• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

Factory OCed?

Cellulose

Cellulose

Senior member
I am about to buy an XFX 8800gts 320mb however there is the extreme and XXX edition. I want to avoid destroying the card as warranty regarding my situation is slightly iffy. If there was a performance difference then I wouldn't mind OCing a bit though...

If I stick with the original version will I be able to OC to XXX clocks without more risk than a pre-overclocked card?

Thanks a lot 🙂
Joe
 
The manufacturers just hand pick the better chips so they can create the OC versions and provide warranty on them. Most of the time any of the chips can be overclocked to the same values without any trouble at all.
 
IMO it can be worth it if you are the type that doesnt want the hassle of OCing it yourself and got the extra money to buy the OC version. Manufacturers know there are some people who just dont want to OC the card themselves and you do still get a warranty. Also some OCed cards come with extra cooling features but it depends on the manufacturer and model. As Cutthroat says you can pretty much OC a regular card to what the OC card is on your own if you want.
 
EVGA 320mb - $260

After $20 MIR. This is what I ordered this weekend. Overclocking and aftermarket heatsinks are covered by warranty and it has a 90-day step-up program in case 8900 series come out in 90 days and you feel generous to upgrade (altough their site prices are a bit high). If you are going to spend $310 on XXX edition, you might as well go with cheapest 640mb 8800GTS. Also, you can get an aftermarket cooler on that $260 card and get even better OC.
 
In general I don't like factory overclocked boards because it seems like the vendors are just trying to beat each other with bigger graphs at the expense of stability.

It's true there's a warranty but if the card fails it's still a hassle.
 
Yeah but thats true of any card though. If it fails its a hassle to return/exchange it. To my knowledge the OC card failure rate isn't any higher than a regular non-OC card. Its cheaper to OC it yourself but for those that are less inclined to want to deal with OCing there are the OC cards. Thats why the manufacturers make them.
 
To my knowledge the OC card failure rate isn't any higher than a regular non-OC card.
Click to expand...
Remember the 7900 GT OC fiasco with eVGA, BFG and XFX?

Large amounts of those cards were failing because they were overclocked.
 
I have a 7800GS Superclock and a 7600GT KO and have had no problems with them. Of course not all models are alike. Hmmm... was the 7900GT the one with the bad memory chips? Now that I think about it I remember something about one of the models from nVidia having bad memory chips in the beginning. But they fixed that I thought. Didnt the regular cards have the problem too?
 
Originally posted by: Skott
I have a 7800GS Superclock and a 7600GT KO and have had no problems with them. Of course not all models are alike. Hmmm... was the 7900GT the one with the bad memory chips? Now that I think about it I remember something about one of the models from nVidia having bad memory chips in the beginning. But they fixed that I thought. Didnt the regular cards have the problem too?
Click to expand...

The initial OC'ed 7900GT models were the ones that had high failure rates. The regular ones did have some duds, too, but it was reputedly much higher with the OC'ed cards. IIRC, it was a VRM issue where the OC'ed cards were pushing it too hard and it would freak out and overvolt the RAM, eventually killing it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top