Hey,
I am overclocking my Mercury FX5200. I know, I know it's not a great card to begin with but it's the best I can afford. It doesn't seem to have a temperature probe on it so I am simply touching the back of the card where the GPU would be. I am wondering if there is a better spot to check the temperature without removing the heatsink/fan. Also, how warm or hot should it feel? I think mine is ok but I just want to be sure.

Thanks

Not sure on exact temps for your card, but I attached my probe ( on my 9800) right to the side of the GPU ( touching HS at the GPU-die seam too) it works excellent. Your card should feel warm to the touch. GL on finding spec temps tho.. Try looking for nVidia spec PDF maybe, but you'll need a probe for it to be worthwhile. I have the same card ( 5200 non-ultra) I never really worried cause of the fact that its a 5200fx tho. Furthermore, my 5200 ( aswell as all others) sucked at OC'ing, sure, I could get a sweet 100MHz ( or more) boost on the core ( or was it mem?.. can't remember) but cooler temps did me nil. I was unable to get any higher stable clocks from upgrading the cooling. You CAN get a geforce 5200 to beat a 9800Pro senseless with some amazing modifications, but I cannot explain that in my own words..

Thanks for o response and tips.
When you overclocked your 5200, did you use stock cooling? If so, what kind of heat sink (copper, alminum, etc...) and did it have a fan? One more question; did you have some ram sinks on your video card's memory?