Overclocking my card??

Is it possible to overclock my Graphics card??

geforce 6600gt 256mb

Win XP Pro, P4 2.67ghz, 1.5 RAM, AsusTek P4S800D-X mobo.

If so....How? Thanks.

hey a fellow Texan, greetings from Austin

Yes it is possible to overclock your card and it can be done with a variety of tools. Popular software would include Rivatuner, ATI Tool, or even your Nvidia control center should have an option for adjusting the clock speeds.

As for the method, regardless of the software you choose to use, there is a rather simple method to it. First you would increase the clock speed on the core by about 5-10mhz, then you go tests its stability via a benchmark (such as 3dmark2005 or 2006) or go play your favorite game for a few minutes. If it remains stable, you go increase the clock speeds another 5-10mhz and try again. Keep going till you start having trouble (crashing, locking up, in game anomalies/artifacts) and then back it down a few mhz till it goes away. Do the same thing on the memory, but it is best to do them individually rather than together.

For the memory, if you read off the writing on the memory modules you can find their rated speed. Most 6600GTs i remember dealing with were using 2ns modules, rated for 500mhz (1000 effective), with more up market models using 1.6ns modules rated for 625mhz (1250 effective). Knowing what memory you have on the card can give you a good bead on expected clock speeds, as 20% is typically a "safe bet", so 20% up from what your memory is rated for is likely to be stable, but it can go either way.

For the core it is gunna be hit or miss depending on one or more factors. Cooling is important, if you have a weak cooler your not gunna get to far. If you have a more powerful stock (or after market) cooler on your card, then you probably have a bit more leg room. From personal experience Ive typically seen 540mhz core, 555mhz, 570mhz, 580mhz, and even 600mhz on some. Sometimes more voltage is needed as the stock is rated at around 1.5v, but volt modding my own up to 1.7v utilizing a zalman VF700 I was able to hit 625mhz on the core. Of course I later killed that card...

So there are really no promises to be made, the stock for a 6600GT is 500mhz core and 500mhz memory (1000mhz effective) so there may be plenty of room to grow or there may be very little. Typically overclocking a card like this will smooth out performance issues in older games, but by no means is it gunna take an unplayable game and make it any better. If you take your card and compare it to something like a 9600 GSO for example (a pci express X16 card often retailing for $80-$90 with rebates), you'll see even overclocked to 600mhz core and 1200mhz memory, your card is just gunna be out classed. If you are interested in upgrading and are on pci express, it is a cheap and dirty way to improve things far beyond what overclocking could do for ya. If your on AGP things can be a bit more complicated as AGP cards are a bit of a dying breed right now, you can get cards for that are much more powerful than what you have, such as the AGP HD 3850 which you can buy online for about $120 with rebates.

If you really are looking to upgrade, those are the strong paths right now for your money. If you really dont want to upgrade and are just curious what your 6600GT can really do, be sure to report back with what you achieve and any other help we can provide

I like rivatuner.. good luck!

Remember AGP variants were 500/450 (900Mhz memory) by default. My personal Leadtek 6600GT AGP would maintain 575/1150 100% stable for 24/7 use. And for short bench runs would even hold 600/1200 (plenty of artifacts though). FWIW, Mine was equipped with the 2ns Samsung memory and I later installed a Zalman VF700 to help sustain the overclocked speeds and it kept temps very cool.

Another great response Stang and good luck with your card Legendary70!