Overclocking an FX5200

[kaizersose]

I have an Apollo 5200 which has a heat sink for cooling the GPU. This is great for noise, but I am wondering if OC'ing it is going to destroy the card. What will happen if the heat gets too high? Will it become unstable or will there be hardware damage? I just want some mild performance increases, I know I have budget card.

 

[Jeff7181]

It will become unstable before you do any damage. Watch for "tearing" in games, which is pieces of the screen that seem to be missing... watch close cause it only happens for a second every now and then. I start to see tearing in Battlefield 1942 before I see it in other games, so that's the game I use when I'm testing a new video card's overclocking abilities. Then of course I'll watch 3DMark closely to be sure no tearing happens in any of those tests. That's an indication that your RAM is clocked too high. The GPU, well, basically you can increase that until it either becomes too hot, or your games crash or lock up.

 

[Pete]

Firstly, run a looping 3D benchmark with the side of the case off, and carefully try touching the heatsink (after grounding yourself by touching the metal case of the PSU) to see how hot it is. If it's already very hot, I wouldn't bother OC'ing, but that's my opinion.

 

[Jeff7181]

It'll most likely be hot before even running 3DMark... but either way... GPU's aren't as sensative to heat as CPU's are. GPU's typically run in the 140 degree range if I'm not mistaken, and most people don't like to see over 120 for a CPU.