Need information on overclocking possibilities for my graphics card?

Question

I have the following graphics card.

EVGA E-GEFORCE 8600GT 540MHZ 256MB 1.4GHZ GDDR3 PCI-E Dual DVI-I HDTV Out DIRECTX10 Video Card


1. I am wondering if I can over clock it to a GTX type or fine tune it for better performace. If so which software can I use which will easily do it for me without having to go threw the hassile of manually overclocking it. I am also wondering if it is pre factory overclocked I think some models are but this one dosent seem like.

2. I had installed the card into my HP desktop and it did not seem at that point that it needed a power source invidually (just that PCI-E slot) and having read about some cards requiring power to them I am wondering if this model needs external power as well incase I have missed on that aspect.

Thanks

Answer 1

This is how far most 8600GT can go:
http://www.vr-zone.com/?i=4925
Cooling is very important.

8600GT consumes less than 40 watts. PCIe slot is rated at 75 watts max. My factory overclocked 8600GT does not have a PCIe power connector.

Answer 2

Only high end cards require an external power cable, and the 8600gt is midrange. Use rivatuner or atitool, they are the best. You will not come anywhere close to an 8800gtx lol, but you should be able to get the core up to 650 and the memory to 1700. I wouldn't go higher than that.

Answer 3

I use RivaTuner. But be careful on not over doing it.