Leadtek WinFast GeForce 2 GTS

Overclocking

Why does the oversized heatsink make no difference in card performance when overclocked? Well, as discussed in-depth in our Overclocking the GeForce 2 GTS guide, there are two main limiting factors when it comes to overclocking. The first problem, and the only one that can be alleviated during card manufacture, is heat. When any processor is overclocked it produces more heat than normal due to the extra work being done. By implementing an efficient cooling method, such as an overly large heatsink, companies are able to cut down on the internal temperature of the core by transferring heat to the surrounding air via a heatsink. By decreasing this internal temperature, the core is able to operate at higher speeds because it is able to go at faster speeds before the critical temperature is reached, a point where vital electronic components of the chip begin to fail. However, we all know that cooling a chip down to well below freezing does not result in infinite clock speeds. Therefore, there must be some other factor in overclocking.

This other factor comes with chip quality, which is actuality a function of transistor conductivity. Since transistor conductivity varies from chip to chip, each batch of GeForce 2 GTS chips produces chips of varying quality. The result of this is that each GeForce 2 GTS chip will respond to overclocking differently. The lowest "quality" chips will not make it much over the rated speed of 200 MHz. Other chips, those of "higher" quality, may make it as high as 245 MHz. The problem is that neither the card manufacturer nor the card consumer can know which chips are of "highest" quality. Therefore, overclocking results vary.

Since the core temperatures of the GeForce 2 GTS are so much lower than those of the GeForce 256, we found in our Overclocking guide that heat is not the limiting factor in GeForce 2 GTS overclockablity. What this means is that rather than a card being able to overclock better or worse depending on its cooling method, almost all GeForce 2 GTS based cards will overclock almost identically no matter what type of heatsink and fan they use. Because heat is not an issue for the GeForce 2 GTS, the overly large heatsink does nothing more than add production cost and attract ill-informed consumers. This is shown by the card's ability to overclock to a 232 MHz core, right in the range that we have been able to overclock other GeForce 2 GTS based cards, regardless of cooling method. The one and only factor that effects overclockability in the GeForce 2 GTS is chip quality.

This same principal holds true for the RAM. RAM has never really had a problem with heat, thus overclockability is a function of chip quality. As stated in The Card section, the quality of Infineon SGRAM chips has dramatically improved from the quality seen in pre-GeForce 2 GTS cards. Every GeForce 2 GTS card we have tested has been able to reach a memory speed of at least 360 MHz and the Leadtek WinFast GeForce 2 GTS was no exception, as the card was able to reach a maximum memory speed of 365 MHz when both the core and the memory were overclocked.