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Does it make sense to get an overclocked edition card?

KBD

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I'm brining this up because soon i'll be upgrading my system and getting an HD 4870. For me it comes to this: will i'll be able to overclock the overclocked edition of the card higher than the non-overclocked edition? I have some experience with overclocked edition cards, my current card is a BFG 8800 GTS 512 OC (675 Mhz on the core vs 650 standard). I was able to overclock it to 756/1890/1053 with an aftermarket cooler. These results are not great at all for a GTS 512, i've seen people with stock coolers getting a higher core overclock than me. So after this i dont know if i should get a factory overclocked card even though some of them are almost the same price at egg. This time around i'll be using aftermarket cooling as well, a thermalright HR03 GT or an AC Accelero or maybe that new T-Rad cooler from TR. Anyway, i'd like to hear what kind of overclocks you guys are getting with stock and pre-overclocked cards and whether irs worth it?
 

Exavier

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meh, same old same old - the clocks you get on a pre-OC'd card are guaranteed, but you'll probably be able to get same as/beat with a non-factory OC card.
my 4870X2 OCs admirably, but that's probably not helpful; my gf's 4850 I put in the rig I built her clocks higher than some of the preclock cards from other vendors though.
just my 2c
 

KBD

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meh, same old same old - the clocks you get on a pre-OC'd card are guaranteed, but you'll probably be able to get same as/beat with a non-factory OC card.
my 4870X2 OCs admirably, but that's probably not helpful; my gf's 4850 I put in the rig I built her clocks higher than some of the preclock cards from other vendors though.
just my 2c

I think u misunderstand my question may be because i didnt phrase it properly, I'm talking about doing my own overclocking with either card but i need to know what will be give me the highest overclock a stock or pre-overclocked card?
 

Kreij

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meh, same old same old - the clocks you get on a pre-OC'd card are guaranteed, but you'll probably be able to get same as/beat with a non-factory OC card.
my 4870X2 OCs admirably, but that's probably not helpful; my gf's 4850 I put in the rig I built her clocks higher than some of the preclock cards from other vendors though.
just my 2c


Hi Exavier.
Update your system specs so we can see what you're up to. It still says "on pre-order". :toast:
 

Fastmix

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Most oc cards have already been tested at that speed so it's guaranteed and what companies usually do is they sell the ones that don't overclock well at standard clock, also a pre oc cards usually comes equipped with a better fan but nothing stops a reference clocked card to perform as good or maybe better, at the end I think that it boils down to the price the features and the bundle that you get with the card.
 
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KBD

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Most oc cards have already been tested at that speed so it's guaranteed and what companies usually do is they sell the ones that don't overclock well at standard clock, also a pre oc cards usually comes equipped with a better fan but nothing stops a reference clocked card to perform as good or maybe better, at the end I think that it boils down to the price the features and the bundle that you get with the card.

thnx for your clear cut answer! :)

I'm gonna take a closer look at whats available as some factory overclocked cards are very close to non overclocked right now in terms of price. But its likely i may wind up with an OC edition card yet again. I'll be using aftermarket HSF BTW, since stock coolers cant compete with them.
 

Kreij

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In my experience, the stock coolers on the latest ATI cards are quite good and can complete with aftermarket coolers (on air). If you use a third party program (RivaTuner, etc) to modify the fan settings you can keep your card very cool even in OC settings.
 
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DrPepper

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Its pot luck wether you get a card that oc's e.g. My 8800GT is non overclocked and doesn't oc at all, while I've also had an 8800 GTS 320 that Superclocked by EVGA and that didn't oc very well either but my x850 went up by about 100 mhz back before I binned it and it was a non oc'd one.
 
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p_o_s_pc

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Its pot luck wether you get a card that oc's e.g. My 8800GT is non overclocked and doesn't oc at all, while I've also had an 8800 GTS 320 that Superclocked by EVGA and that didn't oc very well either but my x850 went up by about 100 mhz back before I binned it and it was a non oc'd one.

my BFG 8800GT OC clocks to 750/1850/2000 (core/shaders/mem) for benching. I had 3 7900GS
2 of them was a EVGA 7900GS KO and the 3rd was just a BFG 7900GS. I voltmodded everyone of them and the 2 KO (pre OCed cards) clocked to 710 the BFG (non pre OC) clocked to 700 even. So i would say that it doesn't really matter if it is a pre OC or not just depends on luck like Drpepper said
 
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KBD

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well, thnx for the responses guys! :)
 
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