<Any moderator can contribute and update this thread>

N00BIES' GUIDE FOR VGA OVERCLOCKING

This thread is specially dedicated for VGA overclocking since there are so many simple questions keep popping up in this section. Anything that is general about graphic card overclocking, be it nVidia, ATI or anything else.... please post and discuss here, unless you are talking about some extensive overclocking that involves VGA BIOS mods or stuff (n00bs don't do those at home without expert monitoring ).

Some tools that you will need (regular used):

RivaTuner
Latest version : v2.0 RC16
Supports : nVidia & ATI cards
Description : For tweaking your nVidia/ATI cards. Alter the GPU/memory clockspeed or unlock any extra pipelines.
Website link : http://www.nvworld.ru/

ATITool
Latest version : 0.0.25 beta 10
Supports : ATI cards (supports for nVidia is only available in certain functions)
Description : Overclock your ATI cards, scan for artifacts, automatic maximum clockspeed detection, temperature monitoring.
Website link : http://atitool.ocfaq.com/

ForceWare Coolbits
Latest version : 2.0
Supports : nVidia cards only
Description : An extra option in nVidia ForceWare properties that enables overclocking. Besides downloading the patch, you can enable this function by editing your Windows registry (please google for instructions on this).



* These tools are easily found on the net. For your extra convinience, you can just browse Guru3d.com's download section. Other tools may also be found on this website.


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Frequently Asked Questions
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1. How do I overclock my nVidia/ATI graphic card?
Use the tools as mentioned above.

2. After overclocking my graphic card, suddenly my PC freezes. What happened?
Excessive overclocking, most likely the GPU core clockspeed. Probably you just need to lower your overclock by a few megahertz. This might also be a sign of your card getting too hot. Spend for some good aftermarket cooling for your card if you need so.

3. Artifacts appearing during gaming/3D benchmarking. Why?
Excessive overclocking, most likely the graphic card memory clock. Reducing the clockspeed will help. Nothing much you can gain by installing RAM heatsink onto the RAM chips.

4. I use ATITools/RivaTuner to overclock my graphic card. But why every time I start my PC, the graphic card clocks will revert back to default setting?
Make sure you save and tick the option where the program can run the setting during Windows startup.

5. I want to go EXTREME! How?
Voltage mod. Different cards may have different circuit design, so don't ask here!



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Useful Links
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Overclocking your Graphics card (by ikanayam) - http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/user/fma/overclo...aphics_card.htm

This post has been edited by soulfly: Sep 19 2006, 11:13 AM

only increase the speed little by little and try to run benchmarking programs such as 3dmark to test whether it's stable.

Nope... unless you edit the VGA BIOS then you flash it.

you mean the clock bar greyed-out? maybe driver problem.

6600 series does not require external power source