Will overclocking increase 2D performance?

[rjd]

Hi All

Although I often visit the forum this is my first post so please bear with me.

I have a Sapphire Atlantis Radeon 9600 128mb card as I didn’t want a card with a fan and only normally use 2D applications and games.

The 2D quality is excellent and it is fast enough in general use.

I have used Riva Tuner v2.0 to overclock the Core by 2% and the Memory by 4% as they were originally slightly underclocked at 324MHz and 196MHz respectively.

There is a wired temperature probe on the AGP slot above the card. It’s normally around 8 or 9c above room when surfing etc and only goes up another 2 or 3 degrees when under load e.g playing HD wmv files.

My queries for you experts are:

How much would I need to overclock to notice any real/worthwhile difference in 2D?

What are the safe maximum settings for Core and Memory?

Would overclocking help when playing HD wmv files?

If I do overclock, am I right in thinking that temps would only rise under load and would not change when idle or surfing?

Providing the temps don’t go up too much (how much?) would overclocking reduce the cards lifespan much/at all?

Any help or suggestions will be appreciated.

Thanks

 

[nO}{8]

How much would I need to overclock to notice any real/worthwhile difference in 2D?

you mean in windows? none i would have thought. In 2d games, maybe.

What are the safe maximum settings for Core and Memory?

youll find them by overclocking too far and getting a system hang or coruption on screen, just back off from these settings and leave it there. usually 15mhz off the max core and 25 foff the memory just to sure.

Would overclocking help when playing HD wmv files?

I doubt it as the difference would be minute. lastest drivers would help more.

If I do overclock, am I right in thinking that temps would only rise under load and would not change when idle or surfing?

measure your temps at load, if you get over 60 for that card back off the clock a bit, if theyre under then theyre no issue. the limiting factors for the overclock will be the voltages the card has to work with and the quality of the memory in the first place.

Providing the temps don’t go up too much (how much?) would overclocking reduce the cards lifespan much/at all?

not really if theyre moderate and not at the limit. heat plays an issue here as well as voltages. Ive not had a card gone bad with overclocking but there are others who have on the OcUK forums. Remember some manufacturers pre-overclock their cards so thats evidence of it not doing much to them. I think instead of getting 10 years wear and tear out it you might get 8 instead or something

 

[nO}{8]

Oh and welcome to the forums! Hope your stay is a good one

 

[Cyber-Mav]

overclocking will have no effect in 2d apps and games unless the card your clocking is very old like a s3 virge chip.

any card that came out and did 3d acceleration like a ati rage 128 or nvidia riva 128 would have 2d speed matching that of 7800/x1900 cards although image quality would be different.

 

[rjd]

Thanks for the wecome and your replies.

I think I will leave it slightly underclocked rather than running Riva Tune.

Thanks again.