Finding out a card has been overclocked in the past.

Hello everyone! Its my first post here, I've been a reader for a year or so, but haven't really had the motivation to register on the forums and read until after I read about when Alienware tried to buy a good review.

Anyways my first hardware question is how can I tell if a used VGA card I'm about to buy has been over-clocked by its previous owner. The guy is someone I work with, and I know hes a real tech enthusiast. I suspect he pushes his hardware to the breaking point.

Thanks in advance!

Edit: The card is a XFX 7600gs agp.

I dont think it is possible to tell whether the card has been overclocked. or to tell the frequencies at what it was overclocked too. The card does not register any data to this effect.

However I can only presume that if you wanted to take off the heatsink you could tell whether he has overclocked it a lot or not. If it is a standard heatsink and it doesnt look like it has been removed then it is unlikely that it would have been overclocked past breaking point. You could also check to see whether he has used new IHS as that is an indication to overclocking.

If the card is still working, then you shouldn't have too much to worry about.

Ian

Have you asked him if it has been overclocked? Or would he lie to you?

I wouldn't buy from someone I couldn't trust to tell the truth. If you think he's honest ask him. If not buy else where.

You can not tell. End of :)

Thank you all for the quick response!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by muddyfox470

You could also check to see whether he has used new IHS as that is an indication to overclocking.
Ian

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What is an IHS? Hes selling it to me for 60 bucks, which is a pretty good deal considering it cost 130 at newegg, I think I'll go ahead and buy it but make him agree to take it back in the event I find that it has been modified. Or possibly if the graphics have artifacts and what not.

You can't tell if a video card has been overclocked easily unless there's a different hsf on it, and overclocking doesnt damage video cards too often.
If it was an older video card like a 6800GT or an Ati 9700/9800 pro or something, that are quite often bound to be overclocked by their owners, then yeah, performance does deteriorate on things like that, I've seen several 9700 series cards 'deteriorate' over time :(

However you dont have to worry about him overclocking it at all since it's a very new card, that, and it's not particularly overclockable BUT at that price it's a great deal and I wouldnt worry about what had been done to it in your situation.
Getting him to take it back if it doesnt work is quite reasonable though, but it's unlikely that it would be due to any modifications if it was broken.

People dont just put noew HSF's on cards to overclock, some people like silence :) or water cooling...

Yeah no real 100% way to see if it has been overclocked.. (unless its blown up)
As long as uve seen it working and got a good friendship, and are pretty sure he will take it back if it goes due to previous overclocking then its a steal!