How can you tell if a V5-5500 has been overclocked?

[bluemax]

Is there a way to tell if a V5-5500 has beeb overclocked to the point of damage? I might be trading my Geforce DDR for one (if I get a taker) and I don't want to get "burned". No pun intended.

What should I be checking for?

 

[Dark4ng3l]

Im pretty sure there is no way to tell. Unless they modified it(change the hs/f on the chips, aded ramsincs, etc.)

 

[MassMhz]

In my experience,if it works its good,especially if you can overclock it 10 to 15 percent and it is still stable.No way to tell how much life is left in it.Personally i like the Geforce,it's color is great and its fast.

 

[glen]

What do you mean get "burned?"
You think OCing hurt the card?

 

[bluemax]

It's sure possible. I've heard dozens of stories on here where V3 owners overclocked too much and lowered their "normal" speed because of it.
(eg. if default = 166mhz, overclocked to 180, caused damage (artifacts) brought back down to 166, artifacts still there, now only works properly at 143mhz.)

Something I want to avoid. Maybe my best bet is to compare benchmark scores on my 450A with the 5500... if it's too low, something's up.

 

[MikeyP]

Unless I am mistaking, there is no way to overclock a V5 from the PCB. Therefore when you get it, if it works, it works. The clock cannot be changed unless you use a utility like Powerstrip--great piece of software by the way

 

[Deeko]

You can download a utility that works with the 3dfx drivers to overclock the card. Without that utility, AFAIK, it will run at normal speed.

 

[madthumbs]

You can overclock it via the FSB, or the clock rate via software. I don't think overclocking it would do anymore dammage than putting it in a hot pc case. Overclockers normally make sure everything is cold and it is often better off with an overclocker than someone with a name brand PC. If you don't have user ratings for the seller, or there is no returns I would find an alternate venue, but I wouldn't worry 'bout it having been overclocked. You could check near the GPU's to see if there is any scorching.