Overclocking…how far can it go?

The XFX 8800GTS 512MB is clocked at the Nvidia reference speeds so there should be a bit of headroom for both the memory and the core. Since the memory is rated at 2.0Ghz, I am hoping this will overclock exceptionally well past its current speed of 1940Mhz. Let’s see if this holds true:

Max Overclock Speeds

Core: 820Mhz
Memory: 2234Mhz (DDR)

One thing is for sure: these 65nm G92 cores can overclock like the no one’s business. These overclocks represent what was done on the standard heatsink and represent a 170Mhz overclock on the core and a 290Mhz overclock on the memory (or 21% and 13% respectively for those keeping track at home). I was a bit disappointed at a 13% memory overclock but considering the Qimonda GDDR3 modules are rated at 2000Mhz, I guess this was to be expected.

So, let’s see how these overclocks perform….


Performance Tests

3DMark06 Professional



With the bump in clock speeds, the XFX 8800GTS 512MB really kicks the competition in the teeth. I wouldn’t be surprised to see 3DMark world records start falling in short order with these cards in SLI.


Crysis



Crysis sees a massive performance improvement at 1600x1200 resolution without AA enabled but everything still falls to pieces once again when AA is enabled. I actually had to test the results achieved without AA turned on over and over again because I couldn’t believe my eyes…


World in Conflict


Once again we see some huge performance improvements when the Alpha Dog is overclocked. It out muscles the 8800GTX for top honors in this test as well.