Should I OC my new GTX 285 or not?

[Skycptn]

Greetings,

 

Just a few weeks ago I bought an XFX GeForce GTX 285. Previously I had a Radeon 4870 (512mb) that I OC quite a bit. Great card, but it ran loud and generated a lot of hear. The 285 blows it away.

 

With my Q6600 OC to 2.8 ghz, the card is very fast and I can max everything out. I game on 1280 x 1040 (19" monitor). My question is this: Is the extra FPS worth the OC? I know my card will run hotter and loud and it stresses the card. I see a number of benchmarks giving the 285 OC anywhere from 4 - 10 percent increase.

 

What do you all think? Leave well enough alone? Or go for the OC?

 

And if I decide to OC, should I use the built-in tuner or download something else?

 

Lastly, if I OC, any recommendations on how far I should OC?

 

THANK YOU ALL!!!

 

Dell XPS 410, Vista Home Premium 32-bit, Q6600 OC 2.8 ghz, GTX 285, 4 GB, 650 PSU, DDR2 800 Mhz.

[IVIYTH0S]

I'd usually go on my rant about buying too much card for a purpose but since you already blew the money (even with the 4870)...OC it, if not only to find it's limits should you need that extra power later on.

Welcome to OCC!

(you realize a simple 4850 would be just fine at your resolution though...)

Edited April 9, 2009 by IVIYTH0S

[Turophiliac]

I'm wondering how you overclocked your CPU on a Dell system, but that aside, with the tiny resolution you are running (tiny in relation to the enormous power of that graphics card) you wouldn't really see an increase in performance in gaming at all. and if you do, it would be something like 130 fps to 150 fps (which wouldn't matter because your monitor can only display 60-75 fps anyway)

 

But on the other hand, if you want to see how your benchmarks increase because of the video card overclock, then by all means, OC the crap out of it.

 

I like to use RivaTuner to overclock graphics cards, since you asked what to use.

Edited April 9, 2009 by Turophiliac

[ir_cow]

let him have his joys! but OC it to high heavens!

[Skycptn]

I'd usually go on my rant about buying too much card for a purpose but since you already blew the money (even with the 4870)...OC it, if not only to find it's limits should you need that extra power later on.

Welcome to OCC!

(you realize a simple 4850 would be just fine at your resolution though...)

 

 

Thanks for the welcome to OCC. I kind of knew that my Radeon 4890, much less a GTX285, was overkill for my current 19" resolution, but sometime in the not too far off future I will probably get bigger and better monitor. But I'm not sure why that is. If you could explain, as if you were on a rant, would be cool, because it would help me understand it much better.

 

Thank you.

[Skycptn]

I'm wondering how you overclocked your CPU on a Dell system, but that aside, with the tiny resolution you are running (tiny in relation to the enormous power of that graphics card) you wouldn't really see an increase in performance in gaming at all. and if you do, it would be something like 130 fps to 150 fps (which wouldn't matter because your monitor can only display 60-75 fps anyway)

 

But on the other hand, if you want to see how your benchmarks increase because of the video card overclock, then by all means, OC the crap out of it.

 

I like to use RivaTuner to overclock graphics cards, since you asked what to use.

 

I managed to OC my Dell using ClockGen. I then run RightMark CPU Clock Utility to confirm the OC and also monitor the core temps. When I tried to OC past 2.8 to 3.0 Ghz, my system wasn't stable.

 

I have my refresh rate set to 75 Mhz, so being somehwhat of a rookie I don't understand how that translates in FPS. I will follow your advice: if there's no point in OC my 285 for gaming purposes then I'll leave well enough alone. I was playing H.A.W.X. the other day on DX10 with settings on high and averaged 60 FPS. Thanks for the advice, and the RivaTuner reference.

[paulktreg]

Thanks for the welcome to OCC. I kind of knew that my Radeon 4890, much less a GTX285, was overkill for my current 19" resolution, but sometime in the not too far off future I will probably get bigger and better monitor. But I'm not sure why that is. If you could explain, as if you were on a rant, would be cool, because it would help me understand it much better.

 

Thank you.

 

To put it simply you are running at 1280x1040 resolution so your graphics card as to look after 1331200 pixels on your monitor at any one time. The trick is to be able to change all these pixels very quickly, frames per second, for the smoothest gaming experience.

 

What the members are trying to tell you is that your graphics card at 1280x1040 is under utilised, it's not even breaking out in a sweat, you will not see any improvement over the 4870.

 

The GTX285 likes to see resolutions set around 2560x1600 to really stretch it, thats 4 millions pixels, and I'm not really sure your CPU is upto the task at maximum settings.

 

So the moral of the story is, until you make the jump to a larger, higher resolution monitor and possibly faster CPU you will see no improvement from a previously under utilised 4870 or your

GTX285.

 

Edit: So no don't overclock your card because there is really no point!

 

I run at 1680x1050 on a 9800GTX and it will "play" at acceptable quality (to me) anything currently avaliable.

 

Cheers

 

Paul

Edited April 10, 2009 by paulktreg

[IVIYTH0S]

before prices drop on the 285 you could return it and get something a little more conservative like a 4850. If you act now you should get atleast $280 dollars on ebay with it, or maybe you can return it to where you bought it (assuming you literally just bought it). If you are seeing an performance increase, it'd be all in your mind since that resolution shouldn't be at all stressful to 80% of the new video cards.

Maybe throw it up for a good enough price in the OCC MarketPlace and give a fellow OCC member who needs that kind of performance, a helping hand. I'm your witness that at 1920x1200 I play games quite happily with my GTX 260.

Then when and if you actually up your monitor size, you can get an even better card in the future, that will most likely be better than the 285 and cheaper.

Edited April 10, 2009 by IVIYTH0S

[aviduser]

before prices drop on the 285 you could return it and get something a little more conservative like a 4850. If you act now you should get atleast $280 dollars on ebay with it, or maybe you can return it to where you bought it (assuming you literally just bought it). If you are seeing an performance increase, it'd be all in your mind since that resolution shouldn't be at all stressful to 80% of the new video cards.

Maybe throw it up for a good enough price in the OCC MarketPlace and give a fellow OCC member who needs that kind of performance, a helping hand. I'm your witness that at 1920x1200 I play games quite happily with my GTX 260.

Then when and if you actually up your monitor size, you can get an even better card in the future, that will most likely be better than the 285 and cheaper.

 

 

Tru, my old 4850 could max any game on my 22"(1680x1050). I currently have a gtx280 and a 24" (1920x1200). Frankly for the 500-600 CAD extra it cost me it wasn't worth the difference. The 4850 is a very solid card for 1680x1050.