SirWeathers Posted January 10, 2018 Share Posted January 10, 2018 (edited) About a month ago, I got a brand new ZOTAC Geforce GT 640 to replace my previous GT 640 that i had been using for two years until it crapped out. The fan in the original card was actually a pretty bad fan, If that helps. Anyways, I realized that the card's architecture just isn't keeping up to speed, but I don't have money to afford a stronger card. Then I remembered something. When i was diagnosing the problems with my other card, I used MSI afterburner to check the temperatures, which was the issue. But then i realized you could also overclock the card using the same program. I only overclocked the fan speed to see if it could help send temperatures down to optimum, but the damage was already done then. So basically, I'm asking: What could work as the sweet spot for this card as far as overclocking goes? I'm hoping to get a little bit more decent performance in the games i am playing with the card until i can hopefully get money to buy a stronger card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted January 10, 2018 Moderator Share Posted January 10, 2018 If the temperature is already high, I wouldn't risk overclocking it. That will make a GPU hotter, and the fan has to run harder. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SirWeathers Posted January 11, 2018 Author Share Posted January 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, Mindovermaster said: If the temperature is already high, I wouldn't risk overclocking it. That will make a GPU hotter, and the fan has to run harder. The current clock settings are at factory default, and the temperatures report around 27-32 Idle, and 40-50 under load. I'm only playing ROBLOX games at the moment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted January 11, 2018 Share Posted January 11, 2018 20 hours ago, SirWeathers said: The current clock settings are at factory default, and the temperatures report around 27-32 Idle, and 40-50 under load. I'm only playing ROBLOX games at the moment. up the core by 10mhz and test using a burn in program (afterburners artifact tool would suffice for 30+ minutes) , if temps dont rise above the max of say 75C, up another 10mhz until you find a happy amount against max temp. TBH youll see minimal increase in performance on such an old budget card mate. I would leave the memory alone completely at stock. DevTech 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 On 1/11/2018 at 3:47 PM, Mando said: up the core by 10mhz and test using a burn in program (afterburners artifact tool would suffice for 30+ minutes) , if temps dont rise above the max of say 75C, up another 10mhz until you find a happy amount against max temp. TBH youll see minimal increase in performance on such an old budget card mate. I would leave the memory alone completely at stock. Yes. But actually not because it's old, but because it is too budget. Every year there is a model number below which the card is junk. So 640 is crap, and 660 is nice enough etc. (that year the GTX 650 was a bit of an exception and was also a piece of junk which they fixed with the "GTX 650 Ti Boost") Sometimes you can get a sweet spot if you realize this and try to go older until you cross the line into a decent GPU. Good GPUs older than 640: - 580 - 570 - 560 ti (this model sold like hotcakes so it should be easy to find) - 480 - 470 Even a GTX 460 has twice the performance of a GT 640 Overclocking garbage is going to produce differences that are not perceived. Better use of your time is to sell the 640, scan ebay and local classifieds and get an older model that rocks! Deliver some pizzas instead of mucking with AfterBurner will be more productive! And GPU RAM is always on the edge. Overclocking GPU RAM will just create unstable operation and again you won't notice any improvement. Mando 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mando Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 13 hours ago, DevTech said: Yes. But actually not because it's old, but because it is too budget. Every year there is a model number below which the card is junk. So 640 is crap, and 660 is nice enough etc. (that year the GTX 650 was a bit of an exception and was also a piece of junk which they fixed with the "GTX 650 Ti Boost") Sometimes you can get a sweet spot if you realize this and try to go older until you cross the line into a decent GPU. Good GPUs older than 640: - 580 - 570 - 560 ti (this model sold like hotcakes so it should be easy to find) - 480 - 470 Even a GTX 460 has twice the performance of a GT 640 Overclocking garbage is going to produce differences that are not perceived. Better use of your time is to sell the 640, scan ebay and local classifieds and get an older model that rocks! Deliver some pizzas instead of mucking with AfterBurner will be more productive! And GPU RAM is always on the edge. Overclocking GPU RAM will just create unstable operation and again you won't notice any improvement. if it was myself, id be hunting for a cheap 2nd hand 660ti tbh https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MSI-660TI-Graphics-Card/142648370106?hash=item21368163ba:g:hWwAAOSw9NBaUhdI £23 atm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 11 hours ago, Mando said: if it was myself, id be hunting for a cheap 2nd hand 660ti tbh https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/MSI-660TI-Graphics-Card/142648370106?hash=item21368163ba:g:hWwAAOSw9NBaUhdI £23 atm Well since he had a 640 and bought another 640, I assumed he needed to go low budget wise. Sometimes for some reason the 770 can be found at a good price as well. Common mid-range/affordable cards sorted in order of performance: (a few higher cards included for reference) 1070 Ti - 12260 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+1070+Ti 980 Ti - 11322 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?id=3218 1070 - 11056 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?id=3521 980 - 9577 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?id=2953 Under 10000 780 Ti - 8888 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+780 1060 - 8842 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+1060 1060 3GB - 8781 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+1060+3GB 970 - 8582 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+970 780 - 7971 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+780&id=2525 1060 with Max-Q Design - 6710 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+1060+with+Max-Q+Design&id=3769 Under 6000 770 - 6089 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+770 960 - 5805 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+960 1050 Ti - 5802 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+1050+Ti 680 - 5683 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+680 670 - 5373 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+670 950 - 5023 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+950 760 ti - 5090 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+760 580 - 5021 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+580 Under 5000 760 - 4941 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?id=2561 660 Ti - 4679 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+660 1050 - 4425 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+1050&id=3596 570 - 4419 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+570 480 - 4355 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=geforce+gtx+480 660 - 4124 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?id=2152 Under 4000 750 Ti - 3710 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+750 470 - 3694 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+470 560 Ti - 3537 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+560 650 Ti BOOST - 3534 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+650 750 - 3283 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+750&id=2825 560 - 3123 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?id=71 Under 3000 460 - 2655 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+460 1030 - 2297 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+1030 745 - 2173 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+745 550 Ti - 1927 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=geforce+gtx+550+ti 650 - 1831 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTX+650&id=2155 Under 1500 450 - 1558 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GTS+450 640 - 1282 - https://www.videocardbenchmark.net/gpu.php?gpu=GeForce+GT+640 It would be interesting for people to mention which cards hit a value sweet spot in their geographic location. There are also some notable observations from that list: - the 1030 really sucks - they sold a lot of 560 Ti which means used availability might be good - the 580 really holds on nicely for its age - the 950 is surprisingly well endowed - the 770 holds up well as the best (affordable) performer of the pre-9xx generation - the 1060 really pulls away from the crowd compared to previous generation type jumps. Anyone passing by: please comment on this list to add corrections, omissions, your experience... Jim K and Mando 2 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mindovermaster Moderator Posted January 13, 2018 Moderator Share Posted January 13, 2018 I have the 750Ti, and I ain't complainin'. Draconian Guppy 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 3 hours ago, Mindovermaster said: I have the 750Ti, and I ain't complainin'. hmmmm my list is missing the 550 and 750 - I'll update it Done! added missing items and created groupings Mando 1 Share Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DevTech Posted January 17, 2018 Share Posted January 17, 2018 Based on looking at the value GPUs in list of older GPUs above, I grabbed a GTX 770 to test out to see if there is a non-benchmark perceptual improvement over a GTX 570 I will report back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts