[Orcin]

I went into the "Tweaker" section of the bios last night to continue my quest for a better overclock. I dropped the CPU voltage to 1.35v and disabled C1E and EIST to be sure that they were not interferring with the voltage setting in any way.

I decided to further scan the "auto" settings and evaluate what I might be able to do manually. I noticed PCI-E clock was set to auto. Most o/c guides say to set this manually, so I changed it to the stock value of 100.

I tested my new settings with an hour of OCCT and another hour of World of Warcraft (and it passed all tests). At the end, I noticed that my graphics card max temp had been 67C, instead of the mid-70's that I was seeing before.

Had I unintentionally overclocked my video card in my earlier attempts by leaving the clock speed on auto? The actual clock might have scaled up with the QPI setting (also on auto). I didn't notice any change in frame rates in WoW, but then I don't push the rig for that game anyway.

I guess this is why the overclocking guides tell you to disable all the auto settings and set things to the stock values manually. There are way too many variables to leave stuff to chance. I am learning on the job, and that is exactly what I wanted.

I think it is time to buy and install Crysis this weekend, and see what kind of performance I am really getting. I doubt that I will like the game, but I think it is a better benchmark for my than paying an equal amount for 3dMark and I will have a more entertaining demo program as well.

 

[s1rrah]

Regarding the temp difference ... I think if you'd accidentally overclocked your card even more then you would have seen a temp increase. As it stands, it looks like you had a temp decrease ...

This is more likely a random cold draft hitting your intake fans during that session or even something as innocuous as your machine not having been on very long.

Depending on your homes AC fluxuations, you'll see those sorts of temp changes regularly.

BTW: why not strap one of these sucka's on your vid card and watch your 70 load temps drop down to about 43C or so at loads?

http://www.arctic-cooling.com/catalo...80_pic_300.gif

Sick 280 series cooler.

Here's some reading:

Arctic Cooling

 

[Orcin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1rrah;bt1193 Regarding the temp difference ... I think if you'd accidentally overclocked your card even more then you would have seen a temp increase. As it stands, it looks like you had a temp decrease ...

I think what I wrote was unclear... the temp went down when I set the clock speed to 100. I think the clock on "auto" was running HIGHER than 100. I think I had accidentally overclocked the gpu in the initial overclocking attempts, and by setting the clock to 100 on this last one I fixed it and brought the temp down.

That gpu cooler is sick.

I am wondering though... how does the top graphics card in a SLI stack keep from burning up? Isn't its fan blocked by the lower card? Wouldn't putting a cooler on (like this) only help the bottom card?

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin;bt1194 I think what I wrote was unclear... the temp went down when I set the clock speed to 100. I think the clock on "auto" was running HIGHER than 100. I think I had accidentally overclocked the gpu in the initial overclocking attempts, and by setting the clock to 100 on this last one I fixed it and brought the temp down. That gpu cooler is sick. I am wondering though... how does the top graphics card in a SLI stack keep from burning up? Isn't its fan blocked by the lower card? Wouldn't putting a cooler on (like this) only help the bottom card?

Your probably right about that particular cooler and SLI ...

For SLI, I'm guessing one of the Thermalright coolers might be best as you can mount them hanging on either side of the card (I think):

Thermalright HR-03 GTX (280 / 260 / etc.) - SLI Zone Forums

http://www.thermalright.com/new_a_pa...tx/big/4-1.JPG

...

 

[Orcin]

That's pretty interesting. I like the looks. I haven't seen anything from Thermalright that I didn't like.

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin;bt1196 That's pretty interesting. I like the looks. I haven't seen anything from Thermalright that I didn't like.

Thermalright has the distinction of employing genuine and bona fide retentive Industrial Design Savants(tm)!

And no ... the cooler does not plug into the PCI slot (ha! got you before the edit!)

...

But if it's like similar coolers previously released from Thermalright (Vid Coolers), then it most likely can be mounted to hang on either side of the vid card ... making SLI arrangements (even with 92m fans) quite manageable ...

On my current, albeit a bit dated, 8800GT SC Nvidia card ... I'm using one of these:

...

http://wellcom.co.il/catalog/images/Thermaltake/ND1.gif

...

It's about 20 degrees better at load than is my stock Nvidia cooler ... and I like the fact that it jets the air out the back of the case.

But my particular flava' of 8800GT is already a "SC" (SuperClocked) version ... and so I haven't had much luck in further overclocking tests.

The cooler is sufficient though.

...

Otherwise ...

Regarding Thermalright ...

Just can't go wrong.

They are top tier "Enthusiast" providers for sure.

Have fun!

(BTW: If I do say so myself, and, as I quite honestly expected ... you hit the PC build/overclocking scene at full stride and then some! True Geeks FTW!)

Best.
.joel

 

[Orcin]

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1rrah;bt1197 And no ... the cooler does not plug into the PCI slot (ha! got you before the edit!) ...

I have moderator power on my blog, so I could just edit this comment out... but then you would just post it again... what a vicious circle that would be...

Quote:

Originally Posted by s1rrah;bt1197 BTW: If I do say so myself, and, as I quite honestly expected ... you hit the PC build/overclocking scene at full stride and then some! True Geeks FTW!

Thanks, mate! That means a lot coming from you... my coach and mentor. Does this mean I am ready to register and post on overclockers.net?

 

[s1rrah]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Orcin;bt1198 I have moderator power on my blog, so I could just edit this comment out... but then you would just post it again... what a vicious circle that would be... Thanks, mate! That means a lot coming from you... my coach and mentor. Does this mean I am ready to register and post on overclockers.net?

I would recommend OCN (that's what the 7337 say) for sure ... fun forum ... and you can join myself, Syrillian and CyberDruid in the OCN Old Dudes Club(tm) ...

We don't really have such a club but it's sort of understood, what with all the kiddies running about.

(but them kids no their stuff)

Best.
.joel