Can I overclock my r9 380?

Max C

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Nov 14, 2015
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Hey there,

I've got the Sapphire r9 380 4gb Nitro and I'd like to overclock it a bit, so I get a couple more fps.

My pc specs are:
i5 4460
Sapphire r9 380 4gb Nitro
XFX 550w
Asrock h97 Pro 4

My stock temps:
GPU: idle = 40-45 degrees, gaming = around 75 degrees

Thanks is advance,
Max

 
Nov 21, 2015
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Have you OC'd your CPU at all? That'll help squeeze out some extra perfromance.

You can definitely OC your GPU, but you need to make sure your case has good airflow and good cable management so it's not constantly surrounded by hot, stagnant air.

I'd also consider investing in a better PSU (not that XFX is bad by any means, you may be pushing the limit with only 550W), because the R9 380 is an energy hog out of the box.

EDIT: Sorry, totally misread your CPU. Non-OCable. Sorry for the mix up.
 
Aug 11, 2015
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Sorry, but you cannot overclock an i5 4460, it is not unlocked. If your temps are ok and you have resonable airflow, I personally feal it is a must to overclock a gpu, I mean, it's free fps (well, free-ish, higher electricity bill by about 1 thousandth of a cent). Anyway, just download msi afterburner or whatever OC software you want and run A LONG benchmark, so a few hours, just to get a look at temps, power usage, fan speed, performance and all that stuff. Just make sure you make it monitor everything you want. Afterwords, if you still think it's viable (no real reason I can see right now that it wouldn't be, but you never know), just slowly increase the Ghz without increasing the voltage, that way you aren't really drawing much more power and are risking NOTHING. Of course, only increase WITHIN REASON, so very small increments, and when it crashes, go back to the last stable settings. If you want, increase th voltage slightly after this procedure and then repeat, until you reach the thermal limit of your card. I reckon you will be ok with 550W, but don't go crazy, always check temps, power usage and all that. Also make sure you are confortable with the noise, because no one wants to sit next to a jet engine all day.
Do not worry about damaging the card, as long as you have good airflow, the card will cool itself, and if you increase it too much and it gets too hot, then it will only slow down the clock speed (thermal throttle) to male sure it doesn't overheat, if that happens, just stop the benchmark and lower the settings.
Anyway, hope this helps, and good luck
 
Nov 21, 2015
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Totally overlooked that. I thought I read K there. My bad.

Actually, you can slightly "overclock" non K processors, but only by about 200-300 mhz. It's not really OCing, but it can be done.
 
Aug 11, 2015
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Yeah, it becomes super unstable after about 200 though, so it's really not worth it. You need to be really lucky to get 300. I would just leave it and not run the risk of it crashing unexpectedly. It will not boost in game fps by any noticeable amount (maybe 0.5 fps, on certain cpu intensive games), but really nobody does it because it's just a lot of hassle for next to no benefit. I will be doing this to my new i3 4170 in hopes of reaching 4Ghz, but that is just a dream really. In short, you can, but unless your interested in it, don't, it's just a lot of work.
 
Nov 21, 2015
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Exactly, it found it's just better off leaving non K Intels at stock, and allow them to do their thing with their turbo boost. Like you said, just isnt worth the minimal gain, and they really aren't designed for it in the first place.
 
Nov 21, 2015
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No, I don't think so. I like MSI Afterburner for the OC, and then just I'd recommend running something like Valley Engine to test the OC in the short term to make sure there aren't any artifacts...and then run something like FurMark or similar for a while for long term stability.

Also, like you said, YouTube videos are an invaluable resource for overclocking. There's plenty of reputable people that give good advice on their videos.