My problem is that I don't seem to be able to get a really good overclock on my Connect3D Radeon X850 XT PE. I'm not sure I really *need* much of an overclock cos the card is so fast anyhow but it frustrates me and intrigues me that others can seem to and I can't. I have seen others get above 590 core and 620 mem. Using ATITool I can obtain a modest 561 Core and 600 mem and ensure that I stay stable (no artificats) when playing, for example, Counter Strike Source - or ensure that I just don't suddenly crash out of Far Cry completely.
At present I get the following (all in degrees c):
IDLE: CPU 28, Mobo (NF4 chipset) 42, Mobo (PWMIC) 40, GPU 47
LOAD: CPU 40, Mobo (NF4 chipset) 48, Mobo (PWMIC) 52, GPU 86 (!)
No O/Cing on CPU or Mem and in fact at present running AMD Cool n Quiet.
At the end of the post I'll put my system spec as that may help.
Anyhow, last night I installed the Arctic Cooling ATI Silencer 5 Rev2 on the X850 - hoping that this would decrease noise and temps. Well it's certainly decreased the noise - but it seems to have little or no effect on temps which is very frustrating! (Considering the size of the cooler and how much damn space it takes up - actually slightly MORE than 2 slots!). I've configured the fan speed in ATITool so that it try's to keep the card at 55degrees (probably unrealistic but just wanted to set a temp that means the fan should be running full pelt to assess the effect). I notice the that 'exhaust' given off by this fan is very little....should that be the case? I have a near-silent and very effect 99p (!) PCI slot exhaust fan in the case also and that tunnels a shed load of air - totally incomparable to what's coming from the back of the Gfx card.
Can anyone give me some insights on why I could be getting such high temps and whether its this that's screwing the OC'ing ability. What could I do about it? (apart from water cooling).
Cheers!
Damian
SYSTEM:
DFI LanParty NF4 Ultra SLI-D
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ (winchester)
Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 HS+F
Connect3D ATI Radeon X850 XT PE (with Artic Cooling ATI silencer 5 Rev 2)
Seagate Barracuda 200GB SATA * 2
Creative Labs Audigy 2 ZS
Enermax Noistaker 485w
NEC 3520A DVD RW
Sony DVD Rom
Sony 3.5" Diskette
Coolermaster Wavemaster case (2 x front 80mm inlet fan, 1 x top 80mm inlet fan, 1 x rear 80mm exhaust fan, 1 x rear PCI Slot exhaust fan)
