Overclocking SLI GTX 460's 728mb

[Polraudio]

I have a few questions about my card before i overclock it.

-If i overclock my cards will it overclock both or just one?
-What are some good tools to use to overclock my card?
-What are some safe values for overclocking?
So far i just got the Core Clock at 800MHz and the Shader Clock at 1600MHz using MSI Afterburner. Im scared to touch the Memory Clock. No clue whats safe for it.
-Is it worth having these 2 cards in SLI or should i sell the other and just use one or should i sell them both and buy something better.(Nvidia i stick with)

Every game i play so far can be maxed out in graphics with 1920x1080. Including Crysis, Crysis 2, BBC2, Farcry 2. Everything so far. The max my card has ever gotten is 85C with no slowdowns in any game except Crysis 2 with the High Res Texture Pack and DX11. Theres not much of a slowdown it runs at about 75%. I would like to run Crysis 2 with the Texture Pack if possible.

My Specs:
Nvidia GTX460 768mb x2 in SLI
Intel i7 950 3.07ghz
8gb(2x4) DDR3 RAM 1333MHz
1TB HDD 7200RPM(Games/OS), 320gb 7200RPM(Docs), 250gb 5200RPM(random).
1000watt PSU. Not sure brand or anything about it.

 

[Ghiedo27]

Just hazarding a guess here, but wouldn't you be vram limited with the texture pack? If that's the case overclocking won't help you.

 

[Polraudio]

Just hazarding a guess here, but wouldn't you be vram limited with the texture pack? If that's the case overclocking won't help you.

Maybe. But i would still like to safely overclclock it for future games. Overclocking it might help a little. Just a guess tho.

 

[toyota]

768mb is not enough for hi res texture pack and ultra DX11 settings in Crysis 2. really even he first Crysis and Warhead can use over 768mb with DX 10 very high settings and 4x AA. 768mb is also not enough for Metro 2033 on max settings. GTA 4 needs about twice that much vram for max settings. there are a few other games too where 768mb is not enough especially with any graphics mods and or high AA. if future games are your concern then you will need to upgrade your gpu because 768mb is not going to cut it. I told people they would have to upgrade sooner than later when they were looking at saving some money with a 768mb card yet playing at 1920x1080.

 

[edplayer]

768mb is also not enough for Metro 2033 on max settings.

I told people they would have to upgrade sooner than later when they were looking at saving some money with a 768mb card yet playing at 1920x1080.

Even the 1GB version is not enough for Metro 2033 on max settings. And no one has to upgrade their card (if they have the 768MB vesion) because you can always adjust settings. Its going to be a while before 768MB is insufficient to play a PC game.

-Is it worth having these 2 cards in SLI or should i sell the other and just use one or should i sell them both and buy something better.(Nvidia i stick with)

Every game i play so far can be maxed out in graphics with 1920x1080. Including Crysis, Crysis 2, BBC2, Farcry 2. Everything so far. The max my card has ever gotten is 85C with no slowdowns in any game except Crysis 2 with the High Res Texture Pack and DX11. Theres not much of a slowdown it runs at about 75%. I would like to run Crysis 2 with the Texture Pack if possible.

If you are happy with your cards now, why sell them? I think the earliest you should consider upgrading is next year when the new Nvidia cards come out. You won't get a lot less for them next year versus now so you might as well keep using them till the next generation is out.

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Crysis 2 texture pack requires 1GB VRAM. That said two GTX 460 768mb is still alot of power. They overclock well too. If you overclock one the other will follow. MSI afterburner. You can play with memory clock until you see artifacts or crashing.

I would not upgrade or overclock because those two cards are quite fast and you shouldn't need any more power. I always thought of overclocking as a thing to use only if you need it. Otherwise it lowers the life of the card, makes more noise and uses more power and if your not seeing any benefit it really isn't worth it.

 

[toyota]

Even the 1GB version is not enough for Metro 2033 on max settings. And no one has to upgrade their card (if they have the 768MB vesion) because you can always adjust settings. Its going to be a while before 768MB is insufficient to play a PC game.

of course you can adjust your settings. I can adjust my settings to play games on my 8600gt. you buy a second gtx460 to INCREASE your settings in games yet 768mb will be the limitation in cranking the settings for most of the very games you need it for.

so again if he wants to run games with highest settings now and especially in the future then yes he will have to upgrade to a gpu setup with more vram.

 

[OCGuy]

Can someone point out what resoulution we are discussing here? It is impossible to discuss VRAM limitations without knowing what rez.

 

[toyota]

Can someone point out what resoulution we are discussing here? It is impossible to discuss VRAM limitations without knowing what rez.

op says 1920x1080.

 

[OCGuy]

op says 1920x1080.

Yikes I missed that. Thx

 

[edplayer]

so again if he wants to run games with highest settings now and especially in the future then yes he will have to upgrade to a gpu setup with more vram.

that is obvious but there are no solutions now that would make a big difference without spending a lot more money. And any big difference he buys now will be mostly higher fps.

 

[toyota]

that is obvious but there are no solutions now that would make a big difference without spending a lot more money.

yes I understand that but look at the context here. the OP is asking about games like Crysis 2 with text pack and DX11 so it needed to be said that 768mb would not be sufficient.

 

[Polraudio]

yes I understand that but look at the context here. the OP is asking about games like Crysis 2 with text pack and DX11 so it needed to be said that 768mb would not be sufficient.

Since i have 2 GTX460's in SLI doesnt that mean i have 1.5gb of ram? Enough to run the pack full on? From what i see i have enough Video ram.
So i should just be able to overclock it right and get it to run perfect?

 

[toyota]

Since i have 2 GTX460's in SLI doesnt that mean i have 1.5gb of ram? Enough to run the pack full on? From what i see i have enough Video ram.
So i should just be able to overclock it right and get it to run perfect?

no you only have 768mb vram total. the amount of vram is not added together for sli/crossfire.

 

[cubeless]

sell the 2 460's and buy the $249 ar with dirt 3 include xfx 6950 2gb @ ne... it's what i did... the 768 460's will be worth even less once these new pig games come out... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...-548-_-Product kid says stuff is smoother, max framerate is not quite as high in some things...

 

[TakeNoPrisoners]

Since i have 2 GTX460's in SLI doesnt that mean i have 1.5gb of ram? Enough to run the pack full on? From what i see i have enough Video ram.
So i should just be able to overclock it right and get it to run perfect?

It does not work that way. You have 768mb for all intents and purposes.