Overclocking a GF 6600

[Promit]

I was monitoring the temps of my GF 6600 while running it at a known unstable value of 450 MHz. The last read out from RivaTuner is 73 deg C, before the card fails, the screen goes blank, and the system freezes. So, first question, is this a typical temperature for a GPU to fail, and is it normal for the card to be fine right up until the critical temperature and then suddenly stop without warning? All the stuff I read seems to suggest that you see some artifacts on screen as overheating begins, giving you warning long before failure.

Second, how can I improve the overclocking without actually spending any more money? It's a chaintech card, and the actual cooler on it is decent. Not amazing, but not bad. I also replaced their badly applied thermal goop with silver, and I put heatsinks on the RAM. Short of buying a new, beefier GPU cooler, is there anything else to be done? I bought a 6600 instead of a 6600GT intentionally, since I wasn't willing to pay for the extra performance, but I'd like to squeeze what I can out of this card.

 

[albumleaf]

you could get a pci cooler to blow the hot air out for $8 shipped off of ebay

 

[theMan]

i dont know, either get what albumleaf suggested or just get a nice cheap gpu cooler.

 

[drwngflies]

I have had my Leadtek 6600gt go as high as 96'C without failing, but this is too hot for continuous use.
I since installed a zalman vf700 to it , and now max under load is only 42'C.
nVidia states a 90'C max for their chips, so you need a better cooled system to raise your clks any.
These temps: (42'C max) is at a clk of 530/1050, very mild OC.
There should be a "threshold setting" for when the card auto cuts down to save itself, mine is at 127'C.
Find that, and lower to a more comfortable limit.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

how do u check your cards temperature? i also have a 6600. should i take off the fan and put some artic silver instead and put some heatsinks on there too? i have a pci slot fan right under it sucking up air and exhausting. i think that helps. when i was running a stress test and then pressed on internet explorer, then it went all black. i hope i didnt mess anything up.

 

[MidNiteMysT]

bump

 

[NoBull6]

Originally posted by: MidNiteMysT
how do u check your cards temperature?

Use NVMonitor, which checks GPU, CPU, and System temperature. NVMonitor I think gets installed with nTune.

Even if you don't use nTune (I think), you can go into settings and there is a tab for just card temperature.

 

[frankgomez75]

not all 6600GTs support temp monitoring.
I know that the EVGA 6600GT sitting here doesn't
My 6800GT PCIe does however support temp readings

 

[MidNiteMysT]

i dont even have the gt. i just have the 6600