Overclocking sli msi gtx 970's Guide Needed

MadMorigan

Reputable
Nov 24, 2014
162
0
4,710
Hello guys,

I have recently upgraded to a second gtx 970 and quickly realized that not even those two were enough for witcher 3 @4k DSR. I was wondering if there were any guides or something that would allow me to safely overclock my gpu's? I'm still a noob to overclocking components so I have used OC genie for overclocking my 4690k to 4.2ghz and use afterburner profiles to overclock my gpu's. However, finding a stable overclock for the witcher 3 has proved elusive (see some kind of artifacts during cutscenes only). I cannot go back to 1440p after seeing that game at glorious 4k resolutions.

My current ABurner settings are:
mv : 20
Power: 110
Coreclock: +155
Memclock: +265

These settings result in 2-5 fps gains but no artifacts whatsoever. I do notice that the coreclock is maxed and increasing it +10 or more result in artifacts.

I make no compromises at settings, everything is maxed out (including hair) and use Cinefx preset (amazing sweetfx!!!!) and get around ~40fps for witcher 3.

My gear if it matters:
4690k
212 Evo Cooler
msi gd-65 mobo
16gb g.skill
2 x gtx 970 msi gaming SLI
HX750 psu
120mm fans everywhere
Antec 1100 V2 Case
1440p display but use 4k DSR when possible

To summarize: I wanna know what I am doing right/wrong to improve fps and if there are any guides to walk me through overclocking these components. I can' find any for my mobo (that's why I use oc genie) and none for sli 970's.

Thanks and I look forward to hearing you guys out!
 
Solution
No problem and to make it easier you probably just want to install 1 card at the time in your pc and only when you have both oc'd and stable (save individual oc profiles in afterburner) then install both. Maybe just observe a temperatures one you got both in as it probably will increase slightly(just to be extra safe).

Alwo I eon't knwo how your cards are installed and how much free space between both but something to look after are vram chips located at the back of pcb those are not cooled by the stock cooler so might be worth getting some air in between both cards to make sure vrams got cooled a bit.

kwa-e

Admirable
Try turning hair off, poorly optimized for that game.

Personally think it's somewhat pointless to use in game, unless complimenting wolves on their shampoo choice while being completely mauled is your kind of thing.
 

mp5mafia

Reputable
Apr 1, 2015
312
0
4,860
You can try dropping vram clock down a bit and then trying to bump core a bit but you probably close to your stable limit anyway. I would probably oc each card individually, test for stability first and then sli? When I had my 970 on stock cooler the highest stable was 1571MHz on core and 7466MHz on vram.
I ended up doing this

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/id-2655533/gtx-970-ghetto-watercoooled-backplate-bios.html

And now my 24/7 setup is
http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/details.php?id=byhyu
 

mp5mafia

Reputable
Apr 1, 2015
312
0
4,860
Yes, I'm not on my pc at the mo but as far as I remember when you go to settings in afterburner in 'general' tab there should be an option to not synchronize same settings for similar cards and you should be ok to apply different profiles on each card. I'm not like 100% sure coz I never worked with sli in afterburner but that's how I understand it should work. That way you can optimize each card for best results
 

mp5mafia

Reputable
Apr 1, 2015
312
0
4,860
No problem and to make it easier you probably just want to install 1 card at the time in your pc and only when you have both oc'd and stable (save individual oc profiles in afterburner) then install both. Maybe just observe a temperatures one you got both in as it probably will increase slightly(just to be extra safe).

Alwo I eon't knwo how your cards are installed and how much free space between both but something to look after are vram chips located at the back of pcb those are not cooled by the stock cooler so might be worth getting some air in between both cards to make sure vrams got cooled a bit.
 
Solution