Skinnee Labs - GTX480 Block Round-Up (working thread)

[gabe]

That's always something I never really felt like I understood very well. I always wondered what margin of temperature difference is really significant in terms of overclock stablity if overclocking is the bottom line goal. Is it 1C, 5C, 10?

Is it different for CPU vs GPU? I always assumed it was more critical for the CPU based on my very limted hardware experience. Most of our testing is all temperature based, so I'm not sure its very well understood.?? Or at least I don't know..

There is a very simple rule of thumb to quantify the overclocking potential of any silicon:

For every 10C drop in temperature, the operating frequency can gain approximately 1.5 to 2% (without changing the voltage). If the frequency is not increased, then the life of the silicon doubles. I have verified the frequency aspect of this rule in CPU's over and over again, and it is still true.

For example, if you CPU reaches 4Ghz on air at say 90C, and if you drop your temps down to say 50C, you should be able to OC approximately another 6 to 8% (4.2 to 4.3Ghz) without raising the voltage.

Note: when I say "reaches 4Ghz", I mean stable frequency..