OCing BFG 6800GT?

[xalar]

Welp, brand new system, so I'm attempting an OC on the already minorly OC'd BFG 6800GT. The GPU idles anywhere from 52-55C, and ambient at idle is 36-40C, which I think is well within normal range. When it's being pushed, it hops up anywhere from 5-10C, depending on the temp in my apartment.

So anyway, the card came at 370/1000, 20mhz over a stock GT. I've attempted a minor overcock of 10-20 more. However, when I do this, I get artifacts in 3DMark03, starting w/ the "troll" test. I'm at a loss here, as the temps remain basically the same w/ the minor OC, so I can't imagine it's a heat issue. The mobo is running on the newest drivers and bios, the card is running the latest drivers, the amd64 and ambient in the case are well within normal... dunno what the problem is. The card itself has the stock heatsink/fan, it has a sidepanel intake pointed directly at it, and a 120MM Vantec PCI card fan pushing air on it. An additional 2 80mm fans intake from the front of the case.

Any ideas or suggestions?

 

[Fistandantilis]

is your side panel fan an intak or exaust, if i have mine as an intake i make thing crappy but whe i turn it around (exaust) it runs friggin sweet, also not all cards OC the same and some card wont at all, i can get my evga 6800gt core to 420 with no artifacts and game like a champ on an abusive lan for hours but if i go any more than 410 on the ram i get issues. hope that helps a bit, good luck

 

[Jeff7181]

When the card is under a load it gets quite hot... even exiting a game and going to the drivers to read the temperature isn't accurage cause the temperature can drop 5 degrees C sometimes during the time it takes to exit the game and get to the temperature monitor.

That heat, plus the extra speed can be enough to cause instability.

I would just assume that's as good as you're gonna get. BFG guarantees it for 370, which is already better than a regular 6800GT.

 

[otispunkmeyer]

overclocking is always a gamble and never guarrantee'd to work, even if you have bought from BFG who many regard to be one of the best. even if it was a gainward golden sample theres still no guarrantee itll go faster than it already is. looks like you just got unlucky. its fast enough as it is in stock form

 

[BillyBobJoel71]

i ahve a bfg and i will not overclock it anymore. its at 370, and thats fine. i don't play that graphical intesnsive games and would rather keep it safe and have it for a while. besides i have stock cooling. but thats not abnormal, some cards don't oc very well.

 

[Kalessian]

If he is absolutely sure it isn't a heat problem, couldn't he get some hacked bios and try upping the voltage?

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Kalessian
If he is absolutely sure it isn't a heat problem, couldn't he get some hacked bios and try upping the voltage?

There's no way to be sure it isn't a heat problem. For example, at 50 degrees C, all the pipelines might work perfectly... at 60 degrees C, a couple of them might crap out... so they disable a quad and leave you with 12 pixel pipelines that run at full speed up to the maximum temperature it's rated at.

 

[SVT Cobra]

ive had problems like this with older gen cards.....some OC, sone don't....its the luck of the draw....

ive had two of the same cards...both 5200 ultras, one i couldnt push past 30mgz or so memory clock without it locking up in even 2d work....the other card just kept on going, i actually had to use the krusty keys to push it farther...i believe i got it up to 410/785 on water.....

 

[Jeff7181]

Originally posted by: Son of a N00b
ive had problems like this with older gen cards.....some OC, sone don't....its the luck of the draw....

ive had two of the same cards...both 5200 ultras, one i couldnt push past 30mgz or so memory clock without it locking up in even 2d work....the other card just kept on going, i actually had to use the krusty keys to push it farther...i believe i got it up to 410/785 on water.....

You water cooled a 5200? :shocked: Isn't that like turbo charging a Civic? Oh wait... 😀

 

[Navid]

Originally posted by: Jeff7181
even exiting a game and going to the drivers to read the temperature isn't accurage cause the temperature can drop 5 degrees C sometimes during the time it takes to exit the game and get to the temperature monitor.

You can easily set up RivaTuner to log the GPU temperatures. Then, you can see how the temperature varied as you played a game after finishing the game.

 

[ddogg]

just dont OC if your card is unable to. not all cards are overclockable. you can try and get a new cooler for the fan such as a Zalman VF700ALCU and then try to OC it.