# XFX 9600GSO



## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Hello, I have a XFX 9600 GSO 768mb ddr2, 
XFX Nvidia GeForce 9600 GSO 768MB DDR2 | eBay

I would actaully like to overclock this card.. any idea on what I should change and to what level for a good overclock on this card, and what the best way to do this would be?

I also have a 
DH55HC Motherboard
Intel i3 550 CPU
2x2 DDR3 ram cards


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## JMPC (Jan 15, 2011)

I honestly don't think you'll notice that big of a boost but if you want to try it see if eVGA Precision works for your card. It's from from evga.com.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

I use Riva Tuner to OC an ASUS 9600GSO 384 Mb (My System at left). I've taken it as high as 650MHz Core, 1000MHz Memory and 1650 MHz shader. That nets me a maximum of < 5 fps; 2-3 on average. This on games such as Quake4, Oblivion, and Dragon Age: Origins.

The difference is really only noticeable when running a benchmark tool and then only because your score is higher; or if you run a fps clock in-game.


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Thanks JMPC and gcavan, I may give it ago seams like its almost time to replace it anyways any ideas on what to replace it with?

Also on a small off topic my GF also uses the same graphics card as me, and it suddlenly broke while she was using the computer so I keeped it in a box and tired it again a few months later and it was still not working. so I removed the heatsink, and DVI - PCI backplate off and put it in the oven for 10mins at around (250F) after letting it cool off and reapplyed a little bit of Cooler master High Performance thermal compound kit that I gor for about $4 (CoolerMaster High Performance Thermal Compound Kit, P/N: HTK-002 - Heat Sink Thermal Compound) reapplyed the heatsink and the wire and the card fired up again good as new and has been running for a month now but a little far too hot

HW monitor shows

Idle around 50-54c
Gaming 104c (max)

Any idea how I can bring theres temps down? I also noticed mine is getting hot too and both heatsinks have no dust in them


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Selanaar said:


> HW monitor shows
> 
> Idle around 50-54c
> Gaming 104c (max)


I saw a video of this, this weekend and the guy put a broken 8800gt in the oven at 350f for 10mins and the card worked fine. Maybe yours wasn't in a hot enough oven, LOL. Now back to the serious issue. Maybe the oven destroyed the card's temp sensor or the GPU itself. Going over 100c is dangerous territory and will permanently damage the card. You could try reapplying the thermal paste.

BTW what psu are you using? Make/Model/Wattage


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

That could be a damaged sensor but I have a feeling its more or less correct as she does have a small case and it was a hard job just getting the motherboard and PSU to fit, I honstly don't know about much about her PSU other then the fact it was a cheep PSU with the case for around $40 500Watt as a temp make do.

But I have the same graphics card with a large gaming case (APEVIA X-Navigator Metal Case-Black w/ Side Window-Black) with a Powersupply Unit Ultra X3 600 Watts and was getting 97c while playing Dragon Age Orgines last night now mine has never broken down or been in the oven and we got the cards at the same time they used to run in SLI until she actualy needed a new card for Lich King since both cards have been running on there own


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Depending on how long the cheap 500w PSU was powering your 9600 it could have contributed to it's early demise by giving you the high temps you're subjected to now. Test the card in another PC and also upgrade your current PSU to a top-quality (XFX/Corsair/Seasonic) brand of 550w minimum. Yours is 600w, but I cannot comment on quality of that brand and by that token I'd say it is rubbish. When you ran SLI what PSU did you use? You could have damaged one or both if they were under-powered, especially by a cheap low-quality PSU.


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Hey

As far as I know Ultra's X3-X4 line are really good gaming PSU in the USA I got it and cost $100 and has the modular desgin so you don't have a whole bunch of cables laying around. here is all the tech info

Ultra X3 ULT40073 600-Watt Power Supply - ATX, SATA-Ready, PCI-E Ready, Energy Efficient, Modular, Lifetime Warranty w/ Registration at TigerDirect.com

I have just got back form Compusa and picked up a new Cooler Master R4-L2R-20AC-GP 120mm Blue case fan, MassCool Expansion Slot Rear Exhaust cooling fan and some Arctic Silver 5 from Raidoshack that I applyed to both Graphics cards going to let HW Monitor run in the back around till tomorrow night and see what the max values are but I did notice as I opened HW monitor both computers are around 42-44c Temp at start up rather then the 50-54c so I think that was a good start

I also got my new Intel heatsink from Intel today as one of the pins broke on the old intel stock fine I called them up asking for a new pin and they snet out a whole new unit, I used the stock thermal paste that intel put on the heatsink do you think I should remove that and put on the Arctic Silver 5 I got today?


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Also one thing that just crossed my mind, after applying the Arctic Silver 5 to the GPU's I put the card right into the computer and turned it on, I don't need to let the Arctic Silver 5 sit for a while before using it at all?


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Computer 2 was the computer that was at 105c and has now hits 85c, nice improvement.

However my CPU and GPU have slightly incressed in temp the gpu now hits 97c however I did not buy a VGA PCI cooler for this computer only used the Arctic Silver 5 on the GPU and put 120mm rear fan in


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

A higher quality 550w XFX PSU pushes out more amps on the 12v rail as your 600w PSU. 36a for the UltraX3 vs 44a for the XFX. Link to the XFX PSU: Newegg.com - XFX Core Edition PRO550W (P1-550S-XXB9) 550W ATX12V 2.2 & ESP12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Power Supply

So that is why I questioned your reasoning for the Ultra and the fact that I've never heard of them before, leads me to believe they are not good, or not reliable in the long run and they are not 80+ certified.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

I notice from your HWMonitor screenshot from the Intel DH55HC PC that the second 12v rail falls way below spec at only 9v. Double check this in the BIOS if it's accurate or not and that's just the PC where your Graphics card is overheating. So your PSU's quality is really in question now.


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## gcavan (Aug 13, 2009)

In that screenshot, HWMonitor is showing two sets of +12,+5 and +3.3 voltages; one of which is obviously incorrect. I would disregard the entire output and confirm with different software or (better) get access to a mutimeter.

Readings which are totally out in left field such as that do not indicate a bad supply. It indicates either the software being used is reading the motherboard sensor incorrectly or the sensor itself is faulty. 

I use software monitors (BIOS included) as a guide, only, which may point out possible problems. The only way to truely confirm voltage levels is with a multimeter.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

That is true that software monitoring is not always accurate, cause if that was then the PC in question would not be able to boot with such a low 12v rail. It's just a coincidence that the PC with the funny voltages is the one where the GPU is so hot, that's why I suspected a faulty PSU.


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Here a more screenshots of the BIOS and AIDA64 Extreme Edition, New HW monitor post (after restart) and speedfan the bios only shows 1 12 volt rail

Text version of bios
============================
Bios Report
============================
HardWare

CPU Core Temperature 59.86c
MCH Temperature 0.00c
PCH Temperature 59.00
VR Temperature 55.00
Memory 46.00

+12v 12.156v
+5 5.031v
+3.3v 3.370v
Memory V-SM 1529
+Vccp 1.231v

CPU Cooling fan 1012Rpm
Chassis Inlet fan 1091Rpm
Chassis Outlet fan 0Rpm

While in Bios I pressed F10 to load defualt system settings


Will a new PSU fix this problem? How long can I run my computer like this? I do have plans to replace the graphics card in both computers in at the start of the new year ($200-$300) for each computer is there a temp fix to bring the 9v up?,


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Also on a other note the other computer hit 93c for the GPU while playing Rift this morning at Med graphic settings on 1680x1050 resolution


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Speedfan is one of the most inaccurate monitoring programs out there, besides for Fan speed monitoring obviously. If a re-pasting of the thermal paste does not solve the problem, then it's best to test in another machine or have your local PC shop test it in one of theirs. Did you actually overclock your GPU yet or not? Are these all temps taken at stock speeds?


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

all componets on both computers are running at stock settings, only settings that I have made changes to were the settings in the BIOS to incress rear fan speed from 30% to 100% I did try and use rivatuner to set the graphics card fan speed from 30% to 100% but it slowly went back to 30%

I am going to apply some Arctic Silver 5 to the CPU and GPU in a few mins 


One thing I am very cofused about I have a Vantec Spectrum PCI Fan Card that I have inside my computer that I actualy have turned off, should I have this fan on? I just seamed like a silly fan as my graphics card has a fan under the card blowing hot air down and under this is my Vantec Spectrum PCI Fan Card that has 2 very fast fans blowing the air up and why I turned this off was this the correct thing to do?

Vantec Spectrum PCI Fan Card with Blue UV LED at TigerDirect.com


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Under normal circumstances a front intake and rear exhaust fan is the best way to go. Side fans (mounted on the side of the case) tend to disrupt the airflow and there was actually a previous case where another user had temp issues and just by disconnecting the side fan the temps dropped quite a bit. The PCI fan card could cause disruption in airflow, but looking on the Tigerdirect website under the reviews some say it works ok. Your graphics card fan should be blowing onto the cards heatsink and not away from it and the PCI fan card assists by blowing more air over to the GPU. That's the theory anyway. Does it help to have it on at all?


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Just reapplyed Arctic Silver 5 to the CPU and GPU

I have a rear fan pulling air out of the case, I have a side panel fan pulling air into the case and I fan on top of the case pulling air out, as well as the GPU PCI cooler


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Having seen those photos I'd say try disconnecting the fan on your side panel and see if it helps at all. Also as a owner of an I3-550 myself your temps seem a bit high, are they under load or idle? In summer before I got a cooler it would reach a max of mid to low 50's at 100% load and idle at about 30-40c. I purchased a Cooler Master Hyper 212+ and overclocked it to 4,10ghz and temps remain unchanged from the stock speed. Still loads at low to mid 50's and idles under 30c in summer.

I'd also recommend a front intake fan to get your HDD temps down a bit.


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Hey I removed the side intake fan and the top outtake fan and put them both in the front of the computer case so there is now 2, 80mm intake fans at the front with a 120mm rear out take fan and the GPU cooler fan is 1 pci slot below the graphics card with both fans at 100% blowing the air into the graphics card and there is a stronger air flow out the back of the graphics card heatsink now how ever idel temps are not much diffrent,

However I am sure you will agree that the intel I3 550 has had a very nice drop in temp from the last HW monitor report I posted.

Now about this issue with HW monitor showing the 2ed 12v at 9.09v is this still an issue? or is this just a error with HW monitor since the bios only shows one 12v at the correct voltage?

When I buy the new graphics cards at the start of the year I will replace both PSU's just to be on the safer side. I kinda liked you one you posted but I would like a modular PSU what one would you suggest it will be a GTX 560 or higher

Anything else I could do to my system now until that happans?


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

Your CPU temps are certainly much better. Here are some PSU choices:

If you're only going for the GTX560 this would work: Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series HX650 (CMPSU-650HX) 650W ATX12V v2.2 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Higher than a GTX560 here are some options:
Newegg.com - XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus Silver 750 Watt Power Supply
Newegg.com - CORSAIR Professional Series HX750 (CMPSU-750HX) 750W ATX12V 2.3 / EPS12V 2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS SILVER Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply

The PSU's are all modular with the exception of the XFX stating it's semi-modular but to me it looks like a proper modular design. 
Please guys correct or place other PSU's here if you disagree with my assessment. 

I've actually got the HX750w PSU for my PC and I'm only running a HD4870 and I'm very happy with it, not one problem with it. 

Also have a look at our Power Supply info sheet for other options: http://www.techsupportforum.com/forums/f210/power-supply-information-and-selection-192217.html

I had a look at the TX750w (non-modular to the HX) and upon seeing all the cables I quickly changed my mind, non-modular is just too many cables. Hope this helps you out.


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Thanks for all your Johnny1982 it has been very helpful. and have seen nice drops in temps from my gpu, cpu and hdd 

I think I will grab 2 XFX PRO750W with the 2 new graphics cards in the new year. 

One thing that I found rather odd the program that I used to incess the graphics card fan speed from 30% to 100% causes a problem with Xfire while MSI afterburner is installed Xfire's ingame support no longer works, is there a other program that can do this? as rivatuner fails to keep the settings at 100%


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

I'm glad things are looking better. You could try using Nvidia System Tools previously called NTune NVIDIA DRIVERS 6.06. It's like ATI/AMD's Catalyst Control Center


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

Hey Johnny look at these new low temps I got  idel GPU 35c

Anyway waht happaned was early this morning my gf's graphics card broke (the one that had been in the oven with the very cheep PSU) anyway it frozze with what looked like 16bit pixels on the screen and the bios at the start was full of these pixels too. so off to the computer store we got a new 500W PSU a Cooler Master Extreme since I was not going to put a new graphics card in with a $15 PSU again and picked up the EVGA Geforce GTS 450 1GB GDDR5, well after getting the new PSU in and the new card in her pc failed to start so I tried the new card in mine and it also failed to start so we ended up returning that card as fualty and they replaced it for the same one again it failed to start in hers but it fired up very nicely in mine rather odd it did not work in hers, anyways so ended up with my 9600GSO and I got the GTS 450 but she has the new PSU and honesly everything is running very nice now.

I did place the old 9600GSO back into the over at 300F and it came back to life a secound time and is now running in the Computer that is hooked into the TV and Xbox rather then using the Onboard graphics that it used to run on 

So all in all, I think eveything is good now for the time being.


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## Johnny1982 (Oct 15, 2010)

I'm glad you're getting decent temps now. Let us know if anything else happens or for any advice.


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## leelika08 (Aug 17, 2011)

Johnny1982 said:


> I saw a video of this, this weekend and the guy put a broken 8800gt in the oven at 350f for 10mins and the card worked fine. Maybe yours wasn't in a hot enough oven, LOL. Now back to the serious issue. Maybe the oven destroyed the card's temp sensor or the GPU itself. Going over 100c is dangerous territory and will permanently damage the card. You could try reapplying the thermal paste.
> 
> BTW what psu are you using? Make/Model/Wattage


That could be a damaged sensor but I have a feeling its more or less correct as she does have a small case and it was a hard job just getting the motherboard and PSU to fit, I honstly don't know about much about her PSU other then the fact it was a cheep PSU with the case for around $40 500Watt as a temp make do.
___________________
va land rover
virginia land rover


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## Selanaar (Dec 13, 2010)

I was actualy able to fix her computer, I will need to get a new case for it still, but I put a nice fast and quite 120mm rear fan and a GPU PCI cooler that blows air into the GPU and the Graphics card never goes any higher then 85c but the computer would still crash every now usualy every hour and then. I noticed the CPU was hitting 81? maybe 85c so I assumed it was a cpu over heating since AMD says the 9850 black edition max core temp is 71. So picked up a Compact CPU cooler one of theres cpu coolers that blows the air out of the rear of the pc to help with the air flow. as well as new PSU Extreame Power plus 500W Cooler master. now I only did this a few days ago and it has not been used for gaming yet but I can Rift in the main city idel for 4 hours with out it crashing so I hope the issue is fixed.


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