Overclocking a GF4 Ti4200

[Mista K6]

I was searching through the forums and didnt find this, so I figured I'd post a new thread. I recently yanked my GF2 MX and put in a GF4 Ti4200, talk about a performance upgrade :thumb: . Since its an MSI card, they also gave me a lot of extras, like my own overclocking program. Now I'm getting greedy :wow: . Right now my Memory clock is at 513mhz and my core clock is at 250mhz. I have a Dell 8200, and the cooling system on it rocks. Most of the time the air coming out of the back of my tower is colder than the room (and this room never gets above 70 degrees F ). I really dont want to go through the hassle of putting on a blue orb cooling system or something of that sort, because the fan on my card seems to work pretty well already. So then, what are some safe numbers I can work up to that will give me more performance, but will not cook my card? Or, how can I find out the limit myself, as I'm new at this stuff and dont know all the methods. Thx for any help, peace : peace2: Mista K6

[Wiggo]

I can't say how the MSI will go but the 128MB Leadtek VIVO ones that I use I take straight up to 275/550 and then go slowly from then on.

[rugbydude]

i would think 300/570 depending on how good the cooling is really like:laugh:

[Mista K6]

Ok, the core clock is at 250mhz, I'll put it up to 265mhz, and I'll put the memory clock from 513 up to 550. Then I'll go up in increments of about 5mhz at a time. What's the first consequence of overheating that I should look for? And, how do I know if its the core clock or the memory clock that's doing it? Also, how close do the two have to be, I cant see having a core clock at 250mhz, and a memory clock at 570. Thx for the info already.

[rugbydude]

Well after youve overclocked run some games and the first sign of overheating is when u get distorted colours and things like that. You'll be able to tell. And you'll most likely be able to overclock the core more than the memory unless you put on some ram sinks. Just fool around until you get what u want.:thumb:

[Mista K6]

Ok, sounds pretty simple. One last question, is there anyway I can permenantly mess up my card doing this? I just spent $180 for the card, I really dont wanna have to go out and buy a new one : omg: . :rofl:

[rugbydude]

Just don't overclock to much or u might blow it up:laugh: But don't worry if you go up slowly and stop when u can tell is overheating then you'll be fine:thumb:

[Wiggo]

I use 3DMark2001SE for testing after each adjustment and when ya start to see glitches in the video then just take it back to the last good setting. Over doin' it too much can damage ya card.

[Mista K6]

Ok, here's the results so far.

Right now the memory clock is at 581 mhz (from 513) and the core clock is at 287mhz (from 250). I'm getting about 20fps more on the main menu of UT2003, and about 3-10fps more in the game. I went up to 594mhz on the memory clock, but it started skipping in the fly-by before the match, prolly cause I dont have an RAM sinks, just stock cooling. The same thing happened when I went up to 290mhz with the core clock. The thing is, the memory clock will only be set at 581 or 594, no in between, no matter how I change the core clock. Somewhere in that 14mhz increment I think I could get a little more juice without overheating. So, what gives? Why is my card only staying at those settings? My guess is that its a predetermined rate/compatibility thing that the card selects so that it'll run properly. For instance, teh core clock goes from 284-287, no inbetween. Can anyone shed some light for me on this? I'm happy with the performance boost I got already, I just wanna see if I can boost it a teeny bit more :thumb: .