GTX 480 Overclocking

[ImmaPC]

Okay so I read somewhere on the internet the other day that a GTX 580 is 1.66 frames faster in some game than a 480. Then I was wondering how a 480 did against a 580 when you OC it, and if it can even reach GTX 580 speeds. These were the results:

1. Hit stock GTX580 speeds 772/1594/2000 with fan at 100% (I don't care about noise, I just turn up volume). Tested it in FurMark. Under stability testing (Post-FX off, 32X AA, Xtreme burn-in mode ON) for an hour, hit ~69C. Under benchmarking, hit 68C max in 1.7 mode after a 10-minute benchmark run. Idle temps hovered between 40C and 43C, as reported by EVGA Precision. GPU-Z reads it the same. If anyone wants me to post screens, sure.

2. Went a bit crazy and overclocked it to GTX 580 SC speeds @ 797/1604/2025 and guess what? Also stable under FurMark. Ran a bit hotter than the stock 580 speeds, obviously. Forgot to write down temps and stuff like that.

3. Went completely psychopathic and cranked it to GTX 580 Hydro Copper FTW speeds. Yeah, 850/1700/2096. Stable under Furmark, hit 83C under benching, 85 under stress test. I was like "EXCUSE ME? IS THIS FOR REAL? AM I ACTUALLY PULLING THIS OFF?"

Weird discrepancy happened though - one run in FurMark I did previous to official testing under the 580 FTW speeds hit 73C max. Perhaps I had it only to SC speeds or something but I was pretty damn sure it was at FTW speeds. GPU-Z and Precision read the same thing. D'oh?

Anyway, myquestion is - Is this literally for real? How are these numbers as far as 480 OCing (and general video cards too I suppose) goes? Do I have some miracle card, or is this comonplace, or is this low and I can push it even further? I'm going by factory-overclocked speeds, which I suppose aren't much but I have this idea that video cards don't like to OC and hence factory overclocks are low. Prove me wrong?

TL;DR - Hit some (supposedly) crazy clocks with a GTX 480, and I'm wondering if it's true or if I did something wrong.

[rjbarker]

^^^ the first thing I noticed when I got my 480's was just how OC'able they were (compared to my previous 280's) ......

[ImmaPC]

Are these clocks decent 480 clocks? How about general video card clocks? (like how many MHZ boost do video card OC's usually get?)

[rjbarker]

Yes those are great OC's......I think my previous 280's I could only get an additional 30 -50 Mhz out of the cores than Artifacts etc....thats why I was like wtf when I took my stock 700 mhz 480's and pushed em to 825 Mhz....I tried a vantage run at 835 Mhz but they were right on the "edge" ...minor Voltage boost and away you go again ;)

As for Flashing the BIOS...be careful, some cat over at Evga Forums just "bricked" his two 580's by fvcking up his BIOS flash, I don't mess with the GPU BIOS period.

[ImmaPC]

Yeah, I'm not too sure I want to play with the BIOS just yet. Crap, I'm pretty sure it voids warranty too...

Yey, I got good clocks! I wanna see just how high I can push it before artifacts happen. Then run it when I play Black Ops, cos I get stutering like crazy in that game for some reason. Lol come to think of it Black Ops stuttering was also part of the reason why I OC'ed my 480. I'd love to see if it still lags in wooded areas in JC2 too.

[_dangtx_]

you're looking good. try to settle somewhere around 75-80 max speed for the blower. even if you cranck the volume.

but, what you will jump at is the wall pulling vs stock, if you had a kill a watt. was oc'ing me buds sli pair, and just for fun i asked him to check the juice. told him if it goes up 50 watts itll fry lol. so dump the highest stable profile and put furmark on, dude was howling like mad. late april fools :p

[kruzn4evr]

The 480's in general OC very nicely, you should be able to push yours a bit more, especially if you bump the voltage a little as long as you keep an eye on the temps you'll be fine, you can go to 1.125v safely without doing any harm but just bump it a notch at a time and go from there.

[ImmaPC]

Googling how to change voltage...

Is the FTW speeds (850/1700/2100) w/ fan set to "auto" a good "long-term" overclock? It's only gonna be for another couple weeks till I get my 580, maybe more if I decide to wait for boxing day...

I still wanna see the upper limits of what this thing can reach on purely stock voltage though. I don't have the stones to go past 850/1700, even though temps seem fairly good. By no means am I gonna invest in W/Cing for this thing, MOST would be a few extra fans blowing on it. I feel as if even the GPU itself can handle OCing with voltage bump, the cooling won't be able to keep up even if I tweak the fan to go like 120%, if that were even possible AFAIK.

Also, thanks for the input guys nice story there too dangtx

EDIT: lol I forgot to add for lulz that I have this beast holed up in a CM Centurion 590. The case was gonna be temporary till I buy a W/C setup and an accommodating case to go with it. At the time I only had my 4850, but when the 480 came out I was -REALLY- tempted. Then on top of that I had some extra $$$ to blow a few days before my birthday, and everyone always forgets my birthday anyway. I wanted to get myself a birthday present, and I couldn't resist. Best $500 I've ever damn-well spent

[_dangtx_]

are you really going to get the 580 if this is faster,well once you clock it? :)

[Fudd Rucker]

I've got my gtx 480 @ 850/1700/2200 and under my ek block and my gpu never goes over 52. I was surprised at how little the difference between my 480 and the 580 is.