GPU Overclock questions

[Subatomic]

Okay... I want to overclock my video card. I have ATI Tray Tools and I want to know how well the Artifact Tester works, and how to use it. If there are no artifacts found after 3 seconds, is that bad? By what increment should I increase the MHZ each time? Please try to be descriptive. Basically I have no idea what I am doing... I have read all of the threads but I just want to know how this particular tool works. Kthx!!1bye

Edit - Do I just leave the artifact tester running and let it max out on it's own? How accurate is this test?

 

[Subatomic]

Okay... fooled around with it and I went from
412/730 Radeon 9800XT
to
455/779

Is this too much? fine?
I have only standard heating, dell case...

 

[Ti133700N]

First, search with google to find people who overclocked their Radeon 9800XT and see the Clock / Memory speed they got. You'll have a better idea of how much you can overclock it but keep in mind that those guys probably use better cooling, better fans, better cases so don't put your clock setting to those on one shot Download 3dMark2003. Start it, it will last about 10 minutes. Look at the score. Write it down if you wish. Up the core speed of your GPU by about 4-5 and Memory by 5-10. Run 3dMark again. If you don't see white spots or wierd things on the screen, up the speeds again and run 3dmark. Repeat those steps until it becomes unstable, downclock it a bit (3-4 units). Play some games to see if it doesn't crash or if there are wierd artifacts. If everything is alright, you should have gained some 3dmark points Run the test for the last time and compare the result with the first time.