OC diff in factory vs manually &best price for gtx260

[abubakarm]

2 questions ...

1 - this may have been discussed already, but i wanna know is there any advantage of buying an overclocked gpu? For example gtx 260 is stocked at 575mhz, and one version of that from Asus at newegg is clocked at 650mhz. Now if its easy to overclock a gtx260 using a software to 650mhz than why should I spend extra money on an overclocked card? Some guy told me that overclocked cards from vendors (called factory overclocked?) have better capacitors? Is that true? Than it would be of some benefit right?

2 - I'v decided to buy a gtx 260, I remember reading a post in which some guy said he got a gtx260 for $225 through some coupon. Please give more information, do we get the coupon entry at checkout time? I'm going to buy from newegg but if there is another better option than I can go for that also, but I am inclined to newegg since its often mentioned on anandtech forums.

thanks ..

ps: searching posts is hard .. must try google specific site search next time maybe ??

 

[sticks435]

Originally posted by: abubakarm
2 questions ...

1 - this may have been discussed already, but i wanna know is there any advantage of buying an overclocked gpu? For example gtx 260 is stocked at 575mhz, and one version of that from Asus at newegg is clocked at 650mhz. Now if its easy to overclock a gtx260 using a software to 650mhz than why should I spend extra money on an overclocked card? Some guy told me that overclocked cards from vendors (called factory overclocked?) have better capacitors? Is that true? Than it would be of some benefit right?

If your going to buy a 260, and you go with Evga, just buy the base model. They actully support user overclocking, so even if you did mess it up, you can send it back I believe. They provide a tool called Precision, which is a user friendly overclocking tool.

2 - I'v decided to buy a gtx 260, I remember reading a post in which some guy said he got a gtx260 for $225 through some coupon. Please give more information, do we get the coupon entry at checkout time? I'm going to buy from newegg but if there is another better option than I can go for that also, but I am inclined to newegg since its often mentioned on anandtech forums.

This was a special deal that they were running late last month. They had a special code you could enter for about 2 days, that dropped the price by $25 dollars, then there was a $30 rebate on top of that.[/quote]

thanks ..

ps: searching posts is hard .. must try google specific site search next time maybe ??

 

[chizow]

Originally posted by: abubakarm
2 questions ...

1 - this may have been discussed already, but i wanna know is there any advantage of buying an overclocked gpu? For example gtx 260 is stocked at 575mhz, and one version of that from Asus at newegg is clocked at 650mhz. Now if its easy to overclock a gtx260 using a software to 650mhz than why should I spend extra money on an overclocked card? Some guy told me that overclocked cards from vendors (called factory overclocked?) have better capacitors? Is that true? Than it would be of some benefit right?

Overclocked cards that use reference boards are identical except for possibly higher voltage settings in the BIOS. Non-reference overclocked cards may have better components, but they typically hit the market much later than reference boards.

Buying an overclocked card guarantees you that overclocked clockspeed but will also reduce your overclocking overhead/expectations. The benefit is that buying a stock clocked card may yield very poor overclocks, perhaps lower than the overclocked variant. Typically you can get a higher % difference in guaranteed clockspeed than the difference in price, so it can be worth it, especially on high-end parts.

2 - I'v decided to buy a gtx 260, I remember reading a post in which some guy said he got a gtx260 for $225 through some coupon. Please give more information, do we get the coupon entry at checkout time? I'm going to buy from newegg but if there is another better option than I can go for that also, but I am inclined to newegg since its often mentioned on anandtech forums.

thanks ..

ps: searching posts is hard .. must try google specific site search next time maybe ??

That Newegg price was based on a large MIR, a lower than current retail price and a coupon that long ago expired. I don't think there's anything that low right now, maybe $250-$260 at best after MIR. If you're looking for good deals on video cards, keep an eye on the Hot Deals forums or scan around the usual sites like Newegg, ZZF, TigerDirect/CUSA, Mwave, NCIX, Amazon, etc.

 

[Wreckage]

Originally posted by: abubakarm

2 - I'v decided to buy a gtx 260, I remember reading a post in which some guy said he got a gtx260 for $225 through some coupon. Please give more information, do we get the coupon entry at checkout time? I'm going to buy from newegg but if there is another better option than I can go for that also, but I am inclined to newegg since its often mentioned on anandtech forums.

http://forums.anandtech.com/me..._key=y&keyword1=gtx260

That deal has expired.

Keep an eye out though. NVIDIA is looking to get rid of their remaining 65nm stock, so I expect more deals to come. The 9800GX2 just dropped to $260.

Cheapest I can find is $244 after rebate right now.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814127361

 

[abubakarm]

What do you guys think about this card from Palit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814261016
Its for only $235. What do you say about Palit as a vendor ?

 

[sticks435]

Originally posted by: abubakarm
What do you guys think about this card from Palit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814261016
Its for only $235. What do you say about Palit as a vendor ?

If your going to get a 260, go with evga, BFG, or XFX. Evga and BFG are overclocker friendly, and offer "step-up" programs, where you have 90-120 days to trade your card in for a better one, for the price difference between them. You can also replace the stock coolers, and as long as you put the original one back on, they will take it.

XFX has a double warranty, where if you sell the card, the buyer is covered under the original warranty, but I personally think that's not as useful.

 

[ashishmishra]

Can we feed the GT200 core with a higher voltage using a different Bios, for example if I flash my GTX260-SC with GTX260-FTW bios will I be able to OC higher, right now even FTW clocks are not completely stable.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: ashishmishra
Can we feed the GT200 core with a higher voltage using a different Bios, for example if I flash my GTX260-SC with GTX260-FTW bios will I be able to OC higher, right now even FTW clocks are not completely stable.

Try going easy on the memory....up the core/shaders. If that doesnt work, unlink the core/shaders and go for the core.

 

[ashishmishra]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: ashishmishra
Can we feed the GT200 core with a higher voltage using a different Bios, for example if I flash my GTX260-SC with GTX260-FTW bios will I be able to OC higher, right now even FTW clocks are not completely stable.

Try going easy on the memory....up the core/shaders. If that doesnt work, unlink the core/shaders and go for the core.

I'm actually getting flashing textures etc, rendering anomalies. At something like 700 core even keeping memory at stock it just freezes. All this whiles the temps don't exceed 65C so I know I'm not heat limited. I was wondering if there is any way I can up my volts preferably a soft mod.

 

[OCGuy]

Originally posted by: ashishmishra

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: ashishmishra
Can we feed the GT200 core with a higher voltage using a different Bios, for example if I flash my GTX260-SC with GTX260-FTW bios will I be able to OC higher, right now even FTW clocks are not completely stable.

Try going easy on the memory....up the core/shaders. If that doesnt work, unlink the core/shaders and go for the core.

I'm actually getting flashing textures etc, rendering anomalies. At something like 700 core even keeping memory at stock it just freezes. All this whiles the temps don't exceed 65C so I know I'm not heat limited. I was wondering if there is any way I can up my volts preferably a soft mod.

The FTW edition is at 666....I think 700 may be a little too much. If you can get 690 stable, that is a very nice overclock. Remember, the core is 576 stock.

Anything over 700 then yes i'm assuming you need a volt mod......

 

[ashishmishra]

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: ashishmishra

Originally posted by: Ocguy31

Originally posted by: ashishmishra
Can we feed the GT200 core with a higher voltage using a different Bios, for example if I flash my GTX260-SC with GTX260-FTW bios will I be able to OC higher, right now even FTW clocks are not completely stable.

Try going easy on the memory....up the core/shaders. If that doesnt work, unlink the core/shaders and go for the core.

I'm actually getting flashing textures etc, rendering anomalies. At something like 700 core even keeping memory at stock it just freezes. All this whiles the temps don't exceed 65C so I know I'm not heat limited. I was wondering if there is any way I can up my volts preferably a soft mod.

The FTW edition is at 666....I think 700 may be a little too much. If you can get 690 stable, that is a very nice overclock. Remember, the core is 576 stock.

Anything over 700 then yes i'm assuming you need a volt mod......

Oh yaa 700 is definitely no go, but even at 666Mhz it is not completely stable. I will try the FTW bios when I get my new motherboard in tonight and report back if overclocking is improved.

 

[ashishmishra]

Alright so I flashed my GTX-SC with the eVGA GTX 260 SSC Bios using nvflash, I upped the voltage to 1.18V manually using the latest version of NBitor. The SSC speeds are working without any issue but FTW speeds are still no go. The strange thing is that with FTW clocks and as soon as temps reach 70C rendering anomalies in Crysis and Mass Effect start to happen. So it appears my card doesn't like temps above 70 at higher clocks. I think I'll leave the card in peace for a while, after all I did get it for $200 during the newegg deal and it is the best damn $200 card I've had.

 

[praesto]

How do you know that extra voltage was actually applied when you manually changed the voltage to 1.18v?

 

[ashishmishra]

Originally posted by: praesto
How do you know that extra voltage was actually applied when you manually changed the voltage to 1.18v?

Based on a lot research I have done on this topic on various forums, I found out that when people upped the voltage in bios they were able to get some 30-50 Mhz higher out of the core after the flash. Google GTX 260 bios flash or similar.

 

[abubakarm]

Originally posted by: sticks435

Originally posted by: abubakarm
What do you guys think about this card from Palit:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814261016
Its for only $235. What do you say about Palit as a vendor ?

If your going to get a 260, go with evga, BFG, or XFX. Evga and BFG are overclocker friendly, and offer "step-up" programs, where you have 90-120 days to trade your card in for a better one, for the price difference between them. You can also replace the stock coolers, and as long as you put the original one back on, they will take it.

XFX has a double warranty, where if you sell the card, the buyer is covered under the original warranty, but I personally think that's not as useful.

I waited just few days and today i see this deal:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/...x?Item=N82E16814130370 which is evga and $240 after mir. So iguess its pretty good, i was going after palit or msi for $235, but since its available from evga for almost the same price and I have heard a lot of people giving good remarks to evag so I'm going for that.