Did I succesfully overclock my GTX 970?

[SuspiciousBadger]

Hi LTT Forums,

I recently decided I wanted to overclock my GTX 970 Strix for some better performance in the hopes of running BF1 even better then I already run it.

 

Here are my results while benchmarking with Unigine Heaven 4.0.

Here are my results while benchmarking with 3D Mark Firestrike.

 

Are they any good? While upping the GPU Boost Clock(MHz) to more then 1430 I would get weird graphical bugs, their were tons of dots flashing over the screen and sometimes my screens would turn black and then recontinue the benchmark after a few seconds. I'm assuming it's because my PSU can't deliver enough juice. 

[knightslugger]

5 minutes ago, Xenofen said:

Thanks for helping!

did you see any aberrations in the video while doing the benching? if not, you're good.

 

too high a clock will cause weird things to show up on the screen. if you see that, you need to throttle back. it isn't a PSU problem, it's a GPU limitation. that's when you know your toes are over the edge.

[SuspiciousBadger]

1 minute ago, knightslugger said:

did you see any aberrations in the video while doing the benching?

Yes, Unigine had some weird dots and texture bugs. Firestrike had some black and green bars flashing. I'm not sure what this is caused by, obviously the overclock because no issues on stock speeds. But even overclocking a tiny bit causes these bugs.

[knightslugger]

Just now, Xenofen said:

Yes, Unigine had some weird dots and texture bugs. Firestrike had some black and green bars flashing. I'm not sure what this is caused by.

edited to explain.

[SuspiciousBadger]

1 minute ago, knightslugger said:

edited to explain.

So knowing it's my GPU's limitation what should I tune down? The Power Target, Memory Clock or Boost Clock?

[randomhkkid]

10 minutes ago, Xenofen said:

So knowing it's my GPU's limitation what should I tune down? The Power Target, Memory Clock or Boost Clock?

If even a tiny overclock causes those issues then your best bet is to return to stock everything apart from the power target. Then apply the overclock the just the core and run the test, if that passes increase the core and repeat until you get glitches or instability. Your maximum core clock is the step before you have problems. Then with that maximum core clock do the same for the memory clock. This way you'll have a maximum core and memory clock without artifacting etc.

[SuspiciousBadger]

2 minutes ago, randomhkkid said:

If even a tiny overclock causes those issues then your best bet is to return to stock everything apart from the power target. Then apply the overclock the just the core and run the test, if that passes increase the core and repeat until you get glitches or instability. Your maximum core clock is the step before you have problems. Then with that maximum core clock do the same for the memory clock. This way you'll have a maximum core and memory clock without artifacting etc.

How much should I keep adding? 10,20,50?

[randomhkkid]

15 minutes ago, Xenofen said:

How much should I keep adding? 10,20,50?

I'd start with +100 on the core then increments of 10 above that, the vast majority of cards can do at least 100 on the core.

[SuspiciousBadger]

10 minutes ago, randomhkkid said:

I'd start with +100 on the core then increments of 10 above that, the vast majority of cards can do at least 100 on the core.

Yeah I'm already at 1410 on the core and 0 bugs so far.

 

EDIT: 1415 is the max!

[knightslugger]

12 minutes ago, Xenofen said:

Yeah I'm already at 1410 on the core and 0 bugs so far.

 

EDIT: 1415 is the max!

then that's what it is.

[SuspiciousBadger]

11 minutes ago, knightslugger said:

then that's what it is.

Okay so I upped the Memory Clock to 8000. I was wondering, should I mess with the Max. GPU Voltage (mV)?

[knightslugger]

6 minutes ago, Xenofen said:

Okay so I upped the Memory Clock to 8000. I was wondering, should I mess with the Max. GPU Voltage (mV)?

what are you using for a OC tuner? Afterburner?

[SuspiciousBadger]

Just now, knightslugger said:

what are you using for a OC tuner? Afterburner?

I'm using Asus GPU Tweak II

[knightslugger]

3 minutes ago, Xenofen said:

I'm using Asus GPU Tweak II

I know when tuning my 1070 with the voltage and temp sliders (Using Afterburner mind you) set to full, it would never over-volt the GPU and if thermals got too hot it would start to throttle. I'm not sure that's how the 970's work or how Tweek II works though.

[App4that]

Ditch GPU Tweak and use Afterburner.

[SuspiciousBadger]

20 minutes ago, App4that said:

Ditch GPU Tweak and use Afterburner.

I install afterburner, im assuming GPU Boost Clock is the same as Core Clock

[App4that]

Just now, Xenofen said:

I install afterburner, im assuming GPU Boost Clock is the same as Core Clock

Yup. I run firestrike to test the clock speeds. Remember that what you add doesn't matter, just what the reported frequency is, because of GPU boost.

 

Max out the voltage and temp limits. The card will only use what it needs. With stock bios you're pretty safe, not much you can do. Go too high with the frequencies and you'll crash, then just rinse and repeat.

[randomhkkid]

51 minutes ago, Xenofen said:

Okay so I upped the Memory Clock to 8000. I was wondering, should I mess with the Max. GPU Voltage (mV)?

Don't mess with the voltages until you find your max clocks for core and memory at stock voltage. Upper voltage after that may let you increase beyond those limits at the cost of more power and heat.

 

As others have said use afterburner. Unigen valley is also a pretty good indicator of stable clocks.

[SuspiciousBadger]

7 minutes ago, randomhkkid said:

Don't mess with the voltages until you find your max clocks for core and memory at stock voltage. Upper voltage after that may let you increase beyond those limits at the cost of more power and heat.

 

As others have said use afterburner. Unigen valley is also a pretty good indicator of stable clocks.

So I started experiecing bugs at 1420 MHz, if I up the Voltage I can get more MHz?

[App4that]

14 minutes ago, randomhkkid said:

Don't mess with the voltages until you find your max clocks for core and memory at stock voltage. Upper voltage after that may let you increase beyond those limits at the cost of more power and heat.

 

As others have said use afterburner. Unigen valley is also a pretty good indicator of stable clocks.

Nah, first thing you should do is max the voltage. It does nothing harmful, all it does is add stability. I run max voltage with stock clock speeds.

[randomhkkid]

12 minutes ago, App4that said:

Nah, first thing you should do is max the voltage. It does nothing harmful, all it does is add stability. I run max voltage with stock clock speeds.

My gut says to disagree to that haha but I've been out of the GPU overclocking game since I got mine stable over a year ago, any other members have input? AFAIK maxing the voltage can cause instability in itself as the silicon sometimes can't handle the increased volts.

[App4that]

2 minutes ago, randomhkkid said:

My gut says to disagree to that haha but I've been out of the GPU overclocking game since I got mine stable over a year ago, any other members have input? AFAIK maxing the voltage can cause instability in itself as the silicon sometimes can't handle the increased volts.

But you're not increasing the voltage, only the available voltage. Also, Maxwell LOVES voltage.

[SuspiciousBadger]

Thank you very much @App4that, @randomhkkid & @knightslugger. Thanks to you 3 I succesfully overclocked my GPU to a point where it is stable! My 3D Mark Firestrike score improved by 11,5% which is a massive succes in my eyes. Here are the results.

 

I ordered an aftermarket cpu cooler(Hyper 212 Evo) so I can also OC my CPU!

[MilfShake]

Does that card require two 6-pin pci cables?

 

My 970 ftw is stable at 1530Mhz core and +500Mhz memory

 

Also first thing to do, put power limit % and voltage to the max.

The voltage limit is already limited to a safe level by ASUS BIOS, it doesn't let you get anymore past that limit, so just max it.

[SuspiciousBadger]

1 hour ago, MilfShake said:

Does that card require two 6-pin pci cables?

 

My 970 ftw is stable at 1530Mhz core and +500Mhz memory

 

Also first thing to do, put power limit % and voltage to the max.

The voltage limit is already limited to a safe level by ASUS BIOS, it doesn't let you get anymore past that limit, so just max it.

The GTX 970 Strix uses an 8 (6+2) pin.