Am I in danger of burning up my video card?

[Mr_Ed]

I just overclocked my OEM GeForce 4MX (440) using Graphiccelerator (http://thomas.perrier.name/software/ATIccelerator.html). I only upped the CPU clock about 7% (from 270 to 290 MHz) and the memory clock about 15% (from 200 to 230) but I have not installed any sort of additional cooling. The result is noticeable to me when playing MOHAA on-line but more objectively, using "timedemo" on Q3 Arena running a demo I recorded some time ago yielded about a 12% improvement in frame rates.

Any of you overclocking experts out there have an opinion as to whether I am running too fast for no additional cooling?

I read in an article (http://www.sharkyextreme.com/guides/hwGuides/article.php/10709_1182771__1) that they were able to crank the GF4MX-440 up to 295 MHz (CPU) without additional cooling. One thing was very puzzling though: They list the CPU speed on the card they used as 270 MHz which matches mine. The memory speed on their card was supposedly 400 MHz while mine was 200 MHz. Could other cards using the same core chipset really vary so much in terms of the memory speed?

[generik]

The article you read really applies only to *PC* editions of that same graphics card. You really won't know if various differences in the 2 versions will cause your chip to be less tolerant to overclocking.

Just turn it off, and buy an xbox or something, it is not worth burning up your computer for 1-2 extra FPS.

[supergod]

Depending on what computer you are using you have no problem. If you have a Power Mac, I would say you can overclock significantly higher than what you have there. If you have an iMac, than overclocking is not such a great idea. Nothing will melt, but if you both overclock the card and have processor performance set on highest than your computer will be getting hot and loud. I'm assuming you have the iMac 1ghz or so, and if that is the case than I have to say that even with an overclocked card, your performance will still be so bad on most games that it almost isn't worth it.

When I overclocked my videocard (I put it up as much as 30%) I found a noticeable speed increase in apps that used real time rendering and an overall zippiness. Problem is I noticed some bugs (no artifacts or anything of the sort, just a general bug with the app) and stopped software overclocking.

If you go ahead anyways, just try upping the percentage until you start beginning to see any artificacts and then scale it down at least 5%.

[Mr_Ed]

The article you read really applies only to *PC* editions of that same graphics card . . .
That's a good point.

Depending on what computer you are using you have no problem. If you have a Power Mac, I would say you can overclock significantly higher than what you have there. If you have an iMac, than overclocking is not such a great idea. Nothing will melt, but if you both overclock the card and have processor performance set on highest than your computer will be getting hot and loud. I'm assuming you have the iMac 1ghz or so, and if that is the case than I have to say that even with an overclocked card, your performance will still be so bad on most games that it almost isn't worth it.

When I overclocked my videocard (I put it up as much as 30%) I found a noticeable speed increase in apps that used real time rendering and an overall zippiness. Problem is I noticed some bugs (no artifacts or anything of the sort, just a general bug with the app) and stopped software overclocking.

I'm actually running it on an old 2x1GHz G4 PowerMac. I was trying to be conservative and get a bit of a boost to hold me over until I upgrade to a new Mac next year :) The improvement was noticeable as I said. Running my demo on Q3 the frame rate went up from 70 to 79 FPS after the mod, all settings maxed out at 1280x1024.

[topicolo]

The article you read really applies only to *PC* editions of that same graphics card. You really won't know if various differences in the 2 versions will cause your chip to be less tolerant to overclocking.

Just turn it off, and buy an xbox or something, it is not worth burning up your computer for 1-2 extra FPS.

It doesn't matter--The only things he overclocked are the graphics chip itself and the memory, which are exactly the same between the pc and the mac version of the card (except maybe the memory may be designed to run faster or slower).

My advice is to pump up the speed of the video card until you start seeing visual artifacts in the applications you use and then turn down the speed a couple of notches past the point where the artifacts disappear.

[supergod]

That's a good point.



I'm actually running it on an old 2x1GHz G4 PowerMac. I was trying to be conservative and get a bit of a boost to hold me over until I upgrade to a new Mac next year :) The improvement was noticeable as I said. Running my demo on Q3 the frame rate went up from 70 to 79 FPS after the mod, all settings maxed out at 1280x1024.

Well than, sounds like you're golden. See how far you can take it: that box is a wind tunnel as is so I'm sure you can get away with a bit more.

[mrgreen4242]

And if you burn the card up it's not like it's a $300 9800se or something like that. You can always replace it for pretty cheap...

[Mr_Ed]

Thanks everyone for all the input. I think I'll just run it at this "safe" boost and see how it goes. So far so good . . .

I just wish I had known I would actually get into playing games before I ordered my machine 3 yrs ago. I would have at least paid for the GeForce 4Ti which was an option at the time. Now, bring on those new Intel Macs so I can upgrade!!! :D

[sambo.]

Now, bring on those new Intel Macs so I can upgrade!!! :D
errr, you can upgrade now if you want..... :confused:

[Mr_Ed]

errr, you can upgrade now if you want..... :confused:

Yeah, I know, but the only choices for my machine right now are the Radeon 9800 Pro Mac Edition (which is nearly impossible to find because it is discontinued) or the upcoming 9600 Pro PC/Mac Edition. I might consider the second choice if I knew it would be a significant improvement over the GF4MX I have now but in the end I probably won't upgrade the card on this machine. The way I see it, that's an additional $300USD (9600 Pro + DVI-ADC cable) I'll have to spend on better video when I get a new machine next year if I can live with my current setup a bit longer.

[Mord]

not really no, their is only a very very small increase in heat when overclocking without volt mods, i have only heard of one report of a card frying from overclocking and that was in a g4 cube (9800 pro) and it was not cooled well, dont worry about it, i have a 70%/10% overclock on my ibooks radeon mobility, i get a whole 7fps in WoW.