overclocking FX5200

i have a gainward card, is it safe to overclock gfx cards when there are no
internal chassis fans?

if so, to what speeds?

Christo wrote:
i have a gainward card, is it safe to overclock gfx cards when there are no
internal chassis fans?

if so, to what speeds?



For FANLESS-VALUE cards...

For this type of card, it's not really a question of whether it's safe,
it's a question of "will you be able to OC it ANY???".

These type of ultra-cheap cut down value cards often come with the worst
memory possible and usually are UNDERCLOCKED compared to the reference
board spec. Gainward is well known for this, so is Jaton, PowerColor,
and any one of many el-cheapo vendors. I would say Jaton is the
absolute worst of the bunch.

Chances are you can OC the core maybe 50mhz sucessfully, but if you can
get it stable and do like what you see, you'll likely want at least a
cheap fan on it, or get a case fan attached to your tower door or case
bottom blowing on it.

Memory is another matter. As I said, they usually use underclocked crap
memory, if you can OC it any above default, you're lucky. Memory on low
end cards is more forgiving in that the maximum clock speed will still
be fairly low and if you need any cooling at all, a good case fan will
more than do.


For a NORMAL HSF or mainstream card (aka 5200U)...

A case fan will definitely help, but you need airflow for any kind of
overclocking usually. The most important thing is to get an ACTIVE air
flow going through the case. Like this...

BACK -- BACK FAN -- CARD -- FRONT FAN -- FRONT

Preferrably a buffer fan in there too, mounted to "PUSH" air up and over
the card, making a trajectory aimed toward the back fan or CPU.