Newbie Overclocling Video Card Needs Help!

[hyperbob]

This will be the first thing I'll ever overclock. I just bought a new GeForce2 MX400 64MB SDRAM video card. I downloaded powerstrip, a utility that lets you set the core speed and memory speed. I've heard that setting the core to a higher speed on an MX won't do anything. Is this true? If so I'll boost the memory speed. How can I tell if it's stable at the speed it's clocked at? The card has an integrated heatsink. Would I need more than just that to overclock the video card? Please Help! Thanks in advance.

[Zuck Gou :)]

Yea the memory is the bottleneck, so it really only makes the difference.

A good way to do it is up in small icrements, and at each one run some tests like Quake3 and look for any artifacts (imperfections in the screen, pixels and wierd stuff :D )

Im not sure if the Mx-400 gets hot enough to require active cooling like a fan, but definately if you have it put it on. Cooling always helps.

Good Luck!

[Shadow ÒÓ]

Zuck gave a good answer!

Only thing left to say is "Welcome to the forums!".

[hyperbob]

Is there a way to make my own video card memory heatsink?

[Shadow ÒÓ]

I've seen a few made by northbridge heatsinks and old vid card sinks. You can also buy sinks from Radio Shack.

Cut em to desired size and glue em down.

[hyperbob]

Do heatsinks really cool stuff a lot?

Why do only the RAM chips on the side of the GPU get hot and not the ones placed above it?

[Shadow ÒÓ]

I've heard mixed reviews on if they really help. You may gain a frame or 2, but best I have gathered it's more work than it's worth.

[Pinky]

Shadow ÒÓ (Jul 05, 2001 11:24 p.m.):
I've heard mixed reviews on if they really help. You may gain a frame or 2, but best I have gathered it's more work than it's worth.

It will only help you overclock higher (mine goes from 175mhz to 220 because it has active cooling). On the MX cards, you won't see a tremendous boost like shadow noted.