Myth: Overclocking always yields performance benefits
Setting a specific fan profile, and letting cards throttle until they reach stability, yields an interesting and repeatable test.

| Card | Ambient (°C) | Fan Setting | Fan RPM | dB(A) ±0.5 | GPU1 Clock | GPU2 Clock | Memory Clock | FPS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Radeon R9 290X | 30 | 41% | 2160 | 40.0 | 870-890 | n/a | 1250 | 55.5 |
| Radeon R9 290X Overclocked | 28 | 41% | 2160 | 40.0 | 831-895 | n/a | 1375 | 55.5 |
| GeForce GTX 690 | 42 | 61% | 2160 | 40.0 | 967-1006 | 1032 | 1503 | 73.1 |
| GeForce GTX 690 Overclocked | 43 | 61% | 2160 | 40.0 | 575-1150 | 1124 | 1801 | 71.6 |
| GeForce GTX Titan | 30 | 65% | 2780 | 40.0 | 915-941 | n/a | 1503 | 62 |
| GeForce GTX Titan Overclocked | 29 | 65% | 2780 | 40.0 | 980-1019 | n/a | 1801 | 68.3 |
Only the GeForce GTX Titan performs better when it's overclocked. The Radeon R9 290X gets absolutely no benefit, while the GeForce GTX 690 actually loses performance at our 40 dB(A) test point, cutting clock rate as low as 575 MHz when we overclock.
This test shows how much more performance headroom the Titan has compared to the other cards. Although it doesn't match the GeForce GTX 690, the overclocked Titan gets close, leaving the Radeon R9 290X further behind than more typical benchmarks might suggest.
Another interesting point is how much higher the ambient temperature gets with a GeForce GTX 690 in my case (12-14 °C). That's the effect of its center-mounted axial fan, which blows hot air back into the chassis, limiting thermal headroom. In most real-world cases, we'd expect a similar scenario. So, the trade-offs between more noise for more performance (or the other way around) need to be considered based on your own tastes.
Now, with V-sync, input lag, graphics memory, and benchmarking at a specific acoustic footprint explored in-depth, we'll get back to work on part two, which already includes exploring PCIe transfer rates, display sizes, deep-dives on proprietary vendor technologies, and value for your dollar. Of course, if there are other topics you'd like to see us broach, please let us know in the comments section!
- Performance That Matters: Going Beyond A Graphics Card's Lap Time
- Graphics Card Myth Busting: How We Tested
- To Enable Or Disable V-Sync: That Is The Question
- Do I Need To Worry About Input Lag?
- The Myths Surrounding Graphics Card Memory
- More Graphics Memory Measurements
- Thermal Management In A Modern Graphics Card
- Testing Performance At A Constant 40 dB(A)
- Can Overclocking Hurt Performance At 40 dB(A)?
DirectX DOES support TB by using DXGI_SWAP_CHAIN_DESC.BufferCount = 3; (or D3DPRESENT_PARAMETERS.BackBufferCount = 2; for DX9). It actually supports more than triple buffering - Direct3D 9Ex (Vista+'s WDDM) supports 30 buffers.
DirectX DOES support TB by using DXGI_SWAP_CHAIN_DESC.BufferCount = 3; (or D3DPRESENT_PARAMETERS.BackBufferCount = 2; for DX9). It actually supports more than triple buffering - Direct3D 9Ex (Vista+'s WDDM) supports 30 buffers.