|
 So you have decided to overclock your video card but don't know how. Well in today's article I will explain how to use two pieces of software that can help. I will also talk about what you need to do to take it to the limit without out sending your card to the computer graveyard. This article is especially for those who have no choice in which card they choose (eMacs, iMacs, iBooks, Minis and Powerbooks).
Disclaimer: Neither MacMod.com, the writer, nor any affiliates take
responsibility for damaged hardware. Proceed at your own (your
computer's) risk.
Gone are the days when hacking your video card required a soldering iron. These days, all you need a little bit of patience. Recently software was introduced for people who lean towards the greener side of the video card lot. Its called Graphiccelerator. This software actually works for both ATI and Nvidia cards. This is a flash based overclocker. Note that this only works with PCI and AGP cards, not onboard graphics. This seems to leave the G5 iMac owners of Rev. 1 models in the dark, but this may change. This software works by modifying the core and memory frequencies in the cards ROM. I have not tested it because I only have ATI cards in my computers. Its not that I prefer them, my computers just came that brand. My G5 (when I can afford one) will have a Nvidia 6800 in it.
At the same site that Graphiccelerator is located you will find ATIccelerator II. This program works only for ATI chips and lets you change the speeds on the fly. I use this program on all of my computers and it kicks butt! If you overdo it all you have to do is open the utility and lower the speeds. That is just plain awesome. There is no scary flashing involved. The other nice thing about this program is that it works with eMacs, iMacs, iBooks, Minis and Powerbooks. Those computers with onboard video should be extra careful when overclocking because there is no way to put extra cooling on the chips.
Now that you have the software, install it and get overclocking! The process is simple but slow. Start by just moving up a few clocks at a time. Test its stability by running a game that puts a lot of pressure on the video side of the computer. If it is stable for some time then you can move up a couple more. If it flashes or has bars on it, back off a couple of clocks. Make sure you take your time on testing, your video card and your wallet will thank you.
If you want to take it to the max, you need to come up with a better cooling solution than stock. Apple often has the card's fans removed so that
will limit what you can do with it if it is stock. I recommend an active heatsink cooler and ram coolers. There are a ton of them out there so you should have no trouble finding them. As of now, my ATI 9000 Pro has ramsinks and the stock passive GPU cooler. I plan to upgrade that too. If you own a MDD G4 this can be tricky. The ram is so close to the card (because the motherboard layout is reversed), that there is not much room.
I have found a few smaller coolers though. I like to purchase my computer mod parts from www.newegg.com. They have good prices and fast shipping, but there are many places you can find by surfing the internet for a short time. If you are lucky enough to find stuff like this local, go for it.
Stick with heatsinks that use copper, it cools better than aluminum. Now if you want to have colored sinks you will have to go with aluminum and really they work just fine (my ramsinks are aluminum). I used Thermaltake A1933 Ram Heatsinks on both of my video cards and other chips on my logic boards. The are cool looking, CHEAP, and they work great.
Here is a brief list of manufacturers in no particular order that make good cooling stuff you can buy from New Egg.
Thermaltake - Tons of video card cooling stuff. The Crystal Orb will fit the MDD and the Extreme Giant III is... well giant. Aluminum and copper ram heatsinks.
Arctic Cooling - Huge silencers that will probably take up a ton of room, but I've heard their good.
Zalman - Make one that fits the MDD. Arguably make the best coolers in the industry ( I love their stuff). Aluminum ram heat sinks.
Vantec - Also make some that will work with the MDD. Smaller VGA sinks. Copper ram heatsinks.
You could also water cool your video card. If you ask me thats just crazy and for the cash outlay you could just buy a better card.
So now that you have empowered yourself with this information, get out there and get started. Overclocking is fun and can be safe if you take your time and use it wisely. Or don't do it, that would be safer, but if you are on this site than you have the mind set to give it a try.
|
