Question GPU overclocking query

[Katakuri2023]

Therefore, I'm overclocking a 3060. I re-pasted it and using more expensive thermal pads this time. Do you always use your overclock, or do you sometimes go back to the normal setting?

 

[Lutfij]

Welcome to the forums, newcomer!

Once overclocked, they remain as is, until showing signs of artifacting or anomalies that didn't exist prior to an overclock. One thing to keep in mind is in spite of getting higher quality thermal pads, you should make sure your airflow in the case is setup right and that your PSU is delivering stable power(via a reliably built PSU).

 

[tmcc]

Always always always start your OS with default, non-OC GPU settings. Uncheck apply previous settings on load in afterburner/X1/etc

Once you log in and whatnot, then apply your OC settings.

 

[hotaru.hino]

As far as I know, most video cards don't have any means to bake in overclock settings unless you flash the vBIOS in them. The moment you close MSI Afterburner or whatever utility of choice you use, the video card goes back to the default behavior.

As for me I have specific V-F curves depending on what I'm doing and how much I want the video card to push. I've noticed in some games that if left to its own devices, the video card will gladly consume more power but not output more frames. However in most situations I don't really notice a performance hit anyway, so I tend to leave it closer to base clock speeds than not.

 

[A_Goat]

Therefore, I'm overclocking a 3060. I re-pasted it and using more expensive thermal pads this time. Do you always use your overclock, or do you sometimes go back to the normal setting?

I typically buy hardware that is more than I need, so I can keep it as long as possible. For example, on my new 6900-xt, I have it undervolted. Once I start to experience a GPU bottleneck, I will then run it at stock settings. Once I experience a bottleneck again, I will increase OC little by little as needed over the life of the card. By the time I get rid of it, it will be OCd to the limit of its cooling capacity.

 

[alceryes]

I typically buy hardware that is more than I need, so I can keep it as long as possible. For example, on my new 6900-xt, I have it undervolted. Once I start to experience a GPU bottleneck, I will then run it at stock settings. Once I experience a bottleneck again, I will increase OC little by little as needed over the life of the card. By the time I get rid of it, it will be OCd to the limit of its cooling capacity.

You may be disappointed at the small performance difference in the three scenarios you describe. Of course, it depends on each individual card.

I've got my 6900 XT overclocked and undervolted and am getting over 22k graphics score in Time Spy (all while staying under 300W TBP). I see many people over at overclock.net who are feeding the card over 450W, tweaking settings with MPT, and barely getting 23.5k-24.5k for Time Spy graphics score. 300W really is the sweet spot for this card in terms of performance/watt.

If you want to keep the card as long as possible, I suggest a couple of things -

1. Turn off zero-RPM fan mode NOW. Zero-RPM fan mode causes HS temps to ramp up more than 15ºC higher than a low (barely audible) always on setting that ramps up with temp.
2. Do the easy pcb back thermal pad mod if you have the reference card or any card where they neglect to use thermal pads on the back, even though there is a full metal shroud covering the back. See here -

https://forums.tomshardware.com/thr...b-back-thermal-pad-mod.3746596/#post-22590730

 

[sizzling]

With my 3080 I gave up overclocking, but I do undervolt it. I did overclock it and it did improve synthetic benchmarks. However, the real world improvement to fps was negligible and made no difference to how games felt. The extra noise and heat was very noticeable so I put it back to stock and worked on undervolting which has resulted in games that feel just as good but a cooler and quieter system.

 

[alexbirdie]

The extra noise and heat was very noticeable so I put it back to stock and worked on undervolting which has resulted in games that feel just as good but a cooler and quieter system.

I agree with you, because I got the same experience. Works great for me and cool and power saving.

 

[drea.drechsler]

One consensus opinion I've seen of most modern GPU is you have to start with undervolting before considering to overclock. More often than not undervolting alone nets better performance with more consistent frame times as well as higher .1% and 1% lows even if not higher raw FPS, which rarely needs much improvement anyway.

The best part of it is undervolting in the absence of overclocking helps prolong component life because it both lowers operating temp and lowers electrical stress.