Overclocking PCI-e Nvidia 6800

Question

Hi, I have heard people say that they have unlocked 'pipes' on there Geforce 6800 to make it run faster, or 'overclocked,' is this true?  If so, does it put the video card under stress to run it overclocked?  Is this dangerous to do, or can it be done easily?  does overclocking, or raising the speed the card runs at really make a difference?  Any information on this would be much appreciated.  Thanks. Message Edited by E DUB on 08-13-2005 04:35 AM

HTT Good HT Bad · Answer

overclocking can put more stress on the chip, sometimes overclocking can offer better performence, Enabling th other pipes is not exactly dangerous but usually those cards have the extra pipes disabled for a reason

rick000 · Answer

Overclocking Any Part of Your Dell Computer Is In No Way Recommended Overclocking of the processor, video card or any other part of your Dell computer is in no way recommended, supported or warranted by Dell. Any damage that occurrs as a result of altering the factory set clock speeds is completely and wholly the responsibility of the end user, and any repairs required or expenses incurred as a result of overclocking are entirely the responsibility of the end user. OVERCLOCK AT YOUR OWN RISK http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/kb/en/document?dn=1012232&c=us&l=en&cs=19&s=dhs     Message Edited by rick000 on 08-13-2005 08:58 AM

HTT Good HT Bad · Answer

video cards isnt that bad, OCing a video car dcant kill it because it will lock up if you push it to high

SR45 · Answer

OCing will shorten the life of the card, for just a few frames per second more.  Not worth it in my book

wtcnbrwndo4u · Answer

You can't unlock pipes on the PCIe version of the 6800.

The AGP version uses the RV45 core, which is used in the 6800GT and 6800Ultra. These cores have 16 pipes. Instead of making a new core, they masked 4 pipes to make it a 6800. Users discovered the masking using RivaTuner and unlocked them.

nVidia then reacted by making the PCIe version have a new core (RV43), which only had 12 pipes. No unlocking here.

herb366 · Answer

In most cases, the other four pixel pipelines and one vertex shader of the 6800, AGP version can be unlocked giving a ~10% performance boost. In some cases the pipes cannot be unlocked while in other cases unlocking causes instability and so have to be locked again. The PCI-e version of the 6800 cannot be unlocked because structurally it is built with only 12 pipelines. Unlocking the pipelines doesn't make the card run faster overclocking does. Overclocking or increasing the speed of your GPU and memory will increase performance else why do it. Is it easy to do? Yes. Running the card faster than the manufacturer intended means it will be running hotter and put under more stress depending how much you overclock.

The 6800 is fine as is. I unlocked my pipes more out of curiosity than anything else. I leave them unlocked because of the "free" 10% boost. I say free because my temps didn't move 1 degree aftrewards. I haven't overclocked but probably will sometime in the future when I put a few more miles on it. :smileywink: Hope this answers your questions.

_______________________________________________________________________
Dimension 8200 (July 2002)
3.06Ghz P4 w/HT 533fsb---------------------------------------768mb pc800 rdram
128mb BFG GeForce 6800oc (16 pipes enabled)--------Dell 250W PSU
Sound Blaster Audigy2 ZS -------------------------------------Logitech Z-5300E 5.1 THX
P992 19" Flat Screen Monitor----------------------------------Floppy Drive
40X CD-RW--------------------------------------------------------80GB Ultra ATA HD
Intel 10/100M PCI Network Card

wtcnbrwndo4u · Answer

The GTO is a different card. This is an OEM 6800GT, not a plain 6800.

bob350 · Answer

HowdyI disagree about being unable to unlock the pipeline's on the pci-e version. I have the 6800gto in my 8400, & I used Rivatuner on it just after I got it in Jan. Riva tuner said I had 12 pipeline & 4 vertises before I tried the unmasking bit. After words, Rivatuner said I had16 pipelines & 6 vertizes. I deleted Rivatuner just after that because of concerns over my warrenty, & because it didn't seem to make a difference in playing Farcry.I just tried Rivatuner again, before making this post, with the same results being reported. Unlocking the pipelines also didn't make a difference in the speeds that - detect optimal speeds- reported. Both before & after unlocking, I got a report of 406 clock & 1.03 GHZ memory.Stock speeds are 350/900Any way thats how it worked for me, others can be different.Because I see no difference on my 19 crt, I'm going to set my card back to default now.Bob

bob350 · Answer

HowdyMay I ask what you mean ?When I bought this system, my video card choices were- X300 - 6800 (DDR2) - 6800GTO (DDR3)all Dell OEM cards.  My understanding is that to get a real 6800GT, you had to buy one aftermarket.My chipset is N40, by the wayBob

wtcnbrwndo4u · Answer

The 6800 that Dell offers is a DDR card. True, you had to buy an aftermarket card in order to get a true 6800GT performance. But either way, the 6800GTO was different from the 6800. Otherwise, there would be no price difference between the 6800 and the 6800GTO.

herb366 · Answer

According to this review of a 6800, the reason the PCI-e version of the 6800 cannot be unlocked is because its GPU is only built with 12 pipes. http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/geforce_6800_unlocking/page2.asp I only know what I read. When I start to read numerous (any) 6800, PCI-e owners talking about unlocking their pipes then I'll reconsider. Until then, I'll go along with the reviewer's opinion that you can't unlock what isn't there.

I must have missed all those discussions in this forum about PCI-e owners unlocking their pipes. What other forums have revealed this?

While not exactly all over the 'net, these are from other forums and the threads say you can't unlock the PCI-e. http://www.hardwareanalysis.com/content/topic/46735/ ,

http://forums.amd.com/lofiversion/index.php/t51894.html

http://www.techenclave.com/forums/search/topic/5907-1.html

http://forums.ocia.net/viewtopic.php?t=1079&sid=a87268df267d24089e6e69313eba9994

Message Edited by herb366 on 08-13-2005 11:57 PM

Message Edited by herb366 on 08-14-2005 12:06 AM

Message Edited by herb366 on 08-14-2005 12:12 AM

Message Edited by herb366 on 08-14-2005 12:20 AM

Message Edited by herb366 on 08-14-2005 12:25 AM

bob350 · Answer

Yes the difference was DDR3 memory, & I stand corrected, I said DDR2 on the 6800. It is DDR on the 6600 & 6800 plain vanilla cards.

http://www.nvidia.com/object/geforce6_techspecs.html
But still, there has been many a discussion on this forum along with other forums all over the net about this subject, & while results have varied, you can unlock the pipes on nVidia PCI-e cards.
However as we all know, it voids your warrenty.
Bob

herb366 · Answer

All this discussion about unlocking and overclocking has been about retail versions of the 6800. The 6800GTO is a hybrid card built just for Dell. No one knows what it is. :smileywink::smileyvery-happy: It has DDR3 like the GT but only 12 pipes like the 6800 so consequently the GTO's performance falls somewhere in between the two. Have you run any benchmarks? You are right that the only way to get the performance of a 6800GT is to buy one. You can take a 6800 unlock it's pipes and overclock it till its screaming (ouch) and you're not going to get a GT. :smileysad:

bob350 · Answer

Ok quick & dirty 3Dmark 05 on my system-8400- 3.2 -1gig ram - 256mb 6800GTO
The only I shut down was my Zonealarm Security Suite & disconnected from the internet, which leaves 20 or so things still running on my system.
stock settings -12 pipelines - 4 vertizes - speeds 350/900=4103

Rivatuner stttings - 16 pipelines 6 vertizes - speeds 350/900=4667

o/ced 16 pipelines-6 vertizes-speeds 405/1005=4971

Here's an old link from when I was researching my system
http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.aspx?catid=31&threadid=1395372&STARTPAGE=1&FTVAR_FORUMVIEWTMP=Linear
I remember a bunch of threads from back in March about this topic, but I can't find them using search. I'm going to use find all posts to find the one's I replied to.

http://forums.us.dell.com/supportforums/board/message?board.id=dim_video&message.id=106767

Bob

Message Edited by bob350 on 08-14-2005 06:37 AM

herb366 · Answer

Those threads are about the 6800 GTO. As a matter of fact, I posted in one of them. What is it that makes you unable to distinguish between a 6800 PCI-e and 6800GTO? I think everyone recognizes that you were completely wrong about being able to unlock the 6800, PCI-e and it makes you look foolish to keep refering to the 6800GTO.

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Overclocking PCI-e Nvidia 6800

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