Nooby Overclocking Question

[BRiteBak]

So I have am setting up a system for a friend and the 650ti boost he is running will do 80 offset for 2 minutes and 70 offset for 30 minutes in game...

Will an overclock only be stable for a certain amount of time before it has an error or is there something else at play?

What happens is the drivers crash and the computer black screens, recovers and the game will stay black but audio and keys remain functional.

 

Sorry if this is a stupid question I've only mildly overclock my own GPU before and just so you know the GPU is definitely not overheating

[A10-FTW]

well, i only know AMD cards OC, but this can help a bit anyway

 

in temps, i think 80º is a ok temp (for a OC card)

 

 

1s, you need tools, Heaven 4.0 and HWMonitor

 

2d, trow 2 or 3 runs of heaven at Extreme and check the temps

 

3r, if all crash,

just restart the PC and turn off,

and then turn on (all ready to new benchmarks)

 

is safe in AMD but no idia on Nvidia, good luck  :rolleyes:

[LapFox]

Overclocking basics:

 

1. Increase clock speed in 15MHz bumps. eg, going from 1000MHz to 1015MHz

2. Test with Furmark for 4~ hours (I recommend 4 hours, it lets your GPU get up to maximum temp and is enough time to find some errors)

3. Check temperature whilst testing, never let it go above 80ºC

4. Repeat until step 2 fails (Eg screen fragmenting, crashing, bluescreens, other glitches)

5. When crashing occurs, revert to your previous incremental clockspeed

6. Test for more than 24 hours

7. If no glitches or crashing during final test, then you have found the maximum overclock for your card (Without overvolting)

[WoodenMarker]

What I do: Max voltage and get a higher than average setting for clock speed on Msi Afterburner.

Test with games and Furmark. If anything goes wrong, I lower the settings by 50-100.

Then I keep testing until I get a stable oc and I push it as far as I can go incrementally from there.

[BRiteBak]

What I do: Max voltage and get a higher than average setting for clock speed on Msi Afterburner.

Test with games and Furmark. If anything goes wrong, I lower the settings by 50-100.

Then I keep testing until I get a stable oc and I push it as far as I can go incrementally from there.

Are you sure thats safe?

[BRiteBak]

Overclocking basics:

 

1. Increase clock speed in 15MHz bumps. eg, going from 1000MHz to 1015MHz

2. Test with Furmark for 4~ hours (I recommend 4 hours, it lets your GPU get up to maximum temp and is enough time to find some errors)

3. Check temperature whilst testing, never let it go above 80ºC

4. Repeat until step 2 fails (Eg screen fragmenting, crashing, bluescreens, other glitches)

5. When crashing occurs, revert to your previous incremental clockspeed

6. Test for more than 24 hours

7. If no glitches or crashing during final test, then you have found the maximum overclock for your card (Without overvolting)

 

This is definatley what i will be doing thanks for the help :D

[WoodenMarker]

Are you sure thats safe?

There isn't really a "safe" voltage for most graphics cards.

I doubt you'll ever 'burn out' a graphics card even if you crank it up to max voltage these days. If you just Google 'max overclock [insert your card]' many tech sites will have already achieved a max overclock in which they used max or close to max voltage. I reason that your system will probably kill the video driver or just crash entirely first, warning you of an over voltage issue before the card actually dies on you.

 

Just max out the voltage scale, and see how high of an oc you can get. Once you find your peak, slowly lower your voltage until it stops working and leave it as the lowest voltage, high est OC setting. Don't forget to watch your temps.

[BRiteBak]

 

There isn't really a "safe" voltage for most graphics cards.

I doubt you'll ever 'burn out' a graphics card even if you crank it up to max voltage these days. If you just Google 'max overclock [insert your card]' many tech sites will have already achieved a max overclock in which they used max or close to max voltage. I reason that your system will probably kill the video driver or just crash entirely first, warning you of an over voltage issue before the card actually dies on you.

 

Just max out the voltage scale, and see how high of an oc you can get. Once you find your peak, slowly lower your voltage until it stops working and leave it as the lowest voltage, high est OC setting. Don't forget to watch your temps.

 

Running at high voltages can destroy cards though right?

[WoodenMarker]

Running at high voltages can destroy cards though right?

It shortens the life of the gpu but modern gpus are made ready for overclocking. Your gpu won't be destroyed unless you somehow get past the software/hardware voltage limit and over volt like crazy. 

[BRiteBak]

It shortens the life of the gpu but modern gpus are made ready for overclocking. Your gpu won't be destroyed unless you somehow get past the software/hardware voltage limit and over volt like crazy. 

Ohhhh....

So the overvolt is limited by the manurfacturer?

That makes so much more sense

[WoodenMarker]

Ohhhh....

So the overvolt is limited by the manurfacturer?

That makes so much more sense

To a certain extent although nothing is stopping you from going in and doing so manual soldering to change that.

[BRiteBak]

To a certain extent although nothing is stopping you from going in and doing so manual soldering to change that.

I thought you were saying to ridiculously overvolting beyond what was intended

[xDLGx]

Must remember that some games or applications can be sensitive to overclocking, so while you can pass every stress test and most games there can be a few games that will just crash.

 

I for example use toned down overclocking profile but with higher voltage in Bioshock Infinite because it will artifact where other games and tests won't.

[WoodenMarker]

I thought you were saying to ridiculously overvolting beyond what was intended

I'm sorry, I'm not sure what you mean. Please reword/explain?

 

Must remember that some games or applications can be sensitive to overclocking, so while you can pass every stress test and most games there can be a few games that will just crash.

I for example use toned down overclocking profile but with higher voltage in Bioshock Infinite because it will artifact where other games and tests won't.

This is why you stress test with games as well to ensure stable OC's.

[xDLGx]

This is why you stress test with games as well to ensure stable OC's.

 

Of course, but what I mean is that even if you pass every test and can play all your games you can still buy a new game and suddenly that won't work. Crashes and problems doesn't have to mean that your overclock is unstable.

[Alex780]

Stress test for a few minutes only and then look for artifacts in games. I may be wrong but I honestly don't think a 24 hour test is necessary.

[rahulr1]

NEVER USE FURMARK!!!!!! FurMark creates an unrealistic GPU load. It can blow out your power in many cases. Everyone has also heard the story about people running FurMark for 24 hours and then crashing after 15 minutes of Crysis 3. Very demanding games are the ultimate stability test. They stress out every area of the card wheras FurMark is extremely OpenGL orientated. Play a demanding  game like Crysis (all), Far Cry 3, Metro (both), the Witcher 2 for 1-2 hours. That is the true stability test.