Overclocking beginner, need some help
Overclocking beginner, need some help
Ok so I've been doing a lot of reading over the last couple of weeks on overclocking. I decided to try my hand at it finally. Here is my rig:
Core i5 4690k
MSI Gaming 4G GTX 980
Gigabyte Z97MX-Gaming 5 motherboard
Phanteks PH-TC12DX cooler
EVGA 750 G2 power supply
NZXT H440 case
So I installed GPU-Z, MSI afterburner, and unigine heaven. I opened up afterburner and started the process. Started just like you're supposed to. Increased power limit to 122 percent which is max on my card. Then started turning up the core clock and testing with Heaven for instability. Finally got it stable in Heaven so I decided to try it out. Opened up Witcher 3 and started playing. Everything was good for about 15 minutes or so. Then I started getting artifacts and then the game froze. By this time it was 2 in the morning so I decided to take a break.
After some research this afternoon I decided to install Furmark and really push the card and make sure my temperatures weren't getting out of hand. Sure enough, it crashed right off the bat. So I decided to restart the whole process and get it stable in Furmark. Ended up with these settings:
Core Voltage 40
Power Limit 122
Core Clock 138
Memory Clock 135
That is as high as I can push anything before it starts crashing Furmark. Temps are holding steady right at 78 to 79C. Those numbers seem really low compared to what other people are getting with GTX 980's. Especially the memory clock. So here's my question. Did I do something wrong, did I lose the silicon lottery, or am I just generating too much heat and so the card is throttling?
There might be various factors to consider—do you have the newest BIOS and motherboard drivers? The latest GPU drivers? What about CPU/motherboard temperatures? Also, many people prefer gradually increasing the GPU speed and adjusting incrementally to keep everything in balance rather than making large changes immediately.
I've adjusted my calculations a bit more. From the tests, it looks like my configuration isn't responding well to higher voltages. I'm using the newest drivers and firmware. I didn't keep an eye on CPU temperatures during testing because I haven't performed any overclocking. Anyone have suggestions?
It's similar to most approaches, begin with low settings and gradually increase, as the setup clearly shows stability issues. The best way to achieve the highest stable OC is to start fresh and progress slowly, testing stability at each step.
Sorry to bring this up again. Life got in the way and I've been too busy to work on my overclocking again. I finally had some time to revisit it. I began with the processor. After many trials and tests, I managed to reach 4.5 ghz. I understand it can go higher, but it's stable at this setting and it's running smoothly. In Prime95 it hits 68°C, and most of the time during games it stays below 55°C. I'm really satisfied with my processor.
Now I'm moving on to the GTX 980. I reset everything to the factory settings and then started watching videos and reading guides. Some suggested steps were to set the power limit to maximum, create a custom fan profile for better cooling, and gradually increase the core clock until Unigine Heaven crashed. I got the core clock up to +155 before it crashed. I lowered it to +150 afterward. The game now runs, but I still see blue and green artifacts appearing on the screen. Is this a sign of instability? If not, what should I do next—continue lowering the core clock until the artifacts disappear, or try increasing the voltage until they vanish? Also, what temperature ranges should I aim for with this GPU? I recall reading that a GTX 980 won't throttle below 81°C, but I don’t want it running at 80°C during games, as that would be very close to its limit.
The artifacts seem to point to instability, isn't it? And regarding GPU temperatures—thank you for your assistance, tradesman!