Worth overclocking my FX-57 and two Graphics Cards?

[Layzan]

Here’s my setup:

AMD Athlon FX-57 Processor
x2 1GB Corsair XMS Pro RAM (total 2 GB)
x2 GeForce 7800 GTX 256 MB (SLI)
Asus A8N32-SLi Deluxe nForce4 Sli x16 Motherboard

I should be receiving a Zalman aero flower and two Zalman VF900-CU Quiet VGA Cooler’s tomorrow or perhaps even tonight!

I ordered the above to lower temps but have also been wondering about overclocking though have never done this before?

Is it worth it, do I need water cooling or will the Zalman’s be enough?

If any one knows also what could I expect to increase the processor speed by?

Cheers

 

[m3csl2004]

the zalman will do nicely - no need for water

you should see over 3 gig, but not much over

 

[Layzan]

What about the two Graphics cards, should I overclock them?

See the thing is, I’m now thinking about getting hold of the new Dell 2407 however its optimum resolution is 1920 x 1200.

My two present Graphics cards struggle somewhat on 2048 x 1536 with maxed out everything else on games like Bf2, as I can set that on my present CRT but instead I stick with 1600 x 1200 because of this and things run fine.

Could I set the Dell 2407 to run at 1600 x 1200 without problems or should I overclock the cards so they can run games like this at the higher resolution?

 

[joeyjojo]

should I overclock the cards so they can run games like this at the higher resolution?

In my opinion, overclocking graphics cards by a sensible amount with ample cooling is safe and shouldn't cause any problems, so yes.

As long as overclocking SLI cards is the same as single cards (is it?) download coolbits. This gived you the option in the drivers to set the clock and memory speeds. Research the average overclock people can get, or use the autodetect. Play with the settings until you get good speeds without any errors (dark squares, flickers, "artifacts" in general).

 

[juno_first]

I know someone who had an fx57 + 2x 7800gtx and it ran at 3080mhz with the stock cooler, he got 13400 in 3dmk05 although 4200 in 3dmk06 because its a singlecore. Saying that, most games ran better on the fx57 at 3080mhz than my dualcore at 2.6Ghz with the same graphics cards.

 

[Layzan]

Really appreciate your input guys.

I’ll be getting my Zalman’s tonight so I’ll make sure all is well and then I’ll do my first overclock!

Is there anything I should be warned about before doing this?

I’ll be using Coolbits of course but I’m still a tad worried about blowing some part of my computer!

 

[juno_first]

The 7800's get really hot so I'd check your CPU temp after running 3D for a while.
I remember the fx57 ran well at 1.45v @ 3080Mhz

 

[Mikebert4]

you shouldn't distroy your PC using coolbits....

if it's your first overclock then use the 'find optimum clock' button...

tis easy, and the performance boost is appreciable...

let us know how it goes!

 

[Layzan]

Well I installed the Zalman’s last night, they look great, and the CPU temp went down by around 5c and the lower GPU by around 8c however unfortunately the higher GPU jumped by 10c!

That’s the first time I’ve ever seen my graphics card temp raise to 90+!!!

So obviously we (me and my brother) looked at it in detail, it was easy to see that due to the soundcard below, as there was no where else for it to go due to the motherboard design it had left hardly any space for the Zalman fan air intake.

We refitted the stock cooler on the top card and all is well, shame really, not only a waste of £20 but it looked cool too.

Well at least the others are doing their job well, worth taking note of if you are thinking about putting them in, they use the space of one PIC slot but in reality they need about the same space again for air intake!

I don’t think I’ll overclock as the cards I have do run hot, if only I could place the soundcard on the lower PCI slot as the first card always gets the hottest, but no.

Still, I’m pleased about the others…

 

[juno_first]

I found that by putting a big fan on the case side panel (even at 7v) over the graphics card blowing out works great and blows out hot air instead of cooking the inside of your tower.

Easy to do, just drill holes in the panel and mount a fan, got some pics on my web below.

 

[Layzan]

I found that by putting a big fan on the case side panel (even at 7v) over the graphics card blowing out works great and blows out hot air instead of cooking the inside of your tower.

Easy to do, just drill holes in the panel and mount a fan, got some pics on my web below.

Well due to hot raising from the graphics cards bays, my tower, the Thermaltake VA8000BWS Armour Super Tower disperses hot air through fans based in the roof and rare.

Also brings in cool air through the front, I can see that you have your sound card below your two graphics cards, That’s the best place for it however due to the Zalman’s I must have mine between my two cards….

Need more PCI slots!

 

[Mikebert4]

Need more PCI slots!

who doesn't ?

My Mobo (ABIT KN8-SLi) only has 2 thats soundcard and Wireless network card.

*shrug*

they should make more stuff for PCIe 1x slots