Can't overclock eVGA 6800GT

[PizzatheHut06]

A couple of weeks ago my Leadtek 6800GT simply stopped working, so I ordered an eVGA 6800GT (AGP) because I've heard about how easily they overclock to Ultra speeds. For some reason I can't get mine to overclock well. The PCI/AGP frequency is locked and I have a good power supply with plenty of 12V amps. Here is how I went about overclocking. I let the card break in at stock speeds for about 2 weeks. Then one day I bumped it up from the 350/1000 stock to 355/1010. I then restarted and ran 3DMark2001SE, 3DMark03, and 3DMark05. Everything was well, all of the benchmark scores increased, so I moved on. Next I bumped it up to 360/1020 and ran the same 3 benchmarks programs and all was. I continued this until I got up to 375/1050 and ran the benchmarks. There was no artifacting, but the benchmark scores actually went DOWN from the previous scores at 370/1040. I really don't know what is going on. Can anyone help?

 

[Nubius]

sounds like end user error

 

[SamLee0519]

I think it's just one of those "within the margin of error." First, tell me, how much did you score go down by?

 

[PizzatheHut06]

At 365/1030 the scores were as follows.

-3DMark2001SEÂ…22,881
-3DMark03Â…11,721
-3DMark05Â…5,059

And then at 375/1050 the scores went down by about 1500 points for 3DMark03 and 500 points for 3DMark05. I can't figure out what the problem is. Am I trying to overclock incorrectly?

 

[PP Mguire]

Benchmarks dont tell real in game performance so dont fret it much.

 

[idiotec]

Benchmarks dont tell real in game performance so dont fret it much.

Yeah, but it is still all relative, and the scores going down do indicate a problem, at least possibly...

What are max temps while running the bench marks?

 

[PizzatheHut06]

Yeah, but it is still all relative, and the scores going down do indicate a problem, at least possibly...

What are max temps while running the bench marks?

Hold on, let me run 3DMark2005 at stock speeds and I'll post here in about 10 minutes.

:::EDIT::: Alright I just ran the program. The idle temperature before the benchmark was 56 C, and the maximum temperature during the benchmark was 76 C with a score of 4879. What do y'all think?

 

[Thresh]

It sounds like you may need to increase your agp voltage if you haven't already. Once you cross the line of not having enough voltage, you card will "hiccup" or hang up for a second or two. Have you noticed it doing this during the tests?

 

[PizzatheHut06]

It sounds like you may need to increase your agp voltage if you haven't already. Once you cross the line of not having enough voltage, you card will "hiccup" or hang up for a second or two. Have you noticed it doing this during the tests?

I haven't noticed it hiccuping or anything during the tests. I'm a little worried about increasing the AGP voltage though. I don't want to damage the card. Do most people normally have to increase the AGP voltage when OC'ing?

 

[Thresh]

Yeah but 370mhz'ish I don't think you should. But increasing the voltage by .1 won't bother it at all. If your worried about it, and you have coolbits, actually I think normal Nvidia drivers have it, but if you go into where you OC your card you can just click temperature settings and do a quick stress test on say CS:Source since it comes with one, and look at the temp after it. Then go play some games and keep minmizing checking your temp.