Does a factory overclock make sense?

[Nuram0n]

Hello, LinusTechCommunity!

I have been playing around with the idea of building my next PC myself.
As I am new to this forum and the PC enthusiast community in general, there are still a few things I could use some advice on.

 

My question now is: Does a factory overclock make sense if I would overclock the graphicscard manually anyway?
For example: EVGA's 780 cards come in either stock configuration or in their "superclocked" versions.
I figure, since both variants, non-SC and SC, use the same amount of PCIE connectors and have the same recommended amount of watts, the factory overclock would not effect any manual overclock.
In other words, I would be able to overclock both cards to the exact same clock speeds, regardless of how "superclocked" one of them is.

Are my assumptions right, or would i benefit from a factory overclock regardless?

 

Thanks in advance for every reply!

[Archangel1994]

As for as I know the SC cards tend to have the slightly higher quality chips thus making a factory OC WITHOUT sacrificing temperatures possible.

[Cokeman]

I would always recommend the supercloked cards

[Freaky_spider]

yes, it means the card is higher binned

[brownninja97]

better bins normally as there is the guarantee that the clock can be achieved.

[Nuram0n]

So assuming i push both cards equally, the SC one would be more stable and reliable then?

[Freaky_spider]

So assuming i push both cards equally, the SC one would be more stable and reliable then?

chances of it being more stable and reliable are higher

 

silicon is weird sometimes

[Izaya Orihara]

As for as I know the SC cards tend to have the slightly higher quality chips thus making a factory OC WITHOUT sacrificing temperatures possible.

 

I would always recommend the supercloked cards

 

yes, it means the card is higher binned

 

better bins normally as there is the guarantee that the clock can be achieved.

 

So assuming i push both cards equally, the SC one would be more stable and reliable then?

INCORRECT MUCH. There is absolutly no binning going on with SC cards. The only thing you get is the guarantee that you'll be able to get those clock speeds. I have never ever seen a 780 that can't do 1GHz.

[SlaughterSmurf]

Hello, LinusTechCommunity!

I have been playing around with the idea of building my next PC myself.

As I am new to this forum and the PC enthusiast community in general, there are still a few things I could use some advice on.

 

My question now is: Does a factory overclock make sense if I would overclock the graphicscard manually anyway?

For example: EVGA's 780 cards come in either stock configuration or in their "superclocked" versions.

I figure, since both variants, non-SC and SC, use the same amount of PCIE connectors and have the same recommended amount of watts, the factory overclock would not effect any manual overclock.

In other words, I would be able to overclock both cards to the exact same clock speeds, regardless of how "superclocked" one of them is.

Are my assumptions right, or would i benefit from a factory overclock regardless?

 

Thanks in advance for every reply!

They are higher binned, so when already overclocked by a decent amoyut they still run at the same temps and power usage as a normal card would at stock allowing for greater overclocks over the average card. This is not guarenteed though, reference cards USUALLY lose. But every once in a while there is a lucky reference and an unlucky factory OC card.

[Freaky_spider]

INCORRECT MUCH. There is absolutly no binning going on with SC cards. The only thing you get is the guarantee that you'll be able to get those clock speeds. I have never ever seen a 780 that can't do 1GHz.

thank you very much for giving us the definition of binning in your own argument

 

EDIT:

 

wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_binning

[Izaya Orihara]

thank you very much for giving us the definition of binning in your own argument

 

EDIT:

 

wiki link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Product_binning

Dude . Look at the next sentence.

[Freaky_spider]

Dude . Look at the next sentence.

what does that have to do with binning?

[Faceman]

I first had an MSI GTX 770 Lightning it was factory overclocked and is built for overclocking. My Lightning was unstable at the factory overclock.  I ended up returning it and upgrading to an EVGA GTX 780 SC.

 

Now, my EVGA GTX 780 SC does not overclock worth a damn, AT ALL.  My ASIC score is a measly 63.1% and no matter how much voltage I add, I cannot get anything stable above 1110Mhz on the core, good for a +50Mhz over the factory OC.  This is not to be expected of all 780s, but I wanted to mention it.  My temperatures are great, I never hit 70C.  One thing about the ACX Cooler though, if you intend to use an AIO radiator as an exhaust at the top of your case, the heat from the GPU will cause your CPU to increase in temperature.  The ACX Cooler's design works incredibly well, but it does so by blowing air out and around the inside of your case, instead of out the back like reference cards do.  Just something to consider.

[worldwin]

http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/linustechtips-q/46848-what-do-sc-ssc-ftw-suffixes-mean-evga-video-cards.html
From Linus himself.
"Basically that just refers to the clock speeds that EVGA sets on the card. Often EVGA has 3-5 different speed bins (more on the "binning" process in a minute) for each GPU. For example the GTX 580 GPU has the following bins:

Standard (NVIDIA reference clocks)
SC or "superclocked" (usually just a little bit overclocked)
SSC or "super super clocked" (quite overclocked)
FTW or "for the win" (maximum overclock. Usually among the highest available in the market)
Classified (always highest overclocks available, always something custom about the product like exclusive design, custom PCB or cooler)

Here's my video about the binning process which should help explain how EVGA does this:

Binning Process Explanation (NCIX Tech Tips #72) - YouTube"

[FakezZ]

Well, factory overclocked cards tend to be a bit higher binned, meaning your manual overclock could be higher. However, that is not always the case. And also the stock card you may buy could be higher binned and achieve pretty good numbers...

[flibberdipper]

Factory OCd cards tend to have better chips. Like EVGA's K|NGP|N 780Ti. That's probably the best 780Ti chip you can get on the market.

[Gamerjoe]

If there isn't to much of a price difference go with the factory overclocked card. Not worth paying to much more, it gives you a slightly higher chance of getting a higher overclock but there are no guarantees in the silicone lottery.

[VSG]

The SC definitely isn't binned. Any reference card can be flashed with the SC bios. That's what the extra money is for- BIOS preflashed.