what'cha think about this?

[I Hate Pants]

Im gonna be OCing my graphic card and I decided to use this:

Zalman ZM80C-HP Video Card Cooler
http://www.frozencpu.com/images/products/detail_hires/vid-18.jpg

Zalman OP1 Slim Fan
http://www.frozencpu.com/images/products/detail_hires/vid-19.jpg

combined to create this:
http://www.frozencpu.com/images/products/detail_secondary_hires/vid-18_3.jpg

Good? Bad? Ya? Na? Okay? Sexual prefrences?

Im using an ATI Radeon 9000 pro 128mb. So how much should I OC my card without baking it? And how much of a fps increase should I expect?

[TheRagingGerbil]

Hey thats exactly what I got!

It's only the most bestest thing in the world. $29.95 off the shelf at Fry's. I didn't go with the mounted fan though. I installed a fan in the side of my case that sucks fresh air from the outside and blows directly accross the cooling fins.

I use the Omega drivers, they include the core and memory ocing in the video preferences.

As far as limits, it is different for every card from every manufacturer. They all use the same ATI GPU, but memory and other components come from different vendors. You can use the Nvidia OCing guide at the top of this forum as a good source for the technique to find your optimal oc settings.

With the Omega drivers, right click on the desktop and go to preferences -> settings -> advanced. Select the overclocking tab and check the "Allow overclocking box." The best thing you can do is bump the core my 5 hz at a time. do a test with each bump, save the settings, then start a graphically intense game. Play for 10 minutes or so and watch for any tearing of the graphics or missing textures. If all is good, exit the game and bump it up another 5 hz and do the same. Eventually you will reach a point where after your 10 or 15 minutes you will start to see graphical issues. Bump it back down to the last good setting and save it. Then repeat the whole process with the memory clock settings.

After doing all this, you may find that after extended gaming sessions you will start to see graphical glitches, bump the clocks down. IF you get any wierd lockups or crashes, bump the clocks down. If you see the temp of you case sky rocket, bump the clocks down.

In the case of my 9600 with the Zalman, I actually ran into clock issues rather than graphic issues. The temps are good, and the graphics are still stable, but the core of the video card just can't go and faster.

*Edit: I'll try to get you some pics.

[Rbstr]

I have a Giant 2 and its sweet, it's suposadly the best one you can get but i have seen no tempurature comparisons, i do know my GPU is running at a nice 51 celcius, and before it was geting near that hot with the stock cooler and an OC of less than 20 mhz.

[sandmtrailboss]

I've got that exact same setup but I put another 80mm fan on the side to with a little custom braket. My card stays super cool for being oc'd pretty high (Non Pro 9700). I'm not sure how much performace increase you can get with that card though.

[Rbstr]

Well its a second to a top of the line, and its the same card just clocked less, you could probably get it up to if not alittle past the 9700 pro speeds.

[NoSurrender]

well its basically just a 8500. so id think because the heatsink doesnt seam to have the fan bracket.

[TheRagingGerbil]

Some pics of my rig and card setup...

http://home.comcast.net/~theraginggerbil/images/rig.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~theraginggerbil/images/vidcool.JPG

http://home.comcast.net/~theraginggerbil/images/darkrig.JPG

[NoSurrender]

damn nice job on the wiring. i wish mine was nice as that. Anyone know if a Giant2 will work on my ATI 9500pro?