[Madrag]

hello all,

This is probably a dumb question, but because I really am not sure I would like someone to help me:

I've got a G5 DP 2.0 with an ATI Radeon 9600 XT (128 MB), and found this link with an app to overclock the GCard...
(I read that apple crippled the G Card.

Now, before i test it, I would like to know if the overclocking will improve the performance of my G Card?

I said it was a dumb question, but I don't know if it is the real benefit of overclocking...

Does it wear out my G Card?

[mduell]

The Mac version of the 9600XT is clocked substantially slower than the PC version. The reason that Apple did this (for heat/noise reasons, or so they could get cheaper chips, or so they could make the more expensive cards look better) is unknown.

Performance increases from overclocking video cards (moreso the VRAM than the GPU) can be nearly linearly related to performance (i.e. a 10% overclock for the VRAM speed yields a 10% performance improvement).

The downside is that you can risk getting bad results (onscreen artifacts, freezes/crashes) or really bad results (the card dying and possibly taking out other system components).

[Madrag]

I know it can happen, thanks for the warning.

But does the overclock *really* improve the real performance?

[power142]

Well, that depends on whether you're doing anything that is particularly graphics card (GPU) intensive... but those sort of things will also be the first things to go wrong if your card doesn't like the overclock.

When I first read about this almost a year ago, I overclocked the 9600XT in my G5 and it worked perfectly, and then after an OS update it reset itself somehow and I never bothered to overclock it again. Needless to say, I don't do anything that is heavy on the graphics side and didn't really notice the increase or subsequent decrease.

The 9600XT isn't a particularly powerful card, so if it really isn't enough, it might be worth setting your sights on something like the X800.

As for whether the overclocking *really* improves the performance... on my PC I have a Geforce 6800 series card that runs happily at 15% higher than its retail speed. I've ran all kinds of benchmarks over time and it really does improve performance to very close to the 15% clock increase. Out of curiosity, I ran benchmarks at speeds inbetween too and got almost perfectly linear scores/frame rates (which also tells that the machine is GPU limited and not CPU limited)

[Madrag]

the speed increase is always welcome, but if it won't make a noticeble change, then I might not overclock it at all...

[mduell]

Originally Posted by Madrag

I know it can happen, thanks for the warning.

But does the overclock *really* improve the real performance?

As I said in the middle of my previous post:
Performance increases from overclocking video cards (moreso the VRAM than the GPU) can be nearly linearly related to performance (i.e. a 10% overclock for the VRAM speed yields a 10% performance improvement).

[new newton]

Basically the answer is this: yes, it improves graphics performance. It's just like putting a slightly faster graphics card in.

Will that improve performance for you? That depends on how you use your Mac. My advice is to stop asking questions and just do it. If you don't like the results, just lower the clock rate back. If you're overly concerned about possibly damaging your hardware, this sort of thing is not for you.

[Madrag]

thanks mduell for re-pointing to your post.

yes new newton, you're right, but the point of posting this thread was mostly to understand what can/could/won't happen. The real tests may reveal one or more of this three.
I'm also posting before doing it, so that I become informed enough to go or not go for a test.

I'm not going to test because I'm ok with the current performance vs what could go wrong.

From what I understood, the increase can happen, but some problems may occur, and it's best to leave it alone, or upgrade to a better card.