Evga 1080 sc
Evga 1080 sc
I'm using an evga 1080sc and I've been overclocking it with MSI after burner. Everyone says to raise the core voltage fully, but I was unsure if that's safe. I lowered it to 75% instead of 100 and performance hasn't changed much. Is there anything wrong with keeping it at 100?
Well, adjustments are limited.
It depends on the testing setup. If the GPU wasn’t getting full utilization, it might not require maximum voltage for proper function.
The maximum voltage level is definitely acceptable, Nvidia enforces this closely. It doesn’t guarantee the card won’t overheat or slow down, but achieving overclocking involves balancing carefully. Generally, higher voltages are needed to boost clock speeds, though Pascal tends to be more temperature-sensitive. Undervolting could actually assist in certain situations.
I own a 1080 SC with a water block and maintain it at around 2100Mhz. My efforts to reduce voltage consistently resulted in crashes. During the initial weeks, when I had an air cooler on, it automatically increased to 2012Mhz, so overclocking only provided a modest improvement. I never pushed the system to its limits enough to trigger throttling.
I would monitor the frequency under load. I prefer tools like 3d mark Firestrike or AIDA64. If it drops below 2100Mhz that indicates throttling.
It doesn’t exceed 72C much, suggesting it isn’t operating as hard. I’m aware my device would quickly reach the preset throttle limit around 83C and oscillate near 1982Mhz, which is still acceptable.
There was a chance of getting lucky with a GPU that doesn't require much voltage to operate. This can happen occasionally. Or perhaps the voltage wasn't adjusted, and/or the GPU boost is interfering and providing what it needs even if your settings are different. You might want to use some independent monitoring tools to detect this behavior.
And when playing Fortnite, the boost doesn't reach 2100. My frames are capped at 144, and I can only get it to boost when I enable unlimited frames. That should still work.