need help with overclocking

[Mchedlo]

Hi guys! :)) so i have recently bought a new graphics card for my rig: Evga 960GTX 4GB FTW edition. i wanted to buy GTX970 but it would take me 4 more month to save up so i couldnt handle the wait.. (had 9800GT before this card).

this card plays on pretty decent FPS , but im a power user, so i thought i would get maximum out of my card. i have never ever ever overclocked a GPU and i want some tips about it. i have downloaded Precision X for it and valley. what else do i need? i know the basics. i should ramp up core clock slowly till it crashes, then ramp up voltage (though i dont want to crank up voltage). what else should i know? what are the risks? does OC decrease life span? BTW i have 0 case fans at this moment. GPU settings:

Base Clock: 1304 MHz / Boost Clock: 1367 MHz

Memory Clock: 7010 MHz Effective

[ShadyHost]

1 minute ago, Mchedlo said:

Hi guys! :)) so i have recently bought a new graphics card for my rig: Evga 960GTX 4GB FTW edition. i wanted to buy GTX970 but it would take me 4 more month to save up so i couldnt handle the wait.. (had 9800GT before this card).

this card plays on pretty decent FPS , but im a power user, so i thought i would get out maximum of my card. i have never ever ever overclocked a GPU and i want some tips about it. i have downloaded Precision X for it and valley. what else do i need? i know the basics. i should ramp up core clock slowly till it crashes, then ramp up voltage (though i dont want to crank up voltage). what else should i know? what are the risks? does OC decrease life span? BTW i have 0 case fans at this moment. GPU settings:

Base Clock: 1304 MHz / Boost Clock: 1367 MHz

Memory Clock: 7010 MHz Effective

Set a fan profile you are comfortable with and then overclock until the noise is annoying. 

[Mchedlo]

1 minute ago, ShadyHost said:

Set a fan profile you are comfortable with and then overclock until the noise is annoying. 

are those programs enough for overclocking and tests? and what about risks? i dont mind noise much :))

[vanished]

First of all I would get MSI afterburner (doesn't matter what brand your card is)

 

I would slowly push up the clock speed until it crashes and then up the voltage until it's stable again, and repeat until you get artifacts (little white flakes) then back off the clock speed a bit since it's at the limit.

 

Keep an eye on the temperature, especially over a long period of time if you don't have any case fans.  I'm not sure what safe voltages are for that GPU but you want to stick to the safe limits of course - it's not just heat that is an issue

[Trey222]

1 minute ago, Mchedlo said:

are those programs enough for overclocking and tests? and what about risks? i dont mind noise much :))

Yeah that is enough. There is not really any risk anymore with overclocking GPUs. Just watch the temps and you should be fine. 

[Mchedlo]

1 minute ago, Ryan_Vickers said:

First of all I would get MSI afterburner (doesn't matter what brand your card is)

 

I would slowly push up the clock speed until it crashes and then up the voltage until it's stable again, and repeat until you get artifacts (little white flakes) then back off the clock speed a bit since it's at the limit.

 

Keep an eye on the temperature, especially over a long period of time if you don't have any case fans.  I'm not sure what safe voltages are for that GPU but you want to stick to the safe limits of course - it's not just heat that is an issue

i got precision X only because it was from EVGA  i will download MSI afterburner then. will i get at least 5% difference in FPS with raising only clock speed ? (reaching limit, so that i dont have to crank up voltage )

[vanished]

55 minutes ago, Mchedlo said:

i got precision X only because it was from EVGA  i will download MSI afterburner then. will i get at least 5% difference in FPS with raising only clock speed ? (reaching limit, so that i dont have to crank up voltage )

That depends entirely on your card and luck of the draw (silicon lottery).  It might not be able to increase at all, or you might have a really golden chip that can go quite a lot faster even on stock voltage.

 

Regardless, another thing you should do is raise the power limit as high as it will go.  This does not force the card to run any harder, but it allows the built-in turbo to reach its full potential.  It might show up as 110% or even more.