GeForce 7950 GX2 reference and XFX
By:
Hilbert Hagedoorn |
Edited by | Published: June 4, 2006
Overclocking & Tweaking
With most videocards we can do some easy tricks to boost the overall performance a little. You can do this at two levels, namely tweaking by enabling registry or BIOS hacks, or even tamper with Image Quality. And then there is overclocking, which will give you the best possible results by far.
What do we need? One of the best tools for overclocking NVIDIA and ATI videocards is our own Rivatuner that you can download here. If you own an NVIDIA graphics card then NVIDIA actually has very nice built in options for you that can be found in the display driver properties.
Where should we go ? Overclocking: By increasing the frequency of the videocard's memory and GPU, we can make the videocard increase its calculation clock cycles per second. It sounds hard but it really can be done in less then a few minutes. I always tend to recommend to novice users and beginners not to increase the frequency any higher then 5-10% of the core and memory clock. Example: If your card runs at 300 MHz then I suggest you don't increase the frequency any higher than 330 MHz.
More advanced users push the frequency often way higher. Usually when your 3D graphics start to show artifacts such as white dots ("snow"), you should back down 10-15 MHz and leave it at that.
The core can be somewhat different. Usually when you are overclocking too hard, it'll start to show artifacts, empty polygons or it will even freeze. I recommend that you back down at least 15 MHz from the moment you notice an artifact. Look carefully and observe well.
All in all... do it at your own risk.
Reference Clocks
Default on this card
Maximum overclock
Core Clock Speed 3D
500 MHz
500 MHz
600 MHz
Memory Clock Speed
600 MHz(x2)
600 MHz (x2)
790MHz (x2)
Both the reference and XFX model graphics card could be clocked to roughly the same level. But hey, this GeForce 7950 GX2 seems to be a very nice card to overclock folks!
The result here is from the reference model. We pushed the frequencies towards roughly 600 MHz on the core and close to 800 MHz on the memory. With such clocks you are getting dangerously close to the performance of the GTX 512MB in SLI mode. And although the price of 600-650 USD is steep, it's a good stack of performance you'll receive.
Results will vary per card and you might need to back down a little the minute you see artifacts or simply want to play it safe. None the less, tweaking is a simple trick to get some more bang for your buck.
One small sidenote: Guru3D's overclocking results are never a guarantee for your home grown results. Manufacturer's choices in components differ often per batch and so will the end-result. This merely is a good indication of what is (or isn't) possible.
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