Overclocking G1 Gaming Gigabyte GTX 970
Overclocking G1 Gaming Gigabyte GTX 970
Starting the new year is great. It's normal to experience some issues sometimes. My monitor can turn grey or the game might freeze after about 10-15 minutes, and I also notice errors like the display driver stopping. These problems seem linked to higher clock speeds and memory speeds. I tried adjusting the settings to 140 MHz, 250 MHz for memory, and 110 power limit, which worked for a couple of days before it happened again. My PSU is a Thermaltake Smart Se 730W.
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Response:
Hi everyone,
I was actually going through this while trying to figure out how to overclock my G1 gaming graphics card. I’m new to overclocking, so I don’t have much experience. I also own a Gigabyte Gtx 970 G1 and after reading this, I tried using MSI Afterburner to boost my GPU clock speed by 150 and memory by 200. But now, when playing games like Far Cry 4 or Watch Dogs, I encounter issues such as a gray screen, freezing, and error messages showing the display adapter stopped working.
I’m curious if this is related to the overclocking. My temperatures are low, and on Ultra settings it reaches a maximum of 66°C. It might be due to driver problems or the overclocking software itself. Should I also adjust voltage or power settings? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Not all problems stem from extremely high overclocks. The Gtx 970 appears to have stability issues with its boost feature, causing voltage drops compared to core speed when using "low" utilization. (https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic...ituations/)
I managed to fix the issue by using EVGA Precision X and enabling k-boost, which locked the voltage at its maximum. With Whiteout Precision X, my Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 was stable on +120 core and +200 memory, achieving +155 and +350 with k-boost. This was only a temporary solution—I don’t want to run the card at full voltage constantly. Hopefully this will resolve.
I also read that many cards remain stable at higher voltages, like +150-160 core and +500 memory. Rumors suggest rev 1.0 models use Samsung memory while rev 1.1 uses cheaper options, which could explain my limited progress (my card is rev 1.1).
I followed the steps on a website:
http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/09/2....VJdZ5sgNg
I increased power limit to 110, clock speed to +140, and memory to +250. For two days, everything worked perfectly—no screens, games ran smoothly—but five minutes later the same error appeared again.
I’m considering reverting to stock clocks to avoid trouble. The main issue seems to be my curiosity about these errors. I’m a bit of a nerd, so I didn’t spend all that money on a high-end PC just to have such problems. But your suggestions are helpful.
The GTX970 is still a powerful card even at stock clocks, so you’re not limited to a high-end build. What kind of error were you seeing? I actually had some success with my 970GTX G1 using a different PSU—my old one (Antec TP3-650) was near its limit, and a newer one with a single 12V rail helped. If you’re using the same old PSU, it might be the cause. What model do you have?
Best of luck, everyone! It’s not an error at all—just something that happens sometimes. I’m trying to understand why this happens and how to fix it. Thanks for your help!
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Adjust the settings back to your default configuration and check for any instability. If the system fails at this stage, it may indicate an underlying issue beyond just excessive overclocking.
First of all, happy new year. Wishing you the best. It’s not a mistake at all, to be honest. While I’ve been playing for about 10-15 minutes, the time isn’t always consistent, my monitor turns grey, and the game freezes... That’s enough. Occasionally, I notice an error such as the display driver stopping or something similar. This happens when the clock speed is +150, memory clock is +250, and power limit stays the same, along with storage too. I tried adjusting it to 140 clock speed, 250 memory clock, and +110 power limit – it worked for a couple of days before it started again. My PSU is a Thermaltake Smart Se 730W.
First of all, keep your power limit at maximum. The system will only use what it needs and will only run at full power if necessary. This might seem odd coming from someone still using a GeForce GTX 460, but I’ve experienced those errors and crashes when trying to overclock my GPU. If you’re using MSI Afterburner, set the voltage to maximum. The “Max” setting is the highest within the safe range – it won’t damage your GPU. Just be careful with EVGA’s Precision X; you can still use the same settings, but if you enable overvoltage, proceed carefully. Using overvoltage may shorten your GPU’s lifespan.
Finally, lower your core clock by 10mHz increments while running a demanding program like Heaven Benchmark until the crashes stop.
To summarize:
- Power limit: Max
- Voltage: Max (overvoltage off)
- Core Clock: Reduce in 10-15 MHz steps until crashes end
I hope this helps.
Go back to your stock configurations and check if the system fails. If it does, it may indicate a more serious issue than just overclocking problems.
If the crash occurs in stock settings, it's likely that the PSU or GPU is not functioning properly.
I support his approach. Consider testing in stock mode before applying my fix.
Hey everyone. I'm running a single 970 gaming card with afterburner set to +179 and memory at +500, achieving temperatures between 61 to 63 degrees. Going beyond that causes problems. I play 4K games on it, and the card is barely handling them. If I add another 970 G1 Gaming, could I still get 60 fps in 4K? I think my AXi 1200 platinum helps a lot—everything else is maxed out.
Use MSI Afterburner.
Core Clock = +150
Memory Clock = +200
After this session, stress-test the GPU with tools like Unengine Valley and perform a benchmark.
Compare your results when using default clocks versus overclocking.
It seems fine overall, but your graphics card experiences crashes and stutters during CSGO gameplay.
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Hi everyone,
I was actually going through this while trying to figure out how to overclock my G1 gaming graphics card. I’m new to overclocking, so I don’t have much experience. I also own a Gigabyte Gtx 970 G1 and after reading this, I tried using MSI Afterburner to boost my GPU clock speed by 150 and memory by 200. But now, when playing games like Far Cry 4 or Watch Dogs, I encounter issues such as a gray screen, freezing, and error messages saying the display adapter stopped working.
I’m curious—was this problem caused by the overclock? My temperatures are low, and on Ultra settings it reaches up to 66°C. It seems the drivers might be the issue. I’m wondering if it’s related to the overclocking software or if there’s another factor involved. Should I try increasing voltage in addition to clock and memory speeds? Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Not all problems are due to extreme overclocking. The Gtx 970 appears to have stability issues with its boost feature, causing voltage drops compared to core speed when using "low" settings. (https://forums.geforce.com/default/topic...ituations/)
I managed to fix the problem by using EVGA Precision X and enabling k-boost, which locked the voltage at its maximum. With Whiteout Precision X, my Gigabyte GTX 970 G1 was stable at +120 core and +200 memory, achieving +155 and +350 with k-boost. This was only a temporary solution—I don’t want to run the card at maximum voltage constantly.
I also read that many cards work well at higher voltages, like +150-160 core and +500 memory. Rumors suggest that some models, like Rev 1.0, use better memory while others, such as Rev 1.1, have cheaper options. This could explain why I only reached +350 with my Rev 1.1 card.
I checked the website and followed the steps carefully. I increased power limits to 110, clock speed to +140, and memory to +250. For two days, everything worked perfectly—no screens, games running smoothly—but five minutes ago the same error appeared again. I’m not sure what’s causing it.
You mentioned a useful article at: http://www.hardocp.com/article/2014/09/2....VJdZ5sgNg
I raised my power limit to 110, clock speed to +140, and memory to +250. For two days it was stable—no screens, games running fine—but five minutes ago the error returned. I’m confused.
You shared helpful information. I’m considering resetting the card back to stock clocks, as I don’t want any ongoing issues. The only frustration is my curiosity. What exactly triggers this error? You know, I’m just a bit of a nerd because I didn’t spend all that money on a high-end PC to have these problems. Still, your suggestions are valuable.
The GTX970 is quite capable even at stock clocks, so you still have a top-tier setup! What kind of error were you seeing? I actually had some success with my Gigabyte 970GTX G1. I didn’t realize I was using an old PSU (Antec TP3-650) and borrowed a newer one with just one 12V rail (the TP3-650 has three 12V on 19A, which is problematic). Now I can run without Precision X, thinking the old PSU was near its limit. What kind of PSU do you have?
Best wishes for the new year.
Honestly, it’s not an error at all. After playing for 10-15 minutes, my monitor would sometimes go gray and games would freeze—then everything would be fine. Occasionally I see errors like the display driver stopping or strange messages.
I tried boosting to 140 clock speed, memory to +250, and power limit to +110. It worked for a couple of days, but then it happened again. My PSU is a Thermaltake Smart Se 730W.
I found this thread after looking at safe overclocks for my G1 970. I have a boost clock of 1529 and haven’t noticed any issues. I read it might be risky, but honestly, the frames are fine.
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My overclock settings atm are
http://gyazo.com/2cf563b5da1411ca8bae9c0fea1ee0dc
I thought they were too high? I tried it on GTA V for an hour and didn’t have any issues. :c