Factory overclocked vs non-overclocked graphics cards

[slashragnarok]

Hi guys,

I thought I would make a thread regarding whether to buy Factory OC'd cards or just buy plain non-oc'd cards and overclock them ourselves(it's pretty simple once we know how to).

My thoughts:

I read somewhere that CPUs and GPUs are rated at much lower frequencies than most of them can actually run at. It's because, that by rating them lower than their potentials, manufacturers can guarantee that each and every one of the chips no matter how, where or when they were fabricated can run at the rated speeds. And that is precisely why overclocking is possible.

If the above assumption is correct then I can assert the following regarding factory OC'd cards:

Say a particular GPU model can run at 900 MHz, guaranteed. The manufacturer rates it lower at 800 MHz and sells it at that spec. Then they rate it at 850 MHz and call it an OC version. Finally they rate it at 900 MHz and call it a Power OC version or something along those lines. Because we must remember that no matter what the rating of the GPU is, the rating printed on the box is guaranteed.

So does that mean we are not prudent in buying OC versions? If the card is the same it will have the same overclocking headroom. Of course every chip is different and the OC potential will vary. So should we just buy normal versions and OC them ourselves?

Or is it that the chips are pre-categorized as per quality and then they are put on shelves as the different versions?

Please share your thoughts and comments to shed light on this matter for my benefit and for everyone else's who is are as confused as me.

[koolent]

GPU s can be the same but the coolers are optimized.. You can compare a normal HD 6850 and a HD 6850 with Cyclone cooler, Cyclone one it better overclocked as it is better at the cooling department and are more stable..

AND according to that, there clock limits are set..

[Cilus]

Buddy, the default speed of a GPU is not set by the card manufacturers, it is set my the GPU chip makers like AMD or Nvidia. So if the card manufacturers can provide faster cards with better cooloing and/or better VRM design with reasonable, why not get it.

[slashragnarok]

Buddy, the default speed of a GPU is not set by the card manufacturers, it is set my the GPU chip makers like AMD or Nvidia. So if the card manufacturers can provide faster cards with better cooloing and/or better VRM design with reasonable, why not get it.

Agreed. But look at the following examples.

Sapphire Technology Web Site

Sapphire Technology Web Site

Can anyone tell me the difference between the two except for clock speeds and memory speeds?

What I'm saying is that is it worth buying the Oc version if all specs are same except speeds? Because the clock speeds are decided by the BIOS settings. Am I right?

Paying for better cooler - Understandable
Paying for 50 MHz speed increase - []

[dibya_kol]

some stock coolers r great (duel fan or twin frozer vr). My thought is simple, buy a non-oc vr gpu and oc it. But sometimes it won't make any huge differnce, may be 2-3 fps gain. (talking about 1080p res).

[topgear]

as far as OC potential goes - a factory Oced card can be OCed more than a non factory OCed card using same type of cooler - though it may not be always true but in most of the cases I've seen this trend so far - so getting a factory OCed card makes more sense IMO.

@ slashragnarok - if you are interested in getting a HD7870 then wait for HiS HD7870 IceQ Turbo

[slashragnarok]

@ slashragnarok - if you are interested in getting a HD7870 then wait for HiS HD7870 IceQ Turbo

I've seen your post in the other 7000 thread and while this looks great, I have a couple of concerns regarding this card.

1) Pricing - At $390 it is a tad too expensive for a mid-high range card.
2) (And more importantly) The three slot cooler prevents a possible Xfire in future (At least I think so).

But still it looks good on paper and those speeds without any overvolting is great news for us, especially with the hot summer close by.

Btw, any idea when a decent non-reference 7870 with a nice cooler will hit Kolkata? The only brand that is consistently available seems to be XFX.

[Skud]

If crossfire is your concern, stick with stock coolers. Most (well, probably all) custom coolers dump the heat in the cabinet itself.

And regarding OC and non-OC cards, better to save a few bucks and do it yourself. OCed cards might hit higher clocks but unless you are looking for those 2-3 fps extra it doesn't matter.

[vickybat]

I've seen your post in the other 7000 thread and while this looks great, I have a couple of concerns regarding this card.

1) Pricing - At $390 it is a tad too expensive for a mid-high range card.
2) (And more importantly) The three slot cooler prevents a possible Xfire in future (At least I think so).

But still it looks good on paper and those speeds without any overvolting is great news for us, especially with the hot summer close by.

Btw, any idea when a decent non-reference 7870 with a nice cooler will hit Kolkata? The only brand that is consistently available seems to be XFX.

You can very well use custom cooler cards in a multigpu setup and the fact they dump extra heat in the cabinet is misleading.

Custom coolers are better than reference ones and they cool the gpu more than the latter and offcourse spew out heat through the heatsink and then fans. Its obvious that if a reference card gives out x heat and non-reference one gives out y heat, then y > x because non-reference runs cooler and thus gives out more heat and thus is an obvious phenomenon.

Its not like you should not use custom cards in mutigpu setups. Its foolishness to buy a reference model when several non-reference models are available in the same time with a slight premium.

To deal with the bit extra heat, use of proper fans in the cabinet to suck out the hot air is highly recommended. For a multigpu config, 2-3 exhaust fans are good to go along with proper inflow of cool air from the surroundings.

There's no such thing like " use reference cards for sli/crossfire ".

[Skud]

Buddy the blower type stock coolers with closed shrouds AMD and nVIDIA use throw the heat straight outside your cabinet. You can always use custom coolers in dual GPU setup but that's not the point. Depending on your motherboard, sometimes the cards don't have much breathing space between them (think about a single slot between two x16 slots). Custom coolers with heat up the back of the second card more than a stock cooler due to their open shrouds. Of course, you can use your cabinet fans for cooling, but some cabby like mine don't have a provision of side panel fan, so you are out of luck on that count.

[topgear]

but most of the cabby has provision for a side panel fan - so it's better to opt for gpus with custom cooler and the fan of the first card will help keep the pcb of the second card cool.

As for cards with closed shrouds like stock coolers - if you run them in multi gpu config the first card which needs to draw air from back of the second gpu will heat up much

We ran Furmark to get load temperatures and one card peaked at 87C and the other at 79C. The hotter of the two cards was of course the inside card as it was getting less airflow and sucking air from the back of the other Radeon HD 7970.

ASUS Radeon HD 7970 3GB CrossFire Review - Power Consumption & Temps - Legit Reviews

@ OP - the mobo you have supports three slot gfx cards in multi gpu mode very well though there's not enough space in between - if you prefer custom cooled HD7870s which needs 2 slots only you will have to wait.

[Skud]

but most of the cabby has provision for a side panel fan - so it's better to opt for gpus with custom cooler and the fan of the first card will help keep the pcb of the second card cool.

I think it will make the PCB hotter rather than cooler, as the fan of the first card is spewing out hot air, not cold.

As for cards with closed shrouds like stock coolers - if you run them in multi gpu config the first card which needs to draw air from back of the second gpu will heat up much

The first card in any case will run hotter, be it stock or custom cooled, as the airflow is blocked by the second card.

[Vishnupg45]

Guys dont 4get to mention the warranty conditions in oc'ing the card yourself and factory oc'ed cards. That is also important in most cases.

[sam]

most factory overclocked GPU have clockspeed bumped by 100Mhz. but cause they usually come with open air coolers can be overclocked more.

[topgear]

Guys dont 4get to mention the warranty conditions in oc'ing the card yourself and factory oc'ed cards. That is also important in most cases.

Ocing manually voids the warranty no matter whether it's a facory Oced card or not but the safe part is most of the RMA centers don't have means to test if you have OCed the GPU or not.