NVIDIA TNT2 Roundup (July 99)

Overclocking the actual TNT2 itself is a bit trickier than the memory.  While memory remains fairly constant in how high it will go, the overclockability of your particular TNT2 chip depends on two factors, cooling and yield.  With the hottest overclocked TNT2s barely reaching above 140 degrees Fahrenheit cooling is generally not the problem however it is an important factor to keep in mind.  Of the seven boards AnandTech took a look at, only two of them used an ideal amount of thermal compound between the heatsink and the TNT2 chip.  Those two boards were both Hercules manufactured, and both overclocked the highest out of the roundup.

Creative Labs, Diamond, Guillemot, and Leadtek all used a similar type of thermal glue, however either entirely too much or too little was applied and did not aid in the cooling process as well as Hercules' solution.  Gigabyte, representative of the OEM TNT2 market, failed to use any sort of thermal adhesive between the heatsink and the TNT2, however the back of the GA-660 featured a low profile heatsink designed to dissipate heat more effectively.

The more important factor to take into consideration is unfortunately one that you cannot control, the yield of your particular TNT2 chip.  The fact of the matter is that some TNT2s will overclock to levels beyond belief, while others will barely hit a 1 or 2MHz overclock.  If you want to play it safe, pick up a board that ships guaranteed at an overclocked speed such as the Hercules boards.  Leadtek ships their boards at NVIDIA's rated speed however they also guarantee their boards at an overclocked speed as well.  Other than those two companies, you'll be without any sort of overclocking guarantee with the rest of the bunch, not necessarily a bad thing, but not a good thing either. 

Just for the sake of comparison, AnandTech's success rate for the test cards was as follows (keep in mind that these are only for reference and your actual out of box experience may vary):