Auto-detect on FX 5600?

[Mloot]

I'm not sure if this belongs in the Nvidia card section or here, but here goes:

I have an FX 5600 PCI which is clocked at 325/550. I would like to try to overclock, but I'm a bit nervous after trying out the auto-detect. When I used it to see how well it could detect safe overclock speeds, it came back with core/memory settings of 319/538, which is a little lower than the default clock settings.

I have had no overheating and/or artifacting problems with the default settings, but does the lower auto-detect settings mean I have no headroom for overclocking and should not even attempt it?

TIA.

[Rytr]

Did you try the auto detect again? You probably will come up with a different number after the card has run awhile. The 5900U is now about up to where I normally clock it. I think my last auto detect was 511/947. I run it normally at 515/950. I believe the first time I tried it was 497/???, don't remember the memory. However, both were above defaults.

[Mloot]

Yep, I get the same auto-detect settings no matter when I try it. This has been over the course of a few days, both before and after heavy gaming.

[Rytr]

If you are not getting any indications of excessive heat I would not worry too much about it. If it does give you concern just take it back for an exchange could be that the heatsink is not properly installed or the heat sensor (or whatever is used for auto detect) is not working properly. Auto detect showing settings below defaults should be good enough reason for a RMA or exchange.

[Mloot]

Ironically, my first 5600 PCI is in transit for an RMA as we speak, for a noisy fan and some artifacting at default settings (has problems w/shadow rendering). The one I have now has no problems to speak of (quiet fan, no artifacts), just the auto-detect bug thingy. Oh, well, I suppose any succesful overclock on any card is just extra gravy, as long as it works at default settings. I guess I'll just keep it stock and not risk overclocking it, since it IS a PCI card an all, and not likely to improve much w/overclocking.

Thanks for the input Rytr. :)

[Rytr]

Excellent reasoning! Enjoy your card. ;)

Rytr

[ricercar]

I get different results every time I run auto-detect. In my experience the autodetect clocks are lower after a card has been powered up for a time. Additionally, manually-set clocks usually pass at higher rates than autodetect clocks. Here are some examples

FX 5900 Ultra (eng sample)
clock - stock/autodetect/manual
NVCLK - 400/425/500 MHz
MCLK - 500/500/550 MHz

FX 5800 Ultra (PNY)
clock - stock/autodetect/manual
NVCLK - 500/512/519 MHz
MCLK - 1.00/1.08/1.09 GHz

FX 5800 (ASUS)
clock - stock/autodetect/manual
NVCLK - 400/397/500 MHz
MCLK - 0.80/1.00/1.01 GHz

FX 5200 (Gainward)
clock - stock/autodetect/manual
NVCLK - 250/323/untested MHz
MCLK - 400/549/untested MHz