Inability to Overclock/Card Instability

[KoalaBearKyle]

I have a 280x that I recently bought used and, as I'm planning to get possibly a better upgrade in the near future, I figured why not overclock this card for the remainder of it's life. I have been using MSI Afterburner to modify and monitor everything.

 

When I change my core clock from 1100 to absolutely anything else, higher or lower, my clock speed instantly jumps down to 300mghz (from it's typical 500mghz idle) and the memory clock goes down to 150 (1500mghz idle). Because of this, lots of flickering starts to appear on my second monitor which I presume to be a result of the gpu unable to handle outputting two displays at such low clock speeds. 

 

If anyone could help me understand why my clock speeds shoot down at the slightest touch and how to overcome it, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

(As you can see in the second screenshot I moved the core clock down by 1 mghz and the card becomes unstable/drops way down)

[SavageNeo]

it runs well stock?

 

Also my 5700Xt behaves somewhat similar with msi afterburner. Try with AMDs own software. fro mthe radeon software

[KoalaBearKyle]

Yes it runs very well at stock. With the Radeon Software I experience the same issue.

[Biomecanoid]

32 minutes ago, KoalaBearKyle said:

I have a 280x that I recently bought used and, as I'm planning to get possibly a better upgrade in the near future, I figured why not overclock this card for the remainder of it's life. I have been using MSI Afterburner to modify and monitor everything.

 

When I change my core clock from 1100 to absolutely anything else, higher or lower, my clock speed instantly jumps down to 300mghz (from it's typical 500mghz idle) and the memory clock goes down to 150 (1500mghz idle). Because of this, lots of flickering starts to appear on my second monitor which I presume to be a result of the gpu unable to handle outputting two displays at such low clock speeds. 

 

If anyone could help me understand why my clock speeds shoot down at the slightest touch and how to overcome it, it would be greatly appreciated.

 

(As you can see in the second screenshot I moved the core clock down by 1 mghz and the card becomes unstable/drops way down)

Not all cards are capable of overclocking plus its used

[KoalaBearKyle]

8 minutes ago, Biomecanoid said:

Not all cards are capable of overclocking plus its used

But even so, why would underclocking it by 1mghz cause the card to go into panic mode?

[Biomecanoid]

5 minutes ago, KoalaBearKyle said:

But even so, why would underclocking it by 1mghz cause the card to go into panic mode?

Maybe its bios does not support it. 

[KoalaBearKyle]

17 minutes ago, Biomecanoid said:

Maybe its bios does not support it. 

So you're saying it could have a locked gpu BIOS that prevents tinkering with clock settings and, if one does, the card goes into very low frequency mode?

 

If this is the case, do you think it's worth investing research into unlocking the BIOS or is it too risky for mediocre gains?

[Biomecanoid]

4 minutes ago, KoalaBearKyle said:

So you're saying it could have a locked gpu BIOS that prevents tinkering with clock settings and, if one does, the card goes into very low frequency mode?

 

If this is the case, do you think it's worth investing research into unlocking the BIOS or is it too risky for mediocre gains?

In order to do such a thing I would 1st research on how to repair the card if the flashing goes wrong and you will certainly need an integrated gpu to use when flashing.  Well its a bit dangerous

[KoalaBearKyle]

12 minutes ago, Biomecanoid said:

In order to do such a thing I would 1st research on how to repair the card if the flashing goes wrong and you will certainly need an integrated gpu to use when flashing.  Well its a bit dangerous

Does anything here indicate that the card cannot be overclocked any further?

[Biomecanoid]

7 minutes ago, KoalaBearKyle said:

Does anything here indicate that the card cannot be overclocked any further?

I don't see anything weird there

[Stockholmes]

I would just leave it at stock if it works well that way. I think the card might just be "too old" to be overclocked. Who knows. The performance gains by OC'ing aren't *that* big either way, it's not like you're missing out on that much. Also the OC does stress the component more than keeping it at stock, which might lead to more problems down the line. I would personally keep it at stock and forget about it.

[KoalaBearKyle]

4 minutes ago, Stockholmes said:

I would just leave it at stock if it works well that way. I think the card might just be "too old" to be overclocked. Who knows. The performance gains by OC'ing aren't *that* big either way, it's not like you're missing out on that much. Also the OC does stress the component more than keeping it at stock, which might lead to more problems down the line. I would personally keep it at stock and forget about it.

I suppose you're right, I will just keep it at stock. Thank you everyone for all your help