Mobile GPU Overclocking

TechGrappler · March 29, 2015

Hi everyone,

I want to try to overclock my laptop's Nvidia GTX 850m (4GD DDR3) a little bit.

I understand that laptops struggle to deal with increased thermal output, so I've taken a few precautionary steps beforehand.

I have removed the old CPU and GPU thermal compound (stock) and re-applied with AC MX-4 and then ran a few stress tests and benchmarks to make sure that the temperatures were either equal to or lower than the stock temperature. I also have my laptop on a cooling stand and it is in a well ventilated room with a very cold ambient temperature.

My main goal for overclocking is to get a modestly better framerate during gaming and then prehaps even reverting back to stock clocks in between if necessary.

I plan to increase core and memory clocks, without changing the voltage. I'll be using Nvidia Inspector.

My main question is how much should I increase the clocks by?

I'm not looking for massive improvements, just modest upgrades (I'll be satisfied with even a 5-10% improvement).

Some guides that I have read online suggest increasing the core and memory clocks anywhere from 50-200MHz.

What do you guys think is a safe amount?

At stock clocks, my GPU runs at an average of 58C when under regular load and peaks out at just under 68C.

I'll be closely monitoring both the CPU and GPU temperatures the entire time.

Thanks!

Redsun20 · March 29, 2015

Don't increase your clocks. As pointed out on the WAN show, you may see safe temps on your screen but you are only really seeing part of the GPU. You don't see the VRAM, MOSFETS, or anything else that is not in the GPU core. Not to mention you laptop can only give so much power.

VirtualR3ality · March 29, 2015

Even then I still would not touch that. Most laptops are designed at their maximum power usage from base specs and clocks.

Even if you could squeeze a bit more out of it the change wont be substantial enough to justify the risk.

My opinion, just turn down your game settings.

Kodey116 · March 29, 2015

If you don't plan on keeping it I did a 200 MHz GPU core over clock and a 250 on memory to a and 8750m before it chugged at 1ghz

D2ultima · March 29, 2015

Wow. Nobody even...

@TechGrappler http://forum.notebookreview.com/forums/gaming-software-and-graphics-cards.26/

Ask on this forum and see if people will help you. Your laptop's make and other specs are something you'll need to provide.

And more importantly, MX-4 is shit for mobile. Get some Gelid GC Extreme or IC Diamond. You'll pump out that MX-4 in no time once you stress it. If your laptop is from a decent maker and is maxwell (I am not sure if there is a GDDR3 maxwell version) then some solid OCing can be done with it.