n00b overclocking questions.

[Zeke_D]

First of all, I am a total n00b when it comes to overclocking. I have always been a little scared of it in the past.

I am running a Chaintech Apogee GF FX 5700 ultra with 128MB of DDR2.
I used the 'auto detect' on the clock freqs tab on the nvidia/display. it detected at 529mhz/1.02ghz. Since I am still paranoid of damaging my rather expensive card ($200 is expensive to me) I backed them down to 525/1.00. one of my questions is, am i gonna kill my card? What sort of performance improvement am I going to see from the default 475/900? how reliable is the auto detect feature? What are some of the outcomes of overclocking this card? and finally, I am going to add a fan to my case in the rear, should the airflow be going into or out of the case?

In case you needed to know, I am running:
CHAINTECH nVIDIA GeForce FX5700 ULTRA Video Card, 128MB DDRII, 128-bit, DVI/TV-Out, 8X AGP, Model "AA5700U" -RETAIL

Chipset/Core Speed: nVIDIA GeForce FX5700ULTRA/475MHz
Memory/Effective Speed: 128MB DDRII/900MHz
BUS: AGP 1X/2X/4X/8X
Ports: VGA Out(15 Pin D-Sub)+TV-Out(S-Video)+DVI connector
Support 3D API: DirectX®9, OpenGL®1.5
Cable/Accessories: VGA via DVI Adapter, 3 Cables, 2 CD, Manual
Max Resolution@32bit Color: 2048X1536@85Hz
Retail Box (See pics for details)

Corsair Value Select Dual Channel Kit 184 Pin 1G(512MBx2) DDR PC-3200 - OEM

Manufacturer: Corsair
Speed: DDR400(PC3200)
Type: 184 Pin DDR SDRAM
Error Checking: Non-ECC
Registered/Unbuffered: Unbuffered
Cas Latency: 3
Support Voltage: 2.5V
Bandwidth: 3.2GB/s
Organization: two 64M x 64 -Bit

Intel Celeron (Skt-478) 2.7 GHz 400MHz FSB, 128K Cache - Retail

Model: Intel Celeron (Pentium 4 based)
Core: Northwood
Operating Frequency: 2.7GHz
FSB: 400MHz
Cache: L1/12K+8K; L2/128K
Voltage: 1.525V
Process: 0.13Micron
Socket: Socket 478
Multimedia Instruction: MMX, SSE, SSE2
Warranty: 3-year MFG
Packaging: Retail box (with Heatsink and Fan)

MSI 865G Chipset Motherboard for Intel Socket 478 CPU, Model "865GM2-LS" -RETAIL

Supported CPU: Socket 478 Intel Pentium 4 Processors up to 3.2G (HT Ready)
Chipset: Intel 865G + ICH5
FSB: 800/533MHz,400MHz for Northwood only
RAM: 4x DIMM for Dual Channel DDR400/333/266 Max 4GB
IDE: 2x UltraDMA 100 up to 4 Devices
Slots: 1x AGP 8X/4X(1.5V), 3x PCI, 1x CNR
Ports: 2xPS/2,1xCOM,1xLPT,8xUSB2.0(Rear 6),1xLAN,1xVGA,Audio Ports
Onboard Audio: C-Media 9739A 6-Channel Audio
Onboard Video: Intel Extreme Graphic 2
Onboard LAN: Intel 82562EZ 10/100Mbps
Onboard SATA: 2x Serial ATA
Form Factor: Micro ATX

[hushypushy]

autodetect is perfectly fine; i use it on my 5600 with no problems. does your 5700 have a temp probe? try playing some games to see what you get; if it gets into the mid 70s or higher you should back down...

[Craig Venom]

well, geforcefx got some thermal sensor that will downclock your gfx card if run too hot, if i'm not wrong. Perfomance wise, well based my experience, i got 1000-2000 boost on 3dmark2001 point.

[Zeke_D]

yeah, I ran 3dmark03 full tests, and it was at 60 degrees. I will prob leave it where it is. what about my rear fan? in or out?

[cooliscool]

Out.

[Zeke_D]

Well the core temp went up to 75 degrees when I was stressing the machine. the core slowdown threshhold is default at 129 degrees. So, how hot is too hot for the gpu core?

[hushypushy]

if you are maxing out at 75º you are perfectly fine

btw, your case's airflow needs air blowing IN the front and OUT the back.

[Zeke_D]

unfortunately, there is no place to mount a fan in the front, my drives are mounted vertically there. still think out the back? should I try some funky pci blower or something?

[Craig Venom]

can also but better replace the place for HD and put some fan so the cold air can be suck from the front and the hot air will be blow out at the back. Make sure the back fan is at top or below power supply. A little physics here.

[Zeke_D]

unfortunately, my case doesnt allow for a fan in the front. any difference in case fans? or just get whatever?

[Craig Venom]

it's fine. but make sure the hot air in the case been blow out.

[Zeke_D]

here ya go hushy

[hushypushy]

ugh, that's so hot....you need a new case with some good fans pronto (or water cooling )

[Zeke_D]

I took the side off, and the idle temps are better

[aolforbroadband]

Wow, when'd you get your new PC zeke? How come you chose a Celeron? I'm thinkin of removing my voltage mod and just jacking mine back down to around 2.8ghz since I'm trying to do video encoding and I want the most stability I can get.

Those temps are rather hot, what case are you using? I get 26C system idle, and 36C idle CPU. BTW, does that MSI PC Alert work no non-MSI mobos? I like the GUI, it's nice.

[Zeke_D]

I think it might, not sure. I have only ever owned MSI (I am an MSI reseller) I need to get a fan for the case, i think it will help. I aquired new RAM, MB, video and CPU in a trade I orcestrated at Hushy and cooliscool's advice.

[Zeke_D]

here ya go hushy, this should be better

[cooliscool]

Yeah. Those temps are much better and you shouldn't get any problem with em.

[hushypushy]

awesome, that's what im talking about

right now im at 35/18 which is pretty normal for me, so awesome

[Zeke_D]

Well new case fan (blowing out), and case panel off. I squeezed a few more cycles outta my 5700U, as the ambient temp in the case is lower now. Here is the temps immeadietly after running 3DMark2001SE.