First-time overclocker - Leadtek 6600gt

[MrTwister1]

I just overclocked my Leadtek 6600gt for the first time after owning it for 9 months. I never knew this thing had so much to offer. Right now I am at 570/1.2. Idle temp of 44.
Running very stable. 3d mark went from 3523 to 4066. Biggest difference I have noticed is with gaming. Halo with everything set on high now runs as smooth as silk. I will definitely buy a second and sli. I can't wait to see that result.

1 question I do have though is there a certain ratio you should keep between core clock frequency and memory clock frequency? Is there a right way to overclock or is it just whatever you can get away with while keeping everything stable?

I am probably also cheating myself by not overclocking my 3500+ winnie. Maybe I will do that after the gpu.

 

[CKXP]

hey congrats, 4000+ is a good score with a 6600gt. as long as you're not pushing your card to the point where you're seeing atrifacts, lockups, or high temps you be fine. AFAIK there's not set rule to a certain ration between your GPU and memory, just try to find your card limitations on both, and back down from there til you find a "sweet spot" which your card can handle.

 

[MrTwister1]

Originally posted by: CKXP
hey congrats, 4000+ is a good score with a 6600gt. as long as you're not pushing your card to the point where you're seeing atrifacts, lockups, or high temps you be fine. AFAIK there's not set rule to a certain ration between your GPU and memory, just try to find your card limitations on both, and back down from there til you find a "sweet spot" which your card can handle.

Thank you. I have no artifacts or issues whatsoever. I almost feel like i have a new video card. Very cool! I will try to push it a little further. Temp under load is 75c. No wonder most people swear by Leadtek.

 

[KBTuning]

75 is kinda high... get a new cooler if your gonna keep going higher.

 

[MrTwister1]

Originally posted by: KBTuning
75 is kinda high... get a new cooler if your gonna keep going higher.

Is there a cooler that fits nicely on the leadtek?

 

[Doctorweir]

The good old 6600GTs still kick...
Not specifically sure about the Leadtek, but the Zalman VF700Cu is an excellent cooler and should fit on it.
In combination with AS5 it kept my 6600GT under 80C during load even when voltage modded to 1.7V and running 625/1350...
In my current setup (normal volts -i.e. 1.4- on both cards) the idle/load temps are around 38C/70C with clocks @ 588/1305.

 

[MrTwister1]

Originally posted by: Doctorweir
The good old 6600GTs still kick...
Not specifically sure about the Leadtek, but the Zalman VF700Cu is an excellent cooler and should fit on it.
In combination with AS5 it kept my 6600GT under 80C during load even when voltage modded to 1.7V and running 625/1350...
In my current setup (normal volts -i.e. 1.4- on both cards) the idle/load temps are around 38C/70C with clocks @ 588/1305.

I don't know that I want to put a $30.00 cooler on a $100.00 video card. I don't think my temps are high enough to be alarming. There are cards that run much hotter.

 

[moonboy403]

i wouldn't recommend goin sli with 6600 gt

correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't 6600gt sli = 1 6800 gt?

i'd recommend getting a 6800 gs or perhaps cough up 275 or so getting a 7800 gt
it'll most definitely double your performance

 

[MrTwister1]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
i wouldn't recommend goin sli with 6600 gt

correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't 6600gt sli = 1 6800 gt?

i'd recommend getting a 6800 gs or perhaps cough up 275 or so getting a 7800 gt
it'll most definitely double your performance

I don't think 2 6600gts would handle business too badly. 1 is pretty impressive to begin with. 2 of these in sli and oc'd would work nicely for me. Plus I have been dying to try sli.

 

[moonboy403]

hahah....i got the sli bug too

then i went ahead and had 7800 gt sli
which was pretty damn good

but my psu wasn't that beefy so it was pretty flaky went i oced my cards
and you have to have really good case ventilation also

 

[MrTwister1]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
hahah....i got the sli bug too

then i went ahead and had 7800 gt sli
which was pretty damn good

but my psu wasn't that beefy so it was pretty flaky went i oced my cards
and you have to have really good case ventilation also

I have the OCZ Powerstream 520W. I think this thing can power a small town. I have the Coolermaster Praetorian which has awesome ventilation. I don't think I will have issues with sli.

 

[blckgrffn]

Originally posted by: MrTwister1

Originally posted by: moonboy403
hahah....i got the sli bug too

then i went ahead and had 7800 gt sli
which was pretty damn good

but my psu wasn't that beefy so it was pretty flaky went i oced my cards
and you have to have really good case ventilation also

I have the OCZ Powerstream 520W. I think this thing can power a small town. I have the Coolermaster Praetorian which has awesome ventilation. I don't think I will have issues with sli.

An added bonus for SLI in your case is that you won't have to worry about moving the old video card.

Go for it and tell us how it goes

 

[Doctorweir]

Originally posted by: moonboy403
i wouldn't recommend goin sli with 6600 gt

correct me if i'm wrong, but isn't 6600gt sli = 1 6800 gt?

i'd recommend getting a 6800 gs or perhaps cough up 275 or so getting a 7800 gt
it'll most definitely double your performance

With the new drivers and the enhanced SLI support in newer games, SLI is more than worth a shot IMHO.
I went for SLI mostly because of curiosity and cos I wanted to fool around with it
Interestingly though, my 3Dmark05 scores (yes, yes, synthetic, I know, but anyway) are on par with a single 7800GT which quite impressed me...

 

[crazylegs]

I am also a reletively unexperienced OCer... have owned my current PC for about 4 months and it is the first since the Pentium II days (used to use school / uni / mates PC's !!!)

Anyway, i got lucky when putting my system together and managed to choose an OC friendly CPU so fairly soon after putting it together i OCed that from 1800mhz to 2450mhz.... not bad for 1st timer

Second, i did not even know you could OC GPU's until i had my system up and running for a while and found a topic on here !!! So, my next move was to OC my 6600GT - i did this using CoolBits (not sure what you used?!?) and NVTempLogger for the temps...

My max stable OC was 579 / 1090 - max core simlar to yours but mem WAY down wont seem to budge above 1090 !!!!

But i still recorded exactly 4100 on 3DMark05 Pro

Running @ 579/1090 the load (i.e. FEAR for a long time) temps IMO were a little extreme i.e. 70-73C according to NVLogger so i backed off a little....

 

[Doctorweir]

Well, for my part the high memory OC of my cards is also due to the memory chips used by Gainward => 1.6ns (2.0 is usual/reference for 6600GT).
But even with these timings the memory performance is brilliant...

 

[crazylegs]

Even so, not sure why my mem wont budge at all above 1090 using Coolbits.... going to give Riva or Powerstrip a go - seeing as my core does raise quite nicely!!!

 

[MrTwister1]

Originally posted by: crazylegs
Even so, not sure why my mem wont budge at all above 1090 using Coolbits.... going to give Riva or Powerstrip a go - seeing as my core does raise quite nicely!!!

Which model number is your Leadtek gpu? I think they came out with a couple different versions. Maybe that has something to do with it. Once again I am no expert here. Just trying to help out.

Anyway, I was reading an article on Anandtech about overclocking 6600gt gpus and they had the Leadtek oc'd to 576/1150. I followed suit with mine and it works perfect.

 

[crazylegs]

Originally posted by: KBTuning
75 is kinda high... get a new cooler if your gonna keep going higher.

Am inclined to agree... but these things (mine anyway) hit 70+ @ stock so 73/75 does not look like such a major difference...?

Secondly did u guys use Coolbits, Riva or Powerstrip to OC ur 6600GT's?

Thirdly... MrTwister got a link to that article ??

thanks all

 

[Doctorweir]

Rivatuner...more accurate than Coolbits. Plus you have all the other nice features (like skipping the testing, temp monitor, etc.)...

 

[Malladine]

Originally posted by: MrTwister1
I just overclocked my Leadtek 6600gt for the first time after owning it for 9 months. I never knew this thing had so much to offer. Right now I am at 570/1.2. Idle temp of 44.
Running very stable. 3d mark went from 3523 to 4066. Biggest difference I have noticed is with gaming. Halo with everything set on high now runs as smooth as silk. I will definitely buy a second and sli. I can't wait to see that result.

1 question I do have though is there a certain ratio you should keep between core clock frequency and memory clock frequency? Is there a right way to overclock or is it just whatever you can get away with while keeping everything stable?

I am probably also cheating myself by not overclocking my 3500+ winnie. Maybe I will do that after the gpu.

What are you ocing with?

 

[MrTwister1]

Originally posted by: crazylegs

Originally posted by: KBTuning
75 is kinda high... get a new cooler if your gonna keep going higher.

Am inclined to agree... but these things (mine anyway) hit 70+ @ stock so 73/75 does not look like such a major difference...?

Secondly did u guys use Coolbits, Riva or Powerstrip to OC ur 6600GT's?

Thirdly... MrTwister got a link to that article ??

thanks all

Link to article

I am using Coolbits to oc.

 

[crazylegs]

Kudos for the Linky MrTwister

 

[Leper Messiah]

nice. Thinking about selling my 7800GT and getting a 6600GT since I don't really game at all anymore, and the $200+ net I'd get from it would be helpful...

 

[Doctorweir]

Originally posted by: Leper Messiah
nice. Thinking about selling my 7800GT and getting a 6600GT since I don't really game at all anymore, and the $200+ net I'd get from it would be helpful...

Shhhhh...you could be permabanned from this forums if talking about DOWNGRADING your PC that loud...

 

[MrTwister1]

Not to get off subject here but I have been doing some reading on the XFX 6800gs. It seems out-of-the-box people are scoring almost 6000 on 3dmark05. With 2 in sli over 10000. Not bad for a card around $200.00.

Ok my revised plan is to sell my 6600gt and sli 2 6800gs gpus.