Should I put additional cooling on my GF4 TI 4200 (ASUS V8420s)?

[Jawadali]

Hey guys, I recently bought a refurbished Geforce 4 TI 4200 128MB from Newegg.

It's a special version because it hase an 8 layer PCB and 3.3ns BGA memory.

It's an ASUS V8420s (the same as the V8420), and it has stock speeds of 260mhz core/550mhz mem.

I used coolbits to OC it to 300/650mhz (speeds of a TI 4600).

3DMark 2001SE gave no errors.

Right now, it's in a pretty cramped mini tower case with one inefficiant case fan and a Duron 1.3ghz.

What scares me is that I'm hearing stories of people's Geforce 4 TIs dying after a few weeks/months.

Will this Overclock kill the card or shorten the lifespan?

I have a few spare case fans laying around, so any cooling suggestions as to how to position them will help.

Please reply, especially owners of other ASUS V8420 cards.

Thanks.

 

[OperativeSix]

I've run my GF4 4200ti @ 320/560 since the day I bought it at launch. Hasn't messed up yet . Highest stable overclock I can pull out've it is 340/575. Seems to have poor memory, but an INCREDIBLE core .

 

[Jawadali]

what model are you using?

I didn't try to push mine higher than 300/650.

 

[chasingapple]

Overclocking anythine will shorten its lifespan, and heat kills faster then time. If you OC it, expect it to one day crap out, if you want to buy yourself some time cool it better, but in the end the OC will destroy the core and or memory.

 

[IR1]

Chasing is right you should know the consiquences... however this is Overclockers.com forums. Though most of us wont keep our hardware long enough for that shortened lifespan to matter.

But besides that overclock that sucker. Thats good for the memory. How about slowly raising the core until you get artifacts then back it down 5-10mhz.

Also might I suggest maybe... a new processor? The XP's are so cheap and they overclock like mad! However for a small case you may want to add some fans, it couldnt hurt. But what I find usefull is a fan speed controller. I have 6 case fans and my cpu fan all connected to one. So when I do need the cooling bad I can have it. Thought usually its set lower so I dont have to hear those loud fans.

 

[Jawadali]

The PC I'm talking about is my secondary/little brother's PC

On my main PC, I have an XP 2500, 6 fans and a fan controller.

Anyway, my little bro's PC case only has slot for one fan (in the front).

It also has a KT133 chipset, so an XP won't work.

I want to keep this card for at least 4 years.

 

[IR1]

Oh ok cool. I see. Well yeah like Chasing said it will shorten the life. So you know have fun with it see where it maxes out. But I wouldnt leave it anywhere to high considering you want 4 years or so.

 

[Jawadali]

OK,

I'll probably clock it back down to stock speeds (260/550) and OC it when it slows down on me.

Thanks

 

[chasingapple]

OK,

I'll probably clock it back down to stock speeds (260/550) and OC it when it slows down on me.

Thanks

Awesome idea! My ASUS GF4 Ti 4200 is clocked @ 250/513 stock and so far not 1 game slows down on me, one day I might have to overclock the card to get better performance but typically upgrading the CPU of the computer or memory yeilds a better boost in performance then a simple videocard upgrade. And today it is cheaper to get a high end CPU then it is a medium range videocard (oh how the times have changed). I will get a high end barton before I go to a new videocard

 

[Jawadali]

yeah the new Barton 2500's are awesome.

also, if you have the cash, an Nforce 2 motherboard is the way to go.

 

[chasingapple]

I agree, instead of paying $200 for a medium grade videocard I would rather buy an Epox 8RDA3+ and Barton 2500+ for Under $200

 

[Overcrocked]

Overclocking anythine will shorten its lifespan, and heat kills faster then time. If you OC it, expect it to one day crap out, if you want to buy yourself some time cool it better, but in the end the OC will destroy the core and or memory.

OT: I don't think anyone should be using the same hardware 2-3 years down the road, and 10-15 without an overclock is a waste of money.