GPU overclock - which is better, raising power limit or voltage

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gr8mohawk

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Dec 21, 2012
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So i Have a sapphire 7850 OC edition.
I currently have it stable at 1100mhz core however I had to increase my voltage from 1.138 to 1.16v

I notice on Sapphire Trixx (OC software) I have the option of VDDC and Board Power Limit. I have researched this and come to understand it is something to do with TDP/curent/watts. I don't know, I could never wrap my head around volts, watts, amps etc.

My question is, do I need to keep my increased voltage or should I increase my Board power limit instead to achieve stability? Should I use a combination?

 
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chadbry

chadbry

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Jan 28, 2012
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If you can achieve your OC with bumping the power limit thats great id kill the voltage. all it does is let your card draw more power than advertised. Overvolting is pretty much the only way to wreck your video card sp be careful and play hard.
 
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hdeezie80

hdeezie80

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Jul 18, 2012
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Upping the voltage can be helpful as long as your temps are in check, though its a lot less usefull while aircooling setting voltage to max can be helpful when cooling on water for pushing another 20 core clock find your max at stock voltage first before you increase it any.

any ways i'll try to explain what watts volts and amps actually mean

watts = voltage x amperage

where watts is total power -> voltage is potential difference (electrical tension) or the potential to be able to draw current -> and amperage is the measure of actual current so increasing voltage increases the potential amount of power a gpu can draw
Determining wattage can be helpful when planning a water loop or figuring your power needs, you need a multimeter to measure accurately

To overclock I usually by setting the clock speed initially to an offset of 100, power limit at its max then run 3d mark 11 once, if it makes it all the way through your are ok to if it can do that your good to increase by 25 benchmarking after every adjustment, otherwise you'll want to clock down by 25 if you crash then you've found your max stable clock speed set it back by 25 and start overclocking memory same thing applies to memory except that I usually start with 200 or 250 and if it's stable I just leave it there that's your max OC, use this one for benchmarking or starting a new game, etc.

Keep in mind that since you are overclocking through software an overclock that is stable for one game may not be for the next so its good to have a few profiles saved that will work for these situations, I personally have my max maybe 50% stable, one that will work on 99% of all games with out issues about %50 of max, then a slight boost for really picky applications 15% of max if you can
 
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