Nvidia bans overclocking for its G80

Combat squirrel · 20 Oct 2006 at 12:40

http://www.theinquirer.net/default.aspx?article=35244

From the salt masters themselves but kinda makes sense what there saying, also would it clock high anyways being such a complex chip ?

Cyber-Mav · 20 Oct 2006 at 12:59

so this is thier fix for the 7900 series failurerate? prevent all overclocking on future cards. makes sense.

Gibbo · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:02

Hi there

Yes its correct for initial launch all cards will operate at stock speeds. It possible when stock is not in allocation then some partners may do some overclocking, it all depends on how strictly NVIDIA will force this into place.

LoadsaMoney · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:04

That article says Nvidia don't want another 7900 GT fiasco, what fiasco is this then, everyone keeps saying theres nothing wrong with em, so why are Nvida saying they faulty then. :confused:

Wonder if they clock at all then the 8800's, wonder how many threads we'll get of 'clocked my 8800, now borked'.

Cyber-Mav · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:04

wait a minute, you saying that just the stock clocks from all manufacturers will be the same but the actual overclocking of the card via coolbits or whatever will still be allowed? i thought the card would have hardware locked clocks.

Boogle · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:07

The vertex units were OCed a little too much by many OEMs, causing stuttering, and eventually death of graphics cards. NV just want OEMs to use stock clocks. Nothing stopping the end-user overclocking the GPU though.

GingaNinja · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:07

I'd be surprised if Nvidia could prevent overclocking by the end user. I assume that they mean that they will not permit their partners to release factory overclocked versions.

Ginga

Cyber-Mav · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:08

doubt something like the next gen cards will need to be overclocked anyways. other than for benchmarking.

LoadsaMoney · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:09

Yes end user can overclock em, but are they saying they cant be overclocked at all as they will bork or what, i would'nt risk clocking a one, not if ive shelled out £500+ thats for sure.

techmonkey · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:38

If it's simply a case of Nvidia not letting any of the card makers pre-overclock cards then I can't see a problem with that as I think pre-overclocked cards aren't worth the extra price of a stock clocked card anyway. Just overclock it yourself innit bruv.

james.miller · 20 Oct 2006 at 13:41

its crazy because vendors didnt overclock the cards that much over stock, and if that's the real reason they were failing then i'm sorry but obviously nvidia were running the cores right on the edge from the start. how can a few mhz over stock be the difference between a working card and a dead card?

from the point of view of keeping things simple..that i can understand. there are so many difference modls and speeds of nvidia cards it that it can be very confusing for the customer.

OC_A64 · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:01

Boogle said:
The vertex units were OCed a little too much by many OEMs, causing stuttering, and eventually death of graphics cards. NV just want OEMs to use stock clocks. Nothing stopping the end-user overclocking the GPU though.

Still dont think it was a core issue, more a memory problem.

The one bonus to this is that the cost of the cards should remain fairly low. Does kinda make getting a better clocking card more "luck of the draw" as there may not be as much/any binning going on.

LoadsaMoney · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:23

techmonkey said:
If it's simply a case of Nvidia not letting any of the card makers pre-overclock cards then I can't see a problem with that as I think pre-overclocked cards aren't worth the extra price of a stock clocked card anyway. Just overclock it yourself innit bruv.

Yes, but are they stopping vendors from overclocking them for a reason, thats what everyone wants to know, as as i said what if theres a mass of borked G80 threads due to overlocking, and then Nvidia just say well why do you think we banned vendors from overclokinng them.

Gashman · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:24

this is actually a good idea on NVIDIAs part, there playing it safe, not letting card makers overclock the GPU means the failure rate will be low, then if the buyer wants to overclock it'll be their problem if it dies, not NVIDIAs

LoadsaMoney · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:27

Gashman said:
this is actually a good idea on NVIDIAs part, there playing it safe, not letting card makers overclock the GPU means the failure rate will be low, then if the buyer wants to overclock it'll be their problem if it dies, not NVIDIAs

Exactly, as the article says they don't want another 7900 GT fiasco, so to me they are saying, if you the consumer attempts overclocking of em, then the risk of borkness is highly likely.

Schnippzle · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:28

Another possibility (although a remote one) is that NV arent confident enough in their new chips to allow users to oc them

I mean, if a load of people started overclocking their cards, and then the majority of the cards died....NV would have a destroyed reputation.....But if they warn people first that these cards are considerably more fragile than previous cards, then people wont push them as hard. However, like I said, I dont think its a solid possibility, just speculation

LoadsaMoney · 20 Oct 2006 at 14:33

Plus i cant see the vendors not getting a bit suss if all of a sudden the get G80s returned on mass as they are borking left right and centre, they'll be sitting there saying 'hang on a minute, they are fine at stock, so why are they being returned on mass borked, somethings not right here'.

I can see a load of problems ahead for ppl trying to get RMA's, if they start getting returned on mass.

pegasus1 · 20 Oct 2006 at 16:01

Cyber-Mav said:
doubt something like the next gen cards will need to be overclocked anyways. other than for benchmarking.

It does seem odd that a top of the range next gen card that will be aimed at the enthusiast market cant be clocked without it going fizzle.

rippling · 20 Oct 2006 at 16:52

wai for the R600 then!

Firegod · 20 Oct 2006 at 18:28

pegasus1 said:
It does seem odd that a top of the range next gen card that will be aimed at the enthusiast market cant be clocked without it going fizzle.

Hmm first thing I might do is remove the gunk and put some AS5 on the card, hopefully help with any temp issues.

On a general note, I don't overclock my graphics cards at all until I start to notice it struggling with games. By that point I've usually had the card for 6+ months and so I'm not too worried about it going pop. I never overclock as soon as I get a new card for some unknown reason... too scared probably.