9800 Pro Retail

[ALpHA]

erm....one nooob question...

ummm...is it safe to overclock cards? cause i just got a 9800pro 256MB and i was wondering if my card would explode if i overclock it or something...

 :blink:

[TeaLeaf]

As with any overclocking you run a risk you will damage your hardware.  However, with graphics cards is that when you start overclocking it what usually happens is that you start to see artifacts on the screen before it locks up and before any damage is done.   If you make sure the GPU cooling is good and have good cooling on the RAM chips then you'll maximise the chance of a good overclock on your card.

I don't know whihc particular card you have, but most 9800 Pro 256MB cards will allow you to overclock the GPU by about 10% and the RAM by slightly less 5-7%.  Radclocker or similar will allow you to overclock the card by simply dragging a slider.  When you o/c the card, try running it through numerous several continuous loops of a graphics enchmark to simulate how it will perform under prolonged load.  If you start seeing artifacts then stop the test and back off the overclock againa nd re-run.  As with all overclocking, take single steps as you increase the overclock.

TL.