14 réponses à ce sujet

[Sgt. Subtle]

I recently aquired an ATI Radeon 4670 1GB and was curious about overclocking it. All I am wondering is what are the highest 'safe' levels one can overclock this card at? (If anyone has ever done it, that is.) The default levels are 750MHz (GPU) and 400MHz (Memory). I did several searches on this card and learned it is a very good card for gaming as it never excessively overheats, even when overclocked; uses very little power, requiring only a fairly small PSU; and has no problem running the latest games/applications available.

Also, after doing a quick forum search on this very site (before deciding to make a new topic entirely) I found only two topics relating to my question. First one I clicked on, was someone asking about overclocking programs, so no help there. The other actually had my exact same question needing addressed, but sadly the OP got heavily trolled with no help at all. Can anyone help?

Modifié par Sgt. Subtle, 21 septembre 2010 - 03:27 .

[Eurypterid]

I don't know about overclocking your card (or ATI cards for that matter), but you'd likely be much better off asking on a computer tech forum.

[Sgt. Subtle]

Thanks for the response, Eurypterid. I've tried a couple of other forums and no luck. Kinda thought "Where else to get graphics card help than a forum based around some highly graphical games like DA and ME2?"...lol. I've got threads posted elsewhere, but so far this seems to be the right place as its the only one I've gotten a response on.

[Gaidheal]

There's no definitive answer, or rather there is but you won't like it; no 'overclocking' setting is safe but what you can do with your card and the way you use it comes down very specific stuff. In other words if you went and bought the very same model, that specific card might behave differently at the same settings and with the same usage.



If you're really determined to do it all the same, start with small increments and use it in the most demanding way you intend to use the card ('worst' game with highest settings that are playable for you) for an hour or two to test settings that seem to be okay. It's no good getting the card to 'work' at certain timings on your desktop only to have it fall over as soon as you really use it.



My honest advice? Don't bother. If you 'need' more performance buy a different card, if you don't need it, do not mess with the default clocks; ATI chose them to perform properly across a range of different scenarios, including sub-par ventilation, hot rooms, etc, and the performance gains are typically so small as to need specialized applications to demonstrate.

[joey_mork84]

Haha.. Yea, my old thread about this got trolled really hard. You pulled a good move not posting other system specs like most of the techs prefer you do. As I found out through trial and error, my 4670 performs wonderfully with the sliders in the Overdrive maxed (900 GPU/600 Memory) while playing any game or using any of my apps. DA works great for sure with all the settings on high. However, as the poster above pointed out, no two cards are going to work the same even if they are the same make/model/size.. I would go with the small increments at first, which is basically what I ended up doing, and test it until you get a setting that is stable. It is a great card, tho. Good choice lol

[Sgt. Subtle]

Thanks for your help everyone! Didn't expect such good responses so quickly. I'm mostly just wanted to test the card myself and see what kind of performance I can get out of it by overclocking (I'm overly curious, I guess you could say). If I run into any trouble, I'll just drop it to defaults.

@joey_mork84: Yep, that be your thread I was referring to lol. Sorry you got trolled, but glad you figured it out! And thanks for the help!

Modifié par Sgt. Subtle, 21 septembre 2010 - 05:34 .

[Gorath Alpha]

Overclocking hardware is like a splinter group of computer users.  Most who are doing so aren't actually doing the overclocking for gaming purposes, and the potential COST in reduced product lifetime (even with a lifetime warranty, there is shipping, and lost time to account for), puts this practice into the same type of classification as running Crossfire / SLI. 

You add enough complications, and contribute enough additional tendency to instability, that only the very fastest that already exists (at stock speed settings) are appropriate devices to apply these functions to (yes, an opinion, but well founded). 

Financially, you can always buy the next faster card in the series for less than the cost of two of its slower sibling, and the performance will be close to the same, for CF or the next faster.  I think that a similar calculation should be applicable when we are discussing the overclocking results. 

P. S. I see that I had missed the worst of the Troll Trash on the last ATI HD 4600 overclocking thread, in which my only negative opinion was regarding the CPU, not the GPU.  That thread's trollish participant exchange should have been reported to a moderator a long time before Stanley had to step into it.


Gorath

Modifié par Gorath Alpha, 21 septembre 2010 - 06:45 .

[Sgt. Subtle]

Just tested it out on several different settings and it works great maxed out while playing DA on all high settings or with any app I have! Thanks for all the help everyone!

@joey_mork84 again: I also have a cpu that is very close to yours, if not a step down (2.1 as opposed to your 2.3), and I honestly have no idea what that guy was talking about. I've had absolutely no problems with speed, lag, slowdowns, or 'bottlenecking', as s/he so wonderfully put it. S/He must not have been as computer literate as s/he thought s/he was... Thanks again, regardless.

@Gorath Alpha: The cost of the card really is no true concern to me atm as it was given to me (sort of) and another rig I have has another ATI in it that is a step or two up. Both cards run great, even when overclocked, with no negative results as of yet. Never even had any temperature spikes as opposed to its original state. I think it went up another 2-3 degrees when overclocked, so not a big worry. Thanks for the response, none the less!

Modifié par Sgt. Subtle, 21 septembre 2010 - 06:33 .

[joey_mork84]

@Sgt. Subtle (nice name, btw): You're welcome for the help!

@Gorath: Yea, you did miss the worst of it lol. I reported him several times as well as PMed a few mods over it. Woo was the first to respond. I think that guy was just bored or something and wanted someone to irritate. And no, my cpu isn't the best out there, but it does the job very well for being as "weak" as the troll called it. The way he described it, you would think it could hardly start the pc in the first place.

Also regarding that old thread, I kinda wish a mod would go ahead and delete it, rather than leave it locked and an eye-sore to anyone that sees it... So, for any mod that stumbles across this, can you do me a huge favor and delete this abomination before it totally corrupts someone? Thanks! 

Modifié par joey_mork84, 21 septembre 2010 - 07:02 .

[Gaidheal]

Sgt. Subtle - the 'negative' results are not something you will ever see until the card basically dies on you. It was manufactured to give a reasonable lifespan at the stock settings, any overclocking worth doing WILL shorten that lifespan, possibly dramatically, even if you're not aware of it.

This is not me doomsaying, I have overclocked components before, currently do so and will probably do so again in the future. Just be aware of what the full picture is; it's not a 'free upgrade' the way many naive 'experts' like to claim, it has a definite toll on the the hardware over time (which might be well worth it, especially for people who upgrade every generation release) and can cause complications that are not obvious without some good background knowledge of both hardware and software.

So, suit yourself either way, just do so from an informed position. :¬)

[Edited to correct silly typing errors:  stupid small quick reply window ;¬)]

Modifié par Gaidheal, 21 septembre 2010 - 07:04 .

[Sgt. Subtle]

@Gaidheal: I understand the risks, and as explained above, even if this card completely burns out on me, its not a real loss on my part. It's not even in my 'best' PC, so any damage to the PC itself wouldn't be a big loss. I've also got a few spare PCs laying about my house right now that I can part out at any time to replace any damaged parts in this one. Thanks for the advice, either way. I'm willing to bet most people wouldn't have went that far to give a little warning.

[Gaidheal]

Glanced at that thread and was amused; for a start, 'weak' cards are the ones that are possibly worth overclocking and will see the most gain, too. It helps that they are likely to be cheap/old so if/when it dies you can spend not a lot of cash to acquire a replacement/upgrade. Overclocking the top end cards is actually far and away the most idiotic thing to do, for the most part. I understand why 'enthusiasts' do it and I also understand why most enthusiasts have very shaky 'main' systems and long suffering bank balances. ;¬)

[Gaidheal]

Sgt. Subtle - I already read that you acquired it for free, essentially, however a replacement wouldn't be, so it still costs, even if you just keep using parts you already have, when you have killed them all they are gone and you'll have to spend cash to get new. None of this is a problem, per se, so long as you are onboard with that (and you have made it clear you are), so no need to keep patronizing us about it. ;¬)



We know the card is cheapish and you have basically got it as a freebie but you still probably don't want to unnecessarily kill it, right? Anyway, I gather it overclocks well, though I have never owned that model and moderate overclocking doesn't seem to cause any serious heat issues or especially early failures. In short, if you want to clock (and it seems you do) go ahead with a relatively good chance of successfully doing so and seeing a modest gain in applications where it currently struggles, if you're lucky.



Just don't expect miracles and don't cry if it dies! ;¬)

[Sgt. Subtle]

Sorry, Gaidheal, I didn't mean to sound rude or condescending or anything like that. Kinda hard to control my tone of voice and manorisms over the net haha. I just wasn't sure if you had seen that post or not (what with the post timings and me being half asleep lol). This is the first time I've attempted overclocking (and it will probably be the last as I am more or less just experimenting) and I was just looking for a little help and some tips. Oh, and its actually not struggling at all. It really has surprised me. I'm just messing around with it and trying to push it to see what it can do. Thanks again for all the help and the great responses! I'll definitely bookmark this forum for future endeavors

Modifié par Sgt. Subtle, 21 septembre 2010 - 07:26 .

[Gaidheal]

Nah, it's cool, reading my own commen above it 'sounds' more aggressive than it was (or was intended at any rate).



Depending on what settings you use, what framerate you will accept and what resolution you use, DA:O can run on very modest hardware, despite certain people endlessly banging on about video cards, actually. The card you have can certainly run DA:O reasonably prettily in a midlevel resolution with no trouble (and in that scenario overclocking the card would be pointless too, really but can be fun to experiment with all the same).