Overclocking memory on GPU

[Thelillypad123]

So, in terms of gaming, what does overclocking your memory on your gpu actually do? If nothing, what does it do period?

[Enderman]

it speeds up the frame buffer so that the frames can move faster to and from your GPU

aka it increases fps

[Giganizer300PRO]

It makes your memory run at a higher frequency, so it can change data faster in and out of the modules, but for gaming, there is almost no change in performance if any at all.

[Thelillypad123]

The reason I ask is because I have a gtx 780 lightning and I've been doing the shameful thing by keeping it at stock msi overclocked settings. Apparently I can get this thing WORKING. My card doesn't even really reach 60 degrees under load.

[SkilledRebuilds]

The reason I ask is because I have a gtx 780 lightning and I've been doing the shameful thing by keeping it at stock msi overclocked settings. Apparently I can get this thing WORKING. My card doesn't even really reach 60 degrees under load.

The core clocking will provide MUCH MUCH better increases than mem clocking.

But you can still do both.

[Sakkura]

it speeds up the frame buffer so that the frames can move faster to and from your GPU

aka it increases fps

 

The frame buffer is only a small part of what the graphics card uses its memory for.

 

Anyway, the performance of a graphics card is dependent on the balance between the GPU performance and the memory bandwidth. Higher resolutions and more AA are among the things that tend to put more emphasis on memory bandwidth (though GPU performance is certainly a factor too). Anyway, if you overclock the GPU you're essentially not getting the full benefit of the extra GPU performance if you don't also overclock the memory (and vice versa). But it's not necessarily a big difference, it depends on the card and how it's being used.

[Sakkura]

The core clocking will provide MUCH MUCH better increases than mem clocking.

But you can still do both.

 

Depends on the card. Here is an example of a card that benefits just as much from memory overclocking as GPU overclocking (and overall runs best with a balanced overclock of both memory and GPU).

[TonyL]

Core clock is King. You have a nice card there by the way.

 

I think overclocking memory is more beneficial at higher resolutions.

[Fate]

I think overclocking memory is more beneficial at higher resolutions.

I guess so, I run at 4k and my 290 and especially my 270 gained a lot more fps than people generally seem to say when overclocking memory.