Overclocking 2060

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

Hello, so I have a question about overclocking and specifically the RTX 2060.

 

I had a 2060 and am in the process of upgrading so I sold mine to a friend and they have asked me about overclocking.

 

I really don't know anything about it as I just kept everything at default, but he's into messing and tinkering and I am worried they'll destroy the card somehow.

 

Anyway, we downloaded MSI and then sat and looked at Google and while there are lots of conversations about it none of them are very helpful to a complete novice.

 

So, my question is, can anyone offer an advice about a safe setting that will offer some performance gain ?

 

If possible, giving specific, easy to follow, numbers for each of the variables (clock speed etc...).

 

I'd be very grateful, as it may also help me when I get my 3080 as far as tinkering.

 

Thanks in advance, guys.

[RONOTHAN##]

2 minutes ago, Maury Sells Wigs said:

ut he's into messing and tinkering and I am worried they'll destroy the card somehow.

If you're just using MSI afterburner the biggest risk is crashing and needing to boot into safe mode to disable a super unstable overclock. You can't break anything with Afterburner, not without BIOS modding the cards. 

 

Anyway, some steps for overclocking the card:

1. Max out the power/temp limits. This will give the biggest performance uplift you can get. Don't worry about the temp limit slider being in the 90s though, GPU boost doesn't let the card get above 84C without severely dropping clock speed. 
2. Set the fan curve to as aggressive as you can stand, since lower temps helps get higher overclocks. 
3. Setup some sort of stress test to run in the background on loop. I like Time Spy since it's very hard to run but doesn't cause the card to clock down super low like Furmark does, but you can use whatever you want, be it a scene in a game, another benchmark like Heaven, or something else.
4. Increase the core clock slider 15MHz at a time until you crash or see performance regressions, then back it off. It will probably end up somewhere around +100 to +150, though could be a little higher or a little lower
5. Increase the memory slider in 50MHz increments until you either crash, see artifacting (weird render behavior), or performance regressions, then back off until it's stable.
6. Test for stability in a bunch of games, backing off settings if you see instability. 

That's basically it. There will be no damage to the card doing those steps, so just worry about making it a bit faster. Realistically only the power limit needs to be done, overclocking Nvidia cards doesn't really get that much performance uplifts since you don't get much headroom in terms of core clock and the cards are very power limited, but if your friend likes tinkering messing with the core and memory sliders is a good option. You can also do undervolting, but that's a bit weirder and I'm not sure how well it helps 20 series cards (30 series loves it, 10 series hates it, and I'm not really sure which 20 series is closer to since I didn't do much overclocking on a 20 series card), but there are plenty of guides on how to do undervolting if you want to attempt it as well. 

[Dukesilver27-]

No GPU is created the exactly the same, due to the thing called silicone lottery, which affects the silicone's ability to overclock. So, there's no reference numbers for you to follow, or anyone to follow, only a guide on how to.

So, you need trial and error to overclock, this way you'd understand what overclock is if there's any issue with it, you'd know.

 

1. Increase power limit to max.

2. Increase clock speed little by little, personally I'd suggest add by 25mhz per trial.

3. Stress test by playing your heavies game for about 10 mins.

4. If stable, no crash whatsoever, or stuttering, then add another 25mhz.

5. Stress test again for 10 mins.

6. Repeat step 4 and 5 until you crash or stuttering happens

7. When stuttering happens/crash, go back to the last stable clock speed.

 

I'd suggest to undervolt as well, the steps are about the same, just different place and numbers.

[Mark Kaine]

i found a video back then for my 1050ti (different brand though) ... followed it 100% exactly and it worked out just fine...

 

same thing basically also worked for the 1060 and 1070 i had...

 

nowadays i just undervolt, makes my card run cooler and clock higher... overclocking a 3000 series card is... of questionable benefits to say the least, imo...

 

 

9 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

I'd suggest to undervolt as well, the steps are about the same, just different place and numbers.

yeah, technically i overclock my gpu... but everyone just calls it undervolt because its done in voltage curve editor @ *lower* voltages ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

21 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

If you're just using MSI afterburner the biggest risk is crashing and needing to boot into safe mode to disable a super unstable overclock. You can't break anything with Afterburner, not without BIOS modding the cards. 

 

Anyway, some steps for overclocking the card:

1. Max out the power/temp limits. This will give the biggest performance uplift you can get. Don't worry about the temp limit slider being in the 90s though, GPU boost doesn't let the card get above 84C without severely dropping clock speed. 
2. Set the fan curve to as aggressive as you can stand, since lower temps helps get higher overclocks. 
3. Setup some sort of stress test to run in the background on loop. I like Time Spy since it's very hard to run but doesn't cause the card to clock down super low like Furmark does, but you can use whatever you want, be it a scene in a game, another benchmark like Heaven, or something else.
4. Increase the core clock slider 15MHz at a time until you crash or see performance regressions, then back it off. It will probably end up somewhere around +100 to +150, though could be a little higher or a little lower
5. Increase the memory slider in 50MHz increments until you either crash, see artifacting (weird render behavior), or performance regressions, then back off until it's stable.
6. Test for stability in a bunch of games, backing off settings if you see instability. 

That's basically it. There will be no damage to the card doing those steps, so just worry about making it a bit faster. Realistically only the power limit needs to be done, overclocking Nvidia cards doesn't really get that much performance uplifts since you don't get much headroom in terms of core clock and the cards are very power limited, but if your friend likes tinkering messing with the core and memory sliders is a good option. You can also do undervolting, but that's a bit weirder and I'm not sure how well it helps 20 series cards (30 series loves it, 10 series hates it, and I'm not really sure which 20 series is closer to since I didn't do much overclocking on a 20 series card), but there are plenty of guides on how to do undervolting if you want to attempt it as well. 

Thanks, that's incredibly helpful.

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

21 minutes ago, Dukesilver27- said:

No GPU is created the exactly the same, due to the thing called silicone lottery, which affects the silicone's ability to overclock. So, there's no reference numbers for you to follow, or anyone to follow, only a guide on how to.

So, you need trial and error to overclock, this way you'd understand what overclock is if there's any issue with it, you'd know.

 

1. Increase power limit to max.

2. Increase clock speed little by little, personally I'd suggest add by 25mhz per trial.

3. Stress test by playing your heavies game for about 10 mins.

4. If stable, no crash whatsoever, or stuttering, then add another 25mhz.

5. Stress test again for 10 mins.

6. Repeat step 4 and 5 until you crash or stuttering happens

7. When stuttering happens/crash, go back to the last stable clock speed.

 

I'd suggest to undervolt as well, the steps are about the same, just different place and numbers.

Appreciate that, it's definitely useful information.

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

13 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

i found a video back then for my 1050ti (different brand though) ... followed it 100% exactly and it worked out just fine...

 

same thing basically also worked for the 1060 and 1070 i had...

 

nowadays i just undervolt, makes my card run cooler and clock higher... overclocking a 3000 series card is... of questionable benefits to say the least, imo...

 

 

yeah, technically i overclock my gpu... but everyone just calls it undervolt because its done in voltage curve editor @ *lower* voltages ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

You reckon it's pointless OCing a 30 series?

[Mark Kaine]

3 minutes ago, Maury Sells Wigs said:

You reckon it's pointless OCing a 30 series?

generally yes, because with undervolt you'll get lower temps and therefore higher frequencies...

 

with a normal oc you'll probably use more power by default and it'll just run hot and downclock eventually. 

 

i also get *way* better scores in benchmarks with uv vs oc... temps are key with anything performance related (its exactly the same for cpus)

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

9 minutes ago, Mark Kaine said:

generally yes, because with undervolt you'll get lower temps and therefore higher frequencies...

 

with a normal oc you'll probably use more power by default and it'll just run hot and downclock eventually. 

 

i also get *way* better scores in benchmarks with uv vs oc... temps are key with anything performance related (its exactly the same for cpus)

As far as the 2060, do you have any specific numbers for the various settings that we can go straight to MSI and increase?

 

Like, some people say +750 is fine for memory clock MHz and others say +900 is ok, whilst others still say move it all the way to +1500.

 

Some say +130 is ok for core clock MHz and others say +150.

 

There is core voltage which I'm hesitant to mess with, and the power limit percentage.

 

Ideally, I just want to give him the numbers for each one and know it'll have some improvement without crashing etc...

 

Otherwise, I know what'll happen - I'll be getting calls constantly to go round and "have a look" because he's panicking...lol.

[jaslion]

22 minutes ago, Maury Sells Wigs said:

Ideally, I just want to give him the numbers for each one and know it'll have some improvement without crashing etc...

Legit just leave the card be. If hes that scared just let the card boost to its max safe built in "ocing" and call it quits. Even an ocd to the max 2060 gets a 5% bump if even?

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

2 minutes ago, jaslion said:

Legit just leave the card be. If hes that scared just let the card boost to its max safe built in "ocing" and call it quits. Even an ocd to the max 2060 gets a 5% bump if even?

What do you mean by "max safe built in OCing"?

 

Is 5% really the absolute maximum boost possible?

[RONOTHAN##]

7 minutes ago, Morrie Sells Wigs said:

What do you mean by "max safe built in OCing"?

 

GPU boost. Nvidia's auto OC functionality. If you look at the rated specs of the 2060, it should only boost up to something like 1650MHz, but in reality it's going up to 1900MHz because it has power and thermal headroom. 

 

8 minutes ago, Morrie Sells Wigs said:

s 5% really the absolute maximum boost possible?

Depends on the specific card, but for the most part yeah, they just don't scale that far at ambient. Overclocking Nvidia GPUs really hasn't made sense since the 900 series, at least at ambient, they just have no headroom left. Crank the power slider if you want, that gets most of the performance you'll get from adjusting the sliders anyway with no stability penalty, but even that won't get you all that much performance uplift. 

[Morrie Sells Wigs]

9 minutes ago, RONOTHAN## said:

GPU boost. Nvidia's auto OC functionality. If you look at the rated specs of the 2060, it should only boost up to something like 1650MHz, but in reality it's going up to 1900MHz because it has power and thermal headroom. 

 

Depends on the specific card, but for the most part yeah, they just don't scale that far at ambient. Overclocking Nvidia GPUs really hasn't made sense since the 900 series, at least at ambient, they just have no headroom left. Crank the power slider if you want, that gets most of the performance you'll get from adjusting the sliders anyway with no stability penalty, but even that won't get you all that much performance uplift. 

I see, thanks for the advice.

 

I think I'll just tell him to leave it alone as there's not enough performance gain to make it worthwhile.

 

Having no real experience he thought there was significant performance boosts from OCing, and I didn't know any better - hence my thread.

 

 

[Mark Kaine]

i agree you should probably look up how nv gpu boost actually works, as i said temps (and voltage) are pretty much the deciding factors and manually overclocking rarely makes sense. if anything undervolting makes sense, especially *if* theres a temp issue. 

 

these cards all "auto overclock" some more some less also depending on cooling.  

[jaslion]

41 minutes ago, Morrie Sells Wigs said:

What do you mean by "max safe built in OCing"?

 

Is 5% really the absolute maximum boost possible?

If you even get 5% that is usually less.

 

Gpu boost already clocks the cards as high as they can in their max safe temp and power limit set from nvidia.

[Mark Kaine]

As for why undervolting is a thing:

 

lets say at default a card is running 1.1v... that is chosen by nvidia because its "safe" ie not to low and not too high.

 

 

now most cards can go 1.0v no problem though,  so undervolting them to ~1.0v simply makes them run cooler --------> nv boost now has more headroom and can boost higher for longer (ideally indefinitely) 

 

 

 

Its really simple (once you know how the curve editor works at least lol) and just generally the thing that makes most sense with newer cards for performance gains.