Memory overclocking, does it make a difference?

[Vegetable]

Title says the most of it. It seems like newer cards (GDDR5 and up) don't get much of a performance gain from a memory overclock. I remember my 8600 Gts 256mb got a whopping 4 fps difference from a measly boost to the memory clock. My Gtx 260 (now a sexy little desk badge) got about 8 fps from a massive memory overclock of 999mhz to 1270mhz. So, does that mean the low speed of GDDR3 was a bottleneck? As far as I can tell, yes. Why did those overclocks make such a massive difference but both my Gtx 570 and Gtx 650 ti boost gain not more than a single fps difference? So basically, I want your input. Do you think overclocking memory even makes a difference on GDDR5? Leave your opinion below, but as for me, I'll be leaving my memory speeds at stock until proven useful to overclock.

 

----EDIT----

Benchmarks showing difference.

Everything was @ stock (732 core/1464 shader)

Stock everything:

Stock core/shader with memory bumped up to 2050mhz:

----EDIT EPISODE 2 Part A----

Same format as above just at 1080p as requested:

Stock:

Overclocked memory:

Even less of a difference though I only tested once so maybe it was just a fluke

[Lays]

Yes,but core speed is always king. It doesnt raise temps at all in my experience, and if you get a few extra FPS, you might as well .

I have some screenshots i did with some testing of my own, ill upload when i get on my pc.

[LIGISTX]

I think mostly this is true, the newer memory is pretty frikin fast which causes the GPU to be a bottleneck, not the video ram. That being said, RAM doesn't OC like it used to, I remember my gtx 470 and previous 275 and 8800 gts where able to bump the RAM up pretty considerably percentage wise, these days you can't push the GRAM up much more than stock.

[Praesi]

Mine is 7210 MHz instead of 7010 Mhz. It makes a little difference, yes.

[Vegetable]

Yes,but core speed is always king. It doesnt raise temps at all in my experience, and if you get a few extra FPS, you might as well .

I have some screenshots i did with some testing of my own, ill upload when i get on my pc.

Of course!!!! Core overclocks are definitely the most noticeable gains hands down. Personally I raised my 570 up to 800 on stock voltage and the artifact count is currently 0.

[Vegetable]

I think mostly this is true, the newer memory is pretty frikin fast which causes the GPU to be a bottleneck, not the video ram. That being said, RAM doesn't OC like it used to, I remember my gtx 470 and previous 275 and 8800 gts where able to bump the RAM up pretty considerably percentage wise, these days you can't push the GRAM up much more than stock.

Yeah I agree. my 570 only goes 100mhz higher on the VRAM before artifacting is insane. left at stock ever since that horrible experience. (That occured no matter how much voltage i shit through this thing)

[LIGISTX]

Yeah I agree. my 570 only goes 100mhz higher on the VRAM before artifacting is insane. left at stock ever since that horrible experience. (That occured no matter how much voltage i shit through this thing)

Yup, that is how it goes these days lol.

[Lays]

I think mostly this is true, the newer memory is pretty frikin fast which causes the GPU to be a bottleneck, not the video ram. That being said, RAM doesn't OC like it used to, I remember my gtx 470 and previous 275 and 8800 gts where able to bump the RAM up pretty considerably percentage wise, these days you can't push the GRAM up much more than stock.

Thats really dependant on the gpu and which type of memory chips you get.

My 980 classified can go 1700 mhz over stock on the memory in most things i've tested it in. For benchmarks its usually stable, but in games i cant go much further than ~1300-1400 over stock. I usually leave it at 1000 over stock because it looks nice lol. (ocd)

Friend of mine has a 970 G1 with hynix memory and can only do around 400 over stock, but another friend with a G1 970 can do 1600 over stock with samsung memory.

[LIGISTX]

Thats really dependant on the gpu and which type of memory chips you get.

My 980 classified can go 1700 mhz over stock on the memory in most things i've tested it in.

Friend of mine has a 970 G1 with hynix memory and can only do around 400 over stock, but another friend with a G1 970 can do 1600 over stock with samsung memory.

That is true, it depends on many things. But jesus, 1700 mhz over!?! That is impressive.

[Lays]

That is true, it depends on many things. But jesus, 1700 mhz over!?! That is impressive.

Most 980 classifieds will do over 8000 effective since evga puts binned memory on the cards. Usually on maxwell if you get Samsung ram youre in good territory and can do atleast 8000 effective from what ive seen.

I think on water with added memory voltage i can get to 9000 effective (2000 over stock) i have seen a few other people do it so I may give it a try lol

[Vegetable]

 

 

 

 

 

Added some benchmarks to post. take a look

[Lays]

Added some benchmarks to post. take a look

Try with 1080p,more memory will be utilized and it will probably help more.

[Vegetable]

Try with 1080p,more memory will be utilized and it will probably help more.

perhaps. will do

[Badger906]

memory speed is fast enough as it is, so making it faster won't really help..

[Lays]

perhaps. will do

From what I've seen from benchmarks, usually if not much vram is being used than the memory overclock doesnt seem to make a big difference, but when theres a lot being used it does seem to help more.

[Praesi]

Added some benchmarks to post. take a look

Highend Cards with 1440p+ Resolution is a different Story.

[Lays]

memory speed is fast enough as it is, so making it faster won't really help..

 

Highend Cards with 1440p+ Resolution is a different Story.

 

perhaps. will do

 

That is true, it depends on many things. But jesus, 1700 mhz over!?! That is impressive.

 

 

Here's some testing I did at 1440p:

 

Stock 1430 mhz core, 7012 mhz memory, 4770k at 4.5 ghz:

 

This may not be a big difference, but this is only at 1440p, 4k it would make a an even bigger difference most likely.  Not to mention this is 100% free performance, even if you only gain 2 FPS on average, that's still 2 FPS you didn't have before.

 

(Overall this about a 7% increase to performance if I did the math right, for what I believe was a 12% memory OC)

 

 

 

 

Memory overclocked:

 

1430 mhz core, 8712 mhz memory, 4.5 ghz 4770k:

 

 

[Vegetable]

Here's some testing I did at 1440p:

 

Stock 1430 mhz core, 7012 mhz memory, 4770k at 4.5 ghz:

 

This may not be a big difference, but this is only at 1440p, 4k it would make a an even bigger difference most likely.  Not to mention this is 100% free performance, even if you only gain 2 FPS on average, that's still 2 FPS you didn't have before.

 

 

 

 

Memory overclocked:

 

1430 mhz core, 8712 mhz memory, 4.5 ghz 4770k:

 

 

Yeah I'm all for overclocking 100% but as hot as fermi runs and as quickly as this decides to artifact, I would rather not. However if your PSU can do it and you're not an idiot overclocking is just free fps.

[Lays]

Yeah I'm all for overclocking 100% but as hot as fermi runs and as quickly as this decides to artifact, I would rather not. However if your PSU can do it and you're not an idiot overclocking is just free fps.

 

 

Yeah I feel ya

 

I can't wait to finish my loop, I'll be able to play games at over 1600 mhz on my 980  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:

 

 

Here's a full OC test:

 

[Vegetable]

Yeah I feel ya

 

I can't wait to finish my loop, I'll be able to play games at over 1600 mhz on my 980  :wub:  :wub:  :wub:

 

 

Here's a full OC test:

 

well id love to chat but ive been up longer than I can count. Hit me up far later today and if im up, I will do some major overclocking and show my results as well