First time overclocking my GTX 970...

[IsaacThePooper]

Okay, so I got a Gigabyte Gaming G1 Windforce GTX 970 off of craigslist for $120 USD...

 

So I decided to overclock it, because I like to live dangerously.

After a few crashes and fragments, I finally found it's sweet spot.

 

Here are some screenshots of MSI Afterburner of it's stock clocks and the overclocks:

 

Stock clocks: (the stockclocks.png file)

 

The stable overclocks (under load): (the overclock gpu.png file)

 

I benchmarked this baby on BF1 Ultra @2560x1060p75hz

Here are the benchmarks:

 

Stock everything:

2017-05-31 15:12:21 - bf1
Frames: 4269 - Time: 60000ms - Avg: 71.150 - Min: 56 - Max: 89

 

Overclocked:

2017-05-31 15:09:56 - bf1
Frames: 4668 - Time: 60000ms - Avg: 77.800 - Min: 65 - Max: 102

 

Does this look right?

Am I doing everything right? (since it's my first time overclocking)

Are the results good at all?

 

Please help me understand overclocking better ;-;

[Guest]

The most important thing that you left out is clocks... 

[IsaacThePooper]

Just now, deXxterlab97 said:

The most important thing that you left out is clocks... 

Sorry I just updated the post with the screenshot attachments.

[JJVGaming]

I am a noob myself, but you can max out the temp and power limits, but you may have to create a custom fan curve

[IsaacThePooper]

Just now, JJVGaming said:

I am a noob myself, but you can max out the temp and power limits, but you may have to create a custom fan curve

Really?

I have an EVGA 750w PSU, so it should be fine...

[JJVGaming]

4 minutes ago, IsaacThePooper said:

Really?

I have an EVGA 750w PSU, so it should be fine...

Oh yes, 970s are really power efficient, you can basically run two oc 970s with a 750w PSU

 

THe power limits will basically allow the card to access more power when it needs to, I notice in firestrike with my OC the power limits can go pass 100%, so your overclock will be more stable

 

btw thats a really nice core clock you got, make sure you run unigine valley or heaven looping for at least an hour with max settings, because in my case I thought 2101 was stable on my 1060, but unigine looped more than 5 times (10 minutes) the benchmark would crash

 

btw DONT max voltage though

[Guest]

5 minutes ago, IsaacThePooper said:

Sorry I just updated the post with the screenshot attachments.

Those clocks are oddly very round, see if you can add one or two mhz to them

[IsaacThePooper]

2 minutes ago, JJVGaming said:

Oh yes, 970s are really power efficient, you can basically run two oc 970s with a 750w PSU

 

THe power limits will basically allow the card to access more power when it needs to, I notice in firestrike with my OC the power limits can go pass 100%, so your overclock will be more stable

 

btw thats a really nice core clock you got

I just did that and it crashed BF1...?

Here is the MSI afterburner thing I did:

[JJVGaming]

Just now, IsaacThePooper said:

I just did that and it crashed BF1...?

Here is the MSI afterburner thing I did:

You can max out power limit and temp limit, but do not max voltage, this will make your game crash, just leave the voltage where it was stable

[IsaacThePooper]

Just now, JJVGaming said:

You can max out power limit and temp limit, but do not max voltage, this will make your game crash, just leave the voltage where it was stable

oh derp, so with that I'm able to turn up the clocks a bit more without increasing the +75mv overclock I had?

[JJVGaming]

7 minutes ago, IsaacThePooper said:

oh derp, so with that I'm able to turn up the clocks a bit more without increasing the +75mv overclock I had?

Yes, if the voltage is in fact stable you could maybe increase the mhz but probably not that much, your core clock is already impressive alone because most 970s are around 1500mhz range you are at 1600 on air

 

I higly recommend running unigine heaven benchmark for at least an hour, more would be better to ensure you can run the clock with stability

[IsaacThePooper]

Just now, JJVGaming said:

Yes, if the voltage is in fact stable you could maybe increase the mhz but probably not that much, your core clock is already impressive alone because most 970s are around 1500mhz range you are at 1600 on air

Ooh, I knew I could be the special snowflake my mother always said I am.

[IsaacThePooper]

27 minutes ago, deXxterlab97 said:

Those clocks are oddly very round, see if you can add one or two mhz to them

I tried to overclock it like 206mhz, but it kept crashing. I think I'm going to keep it at the 200mhz rate just for stability's sake.

[ShrDc]

Aren't the card's fans really loud when you put them at 100%? I personally keep the fan speed on auto and it's more than enough for my 1060.