poor overclock on Gigabyte 585OC compared to others with this card

[Ekar]

Hi

I recently bought a Gigabyte 585OC and have enjoyed the speed increase over my previous card. Though, before buying the card, I had seen reviews where people said they were able to get a good overclock on this card, roughly around 925Mhz on the GPU and 1200Mhz on the memory, with little trouble.

I bought this card then on the potential overclocking benefits, but thus far have not had much luck with things.

Originally, I found it very difficult to push even beyond a 20Mhz on the GPU before a system reboot. I questioned this on the Guru3D forum- my story so far with this card can be found at

http://forums.guru3d.com/showthread.php?p=3644137#post3644137


People there have advised me that my card was running too hot, that there was something wrong with the card. After switching drivers I found I could overclock the card somewhat, and after some effort I have ended with a fairly 'stable' overclock of 870/1100 (stable in the games I play, but not stable in standard tests such as Furmark, and not stable while watching video). Since even a reference 5850 is able to deliver overclocks over these speeds I am currently feeling disappointed and wondering whether there really is something not quite right with my card.

Overall, the advice I have received to date suggests that I return the card, as it is not 'normal' in comparison to others experience with this card.

My question to Gigabyte, is whether you guys feel I have a case in returning my card in exchange for another. I feel I have gotten unlucky with this particular card and I do not want to wait until summer hits (it is the middle of winter now) to find out whether I really do have a dud.

Seeking your advice,

Ekar

[Dark Mantis]

Personally I would be inclined to RMA the card as it isn't performing as expected. I know it is a rather grey area but I feel that is how it is marketed and is not as good as you were led to believe.

[Ekar]

thanks Dark Mantis-

i agree it's a grey area. Regarding temperature under load, there is a review of this card over at 

http://www.hardocp.com/article/2010/06/01/gigabyte_r585oc_video_card_review/7

which posts temperatures within the range I'm getting for this card. They were disappointed with these temps as the advertising cliamed upto 27% cooler. Well, that's just advertising (I would imagine that 2 fans would definitely help over the stock cooler) but I keep hearing from others with this same card that they are indeed getting much lower temperatures and that the review card must have been faulty. Therefore I'm coming to a conclusion that my card is also faulty.

I would like to confirm whether or not this is the case.

Cheers,
Ekar

[Dark Mantis]

It's going to be a hard thing to "prove". As with anything like this for every one that says one thing there will be another that says the opposite. I can only recommend that you build up a case to support your view that this card is faulty.

[absic]

Have you asked Gigabyte Tech Support what they consider to be normal operating temps?