Some overclocking issues
 

I have some rather minor issues that I was hoping someone could help me with.

1. My 2500+, which is overclocked to 3200+ speeds (200 x 11) is only stable at a core voltage of 1.85v. Temperatures are almost always over 50c, and can get over 60c sometimes. I am using a thermaltake silent boost heatsink. I have read about other people getting a stable system with a much lower core voltage, such as 1.7v. How do they manage this?

2. I have a sapphire radeon 9600xt that has some artifacting issues when run at the default memory speed of 297. Reducing it to just below 270 seems to stop it from artifacting. Would a faulty fan or some such thing be causing this to happen?

Help is much appreciated.

What RAM are you using? Really good RAM always increases the results of overclocking. Bad RAM will really put a damper on the OC'ing performance.

It sounds like your videocard is too hot. So yes, a faulty fan or heatsink could cause your problem. I would try installing different drivers first, though.

-Lasereth

Get a better heatsink... unfortunately silence can really only be achieved when overclocking with water.

I have 512mb of corsair pc3200, on an A7N8X-E deluxe motherboard, set on aggressive timings and with a voltage of 2.9v.

The card is currently 36c, and I am using the omega 2.5.58 drivers. It happens with every set of drivers I have installed, and formatting doesn't help either. I am also not using the overdrive feature, as it just increases the visual problems. How would I go about fixing the fan or heatsink on my video card?

Well, I don't think the RAM is the problem, as Corsair has good CAS timings by default (in general). About your video card, you might just be wise to find an "after-market" VGA cooling solution. A good place to start is here.

What kind of case fans are you using? Also, you could get some Arctic Silver 5 for your CPU HSF and your video card.

A good tip, but I have say using Arctic Silver will almost instantly void the warranty on your CPU. But then, what's 80 bucks, especially since you've OC'ed to 3200+, I think we're beyond worrying about warranties. Anyways, just thought I'd mention that about warranties.

Regarding your video card problem. It's common for the crappy ATI thermal paste to not always be providing a good thermal medium between your the core and the heatsink. So your heatsink may be working, but it's possible that perhaps the thermal paste is only covering 40% of the core which would result in over-heating.

This is what you can do:
A) If your card is still under warranty try to return it. If the card is artifacting at default speeds then it's defective.

B) If your card is not under warranty anymore buy some Ceramique or Artic Silver 5 and replace the stock thermal goo. And like other people have mentioned, adding an after-market VGA cooler should increase your OC by a sizeable amount. The Artic Cooling VGA silencer is a great option and only costs $10-$15.

Oooh, thanks ChrisJericho. I hadn't even considered checking around my heatsink for my VGA. Damn. That's a considerable heat monger, I could really do some VGA OC'ing with some new shit on there.

You were spot on about the thermal paste not being applied correctly. It seems that the paste only covered the edges of the core and missed the middle. There was some excess paste around the core so I used that to fix the mistake. I can now get up to 295 before artifacts start to kick in. I'm quite happy with that but I still reckon I should be able to at least overclock it to some degree.

When I get a chance I'm going to go pick up some thermal paste. I think I may have not applied the paste correctly to my CPU heatsink when I installed it, as I am getting temps of around 50c when set back to the original, non-overclocked settings; although I do have the fan to spin at around 1350 RPM so I don’t deafen myself when I try to sleep. Would ceramique or artic silver 5 be suitable for both my video card and CPU?

Expensive thermal grease really isn't necessary. You'll get at best 1-2C cooler with something like Arctic Silver or Nanotherm. Plus, Arctic Silver tends to void warranties. Its electrically conductive.

Ceramique is your best bet. Heck, I'm using generic white paste on my new XP2500. I'm running at 3200+ idling at 111F. Heatsink is a Thermaltake SL700 or something. Its big and copper. I really think that CPU cooler is holding you back.

Yes you can use either kind of thermal paste on your CPU or your video card.

Here are some good instructions on how to apply thermal paste:

http://www.arcticsilver.com/instructions.htm


I'm glad you found out what the problem was.

Just make sure to keep good airflow through the case. I put in some Volcano's with a Thermaltake Fan Controller, and my ambient internal case temp dropped. Stock Case fans are like stock CPU cooling solutions. Great if you don't do any OC'ing.. :)