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View Full Version : Gf3ti200 o/c questions....


RoadWarrior
06-10-02, 09:12 AM
Hi guys,

I've been messing around with my GF3ti200 on and off for a few weeks, well it's probably only like a solid weeks worth of evenings at most and some things are still puzzling me.

i) The GPU overclocks GREAT!! however it redlined at 267 on cool days, 261 with a 28C ambient now, anyway, took off the stock HSF, scraped off the "bazooka Joe" thermal pad, lapped it, applied thermal compound and remounted it (spring loaded clips) and it dropped from 38 idle to 32-33, which seemed real nice. However, it didn't get me even one more Mhz overclock. In the hardware monitoring the alarm was set default at something like 60C, and it's not getting that hot, dropped it to 50, still no alarm before lockup. Wierd huh? Anyway, what volts can you push through these and what temp are they good for?


ii) Memory ... I should have 4ns memory on this, so I think I should be able to break 510 and possibly squeeze it up to 520, since 4ns chips should be selected from 3.9ns to 3.8ns, but I am only 100% stable at 471 at the moment and before it got warm here it was doing 487, though I can point a fan straight at the sinks and not get anything. However I could be having voltage issues with my PSU.

iii) When I get artifacting, it's totally not what I would expect from previous experience, it's like wierd. I expected missing textures, blocky shapes, white spots, that isn't really what I get, I get kind of brown "sectors" if you imagine a point in the middle of the screen, I get thin brown wedges in the top half of the screen usually, that flash up in various positions radiating from that point. What I think is really wierd though is that they seem not to be associated with textures or objects ..

So do any of these sound like they could be caused by drivers? I am running the supplied ones, which I think are a 23.xx release, I was thinking of trying the 28.90s.

The memory overclock seems to be reducing as my ambient gets higher, I am quitting as soon as I see artifacts, but cooling the memory better isn't helping. I am thinking that the heat is affecting the PSU and turning crappy voltages even crappier, because at lower ambients everything is all go again.


Oh BTW, does anybody know why Nature in 3Dmark is faster with hardware T&L off, running software T&L???? is it because there's only one light source??? I got 41.5 HW and 43.3 Software on one test.

thanks for any help,

Road Warrior

-Exi|e-
06-10-02, 09:21 AM
Although yours is a MSI Ti200, it seems to have the same specs as mine(VisionTek). I am hitting 500mhz with no problems at all. At 520mhz i start to get artifacts, missing textures and such. I never really pushed the core that high so i cant compare yours with mine. 4ns chips are rated at 500mhz though, you might not be able to push them farther, it also depends on who makes the chips.

RoadWarrior
06-11-02, 08:28 AM
I got a temp probe and wedged it in the RAMsink, the ambient last night was 26-27C and the highest I read on the probe was 30.5, so I think I'll give up on cooling. I also read somewhere that capacitative interference can mean some graphics RAM can go slower with sink on than not. So I ground bonded the sinks, and seemed to see a slight improvement, very slight though. So I think I'm going to try pencilling around the regulator chips to see if that does anything to the voltage. If that doesn't do anything, I'll crazy glue a surface mount resistor or two on top of the chip and connect it up with the conductive epoxy I've got (real nervous about soldering to my nice card)

Road Warrior

Morbid
06-11-02, 10:18 AM
I have a PNY GeForce3 Ti200... mine pretty much tops out and runs rock stable at 250/560. It has CPU HSF on it with a copper insert and the regular ramsinks I believe. I've tried to push the core further, but it gets hot in my room and it always crashes in 3DMark2001. Been running it at 250/560 for a good while now, usually gaming when on my comp at home. Not too bad of an overclock, atleast it's over the Ti500 spec and that's what I was aiming for. :D

o770
06-11-02, 02:33 PM
RoadWarrior, i have the pro-td 8851, not yours but both should overclock about the same. i get mine as high as 235/530 and i keep it at 225/515. i dont have the probe feature in mine, however i strongly beleive that 260 is about the highest you really can get out of the core. in fact i never really ever heard of another msi 8850/51 overclocked core to that high with stock cooling.

as for the ram i know some of the cards have the ramsinks not sitting properly straight, so you may want to check that.

http://www.blargoc.co.uk/reviews/creativegf3ti200/images/ramsink.jpg



i recommend you to try out the nvidia reference bios with the card for the fix of the t&l problem and some improvement on the nature test maybe.
i dont know why you prefer to keep the supplied drivers, id also try out the reference from the nvidia website. 23.11 is a good choice, and 28.32 if the bios will not solve the t&l thing.

RoadWarrior
06-12-02, 10:08 AM
Morbid, that's a nice mem o/c!

Otto, yeah I've checked the Ramsinks from every angle and they look very level as well as very closely bonded to the RAM, I can even see the T.I.M. they seem to be fitted that close, Also not a hint of wobble or give there, so I'm leaving them alone.

Is there a known T&L problem with some BIOSes??? The only test that software is faster in is Nature, everything else is like half the speed with software.

I was keeping the supplied drivers at present until I found out whether newer ones would work with the TV out chip. I think I've got 23.11, Also don't have the thing on the net at present, it being in my basement workshop, so I have to copy everything over which is a pain.

Road Warrior

o770
06-12-02, 05:04 PM
RoadWarrior, do u know or would you run benchmarks to get the difference between core 225 and 260? how much of improvement?
thanks.