Artifacts with MSI GTX 970 (OC)

[khrystiano]

Hi, I just recently bought this card and today I just started to OC it.. I only can get +140 mhz on core and 450 on mems before artifacts start to appears, some people told me to raise the voltage and TDP (my max voltage is +87 and my TDP is +110) so I did it, just like this:

and well... the game (The Witcher 3) just freezed at the start.. I tried setting +210/450 and game still freezed at the start so I'm just keep setting a lower core/mem, now I'm on 140/400 but Im gettin some artifacts in games and benchs even with the voltage/tdp at max... what should I do to get a better OC?

greetings

 

[HDD-Mod]

Could be a power supply issue, could be a motherboard issue. Lower the OC until it's stable nothing you an do Could even be your GPU it's self.... luck of the draw.... some OC well, some others, just how it goes. Post the rest of the system specs, you could use speccy for the Motherboard and CPU if you don't now the model

 

[khrystiano]

Oh, I forgot to mention, dat image its not mine, it's from a friend who also have the MSI GTX 970 with that settings, I just did the same and it crashed before the game started, after a few resets I think Im ok with 140/460 and tdp 110, but no matter how much do I raise the voltage, if I max. the core/mems the artifacts just appears...

My pc:
i5-3330 @ 3,4mhz
Gigabyte GA-z77-ds3h
8GBs DDR3 1866mhz
MSI GTX 970
Antec HCG 520

 

[HDD-Mod]

Seems like it MAY be your power supply..... Could also be a slight CPU bottleneck, but I'm not sure, check your CPU usage while you're running your game. A 520 watt power supply should be enough to handle that, but it may be a little on the low end. Get back to me with CPU info, and I'll take a look.

Other system specs check out, check the temps on the Motherboard VRM's and CPU temp/load with Speccy or MSI Afterburner

Does the game run fine with the GPU stock?

 

[khrystiano]

Yeah, let me see.. My CPU is actually bottlenecking me in certain zones of certain games like The Witcher 3 (is the one I'm using to test) in places like cities. Well, the game works just fine with the GPU at stock, no artifacts, just perfect.

The problem happens when I OC the GPU, I mean, I know my CPU bottlenecks my GPU but if I set 2 or 3 options to low, my GPU benefits very well with the OC.

If I set more than 140/460 I just get artifacts and no matter if I raise the voltage... the artifacts doens't disappear, I think its because the OC isn't stable, but theres the question, raising the voltage don't solver the problem :\

My PSU is good enough, it has a good quality and I think its quite enough for the single GPU

Greetings!

 

[HDD-Mod]

Gotcha.

Well, yeah. That's part of overclocking, you've found your limit, so back it off a little bit, and that's your max OC. Just how it goes, nothing wrong with that. And that's a pretty nice performance increase regardless

 

[khrystiano]

Okay I have one more question. Do you think the GPU could be damaged by raising the voltage to his maximum value? :\

 

[HDD-Mod]

It's possible, yes.

 

[khrystiano]

and how can I check If my card is not damaged?

 

[HDD-Mod]

You can't lol

Usually damage comes from high temps, so overclocking with a big heatsink or a waterblock reduces the chance of damage by alot. I wouldn't worry about it at all

 

[khrystiano]

Ah, no. Let me explain:

I just raised the voltage the other day (when I created this thread) and the game just freezed two times before it started... But the temps were always under control, 60-65º MAX temp always... so, I think its less prolly the gpu received any dmg, isn't it?

 

[HDD-Mod]

I honestly think it's just instability, it happens to every overclocker, part of it. Do I think damage was done, not really. Just because you max everything out and it still isn't stable doesn't mean that it's damaged lol