouldn't be passing the C80 temperature, right?

Thanks !

 

[Pseudonym]

A decent cooling set up will make a huge difference in the temperature of your card.

Your temp seems to be pretty high for a idle (nothing running) reading.

THIS review shows the heatsync as being ok, so it might be the rest of the cooling in your case. What setup do you have on the rest of your case. (how many fans, what size, where are they, which direction are the blowing etc) A few pics might be easier to look at this.

 

[Amidar]

A decent cooling set up will make a huge difference in the temperature of your card.

Your temp seems to be pretty high for a idle (nothing running) reading.

THIS review shows the heatsync as being ok, so it might be the rest of the cooling in your case. What setup do you have on the rest of your case. (how many fans, what size, where are they, which direction are the blowing etc) A few pics might be easier to look at this.

That's not the cooling heatsync I have for the card..

This is what I have:



In my case I have 2 fans..

1 is on the board and the other is on the side of the case facing inwards..

Here are 2 screenshots of them, sorry they're sloppy, I still don't have photoshop on this one

The inside:



From the ouside, can see the colorful fan on the side of the case facing in:



I just checked the temp while playing Crysis on high settings and it reaches C85 !! OMG ! Without even tweaking the thing.

What should the average temp be for such card on idle and while playing the game?

Thanks for the help !