overclocking graphics card

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Shektron


Once you've opened the app, you'll see a few sliders. First of all, move the Power limit to the extreme right, maxing it out. Then, you need to start dialling in a Core Clock higher than the one that's already there. Start with around a 20 MHz increase. For stress test, you can use the Heaven Benchmark, it stresses the GPU fairly. Once your overclock is stable, you can continue to...
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Usman Anwar

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can u guide me how to use MSI afterburner ?
i tried but its a little confusing
i can't seem to stress test the settings before applying !
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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Once you've opened the app, you'll see a few sliders. First of all, move the Power limit to the extreme right, maxing it out. Then, you need to start dialling in a Core Clock higher than the one that's already there. Start with around a 20 MHz increase. For stress test, you can use the Heaven Benchmark, it stresses the GPU fairly. Once your overclock is stable, you can continue to increase it until the GPU becomes unstable. Then, dial back to the last known good setting. Do the same for the Memory Clock, stress testing every time. I wouldn't recommend touching voltages right now if you don't know how to overclock - play with just the Clocks until you get the hang of it. Leave the voltages for now, they're a bit more dangerous.
 
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Usman Anwar

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i read somewhere that there is a built-in option for stress test in MSI afterburner but its disabled.
shall i apply the settings then do the benchmarks !?
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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I've never heard of a stress test within Afterburner. I'd say stick to Heaven Valley fro stress testing. And yes, apply the settings and then run the tests. Otherwise you'd just be testing at stock settings :).
 
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Usman Anwar

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ok
is it necessary to run the stress test for 2 hours ?
& btw, can i use the Uningine Heaven benchmark tool for stress test ?
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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You can run the stress test for around 20 minutes - run it until everything doesn't level off - the clocks and the temperature. Usually 15-20 minutes is enough.

And yes, you can use Unigine for the stress test.
 
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Usman Anwar

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I did as u said
I increased the core clock by 123 & memory clock by 123.
Finally, the becnchmark is showing 67 degree centigrade temperature, with core clock of 1578 mhz & memory clock of 3628 mhz
So far its been stable.
Is it good ?
Or shall i overclock more ?
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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You can increase the base clock and memory clock differently - usually the memory clock goes higher than the core clock. If the temperatures are okay(67C under load is still pretty good), then you can increase the overclock further until the card becomes unstable. Again, try to increase the memory clock further.
 
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Usman Anwar

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one more thing.
when i play a game, 75 fps is the maximum i get with the resolution of 1440x900 at 75 hz; while in heaven benchmark, i get up to 80+ fps.
is the monitor limiting the performance, especially its refresh rate ?
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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Yes. In games, you might have Vsync turned on, which limited the FPS to the maximum supported by the monitor, while Heaven Valley probably has the framerates go unrestricted for a fair benchmark. A 75 Hz monitor can't display more than 75 FPS, so any frames above that is just dropped by the monitor. So technically it's not the monitor restricting performance - it's Vsync. If you turn Vsync off, you might get 80+ FPS in the game too. But that's actually a bad thing because with Vsync off, you might see some screen tearing due to the dropped frames. So it's best you keep Vsync on, especially if your GPU is able to put out 75 FPS without going below it.
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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A 970 wouldn't really be able to push 144 FPS in demanding games. If, however, you play less demanding games like League of Legends, CSGO, Overwatch, Dota 2, etc, then it will be absolutely worth it to get a 144 Hz monitor. However, you also need a powerful CPU for 144 Hz gaming - most likely a sixth or seventh gen overclockable Intel processor. If you do have that i5 4690K that you've listed, it will play a lot of games at 144 Hz, though not all. A 144 Hz monitor is also useful if you play multiplayer games competitively.

However, if you play highly demanding games, like Battlefield One, Assassins Creed Syndicate, GTA V, etc, then it's worth it to instead get a strong GPU and continue to play at 60 Hz or so. These are very demanding games, and to play them at high refresh rate, you'll need a very strong GPU. Also, usually these games don't have a highly competitive multiplayer(some do, some don't), so even at 60 Hz you're not really at much of a disadvantage.

It really depends on what you want to play, and whether you play casually or competitively. For casual gaming, a good GPU that can run games at 60 FPS at good settings is ideal. For competitive gaming, a high refresh rate monitor is more essential. If you could list the games that you play, and whether you're a competitive player or not, I can tell you what to choose based on that.
 
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Usman Anwar

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I play the AAA titles like GTA V, The Division, Tomb Raider etc.
I m using the Core i5 4690k on stock speed.
I do want a goid GPU, just not now. 'coz people are saying that the current generation of GPUs will become outdated next year, that's y i m waiting for Nvidia Volta & AMD Navi release.
So di u think i should buy the 144hz monitor or should i wait for both of them ?
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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For those games, frankly, 144 Hz is not essential - it'll be a better experience, no doubt, but you may not benefit much from it. Everything'll be smoother at 144 Hz, but that smoothness is really beneficial for playing competitively. When fighting against AI, 60 Hz is really enough. I think you should keep the 970 for now and wait for Volta for an upgrade. Wouldn't wait for Navi unless it comes before Volta, which is highly unlikely. a Volta equivalent of a GTX 1080 should be enough for 1080p Ultra gaming(thinking about the future here). If your budget isn't that high, a 1070 equivalent will probably do 1080p high settings just fine.

I wouldn't bother with 144 Hz for those games, unless 60 Hz looks choppy to you(which doesn't happen until you see what 144 Hz looks like). Wait for Volta, and buy the best card you can afford, and a good 60 Hz monitor to go with it, whatever resolution the card is capable of.

Edit: One more thing - know that that i5 will not very last in games either anymore - you'll need at least a 6-core CPU for future-proof gaming. I'm not telling you to upgrade right now - use the i5 for as long as possible, but just know that you'll be looking at a CPU upgrade within a year or so as well.
 
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Usman Anwar

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I know.
Sooner or later, i'll have to upgrade my whole PC.
Better start saving money.
I was thinking of buying the gtx 1070, but as i said b4, it will be outdated next year.
I've estimated that, I'll need at least a 1000$ to upgrade. The high cost is due to the GPU.
GPUs are very expensive in my country
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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If you're doing 1080p, a 1070 might not get outdated next year. It depends on what you call outdated - if a card is outdated according to you, when it can no longer play at high details, than GTX 1070 will last around a year at this point, while GTX 1060 will last lesser.

But if you want ultra settings, then a GTX 1070 might not last as long - ultra settings in some games is really demanding.

Yeah, $1000 is around the price of a good PC nowadays.
 
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Usman Anwar

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thats what i am saying. whats the point of spending 500USD on graphics card when u can't get the maximum out of it for like 2-3 years.
yeah. the other parts aren't that expensive; its the GPU that makes the whole upgrade a lot expensive.
i've calculated that i'll be able to buy all the parts in June or July 2018.
So, yeah, I'll have to wait a few months but i think it'll be worth waiting for an upgrade like this.
Intel Core i5 8600k
16 GB RAM
Nvidia VOLTA 8 GB GPU
a 200$ motherboard
by the way, is it really necessary to have 200$ motherboard for overclocking CPU or the less expensive motherboards (of 160$) are enough ?
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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If the motherboard supports overclocking, which is usually exclusive to the Z-series Intel motherboards, then the difference between one board and another is pretty minor. The only difference is that the higher-end boards have more advanced overclocking options, and very high-end ones also have better hardware suited for extreme overclocks, like better power delivery. However, unless you are a professional overclocker, these features really don't make much of a difference on the overclock you get. The $200 motherboards are really high-end, meant for extreme overclocks(or at least it's been so till now), and the lower ones still are able to overclock pretty well. If you aren't a professional, and just do basic overclocking, then a mid-range motherboard is all that you need.
 
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Shektron

Shektron

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I did some reading here and there, and apparently that board isn't very good for overclocking - the i5 4690K can barely be pushed to 4.2 GHz with that. Most people have recommended the ~$120 boards if you are serious about overclocking. I wouldn't disagree with them, either. If you want a good overclock, go with any of these:

Asus Z97-A, Gigabyte Z97X Gaming 5, ASRock Z97 Extreme4

Now, this does not mean that the Guard Pro won't let you overclock - it just means you may not be able to push the processor as high as it can go. Some reviews say that the Guard Pro is more meant for a stable system with a lot of graphics cards, a mining build typically, or a server.
 
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