General Overclocking Questions

Hallo,

I know that there is a lot of talk about overclocking video cards on these forums. However, I haven't found a whole lot on the safety of it. I have never overclocked any of my desktop hardware before, and this is my first performance laptop that I have (ASUS L50VN-A1).

I know that with desktops, people go nuts adding ridiculous cooling systems to their towers to support the heat generated by overclocking. We can't do this with laptops - right?

So. Is it possible to damage your system by overclocking your graphics card (in my case its a 9650M-GT DDR2)? Or, will your system essentially shut itself down to protect it if it gets too hot.

Is that what happens when people refer to their system being unstable when overclocked?

Basically, what I'm getting at is this: for someone who has no idea what the hell he is doing (me), can I potentially damage my nice new laptop by just playing around with overclock settings in something like nTune?

Thanks guys

 

you can damage your system if you overclock recklessly. but so long as you watch the temps and make sure your memory is not artifacting, there is very little risk.

most vid card will downclock themselfs if the temp goes too high.

 

Thanks for the reply,

I can't find a safe temp range for this specific card. Do you have a general idea of what it should be operating at?

I've also read elsewhere that overclocking reduces your card's life. Any truth to this?

 

Try to keep them under 80C.

Yes, but the amount of life it loses will likely still be less than how long you'll keep the laptop.
eg.
- GPU lasts for 5 years under normal conditions.
- OCing GPU takes 2 years off it's life.
- 3 years of life on laptop, but by this time you'll probably have moved onto a different laptop since this one likely won't be powerful enough for future games.

 

Thanks man.

I've been researching this all night. Riva Tuner seems to be prefered to do this, rather than nTune. Any thoughts why?

nTune seems like a good idea for monitoring gpu temp though.