OC Leadtek GF4 Ti4400

[Jibby]

Hi everyone. I don't overclock much at all, just started trying it on my computer to see what sort of performance gains I see in something like UT2k3. Here is my computer specs:

AthlonXP 1700+
Gigabyte GA-7VRXP mobbo
512 PC2100 DDR RAM
Leadtek GF4 Ti4400 Vivo

I'm running everything at stock speeds and cooling, etc. Now, I have a couple of questions about the Leadtek card:

1. Going through some of the utilities that come with the card, I noticed something that can monitor the temperature of the card, except it can't be used. Is this something that's only available for the Ti4200 and Ti4600 versions of the cards, perhaps?

2. I'm using the 40.72 drivers at the moment (OS is Win98SE). No problems with it. However, because I have little knowledge of overclocking, I thought it'd be safer if I use the oc utility that came with the card, so I reverted back to the Leadtek 31.00 drivers, and used Winfox v2 to do some overclocking. I bumped it up to the speeds of a GF4 Ti4600, played a few bot matches of UT2k3, and liked the improvement. So, I'm wondering then, is it fairly safe to run at GF4 Ti4600 speeds on a Ti4400 on stock cooling? If so, I might considering reverting back to the Leadtek drivers permanently and oc to Ti4600 speeds...

 

[ChampionAtTufshop]

since you have reverted back to the leadtek drivers, can you now use the temperature monitoring feature?

if not then just open the case up and feel the videcards heatsink and the ram sinks, if they are blazing hot/ warmer than warm, then i would put some sort of fan somewhere there so the air would be circulated

i also read your other post in overclocking section, and have recommended you get some case fans ifyou havnt already beacuase your system temperature is pretty high

usually it is common and fairly safe to bump ti4400 up to ti4600, but if it gets too hot it will be unstable
download 3dmark 2001 and see if you can get through 5-10 runs of it (loop it so the card doesnt have a chance to "cool down")

watch it for most of the runs and ifyou see any "tearing" or white spots where they shouldnt be, youve gone too high
try overclocking the ram as high as you can before the core, it has a higher effect
usually the core will max out at 300-310mhz, the ram isnt easily determined

 

[SeybaNumberTwo]

Mine maxes out at 313/652. I lock up with higher core, and get blotches in 2d with higher memory.

 

[CubicZirconia]

is it fairly safe to run at GF4 Ti4600 speeds on a Ti4400 on stock cooling?

As long as the card handles it, yes. If the card stands up to extended tests without any problems, it should be fine. They key is to increase speed slowly. I normally slowly up the memory speed until artifacts occur, then bring it down slightly until they dissappear. Then I do the same with the core speed (this time looking for lockups). I have been running my Abit gf4ti4400 at 690/315 for several months.

 

[JellyBaby]

is it fairly safe to run at GF4 Ti4600 speeds on a Ti4400 on stock cooling?

My 4400 has been doing 300/650 since last spring. Leadtek's stock cooling is more than adequate. A 30 pound heat sink with twin fans does wonders.

 

[WyteWatt]

I am running my Leadtek GF4 ti 4400 My Vivo Edition video card too for a while at 300/650. Thats all i wanted to run it at too. I didn't want any less.

 

[Jibby]

Thanks for the replies, guys! Hmmm... JellyBaby and Imtim83, a question for you guys: can you use that temperature monitor on your cards? ChampionatTufShop, reverting back to the Leadtek drivers still doesn't allow me to use the temperature monitor.

It seems like it can be fairly safe to run the card at Ti4600 speeds, though it'd be nice to see what sort of temperatures I'll get. So, would you guys say that I can run it at that speed for 4 years? I'll probably go get a new computer at the end of next year or so, and I would still use this current computer as a backup/lan, so I don't want to just use it for another year and have the card die afterwards. Hehe, sorry about asking something like that, but the main thing that held me back from overclocking was that I don't want to have to fork out the cash to replace burnt-out components. Going up to Ti4600 speeds and keeping it there shouldn't shorten the card's lifespan much at all, should it? Or is that something that's too hard to speculate?

ChampionatTufShop, I've gone back to the 40.72 drivers for the moment, but I will most definitely go back to the leadtek drivers, overclock, and run 3dmark that many times. Probably won't get around to doing that in the next couple of days, but definitely afterwards, so thanks for the advice.

 

[Jibby]

Btw, ChampionatTufShop, I just replied in my thread in the CPU forum. If any of the other guys want to give me some advice in that matter too....

 

[JellyBaby]

Jibby, I have the first version of the 4400 hence no thermal monitoring system. I had that ability on my previous Asus GF2 card. It was neat to play with it at first but I honestly found no benefit from it and never touched it after the first week.

The 4400 can take a 300/650 overclock just fine. No one can predict the life expectancy change but I don't see why you couldn't run it 24/7 for 4 years without a hiccup. You have 2 fans in there so if one fails the other will still work to move heat off the sink.

 

[MatthewF01]

i have my Leadtek ti4200 running at 310/594. Mine SAID it had the hardware monitoring system, but its not enabled in the Winfox utility!!!


anyone know the deal there...


do you think itd be better to lower the core and up the memory?