Overclocking GPU

[Ron30]

I recently watercooled my GPU and wanted to overclock it.

 

I've got the highest point in the curve optimizer in MSI afterburner set to 3270mhz at 1240mv and my Memory set to 11732mhz. Temps and hotpsot are good and usage is at 100% but it's only reaching a max of 2835mhz. How do I squeeze out the max performance?

[Levent]

You are most likely hitting power limits. If that is the case, you gonna need to shunt mod your card.

[Ron30]

Following this guide, I'm pumping up 10mhz at a time. So far I'm at 2850mhz.

https://www.avast.com/c-how-to-overclock-gpu

[Ron30]

Ran the 8k optimized test in Unigine. Ran stabl at 3060mhz (+210) the entire time, but ran about 20 degrees cooler than Furmark. Not sure what to make of that.

 

I was able to keep climbing. Currently stable at +230 (3090mhz) but temps are only 55deg. Furmark is at 71 degrees at 2835mhz. What is more indicative of real world gaming? Furmark or Unigine? Not sure if I should keep pushing.

[Ron30]

I finally got to +250mhz (3090mhz in Unigine, 2890mhz in Furmark).

Unigine uses 3585 mb of VRAM, 283w of power and sits at 61 degrees at 4k.

Furmark uses 224mb of VRAM, up to 320w of power and sits at 63 degrees at 3440x1440 resolution. It's very stuttery at 4k.

 

I just don't understand the discrepancy. I'll stop climbing here and see how it goes in gaming.

[BetteBalterZen]

1 hour ago, Ron30 said:

I finally got to +250mhz (3090mhz in Unigine, 2890mhz in Furmark).

Unigine uses 3585 mb of VRAM, 283w of power and sits at 61 degrees at 4k.

Furmark uses 224mb of VRAM, up to 320w of power and sits at 63 degrees at 3440x1440 resolution. It's very stuttery at 4k.

 

I just don't understand the discrepancy. I'll stop climbing here and see how it goes in gaming.

Different loads, different clockspeeds. You may actually see your card being unstable in a light 3D workload because it would make your clockspeed go the highest. 

[BetteBalterZen]

But why go all the way to watercool and overclock a 4070? Why not upgrade to a higher model? Too expensive? 

[podkall]

2 hours ago, Ron30 said:

Ran the 8k optimized test in Unigine. Ran stabl at 3060mhz (+210) the entire time, but ran about 20 degrees cooler than Furmark. Not sure what to make of that.

Furmark is power virus, it will literally "force" the card to draw as many watts possible.

 

Furmark is only good at checking or improving thermals.

[Sawa Takahashi]

3 hours ago, Ron30 said:

I recently watercooled my GPU and wanted to overclock it.

 

I've got the highest point in the curve optimizer in MSI afterburner set to 3270mhz at 1240mv and my Memory set to 11732mhz. Temps and hotpsot are good and usage is at 100% but it's only reaching a max of 2835mhz. How do I squeeze out the max performance?

You should use GPU-z. Click on the Sensors tab. While you are benchmarking your GPU, take a look at the parameter PerCapReason. You'll then know which limit your card is hitting.

 

As for overclocking in general, I don't think it is worth it. You gain a bit of performance for a significant loss in longevity. But that's your hardware, it's your choice

[Ron30]

8 hours ago, BetteBalterZen said:

But why go all the way to watercool and overclock a 4070? Why not upgrade to a higher model? Too expensive? 

*4070 Ti

My pre-ordered 5080 is still maybe 6 months away. Maybe longer. Just wanted something to tide me over.

[Ron30]

On 2/26/2025 at 1:59 AM, Sawa Takahashi said:

You should use GPU-z. Click on the Sensors tab. While you are benchmarking your GPU, take a look at the parameter PerCapReason. You'll then know which limit your card is hitting.

I'm limited by Power cap, as I'm using 110% already. I have plenty of thermal headroom though...damn.

[Sawa Takahashi]

14 hours ago, Ron30 said:

I'm limited by Power cap, as I'm using 110% already. I have plenty of thermal headroom though...damn.

I know that's a bummer, but not many cards can run over their power budget safely.

There are ways to bypass that limit. One I remember is to solder a fake current sensing resistor to trick the card in thinking it consumes less power than reality. I don't like modding expensive hardware so I never considered using it.

You can probably do it by editing the BIOS of your GPU, but I'm certain this isn't safe either.

Good luck !

[Ron30]

So I've got good temps in Furmark and stability in Unigine Superposition. As far as I can tell all benchmarks are showing me as stable, but Chrome randomly goes black for a few seconds every now and then. According to Google, there are 4 possible causes (see image).

 

My profile, extensions and chrome version have been fine for ages so I have to assume it's an issue with the graphics card. I keep pulling the OC back down but it still keeps happening. Could it be that Chrome stresses my card more than games and benchmarks? I noted the following errors in Event Viewer last time it went black. It looks like my entire PC went black though, not just Chrome.

 

[Ron30]

I've removed the overclock completely and will test. I've read it could also be my riser cable at fault.