9800 and Overclocking.

[OptimusRhyme]

I recently bought a 9800 non pro and was thinking of flashing it to the pro. I have the Sapphire card with 3.3ns ram.

My question is, would overclocking damage the card in the long run? I dont plan to push it any further than stock pro speeds, but i just dont want to have a damaged card in a few months. Would it not damage it running something its not supposed to do for a long period of time?

 

[Budmantom]

Good question.

 

[modedepe]

Overclocking will generally shorten the life of a card somewhat. But usually, the card will be obsolete before it burns out. As long as you have proper cooling and don't push the card too hard it's fairly safe.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

Well, becoming obsolete to me, might be different to someone else. I'd like this card to last me a while. Plus i dont plan to use any other fans or memory coolers on the card. Just stock.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

No one else has anything else to add to this?

 

[NYHoustonman]

I would say...Don't overclock it until you really need to (maybe for HL2 or something).

 

[jiffylube1024]

Originally posted by: OptimusRhyme
I recently bought a 9800 non pro and was thinking of flashing it to the pro. I have the Sapphire card with 3.3ns ram.

My question is, would overclocking damage the card in the long run? I dont plan to push it any further than stock pro speeds, but i just dont want to have a damaged card in a few months. Would it not damage it running something its not supposed to do for a long period of time?

Well try overclocking it now, before you flash to see if it will run anywhere close to pro speeds (on the memory). The Pro BIOS supposedly gives more volts to the memory (so I hear), but if you're nowhere close you may still have problems.

I also have a 9800 non-pro with Samsung 3.3ns memory, and it doesn't really overclock at all... I'd be scared to run the pro BIOS without damaging it somewhere down the line if your memory isn't capable of those speeds.

 

[GrumpyMan]

Overclock it if you wish but just make sure it boots back to defaults each time you reboot or startup. No need to o/c it while in 2-D.

 

[Aftermath]

If you're really worried about using the card for a long term perchase, and worried about the life span of the card, spend a bit more and get the 9800 Pro. That way you'll get the performance, and the maximum life span of the product by not overclocking it.

 

[lifeguard1999]

O/C it with Powerstrip or some other tweak first. If it hits Pro speed, then great. At that point you have a choice to flash it and possibly go higher (due to higher voltages), or to leave it at Pro speeds. If it fails ... no harm done.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

Well, see, no one is really answering my question.

Sure i know it can overclock a bit....thats not what im asking. I want to know if it will damage it in the long run.

As for overclocking, the Samsung 3.3ns ram supposedly doesnt just plain overclock as well as the 2.8, but if you flash it to the pro, it overclocks to the pro no problem. This is from what i've read from peoples expreiences.

Anyways, i dont plan to just plain overclock, i just want to flash it to a pro. (i know this is still overclocking) But i want to know if i do this, will running the card like this normally for a while damage it. Or will it run fine?

On another note, to the guy who said buy the pro, well see the pro is another 150 bucks at least (canadian) and i dont have that kind of money right now.

 

[GullyFoyle]

As far as I have heard, there are no hardware differences between the 9800np and the 9800 Pro designs, except possibly the RAM and BIOS.
If anyone knows any other differences, speak up.

I have seen where the Samsung 3.3ns ram was tested and said to be exactly the same as the 2.8ns ram. Can't be bothered to track down the link somewhere on this BBoard. I figure Samsung memory chips are just the same as Intel or AMD CPU's, they make the stuff all the same, then test it to see if it supports a certain speed, then they label it. If they make too much good stuff, some of it gets labelled "down".

The conclusion I came to is, a flashed 9800np should last as long as an original 9800 Pro.

 

[OptimusRhyme]

Ok, well thanks for that answer. Hopefully thats true.