Overclocking reference 560ti....

[Arsinek]

So here was my thought, instead of spending more money on a factory OCd card why not just buy a reference card and OC it yourself? Im not an OCer so I dont know how viable this idea is. Has anyone done this? Would it be possible? Would it perform as well as a factory OCd card?

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

If you can tie your shoes you have the mental capacity required for overclocking a videocard and that might be giving overclocking too much credit

 

[Arsinek]

If you can tie your shoes you have the mental capacity required for overclocking a videocard and that might be giving overclocking too much credit

Well I guess what Im wondering is will I be able to expect the same kind of stability as a factory OCd? Will I be able to reach the same settings they have their factory OCd cards at?

 

[Arsinek]

Another thing is, if its so simple to OC a reference card to factory OCd settings why would anyone buy a factory OCd card? It seems like a too good to be true scenario.

The only negative I can think of is losing your warranty.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Better. A lot of times factory overclocks are unstable out of the box.
I won't pay for a factory overclock but I will pay for a card with a better cooler.

 

[OILFIELDTRASH]

Another thing is, if its so simple to OC a reference card to factory OCd settings why would anyone buy a factory OCd card? It seems like a too good to be true scenario.

The only negative I can think of is losing your warranty.

You can fry your card if you go crazy with the voltage and bump up the speeds to insane levels.
All it takes is a little common sense, do your research on what other guys or review websites are saying has been safe, etc..
I don't know why someone would pay for a factory overclock? I guess it's probably the same guys that pay $600 to a brake shop to replace the brake pads.

 

[mmaestro]

My understanding is that most of the manufacturers test the chips they get in from Nvidia (I'm less familiar with AMD's GPUs but I'd assume they do the same thing or those) to ascertain which will most reliably withstand overclocks, and put those into the higher clocked cards. There's never any guarantee as to how high you can raise the clock for reference cards, (theoretically) when you buy a factory OCed GPU, you know what you're getting. In real terms, you can probably push the reference card as high as a factory OCed card, and a factory OCed card higher than the reference. Probably.

 

[Arsinek]

I was thinking was get a reference 560ti and put a Thermalright Shaman on it and OC to a factory OCd setting.

One reason being my 8800gt out of the box was rediculously loud. I could hear it from out of my bedroom, across my living room and into my kitchen. So I had to buy an aftermarket cooler.

So I fear buying a factory OCd card and it being loud then spending even more money on an aftermarket cooler.

 

[3DVagabond]

It depends on the specific model, whether or not it's any better than a stock clocked card. There are 3 "general" model types.

There's the reference design. These are the original nVidia/AMD designs that are shipped to the board partners when the model's released. Usually a solid design and is often the first one sold as an O/C model. Sometimes on release day itself you'll see some O/C'd reference designs with minor O/C's. These probably aren't even tested in any way. They're just clocked up 10 to 20 MHZ and shipped.

There's the cheaper OEM models. These are the ones that show up after the original launch models that typically sell for less. Cheaper PCB's, cheaper coolers, cheaper voltage regulators, etc. These are worth less money and cost less to build than reference designs, regardless of clocks.

There's the premium builds. These will be the ones with custom multi stage voltage regulators, improved coolers, custom boards with more features, etc. These are the cards that are worth paying a premium for if you plan on O/C'ing. On some models it's the only ones I would buy.

In the end the only way to guarantee a card will run at the specified speed is to buy it clocked from the supplier. Even then some don't run stable out of the box, above and beyond your typical DOA product which you can still get, and would need to be RMA'd for a replacement.

There was a time when all aftermarket designs were individually tested and approved by nVidia and AMD before they were allowed to be sold. I don't think this occurs anymore. There's some minimum testing that the design has to pass to meet certification, and that's it, AFAIK.