Is it worth it to get superclocked?

[Xarick]

I am using the evga step up to get the 8800gts 320.
They have the standard version for $299 or the superclock for $319.

Is the extra $20 worth it?

 

[Cheex]

Good question...I would like to know also....bump...

 

[chinkgai]

i dont have the answer but...if you're already spending 300, whats another 20?

 

[Skott]

I'm just taking a guess here but I think its going to depend on the individual mainly. I'll assume the user could just as easily OC it to the superclock factory settings. If this is true then do you want them to do it or would you rather do it and save $20? The only thing to consider would be if the superclock version has better cooling on it or not. Havent seen it so I cant comment about that. But if its the same cooling fan setup no reason to buy the superclock version. Until we see tests we wont know if the regular version can be clocked up to the superclock settings.

 

[Fallen Kell]

It is probably worth the difference in costs, assuming you don't overclock yourself. The superclock runs at the same core speed as the GTX... but that assumes you play games that are processor limited, not memory limited. Just look at the review to see where you fit as to what games you play.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: Xarick
I am using the evga step up to get the 8800gts 320.
They have the standard version for $299 or the superclock for $319.

Is the extra $20 worth it?

What card are you stepping up from? I would not reccommend stepping up to that particular card if you have anything more than a 7900 GT.

 

[Xarick]

I have a 7950gt 256. I don't have the cash to jump to the 640 version so I have to step up to the 320 for dx10.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: Xarick
I have a 7950gt 256. I don't have the cash to jump to the 640 version so I have to step up to the 320 for dx10.

I guess if you feel that you must. How much are you going to have to pay?

 

[Xarick]

98 for the non superclocked. 118 for the superclocked. That price includes the shipping

 

[lavaheadache]

Not a bad deal, I would go for the superclocked version. Even if it isn't that much more of a performance increase you'll get more for it if you ever try to sell

 

[Xarick]

wow.. well evga has already started my step up.. so aparently they are now instock.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

I think the only difference is warranty. The stock card can easily be overclocked to its Superclock speeds. The difference is who does it. If the company does it, you get the warranty but pay more. If You do it, you save money but kill your warranty.

In any case, I'm the type who would even OC a Superclock so I wouldn't have a warranty anyway... hence I would choose the stock card. If warranty is a concern however, buy the SuperClock.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
I think the only difference is warranty. The stock card can easily be overclocked to its Superclock speeds. The difference is who does it. If the company does it, you get the warranty but pay more. If You do it, you save money but kill your warranty.

In any case, I'm the type who would even OC a Superclock so I wouldn't have a warranty anyway... hence I would choose the stock card. If warranty is a concern however, buy the SuperClock.

umm, EVGA warranty isn't voided by oc'ing

 

[Xarick]

I dont usually oc so I will buy their superclock.

 

[Sniper82]

its worth it IMO. For $20 more its ready to go and is a little faster. No having to manually set the speeds using different apps and/or flashing the bios and risking killing the card.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
I think the only difference is warranty. The stock card can easily be overclocked to its Superclock speeds. The difference is who does it. If the company does it, you get the warranty but pay more. If You do it, you save money but kill your warranty.

In any case, I'm the type who would even OC a Superclock so I wouldn't have a warranty anyway... hence I would choose the stock card. If warranty is a concern however, buy the SuperClock.

umm, EVGA warranty isn't voided by oc'ing

so I can overclock it as far as I want, and if I ruin it as a result, they'll replace it?? That sounds... far fetched.

 

[Sniper82]

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
I think the only difference is warranty. The stock card can easily be overclocked to its Superclock speeds. The difference is who does it. If the company does it, you get the warranty but pay more. If You do it, you save money but kill your warranty.

In any case, I'm the type who would even OC a Superclock so I wouldn't have a warranty anyway... hence I would choose the stock card. If warranty is a concern however, buy the SuperClock.

umm, EVGA warranty isn't voided by oc'ing

so I can overclock it as far as I want, and if I ruin it as a result, they'll replace it?? That sounds... far fetched.

I might be wrong here(to lazy to look up their warranty policy) but I don't think they do RMA on overclocked cards just aftermarket cooling. Thats if no damage is done to the card putting the aftermarket cooler on.

But I say ppl still do it anyway(RMA their o/ced cards that they kill) since there is no way of knowing unless they flashed their bios.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Originally posted by: Sniper82

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
I think the only difference is warranty. The stock card can easily be overclocked to its Superclock speeds. The difference is who does it. If the company does it, you get the warranty but pay more. If You do it, you save money but kill your warranty.

In any case, I'm the type who would even OC a Superclock so I wouldn't have a warranty anyway... hence I would choose the stock card. If warranty is a concern however, buy the SuperClock.

umm, EVGA warranty isn't voided by oc'ing

so I can overclock it as far as I want, and if I ruin it as a result, they'll replace it?? That sounds... far fetched.

I might be wrong here(to lazy to look up their warranty policy) but I don't think they allow overclocked cards just aftermarket cooling. Thats if no damage is done to the card putting the aftermarket cooler on.

I looked into it a bit just now and I guess the policy fails to explicitly say overclocking does not void the warranty. It only says products are not warrantied against physical damage, but are warrantied against nonphysical damage (power surges, etc.)

SO I guess the real issue is, if you OC your card, and eVGA finds physical damage as a result (i.e. melted transistor or something), you are NOT covered. if your card bears no physical damage, it IS covered. SO.... it seems like an ambigous scenario. The warranty would cover OCing only if no physical damage resulted from it.

 

[lavaheadache]

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: Sniper82

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
I think the only difference is warranty. The stock card can easily be overclocked to its Superclock speeds. The difference is who does it. If the company does it, you get the warranty but pay more. If You do it, you save money but kill your warranty.

In any case, I'm the type who would even OC a Superclock so I wouldn't have a warranty anyway... hence I would choose the stock card. If warranty is a concern however, buy the SuperClock.

umm, EVGA warranty isn't voided by oc'ing

so I can overclock it as far as I want, and if I ruin it as a result, they'll replace it?? That sounds... far fetched.

I might be wrong here(to lazy to look up their warranty policy) but I don't think they allow overclocked cards just aftermarket cooling. Thats if no damage is done to the card putting the aftermarket cooler on.

I looked into it a bit just now and I guess the policy fails to explicitly say overclocking does not void the warranty. It only says products are not warrantied against physical damage, but are warrantied against nonphysical damage (power surges, etc.)

SO I guess the real issue is, if you OC your card, and eVGA finds physical damage as a result (i.e. melted transistor or something), you are NOT covered. if your card bears no physical damage, it IS covered. SO.... it seems like an ambigous scenario. The warranty would cover OCing only if no physical damage resulted from it.

told you so!!!

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: Sniper82

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead

Originally posted by: lavaheadache

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
I think the only difference is warranty. The stock card can easily be overclocked to its Superclock speeds. The difference is who does it. If the company does it, you get the warranty but pay more. If You do it, you save money but kill your warranty.

In any case, I'm the type who would even OC a Superclock so I wouldn't have a warranty anyway... hence I would choose the stock card. If warranty is a concern however, buy the SuperClock.

umm, EVGA warranty isn't voided by oc'ing

so I can overclock it as far as I want, and if I ruin it as a result, they'll replace it?? That sounds... far fetched.

I might be wrong here(to lazy to look up their warranty policy) but I don't think they allow overclocked cards just aftermarket cooling. Thats if no damage is done to the card putting the aftermarket cooler on.

I looked into it a bit just now and I guess the policy fails to explicitly say overclocking does not void the warranty. It only says products are not warrantied against physical damage, but are warrantied against nonphysical damage (power surges, etc.)

SO I guess the real issue is, if you OC your card, and eVGA finds physical damage as a result (i.e. melted transistor or something), you are NOT covered. if your card bears no physical damage, it IS covered. SO.... it seems like an ambigous scenario. The warranty would cover OCing only if no physical damage resulted from it.

told you so!!!

Well hang on there... you're only mostly correct. Your overclock won't be covered if eVGA finds physical damage has resulted from it. The potential is still there that somebody could overclock the card, fry something, have a physical trace stem from it, and consequently be out-of-warranty. But as far as how often that kind of damage results from an overclock... I don't know if it's common or not but I have seen reports of manufacturers concluding a card as been overclocked just by studying the chip/transistors on it. That tells me that it can leave physical damage behind.

It is still apparent to me, however, that eVGA certainly has a much better attitude towards it than any other manufacturer, and I think it's awesome. I just don't hope they get raked over the coals by people frying their cards on purpose once they get out-of-date, then getting a replacement via warranty.

 

[happy medium]

Originally posted by: Xarick
I am using the evga step up to get the 8800gts 320.
They have the standard version for $299 or the superclock for $319.

Is the extra $20 worth it?

I'd get the superclocked one and overclock it more:thumbsup:

 

[Skott]

My understanding of it is that if you overclock it and it just stops working or working correctly (the two most common forms of breakdown) you are covered. If you volt mod it or try to flash the BIOS for more performance (hardcore users do this sometimes) then its not covered. Those are two types of physical damage.

 

[Bill Brasky]

Along the same lines, would they be able to detect a software volt mod? Or would it just look like an overheated, oc'ed card?

Come to think of it, I don't even know if soft volt mods are possible on these cards.

 

[chizow]

EVGA and BFG will replace your card if it dies even if you OC, however, doing stuff like flashing the BIOS to achieve an OC or "trick" the card into doing more than its specs will void your warranty. They basically rely on Windows, your card and mobo to let you know if you're in danger of destroying your card via OC'ing by greeting you with a big fat BSOD or reboot.

As for Superclocked vs. Regular. Not worth it IMO unless the Superclocked version consistently prove to OC more. The standard version OC extremely well (evidenced in the early 8800 reviews) and without any physical evidence (removing the HSF and looking at IC #s or revisions) or reports of speed-binned parts, I'm going to say they're exactly the same cards with a slightly different looking HSF. The ACS3 heat sink on the EVGA doesn't look to be anything spectacular or unique, just a bunch more holes in the shroud but the underlying fan/heatsink is similar to the excellent reference cooler.

 

[JBT]

Personally I don't think that many people actually fry these cards unless they are being really stupid.