Could the 5850 TOP be damaged?

[Jenslyn87]

Bought this card which has seen very good reviews, and to be frank I was a bit disappointed. I really had to up the voltage to see any real results.

Anyway I got frustrated and tried like 3 or 4 times just to go all out because I saw in other reviews that the card should do like 950 to 1 Gig on the GPU. So I popped my voltage all the way up to 1.35, which is max in smartdoctor, and the gpu all the way up to 950, which is also the max in smart doctor. I even tried to put the ram speeds up to around 1300 mhz.

So basically it was all problems. 3d mark 06 would close down completely in a matter of no time at all and I would be force to reboot. The ram would also sometimes make the screen flicker in a weird way.

So I tried this a few times and got to my senses. I was just going to keep on crashing. So now I run with a stable overclock of 900 / 1175 @ 1.250 voltage.

My question is if I could've done any real damage by being so bold, or if you think I'm good? I thoroughly regret trying my luck out of frustration... I mean the card runs well enough, but is there a good chance that it will start to make artifacts, flicker, make games stutter or whatever now because I could've damaged my card permanently? I certainly hope not...

So I'm just concerned that I might've like semi-fried my card... it's certainly not dead and running quite stable now, but maybe it's just a matter of time before artifacts and stutter begin to signal that I've gone too far.

What do you guys think? If I had damaged the card, would it just fry coimpletely and be very obvious about it? that would calm me down since it runs fine right now...

 

[happy medium]

The card is fine, not all cards will do 950 core, don't beleive the hype.

 

[Kenmitch]

5850 overclocking 101 is as follows. Purchase an ATI ref design card. Easy way to tell is look on pcb above the pci-e connector on the fan side it'll have an AMD logo visible in center.

As far as overclocking goes it's hit and miss on it and varies from card to card. All the best overclock's are achieved with a bios flash to a hacked bios. Only available on the ref design of cards tho.

As far as damaging your card. It's possible but only time will tell. If it seems to be functioning properly most likely it'll be ok.

Mine in sig is running with the hacked Asus 5870 bios with 1.275v to the core. And is cooled by a full water block.

 

[Jenslyn87]

Thanks! But let's say I've damaged the card... aren't there any signs I can easily decipher? I just hope so bad I haven't damaged it. I'm very neurotic and now when I see minimal stutter or something in games I'm so afraid my graphics card is damaged...It's sucks being neurotic

Oh and btw I'm not asking if the card is fine since it can only do like 900 mhz... I'm asking if I could've caused some subtle damage to it via my overclock and overvoltage!

 

[smackababy]

The card is fine, not all cards will do 950 core, don't beleive the hype.

You mean all Q6600s won't hit 4ghz on air?

 

[Kenmitch]

Thanks! But let's say I've damaged the card... aren't there any signs I can easily decipher? I just hope so bad I haven't damaged it. I'm very neurotic and now when I see minimal stutter or something in games I'm so afraid my graphics card is damaged...It's sucks being neurotic

Oh and btw I'm not asking if the card is fine since it can only do like 900 mhz... I'm asking if I could've caused some subtle damage to it via my overclock and overvoltage!

Most likely the card has no damage from your adventure....Unless your getting nasty artifacts, bars, lockups and a garbled screen

Just play some games and maybe do the benchmarks like Heaven and 3dmark etc. Maybe try some Furmark but just do the benchmark runs! Watch the heat tho

 

[Qbah]

Thanks! But let's say I've damaged the card... aren't there any signs I can easily decipher? I just hope so bad I haven't damaged it. I'm very neurotic and now when I see minimal stutter or something in games I'm so afraid my graphics card is damaged...It's sucks being neurotic

Oh and btw I'm not asking if the card is fine since it can only do like 900 mhz... I'm asking if I could've caused some subtle damage to it via my overclock and overvoltage!

If the card is working fine in games, no hang ups, no artifacts, no crashes, you're fine and you didn't damage it. Run a few 3DMark Vantage loops to make sure perhaps?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I would say as long as it's working it's fine. If it decides to take a shit you can rma it and get another one. I believe asus will rma stuff even if it's been overclocked.


If you need that much faster of a card why not just buy a 5870?

 

[Jenslyn87]

-thanks guys! seems it's fine! If I experience very minor hiccups occasionally in games, could that be from a damaged card? Like my units in SC2 stand still for a fraction of a second for example?

If I can run 3d mark 06 and vantage fine and with ok score, the card shouldnt be damaged at all?

 

[Kenmitch]

I would say as long as it's working it's fine. If it decides to take a shit you can rma it and get another one. I believe asus will rma stuff even if it's been overclocked.


If you need that much faster of a card why not just buy a 5870?

I think it's the bang for the buck factor! Buy 5850 overclock faster than the 5870 and get equal to or greater performance depending on overclock

Any free speed is good. Going from 725 --- 900 is still a good overclock

 

[Kenmitch]

-thanks guys! seems it's fine! If I experience very minor hiccups occasionally in games, could that be from a damaged card? Like my units in SC2 stand still for a fraction of a second for example?

If I can run 3d mark 06 and vantage fine and with ok score, the card shouldnt be damaged at all?

A hickup here and there is normal. I'd think as long as your sure your overclock is stable you'll be alright. Play around and see.

Figure in 3dmark Vantage your gpu will score around 16K or so maybe. Mine in sig will break 20K

 

[Qbah]

-thanks guys! seems it's fine! If I experience very minor hiccups occasionally in games, could that be from a damaged card? Like my units in SC2 stand still for a fraction of a second for example?

If I can run 3d mark 06 and vantage fine and with ok score, the card shouldnt be damaged at all?

Any abnormalities may be caused by an unstable overclock. Run the card stock and see if the issue persists. Also check around if it's not a driver issue.

I don't think a damaged card would do something like what you describe. It may be throttling down due to instability from the OC though. A damaged card would show up in a more drastic manner (artifacts, hang ups, crashes).

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

I think it's the bang for the buck factor! Buy 5850 overclock faster than the 5870 and get equal to or greater performance depending on overclock

Any free speed is good. Going from 725 --- 900 is still a good overclock

I never really got into overclocking video cards. You won't get a whole lot more out of them and they tend to use much more power for little gains. It's not like taking a i7 920 from 2.66 to 4.0ghz. That's a huge difference. It's like taking the 2.66 to 2.83.

 

[Jenslyn87]

Thanks I guess it's fine! I'm just being over nervous!

But anyway I scored 2112 on 3D mark 06 with Engine = 901 and memory = 25 mhz overclock

I have an i7 860 overclocked from FSB 133 to 140... I guess the turbo function gets gooing in 3D Mark

I have 4 gigs of ram, 1333 mhz

Is my score ok for this setup and these clocks?

Also I managed to do something stupid again, lol. I was bored with the testing so I figured I would see how much heat gets passed through the GFX since it runs hot. I get a kitchen knife and put the metal on the card, holding the other side of the metal in my hand to see if the knife would quickly pick up the heat. Then, it sounded like a small spark I think and the screen just turned black mid test. When I restarted the computer nothing seemed to have happened though, although clocks were reset.

What do you guyhs think happened and should I be worried now? This is the last time I fundle around with the card, promise... I just didn't that would do anything

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

How old are you, 14?

 

[Jenslyn87]

Lol I'm 23, I'm just too bored. What happened when I put the knife on the card?

I know it was stupid

 

[Jenslyn87]

Anyway, I know it was extremely stupid, I just didn't think. I'll stop fiddling around now cause I obviously don't have a clue. But can u tell me what happened and if my score is ok?

The card seems to work fine

 

[Bill Brasky]

Also I managed to do something stupid again, lol. I was bored with the testing so I figured I would see how much heat gets passed through the GFX since it runs hot. I get a kitchen knife and put the metal on the card, holding the other side of the metal in my hand to see if the knife would quickly pick up the heat. Then, it sounded like a small spark I think and the screen just turned black mid test. When I restarted the computer nothing seemed to have happened though, although clocks were reset.

Dude. Stop breaking your computer. I command you to go outside and get some sun. The next time you feel like sticking a knife in your graphics card, fire up a game and enjoy your card instead.

 

[Jenslyn87]

Lol I know seriously I didn't even think about it. Honestly I just thought that the print wasn't metal so no current would pass through.

I don't know man, I know it was stupid. But can anyone tell me what happened?

 

[railven]

Did you stick the knife in the card, ie between the shroud/Heatsink and PCB/board or on the shorud/heatsink?

Eitherway, it sounds like you caused a short. You seemed to have been lucky - shorts can cause permanent hardware failure. The short was most likely caused by static charge in you transfering from the knife to the board.

YOu want to see how hot your card is getting load up Catalyst and check the Overdrive tab for an idea. I'd advise sticking anything into your case when the computer is running.

 

[DaveSimmons]

Paint chips -- just how tasty are they?

Please don't poke your PC with a piece of metal while it's running, you might make it angry. You wouldn't like it when it's angry.

 

[Jenslyn87]

I just put it on top of the card. The side where there is nothing mounted...

I didn't stick it into anything, it just rested on top of the card. I just hope I haven't damaged it :O

 

[Jenslyn87]

Anyone? Do you think I lucked out or could it cause more subtle damage? Just ran 3d mark for over one hour with no problem... am I good? :O

Also, if someone could tell me if more score in 3D mark 06 is ok given my specs and clocks, I'd appreciate it

 

[pmv]

Tune in next week when our hero attempts 'this water cooling thing I've heard so much about' by submerging his PC in the bath.

 

[Jenslyn87]

Yea we get it, it was stupid. Can we move on now ;-)?