Hello everyone, I have a question about overclocking graphics\ cards. It's an ATI Radeon X1600 Pro. I have used the ATI overclocking utility and it overclocks it until it has errors, then brings it down a level so it's running at optimal speeds. I'm unsure if this will damage my card or not. Also, what is the temperature limit for running graphics cards at? I'm sure there's a temperature in which the card begins to cook and there will soon be a barbeque inside my PC.

Thanks in advance.

ATI tool has the option of showing the GPU temp in your tray, it is kinda hidden away in the options, it just needs to be enabled.

ATI Overdrive should also display the temps. I think both programs have the ability to log temperatures.

Speed fan may also be able to detect it, you can find a link to it in the "Ultimate Links" colleection at the bottom of my sig.

Here is a slightly older thread I found that may give you an idea of the general temperature range of your card:

This guy had a similar concern like yours!

Quote: I just got the X1600 Pro 512MB PCI-X version, and I get 60 degrees celsius for the GPU while idle with an open comp-case, which seems too high in my opinion. Like you, I have an Asus mobo and I wonder if this is related to the problem somehow as I have encountered a rumor about compatibility issues with Asus mobos running Sapphire graphics. I also have a prescott 3GHz (LGA). According to the ATITool the card's fan doesn't peak up much of a speed in relation to the registered temperatures. I did a 15 minutes test and barely got up to 52% while temperatures rose to 90 degrees for the GPU and above 60 ambient temp.

Sapphire Forums - X1600 Pro AGP 256m heat problem

ATI tool or Rivatuner has the ability to control your fan speeds, it can either set to a certain speed all the time, or adjust itelf dynamically based on temps.

Thanks a ton once again Necro.

Here is a good guide for setting up RivaTuner fan speeds :-)
RivaTuner -setting up fans