how do you know what to over clock on your graphics card?

[darklordofspawn]

aye peoples.
i have a Nvidia ENGTX260 SP216(ASUS)
the video card is water cooled and it came with this program that monitors the temp of the video card and lets me control the fan speed and lets me over clock the video card ( Smart Doctor)
i heard that over clocking your video card can make games perform better.
how do you know what to over clock when playing certain games?
Engine?
Shader?
Memory?
i heard that different games require different parts to be over clocked?
how do you know?
when ever i try to over clock high performance games my video card causes lags. and doesnt hesitate to over heat depending what game i play lol
my heat warning setting is set at 80c
which i am assuming is a safe over heat temp even tho i heard video card can sometimes withstand up to 100c+ or 120c before they start to melt or something 0.o

 

[thirdshiftdj]

I haven't been in the loop but, I think everyone still uses rivatuner to overclock. I would suggest that. OC core and mem. Do it in increments and check for stability like any ocing.

 

[darklordofspawn]

I haven't been in the loop but, I think everyone still uses rivatuner to overclock. I would suggest that. OC core and mem. Do it in increments and check for stability like any ocing.

thanks but this software came with the video card when i installed the driver/video card.
i dont want any incompatibility issues or other problems since i will be using 2 over clocking tools at the same time?

so you say memory is what makes most games perform better?

 

[Fat.Clown]

evga precision tuner is nice for nvidia cards
I suggest you use the latest drivers from nvidia website, instead of whatever came with your video card

 

[Antec-User]

I use the Control Catalyst. Works fine.. I just bump it up until it clipps, then turn it down a hair. The Evga program looks very nice..