I have an 8800 GT Superclocked to 650/950 from stock 600/900. I want to OC it even more so as to beat the performance of the 8800 GTS 512, which has now drastically gone down in price just a few weeks after I bought the GT x(! I tried nTune, but it has the GPU option checkbox grayed out, so is it safe to manually OC it? To MATCH the 8800 GTS 512, I need to raise the mem clock to 970 from 950. But, what is the highest I can go in both clocks without permanently damaging the card causing it to artifact where it once didn't (like I did with my old Radeon 9250)?

Get Rivatuner.http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=163Focus on the core speed. Just like a PC, memory O/Cs do not help RW performance.My 8800GT will run at a Core speed of 725Mhz, but hangs all the time. I've found that 680-700Mhz is about where these 8800GTs will go without additional cooling.Use Riva to O/C then use 3dMark06 as your video stress tester.http://downloads.guru3d.com/download.php?det=1297Remember, 3DMark's "Headline" number includes a CPU component. To isolate video performance, look at the subscores. Also make sure you are comparing runs at similar resolutions. At a 1920 x 1080 (and O/C'd to 700Mhz/core), my 8800GT's SM2.0 / HDR-SM3 subscores were Very close to ATI's dual GPU 3870 X2 benchmarks at 16x12. It appears the 8800GTS GPUs are just bin sorted samples (with a couple more shaders enabled). Like the Intel CPU's, the real value is in their O/Cing potential. The GTS chips will go even faster (750-800Mhz range). Since the GTS includes a better cooling solution too, that extra $75 for the GTS might be a smart buy. It will be interesting to see what this dual GPU 9800 will be all about come March 11th. It's going to be ~ 30% better, but if that dumb thing is 300% more expensive ($700), I just can't go there. A strongly O/C'd GTS may have to do until an Actual next-gen GPU comes along. Play around, see how it goes. It's free. We might as well get what we paid for.

>>Use Riva to O/CWhen you do so, just DO NOT forget to manually set the fan speed to 100% constant, do so under the Target Adapter setting, and use Low-Level Fan control option.Regards,

Thanks everyone, I'm getting permission to do so now. But first, why use the unofficial RivaTuner instead of the official nTune?

RivaTuner, whilst a little bit more complicated for some users.You can monitor the speed of your nb chipsets fan, the temp of your nb chipset. You can also record the temps when your playing a game, and set markers to give you a better overview of peak temps reached. Ntune has some features, but not as broad as Riva, thats why Riva is the preferred choice for power-users.Also in some instances you could use it to unlock pipes on certain GPUs and also tweak IQ settings..IMO RivaTuner always the way to go for power users.Here's a nice guide to use with Riva:[a href=http://home.comcast.net/~boogie3/index.htm]Tweaking with RivaTuner[/a]You also might want to have a browse here:[a href=http://www.ocforums.com]OCForums[/a]Regards,

You'll get hooked on running a faster GPU clock real quick. It makes a difference performance wise, but the noise pollution from that 8800's fan at 100% is not necessary or especially effective. Try this science project: Pull up Riva's fan control tab and set fan level to where you can just hear it above your ambient noise level . . . then back it off just a knotch. Find your highest stable Core O/C. Leave Shader and Core clock linked. Don't even mess with memory speed. It will just thrown in a confusing (and useless) variable. Make a note. Now run your fan to 100% and repeat. How much more did you get. 5-10Mhz? Is won't be much. . . if any. Is all that noise worth it?If you want more clock via better cooling, think about an addon GPU Cooler. They will get you a bit more ( ~725Mhz/Core?), but these things are $30-60. Better yet, mod the 8800GTs stock cooler. Got a 120mm fan laying around? Take the cooler off, get yourself some tie-wraps and mod on. Use Riva's fan control to optimize your "new" cooler.Want a higher O/C and don't want to mess with any of this? Think about the GTS. It's better chip and already has better cooling.

>>Is all that noise worth it?All you said is true, BUT if one doesn't know how far he/she can push the card to in advance, its better to be safe than sorry.. you can always tone down.Regards,

Well I'm about to OC, but first I need to know the 8800 GT's temperature limit. I'm using GPU-Z.Thanks,

It's all automated. The critical temp is 108C. The GPU will auto-declock until the temp falls below this fail safe temp limit. I find that 80 is a good running target. Try Rivatuner. It has a whole fan-RPM/temp monitoring suite. Keep that running on a second monitor while a video stresser is running on the primary monitor. Then, let the games begin.

I got it running at 700/1747/1000, with a 64 GB/sec bandwidth. How is this? Temps using NVMonitor (which comes with nTune) says temps are, according to the S.M.A.R.T. Monitor, "Healthy", and the clock bus speeds are in the green zone. Temps are 56-60C running 3DMark06. I might get some better VGA Cooling. What causes artifacts? I'm not getting any, but I'm just curious. Is it too much heat that does so?I left the fan speed at 100%; all the other fans that we have installed drown out the 8800 GT's fan sound.Thanks for everything!

Core and Shader clocks are fine, but turn down the memory. Remember, increasing memory clock speed will not help performance. Reset memory to 925. That 3DMark, loaded coretemp is Suspiciously low. 60C is actually Very cool for these GPUs. My Idle core temp is 62C with the fan at 34%. I've flashed my Vcard's bios so the fan ramps up as the temperature increases. I'm running at 710mhz (Core w/linked shaders) in the high 70C @ 100% fan without any problem.My Vcard's fan starts to become audible at ~ 50% in my box. I leave the side off and run one case fan and the CPU cooler's fan (cooling a Q6600@ 3.6ghz). You may want to reconsider your fan layout. All that box-based fan noise shouldn't be necessary.