# Hello everyone



## xtermin8or (Nov 13, 2005)

Hey im new here and new to overcloking video cards. i dont know anything about overclocking video cards. So i have a radeon 9600xt powercolor 256mb and i want to squeeze some more out of it so i can run nfs most wanted at full detail and good fps. at full it runs just a little bit slower. So can anyone please help me overclok my card. i have ati tools but dont know how to use it. Please help! Thank you.


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## infrared (Nov 13, 2005)

It's really simple, just open the utility, and click 'find max core', leave that to run until it finds the maximum, then click 'find max mem' and allow that to run, after it's found the maximum speeds for your card, click 'scan for artifacts', and allow that to run for at least 40 minutes to make sure your card is completely stable at the new speeds.

Any probs, give us a shout


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## xtermin8or (Nov 13, 2005)

thanks, im downloading the omega driver, see how i go with that. if its not what i want ill go straight to ati tool. hope i dont fry my card


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## xtermin8or (Nov 13, 2005)

what is better to use? ati tool or the utility in the omega driver?? if its the driver how do i use it because it doesnt have auto calculate option.


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## xtermin8or (Nov 13, 2005)

my bad, it does have an autodetect core and memory function(the driver). But its hovering on 518-520 mhz with 1 "artifact". I dont know what that is, or what core speed is or any of that so can someone post a link on video cards 101.  i wanna learn!!!. btw my core speed detection is done. 517 mhz. im doing the memory now. Thank you


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## infrared (Nov 13, 2005)

an artifact is what's caused by an error, usually indicating the graphics card has been overclocked slightly too far. You need to find the point at which it's not finding any artifacts.

I have no experience with the omega driver. I guess i'll have to take a look at that, but all i've ever needed was ATItool.

Also, for that graphics card, you should be able to change the fan speeds. Click on 'settings' in the bottom right, and then go to the 'fan control' page if it's supported by your card. If it is, you want to fix your fan speed @ 100% while playing games, or overclocking to help keep the temps down.

Tell me how it goes


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## xtermin8or (Nov 13, 2005)

well the core speed went up 18 mhz but the mem only went .40. I think, im not usre i have the tiniest bit of difference in the game now. Could i push it further?


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## infrared (Nov 13, 2005)

hmm, what are the defaults, and what are the new speeds?

it might not make that much difference, give it a good gaming session and see what you think.


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

the defaults are : 500 core, 203 mem, and it went to 518 and memory im runing at 219. im pushing the memory though. It has some artifacts. What can i do to make it better. Its still the same from stock to overclock


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## infrared (Nov 14, 2005)

hmm, if it's picking up artefacts at the speed, it's probably not worth keeping it overclocked, i very much doubt you'd notice any difference with the new speeds. It's really odd that it will only go that far.  

Have you tried updating all the drivers for the card of the ATI website? It might be an old driver causing artifacts.

~Simon


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

nah its the newest.


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## infrared (Nov 14, 2005)

Damn, it's not looking good!  

does your card support fan control in ATITool, or is it one of those cards that has a heatsink without a fan?

Edit: what am i talking about, of course it's got a fan!  

Go into settings on ATITool, then go to fan control, and put the fan speed @ fixed speed 100%, see if that helps


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

nah it doesnt support fan control. It does have a fan tho.


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## infrared (Nov 14, 2005)

oh, lol, one brick wall after another  

It should be going a lot quicker than this  

How new is the card? It could be a dud, in which case you _might_ be able to exchange it.


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

i dony know. i have the box. it looks like an original power color and i got it with manual drivers and cables... i dont know how new it is... on the box it says "...full suport for direct x9" so, i dont know. I just wanna play (


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## infrared (Nov 14, 2005)

Yeah, i know what you mean,

unfortunatly, it looks like you'll have to run the card at stock speeds, which sucks, i know.  

I'm very surprised by this though, being from powercolor, you'd expect better. :shadedshu 

~Simon


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

Well damn! anyhoo thanks for all your help man. apreciate it. good luck with that x800. btw, damn i want ur card!! . anyhoo thanks again. cheers


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## infrared (Nov 14, 2005)

this is odd... looks like the stock speeds should be 500/300

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpudb/

hehe, no probs man. Thanks for the luck!


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

yea i know. my friend has the same card but its from saphire and he has 300 to mem not 200!!! He runs nfs most wanted perfect with no clocking.... i dont know wats up with mine. Ey do you know if i should have written powercolor or have like a heatsink with powercolor written on my card, coz mine is jus red and has the tyniest little fan with a ati sticker on it...


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

wait i stumbled across something. in the oveclocking utility of the omega driver, at the memory mhz if i click on "show as DDR"  it shows a default clock speed of 405.. i dont know if that means anything.


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## infrared (Nov 14, 2005)

umm, dunno. Perhaps the omega driver is causing problems with ATITool though. It might be worth uninstalling that, and then seeing if anything improves.

You have to be really careful when buying a graphics card, there's a version of mine that i nearly bought with a heatsink and fan arrangement similar to yours, so i went with Club3D knowing they're very reliable.

Edit: wow, 3 pages!


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

yea 3 pages... lol ohh  and on the box too it theres a sticker with 500/400 core/mem. so i dunoo.


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## infrared (Nov 14, 2005)

ahh, i think i understand what's happened.

With memory on graphics cards, and RAM for that matter, you have to times to clock speed by 2 to get the true speed. For instance, on the box for my x800xl, it says the clocks are 400/1000, but in ATITool, it comes up as 400/500. That solves that mystery then.  Had me confused there for a while!! 

Anyway, i've got to get to college now, cya later, and good luck!


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## xtermin8or (Nov 14, 2005)

cya man


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