Pat's X800XL overclocking adventure

[pwnt by pat]

Okay, I got my XL, as you can see in my other thread. I got my VF700-C Zalman cooler. I'm all set. I'm not going to post benches 'cause I want to find the max clock on this card. I would like some help along the way here, encouragement, etc. We can share laughs, crys, and beef jerkey.

Anyway....

My card: Teh Powercolor x800xl VIVO
My cooler: Zalman VF700-CU

Default vgpu: 1.35
Default core: 400mhz
Default mem: 397mhz

So far, using ATI Tray Tool to find max values I get...

Core / Mem
400 / 490 : stock
440 / 490 : max core
400 / 592 : max mem
440 / 537 : max core then max mem
423 / 592 : max mem then core

This is with the Zalman on a system-temp controlled fan header. Tomorrow I am going to try with the fan up all the way.

I tried some independant overclocking too. For my independant testing I use ATT to set the clocks and 3 loops of game 4 of 3d03.

The core is definately limited to 440 mhz - any higher gives me artifacts. The ram is up to 545 without artifacts and after an hour and a half of CSS, I saw only one artifact which might have been a glitch since it was in a non-high detail spot.

I would like to bring this card to 1.5vgpu with a volt mod however I do not know how much resistance I need to get there. If you see in the volt mod section, I want to add a smd or ceremic resistor to the card so there will be no variance in the voltage and no risk of it coming off. If anyone has any insite on how to get there, please let me know. I might just use the damn pots if I have to although I would much prefer a 'stable' method. 'Might do vddq and vdd too.



Now, mem timings. I've heard these aren't even safe to play with on video cards. Is there anything I can do there? I have cas latency, wr latency, cmd latency, and strobe latency. I also have trcdr, trcdw, trp, tras, trrd, tr2w, twr, tw2r, tw2rsame bank, tr2r. ALSO, there is mem refresh rate and trfc. No idea....

 

[bobmanfoo]

if all you are looking to get is 1.5v you don't need to do the igpu mod, i dont' know the exact ohms you need to get 1.5v but using a 20k or 10k pot would be much easier, why isn't pots stable? mine stays at what i set it at and never changes

 

[Capt_Caveman]

Umm, playing around with my powercolor tonight, I'm up to 462/575 with no artifacts and only at 42c degrees. I plan to get an ATI Silencer 5 rev2 and see how much further I can push it. Heck, I'll order it tomorrow.

 

[pwnt by pat]

Yeah, after reading up a little more into their other guides, I saw what I'll need. I couldn't find where it was again but I did last night.... Somewhere on that site they say that vddq shows an increase for both core and memory. How can it if it's a memory voltage buffer? doesn't make sense to me.

I would also like to add that yesterday was day two of ceramique setting in so we may have some room to go. Last night I let the card infinately loop 3d03, full normal games as well as the vertex and ragdoll line of games at 1024x full detail, 6x and af. The temperature was 46c load. That was at stock speed. Concidering at 440, the card broke 47c load, I'd say this zalman is pretty good.

My hope was to burn in the card but we're still stuck on 440 via ATT, 439 actually. Tonight I'm going to let it do the same thing at 440 and maybe tomorrow morning we can get a little further.

I don't like pots because I do a lot of work inside the case and move it around a lot. When I had my nf7 and 9800p, I had that card modded two or three times. It fell off once, got pulled off moving something in the case, and something else. I've also had the vdd mod for the nf7 come off to, probably the same time the vgpu on the 9800p did.

If I can avoid pots, I will however I am contemplating going water again as I still have a Rbx but I don't how I would fit it into my 'projected' case without a lot of modding. I looked last night and it appears I could fit two bix and a pump if I ditch my two Maxtor hard drives in favor for one 300 gig but that's not here nor there.

 

[bobmanfoo]

vddq didn't do crap for for my gpu OC, your solder joints break that easily? are you cooking the solder? my card has been through hell and the solder is still holding strong, if you want the most out of your card go with water or even pelt, i wouldn't be able to get near my current OC and voltage on air, load temps are 49- 50C with 1.7v, im getting a new rad and pump next week, hopefully i can hit 700mhz

 

[pwnt by pat]

The joint was strong enough. The first time, the resistor was super glued to the pcb and the joint was hot glued. The hot glue somehow came loose and when it did, it took the cable with it. The second time, the pot was just hanging and got yanked. The card still was fine and took abuse like a champ... haha it's sold and the owner is happy.

Anyway, I am really concidering water again however I REALLY want the LC03 and I don't know how I would fit everything in there. There's maybe room for a bix in the front but it would be tight. Unless there's another case I find that I really like, I don't know what to do. I heard, rumor or not, that there's a Sonata 2 coming out which would really please me.

I eventually want to go MVP (multi video processors or whatever). My psu is 400w on the 12v, 33a, but I still don't want to put two pelts plus everything else on my psu.

 

[gvblake22]

Has powercolor done a better job with their products and gotten a better reputation recently? I have seen more and more people with powercolor cards and am somewhat suprised because the powercolor card I have (9600pro 128mb) has had a lot of wierd quirks...