Newbie: Your suggestion for Geforce 6600

[alourenco]

Hi! :)
Sorry for the following questions, but i'm really a newbie! :rolleyes:

I just get one Asus N6600 TD 256MB (AGP) for a really nice price... arround USD$50! :D

My previous card was a Geforce 2 MX400. What a diference! :D
Well I was searching the forum for "how to overclock" this kind of GFX card. I can't find anything that I was looking for.

I was wondering if you can help me? :)
I've got a few questions to make and maybe you can help me. :)

The factory core speed of GPU is 300Mhz and Memory is 500Mhz.
I've installed Asus SmartDoctor and i can't push to much, at least I can't see any diference in games or benchmarks. I can get 400Mhz max for core and 550Mhz max for memory.

Now the questions: :)
- Can I OC this GFX card without adding any additional cooler(fan) to it?
- What software should I use to OC this GFX card (coolbits)?
- What speeds do you recommend to OC this card?
- What is the max temperature that of GPU and Memory (recommended)?

Thank you.

[Ninjaman09]

Now the questions: :)
- Can I OC this GFX card without adding any additional cooler(fan) to it?
Yes, though a third-party cooler may increase your maximum overclock. However if you reach an overclock that you find to be acceptable and the temps are OK, you don't need to worry about it. Also, a third-party cooler would void your card's warranty (though you could just put the old cooler back on).

- What software should I use to OC this GFX card (coolbits)?
When I was overclocking I used Coolbits, but some people prefer Rivatuner (http://www.guru3d.com/rivatuner/).

- What speeds do you recommend to OC this card?
That I can't answer, though I'm sure someone around here can.

- What is the max temperature that of GPU and Memory (recommended)?

I believe the max for the GPU is somewhere around 120C but you should never let it get that high - 95C is probably the absolute hottest you would want to let it get, and even that is very high. My 7800GTXs, for example usually don't go any higher than 75C under heavy load (though some benchmarking utilities can push them up to 80C). As for the memory, I've never measured the VRAM temps so I can't really say.

Hope that helps!

[alourenco]

Thank you Ninjaman09. :)

Now I just need someone to tell me what kind of recommended speeds can I use for OC this kind of GFX card. Without of course requiring a third party cooler or fan. :D

If any1 owns or owned this kind of card please let me know about the questions that i've made in 1st post.

[ViN86]

you could try the auto OC via Coolbits, then add a few mhz at a time to the core and memory until you start to get artifact's (corruption in the rendering). then turn it back down a little until you find a stable combo.

thats what ive always done :D

[alourenco]

you could try the auto OC via Coolbits, then add a few mhz at a time to the core and memory until you start to get artifact's (corruption in the rendering). then turn it back down a little until you find a stable combo.

thats what ive always done :D
You have this without any additional cooler or fan in the GFX card, right? :)

[Strahd]

Thank you Ninjaman09. :)

Now I just need someone to tell me what kind of recommended speeds can I use for OC this kind of GFX card. Without of course requiring a third party cooler or fan. :D

If any1 owns or owned this kind of card please let me know about the questions that i've made in 1st post.

IMHO there really is no recommended speeds for that card. If you follow the above advice in OC'ing your card then you will be fine. The main issue you have with it is, how hot are you willing to let that card run?

If you can OC that core to 400Mhz, what is the temp under max load? Really as long as the card is stable and does not artifact in testing/gaming, then the only question is, are you comfortable with the temperature during idle and load?

My thoughts in OC'ing is how fast you can get it to go and be stable AND you are comfortable with the temperatures! If you are not comfortable with the temps, then either get more cooling or drop your OC. Just find a combination of OC stability and temps you are comfortable with and you can't go wrong :)

[alourenco]

Thank you Strahd!

What program should I use for measuring the temps? Because Asus Smartdoctor reads slow temps I think. With no OC in a game i read about 41ºC for GPU and 42ºC for memory.
I've tried rivatuner but I can't find how to enable the option to read GPU temps.

[ViN86]

You have this without any additional cooler or fan in the GFX card, right? :)
yea, i have stock cooling.

my current card doesnt OC worth a damn, but my old BFG 6800GT (agp) hit well over ultra speeds on stock cooling. the "Detect Optimal Frequencies" feature of coolbits works well, but it plays it safe. you can usually OC further than what the auto feature detects. just make sure your temperatures are within range (usually less than 80 is good for 6800's, idk about 6600's however) and make sure there isnt corruption.

then you have a stable OC. ;)
Thank you Strahd!

What program should I use for measuring the temps? Because Asus Smartdoctor reads slow temps I think. With no OC in a game i read about 41ºC for GPU and 42ºC for memory.
I've tried rivatuner but I can't find how to enable the option to read GPU temps.
if you go into your display properties -> settings -> advanced do you see a GeForce 6600 tab?? for the 6800 cards and above the temperature is displayed in there under the temperature tab on the left. also, you can use rivatuner to log your temps while youre gaming to make sure they are not getting too high.

[Strahd]

Thank you Strahd!

What program should I use for measuring the temps? Because Asus Smartdoctor reads slow temps I think. With no OC in a game i read about 41ºC for GPU and 42ºC for memory.
I've tried rivatuner but I can't find how to enable the option to read GPU temps.

There are several monitoring programs you can use. Motherboard monitor is a popular one to use. I happen to use Everest because it monitors GPU temp and GPU ambient temps as well as CPU temp, fans etc.

Smartdoctor is as accurate as your BIOS for ASUS boards. What I don't like about it is the fact you have to load ASUS's enhanced driver to use it and there are other programs out there that will do the same thing without the extra driver overhead :)

[alourenco]

also, you can use rivatuner to log your temps while youre gaming to make sure they are not getting too high.
Can you tell me how do I do that? I'm not very familiar with rivatuner. I was trying to do that but i can't.

Btw i'm using XTreme-G 78.03-HDv2 drivers for nvidia GFX cards. Should I use original nvidia drivers instead?

Thank you in advance.

[Gentle]

The 6600 *might* have the same core as a 6600GT.

If that is the case, the GPU core *might* clock up to 500MHz rather easily (with proper cooling).

The memory however is a totally different thing. The 6600 probably uses DDR ram and would run MUCH slower than the ram you see in the 6600GT, which is GDDR3 ram.

I do not expect you to overclock the ram very much.

Gentle

[JamesDax]

After running at 450 for several months and 475 for a few weeks I'm now running my 6200's core(NV43 A2) at 500 for the last couple days with no problems. Memory on the other hand I've had to clock down with each clock up of the core. Currently it's running at 650. Of course I've unlocked the 4 extra pipes so i'm modded out to a full 6600. :D

[alourenco]

After running at 450 for several months and 475 for a few weeks I'm now running my 6200's core(NV43 A2) at 500 for the last couple days with no problems. Memory on the other hand I've had to clock down with each clock up of the core. Currently it's running at 650. Of course I've unlocked the 4 extra pipes so i'm modded out to a full 6600. :D
WOW! That's great! :D Are you using an extra cooler or fan?
What program do you use to get does OC's?

[JamesDax]

Just using rivatuner and coolbits. Using stock cooling on the card, but I do have an extra case fan.

[alourenco]

Well i've tried all possible combinations. :)
The max combination possible without rivatuner or GeForce control panel with coolbits saying that the combination is not possible is 420 gpu and 550 memory. I know that there are a few options in rivatuner to tweak a bit mero the away that speeds are tested, but i'm not changing any of thise settings.
I've run 3dmark03 bench and i get about 4818 (factory speeds 300GPU/500Memory) and 5684 (OC 420GPU/550Memory).
I've monitored the temps with rivatuner (with asus enhanced driver installed, because it was already installed for smartdoctor) and i get in this temps using 3dmark03. max 52ºC for GPU and max 46ºC memory. Is it too much?

Are this values acceptable? Can I let this settings stay forever? :)

[JamesDax]

You should be fine with those temps.

[alourenco]

:D Thank you.
I'll try to run this OC values for some days and see if the system stays stable!
About the temps any1 knows what are the recommended values? like betwen 40-60ºC for gpu and 40-50ºC for memory for this kind of GFX card?