Changing core voltage of GPU through MSI Afterburner

[muhtaseemjabbar]

I want to overclock my MSI r9 280X and so I need to increase my core voltage but I'm not sure to what extent I should do it since the units for core voltage are a bit confusing.
I followed reliable OC guides online and I want to increase core voltage to 1200mv but the units aren't shown in mvs in Afterburner. Its just at 0 and I can change it to +10, +50 to +100, etc. Refer to this screenshot of my MSI afterburner- http://imageshack.com/a/img843/4253/rpx1.png .So how do I know what value represents 1200mv?

 

[unknownofprob]

I don't tend to change the core voltage when I OC my GPU, I just leave it at the standard it came as, works the same. Unless you really want to do extreme OC, I suggest you change the voltage, which 1200Mhz is high, but not extreme. You'll be fine leaving at at 0.

 

[laviniuc]

default is 1.175v and you're adding to this number. boost voltage is already 1.2v default so i think the card overclocks automatically if it has the tdp/temperature headroom

 

[muhtaseemjabbar]

I don't tend to change the core voltage when I OC my GPU, I just leave it at the standard it came as, works the same. Unless you really want to do extreme OC, I suggest you change the voltage, which 1200Mhz is high, but not extreme. You'll be fine leaving at at 0.

Alright, fair enough. But will the rest of my increased values like core clock, memory clock be effective in improving performance without increasing core clock? I didn't know increasing core voltage was extreme since I thought you always had to do it for ANY overclock

 

[unknownofprob]

It won't be effected unless you go to high-extreme OC, The software will generally increase the voltage automatically to prevent catastrophic voltages being applied, the software will not apply such high voltages if it is not necessary.

 

[muhtaseemjabbar]

default is 1.175v and you're adding to this number. boost voltage is already 1.2v default so i think the card overclocks automatically if it has the tdp/temperature headroom

Yep, it seems you're absolutely right., I left core voltage at default and I ran MSI Kombustor with all other OC settings (like core and memory clock increases) applied and the core voltage reads 1.200V so you're right, the card does overclock automatically. Thanks again.

 

[muhtaseemjabbar]

It won't be effected unless you go to high-extreme OC, The software will generally increase the voltage automatically to prevent catastrophic voltages being applied, the software will not apply such high voltages if it is not necessary.

Alright, so I'll leave it unchanged from Afterburner. Thanks

 

[themyst]

I have an R9 280x as well, and it's odd that yours is 1.175v stock. Mine is actually 1.075v stock, I actually had to bump it to 1.125v for stock settings. I did purchase the card used admittedly, so it's possible the previous owner flashed down the voltage to conserve power.

Anyway, here is what I did for a gaming-only overclock (YMMV)

Core Voltage 1250
Power Limit 20%
Core Clock 1140
Leave Memory voltage/clock alone, minimal gains to be had there.
Fan Speed 100% Manual

For a maxed out overclock given the hardware, same as above except:

Core Voltage 1300
Core Clock 1170

Not sure if you have a standard model with a 1000 core clock or one of the overclocked models, but this overclock is for a standard model R9 280x (PowerColor).

It's worth a shot!

 

[muhtaseemjabbar]

I have an R9 280x as well, and it's odd that yours is 1.175v stock. Mine is actually 1.075v stock, I actually had to bump it to 1.125v for stock settings. I did purchase the card used admittedly, so it's possible the previous owner flashed down the voltage to conserve power.

Anyway, here is what I did for a gaming-only overclock (YMMV)

Core Voltage 1250
Power Limit 20%
Core Clock 1140
Leave Memory voltage/clock alone, minimal gains to be had there.
Fan Speed 100% Manual

For a maxed out overclock given the hardware, same as above except:

Core Voltage 1300
Core Clock 1170

Not sure if you have a standard model with a 1000 core clock or one of the overclocked models, but this overclock is for a standard model R9 280x (PowerColor).

It's worth a shot!

It's probably because my one is the MSI r9 280X and I managed to find out that it comes with stock 1.175V.

 

[Kester135]

I have an R9 280x as well, and it's odd that yours is 1.175v stock. Mine is actually 1.075v stock, I actually had to bump it to 1.125v for stock settings. I did purchase the card used admittedly, so it's possible the previous owner flashed down the voltage to conserve power.

Anyway, here is what I did for a gaming-only overclock (YMMV)

Core Voltage 1250
Power Limit 20%
Core Clock 1140
Leave Memory voltage/clock alone, minimal gains to be had there.
Fan Speed 100% Manual

For a maxed out overclock given the hardware, same as above except:

Core Voltage 1300
Core Clock 1170

Not sure if you have a standard model with a 1000 core clock or one of the overclocked models, but this overclock is for a standard model R9 280x (PowerColor).

It's worth a shot!

Ran this through Heaven Benchmark and it ran a lot smoother with less lag spikes than my noob attempts at overclocking, I did have some artifacts issues but this was after 5 hours of overclocking, benchmarking, readjusting and re-benchmarking also Heaven Benchmark is known for not play nice with the 280X cards. I do have my own fan curve setup, but that is just to save myself from the noise of my failing fans. And because i'm using afterburner 4.1.1 I can't set a core voltage but I found +95 is about the equivalent (FOR MY CARD). BTW I'd be interested to know the trade offs of clocking my gpu ram am I gaining/losing frames, risking stability or is it just temps? Last note: My results on Heaven as I guess you dying to know are as follows:

UPDADE: The image didn't work so I'll just type it out

Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0

FPS: 36.8
Score: 926
Min FPS: 11.0 (it stuttered at the start)
Max FPS: 85.3

System

Platform: Windows NT 6.2 (build 9200) 64bit
CPU Model: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Quad Core CPU Q8300 @ 2.50 GHz (2493 MHz) x4
GPU Model: AMD Radeon 200 Series 15.201.1151.1004 (3072MB) x1

Settings

Render: Direct3D11
Mode: 1920x1080 8xAA fullscreen
Preset: Custom
Quality: Ultra
Tessellation: Extreme

AfterBurner 4.1.1 Settings:

Core Voltage: +95
Power Limit: +20
Temp. Limit: N/A
Core Clock: 1140
Mem. Clock: 1500 - (Will tinker with after info. gained)
Fan Speed: Custom profile

 

[byte0215]

I have an R9 280x as well, and it's odd that yours is 1.175v stock. Mine is actually 1.075v stock, I actually had to bump it to 1.125v for stock settings. I did purchase the card used admittedly, so it's possible the previous owner flashed down the voltage to conserve power.

Anyway, here is what I did for a gaming-only overclock (YMMV)

Core Voltage 1250
Power Limit 20%
Core Clock 1140
Leave Memory voltage/clock alone, minimal gains to be had there.
Fan Speed 100% Manual

For a maxed out overclock given the hardware, same as above except:

Core Voltage 1300
Core Clock 1170

Not sure if you have a standard model with a 1000 core clock or one of the overclocked models, but this overclock is for a standard model R9 280x (PowerColor).

It's worth a shot!

steps how you change the power limit and core voltage