How Overclockable are video cards?

[Nagasama]

my first basic overclock i have it at 785/950(i think) from 750/900 and it gains 4-500 points in 3dmark.
FPS gain in games....maybe 5-10? i dunno, it runs so good and looks so pretty i dont even think about it.

 

[Uniqueuponhim]

Was that with the 8800gts in your sig?

Also, I remember reading somewhere that overclocking video cards causes them to die much more quickly (as opposed to OCing a processor which doesn't have as much of an effect on lifetime unless it's done excessively). Is that true? Or is it simply why you overclocked it by so little?

 

[norcrawler]

The 4850's overclock great if you have good cooling. With water cooling gurusan has overclocked his 4850 high enough to beat a gtx280.

wow,thats pretty impressive

 

[dario03]

Well note the review I read was with a stock cooler. I don't recall which brand though and I'm not sure how much the fan was adjusted.

 

[Nagasama]

Was that with the 8800gts in your sig?

Also, I remember reading somewhere that overclocking video cards causes them to die much more quickly (as opposed to OCing a processor which doesn't have as much of an effect on lifetime unless it's done excessively). Is that true? Or is it simply why you overclocked it by so little?

no it is the 4870 in my sig. i just got it day before yesterday lol thats why i haven't tortured it yet.
that, and i dont see the need to overclock it to the gills ATM...i will probably for benchmarks, but usually i dont run cards overclocked by much, if at all. i ran my gts at stock unless i was benchmarking.
i dont know about shortening their lifespan. i've never kept one long enough for it to die of old age

 

[veg1992]

You can't guess an overclock FPS gain, as each game is different, its more of a percentage increase and its never definite