Ati Radeon 9700 OC tweak

[jolle]

I dont have one myself but i saw this issue before in a review, and the support said it was a flawed card.
But today i spotted the same thing, and it could either be a way for ATi to save some power til the NV30 release or error in manufacturing.
Seems like the ridge the heatspreader for the GPU is resting on is higher than the GPU itself.. so the spreader doesnt come in contact with the GPU..
If the ridge is made lower you can OC the card quite a lot..

http://www.warp2search.net/article.php?sid=8411&mode=thread&order=0

up to around 400mhz they say.

quoted:
"new ATI Radeon 9700 Pro cards have an interesting feature: those who tried to overclock them might have noticed a gap between GPU and heatsink "

[pga1234]

Hmmm I may look into that. I'll probably change the HSF in the future.... :devil:

[jolle]

Cool.. if this issue isnt isolated to only a few missmanufactured cards you could gain alot on it..
Go do it now goddamit and tell me how it went.
:thumb:

[pga1234]

lol, I looked at my card and I really didnt see a gap. But I will still be putting a aftermarket HSF on it. But im not doing it right away, modding a $300+ card is daunting :p.

[jolle]

you have to remove the heatspreader to se it..

there is like a ridge that it rests on around the GPU..
try putting a ruler or something on that ridge and se if its higher than the GPU
look at this..

http://www.ixbt.com/short/2k2-11/r300zazor.jpg

Now they used a match.. seems pretty dumb since its not that straight, but you still se the gap


It might just be a case of missmanufactured cards then...