How To Overclock the NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Series (and other NVIDIA cards)

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For this project I have selected the FOXCONN NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS as my test subject, which I reviewed back in November 2006. It should be noted that the older GeForce 6 and 7 generation video cards may also be overclocked using the same methods discussed here in this article.



Overclocking can take on many forms, and the practice can range from minor product improvements to a re-engineering project which completely alters the product. In this article, I will concentrate my efforts to achieving the most gain with the least amount of effort.

Some industry voices have called overclocking a hobby, while others have compared it to product misuse. However, I believe that if you are reading this article, you are probably one of the many computer enthusiasts who believe it is perfectly acceptable to get something more out of a product without it costing more money. When I think about it, everyone enjoys getting something for nothing; it's human nature.

Additionally, it is human nature to blame someone else if something goes wrong. This is where I warn you, the reader of this article, that neither I nor benchmarkreviews.com recommend that you overclock your video card. This article explains how I conducted these experiments on my own property. Benchmarkreviews.com and the author of this article will not be responsible for damages or injury resulting from experiments you choose to conduct on your own property. If you read beyond this point, you are accepting responsibility for your own actions and hold Olin Coles and the staff of benchmarkreviews.com harmless.

For this project I have selected the FOXCONN NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS as my test subject, which I reviewed back in November 2006. It should be noted that the older GeForce 6 and 7 generation video cards may also be overclocked using the same methods discussed here.

Presently, the 640MB version of the GeForce 8800 GTS is the second-best video card available on the market. Gamers and computer enthusiasts alike have already speculated on how the GTS could be made to perform to the same level as the GeForce 8800 GTX with some tweaking. Unfortunately, this just isn't possible. What is possible though is taking a great product and making it even better; and do it all for free.

Learn how: BenchmarkReviews