Advice for GPU Overclock and CPU Undervolt

I've been searching the forums for a few days now, but I still have a few questions about overclocking the GTX 260M in my NP8662 and undervolting the P9700 CPU.

If it makes any difference, the system was bought from Factorgaming, but it's listed as a Sager NP8662.

About the GPU:

How much of a heat increase and card lifespan decrease will I see by overvolting the GTX 260M to 1.05v and getting the clocks to 650MHz core, 1625MHz shaders, and 1025MHz memory?

How far can I push the card if I want to use it for at least 4 years?

On the CPU:

Does this model produce a lot of heat? Would I need to undervolt it? (and if so, will I need to modify RMClock's registry in order to do so?)

 

About the CPU, it does not produce a lot of heat, but undervolting it is so easy and simple, so go for it. The lower the temps, the better. You do not need to modify the register. If your CPU has a 0.5 multiplier, then you will lose this when using RMclock, unless you choose the mod the register (a thread here tells you have to do it) in order not to lose it

 

Ah, thanks Elvind, that makes sense. Looks like I'll undervolt the CPU after modifying the registry for RMClock, so I can get those lower temps.

But what about the GPU? Any word on the lifetime/heat production of an overvolted/clocked 260M GTX?

 

Leave the GPU memory at under 1000MHz unless you want a dying card.

 

Would 650core, 1625shaders, and 950memory @ 1.05v work okay?

(Or could I get those clocks to work at a lower voltage?)

 

Try them first. But I highly doubt that those clocks will operate at stock 1v. Make sure you slowly work your way up to those clocks instead of punching those numbers in right off the bat. Set the memory anywhere from 950MHz to 1000MHz and slowly raise the core/shader.

 

Would nTune work for testing before making a permanent BIOS flash?

(If so, how can I incorporate overvolting with modified clocks as in nTune?)

 

nTune should work but note that it may give you a BSOD unless you install it along with nTools.

Should you wish, you can make the overclocking permanent through the vBIOS flash as well

 

So I could set up a super-performance profile in nTools to override any BIOS-based clock/voltage settings, and just turn it on whenever I want to play a demanding game?

(And at the same time, modify the BIOS to undervolt and underclock the GPU at its 2d, 3d, and throttle settings?)

 

I don't think you can override voltages through nTools but you should be able to override the "extra" clocks even if you have flashed new ones onto your GPU.

 

How far do you think I could push it on stock voltage?

 

That is up to you to find out. The quality of each card is different so you need to test for yourself in small steps how far your card can go at factory voltage. 600/1500/900 is guaranteed to work at 1v so use that as your starting point.

 

Okay, thanks for all the help.

I think my biggest problem up until now was the (now known as mistaken) belief that every video card of a certain model (8800GT, etc) was identical.

Hopefully my card will hold up to decent clocks.