Asus 7800GT Poor Overclock

[framerateuk]

Ive just bought Need for Speed Most Wanted, and and trying to squeeze some more speed out of it.

My Specs are:

Shuttle XPC SN25P
Athlon64 X2 4200+
1GB DDR400 OCZ RAM (Dual Channel)
1 x Seagate Barracuda SATA 250GB
1 x Maxtor SATA 300GB
1 x Maxtor IDE 160GB
1 x Maxtor IDE 120GB (Powered externally and connected via SATA)

Ive managed to get 435/1.08 out of the 7800GT without artifacts, but anything higher gets quite a lot of artifacts.

My 3D Mark score without an overclock was around 6850, and with the overclock was 7445. I was expecting to get a bit faster than that, especially seeing as some people have far better scores (over 8000).

Could the poor overclocks be caused by a lack of power? (its only a 300w power supply in the box, but ive done some math and it should be enough for whats in there). Maybe i should try removing one of the internal hard drives to free up some more power?

I know a shuttle isnt the best for overclocking, but the card hasnt been running any higher than 63 on a full load, and the cooling system in the case is pretty good.

Could changing the BIOS provide a better overclock? Or have i just bagged a bad card?!

 

[karioskasra]

Flash the bios and remove the delta clock, you should be able to increase the oc. Add in a voltmod if feel particularly inclined.

 

[framerateuk]

Any particular BIOS i should try using?

ASUS dont seem to have a new BIOS availible, but ive been looking here:
http://www.mvktech.net/component/option,com_remository/Itemid,26/

Is it safe to use a BIOS from another brand of card?

 

[ScrewFace]

I think it is. I'm using the Gigabyte X800XT PE BIOS on my Sapphire X800 Pro (475/900) to get 16 pipes and an overclock to 550/1180.

 

[TraumaRN]

Make sure your heatsink is making good contact too...my 7800 came with a loose heatsink screw that could affect your overclocks in a big way, if that doesnt work....try applying your our AS5....try those before flashing your BIOS or volt modding as you could seriously fry your card by doing that...and lastly it *could* be too little power....my old computer my 6800GT couldnt get past Ultra speeds until I got a better power supply...

So in sum, check HSF contacts, apply AS5 as needed, take out a HDD and try again....if those dont work try flashing

 

[framerateuk]

Id gathered it was ok to change the BIOS but wasnt sure, any particular brand anyone would reccomend? (this was an asus card with standard clock speeds)

Ill deffinately try removing a hard drive first, it might free up some wattage, and its a drive i dont use much anyway(and if i did desperately need it could always connect it externally). And if that fails ill remove the heatsink, and make sure its attached properly!

 

[CraigRT]

my 7800GT sucks for OCing too.. I really want to get another NV5 on it and try again. I get almost the same speeds as you, and almost the same 3Dmark05 scores too! Crazy.. heh

 

[TraumaRN]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
my 7800GT sucks for OCing too.. I really want to get another NV5 on it and try again. I get almost the same speeds as you, and almost the same 3Dmark05 scores too! Crazy.. heh

So I suppose I'm lucky to get the speeds I get with stock cooler eh?

 

[framerateuk]

Slight update:

Ive managed to improve on my score by 100 marks by upping the memory to 1200. Doesent seem to cause any artifacts so far.

Score is now: 7551.

The card seems to be running pretty cool still, ill playtest it for a while and see if i can push any further!