Did I overclock my GPU correctly?

Aug 25, 2018
19
0
10
First of all sorry if this is the wrong section. Wasn't sure where else to post this.

I'll do my best to explain the steps I done in order.

Put 50% Fan Speed on MSI Afterburner to ensure I won't have any GPU temp problems.

Core Clock - Increased the core clock from 0 - +25% and opened Heaven Benchmark 4.0 and done a whole playthrough. After every successful benchmark playthrough I was increasing the core clock by +25 up until I hit a point where my PC/Driver would crash. My crashing point was +120 on the core clock so I immediately reduced the core clock back down to +110 then I done x2 benchmark playthroughs and everything seemed to be ok.

- I set the core clock back to 0% to start on the memory clock separately

Memory Clock - I started at +100 on the mem clock and after every successful playthrough on the benchmark I kept adding another +100. When I got to +600 I crashed, so I took away 50+ and crashed again. Took away +25s until I stopped crashing. Managed to get +500 on the memory clock with no crashes.

Core and Mem clock settings - https://gyazo.com/2ef27eaffb3f733ef1a3fc5128ebef9e

I then put my highest core and memory clock back into MSI Afterburner together and managed to do x3 benchmark playthroughs without any problems.
After benchmarking at default and overclocked these are the results, just wanted to check if this was normal and good?

Default - https://gyazo.com/dd77652368a6b5135b5a26d86d50c689

Overclock - https://gyazo.com/8fceacfe62257db5c8a3719e535c8ee4

Windows 10 Pro 64-bit
Intel Core i7 @ 4.00GHz
16.0GB
MSI Z170A GAMING M5 (MS-7977) (U3E1)
BenQ XL2411Z (1920x1080@144Hz)
2047MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (EVGA)
465GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO 500GB (SATA (SSD))
931GB Western Digital WDC WD1003FZEX-00MK2A0 (SATA )
EVGA Supernova 850w


My question now is should I take it to the next level and increase the core clock by +1 up until I crash to try and get the most out of my gpu or just leave it how it is?
Also how safe or reliable would it for me to run the benchmark with the stable clocks I got above and go AFK for a while (for example go and shower and leave benchmark running in a loop)


Sorry for the huge thread this is my first time actually putting in the time to overclock a GPU. Do you think I will notice a better performance if I keep the overclock?
 
Solution
It really depends on your experience and specific card. If you are confident, and have good temps under load, you could potentially try it.
However, if you are concerned, it really wont increase performance all that much if you want to leave it be.
The benchmarks really arent the best way to check for stability, go ahead and run something like MSI Kombustor for an extended period of time.
If it continues for a few minutes, go ahead and leave it be and see how it goes after 20+ minutes, and so on.
If its stable after that, add a little more and try again.
 
Aug 25, 2018
19
0
10


Damnit. Does this mean I need to start back at default 0% and try again on Kombustor? Or can I transfer the current clocks from heaven benchmark straight onto it. If so, if I crash which do I reduce first, core or mem?
 
If you think you are "stable", I would play the games you normally play for a few days at these settings. Benchmarks and GPU stress software aren't always the best indicators of stability. I've overclocked and been stable on 90% of my games and all my test software, but one or two games would crash.

If after doing the above you don't have any odd behavior (that includes weird artifacts) then you can try to squeeze more out of it. However you are at the point of diminishing returns. You could spend a lot of time tweaking to wring the last few MHz out of your GPU and VRAM and get next to nothing to show for it. Remember that you don't get a 1 - 1 improvement. In most cases a 10% increase in clockspeed (more so with GPU clock) will net somewhere between 5 - 7 % game dependent. Some games benefit from VRAM clockspeed increases, but most do not or the improvement is negligible.
 
Aug 25, 2018
19
0
10


Thank you. 1 more question, I should never touch core voltage right? heard bad things about that, potentially fry my GPU? What about adding the extra +10 on power limit?
 
It really depends on your experience and specific card. If you are confident, and have good temps under load, you could potentially try it.
However, if you are concerned, it really wont increase performance all that much if you want to leave it be.
 
Solution
Aug 25, 2018
19
0
10
D

Deleted member 217926

Guest
MERGED QUESTION
Question from samzon18 : "Predicament, OC or not?"