[SOLVED] How accurate ?

[JasonNs_]

So yesterday I was overclocking my gtx 1660 without touching the voltage, at the same time I was running MSI Kombuster. I enabled artifact display, and it started showing numbers, while I can't see any flickering etc on the screen, is it accurate ? Also how safe is OC scanner in MSI Afterburner ?

 

[Eximo]

I imagine yes, pulling numbers right out of the GPU memory.

Relatively safe to overclock Nvidia GPUs, they are factory limited on voltage, power, and temperature. All you are really doing is adjusting the boost offsets. If it gets too warm, it will back off the frequency and power.

Only when you remove those limits is there danger. That means a BIOS mode or a physical mod to the shunt measuring input current.

 

[JasonNs_]

I imagine yes, pulling numbers right out of the GPU memory.

Relatively safe to overclock Nvidia GPUs, they are factory limited on voltage, power, and temperature. All you are really doing is adjusting the boost offsets. If it gets too warm, it will back off the frequency and power.

Only when you remove those limits is there danger. That means a BIOS mode or a physical mod to the shunt measuring input current.

but i heard if you increase much voltage even without mod you can fry your gpu ? also do you think i should use OC scanner to find the best oc for my card ?

 

[NightHawkRMX]

Don't have to worry about that as Nvidia isn't going to let you actually increase the core voltage much at all on that GPU. Sure you can drag the slider, but It does nothing, at least with my EVGA GTX1660.

I even vbios modded mine to increase power limit. Still nothing.

 

[JasonNs_]

Don't have to worry about that as Nvidia isn't going to let you actually increase the core voltage much at all on that GPU. Sure you can drag the slider, but It does nothing, at least with my EVGA GTX1660.

I even vbios modded mine to increase power limit. Still nothing.

is it okay to game with my gpu while its overclocked, i mean msi artifacts showing some numbers, but visually i cant see them on my screen, also i tested the games, and it was stable, or do you think i should run OC scanner and let the software find the best for me ?

 

[Eximo]

Voltage is more or less fixed unless you do something drastic. Talking like 50-100mV range beyond the stock value. Increasing the power target should allow the voltage up to the maximum.

vBIOS mods work better with AMD as I recall. Nvidia takes a pretty hard stance on not being able to get performance similar to the next tier up. (Though now the field is pretty wide, so not as much of a concern)

Shunt mods are the quick and dirty way to add power to a card, basically just tricks the measurement into thinking it is still much lower by halving the resistance across the shunt (by adding another shunt on top)

Really hardcore overclockers simply solder on their own VRM boards and control the inputs directly. On some cards I believe they have also used I2C connections to take over the VRMs from the card and give them commands directly. Definitely seen that on

 

[Eximo]

is it okay to game with my gpu while its overclocked, i mean msi artifacts showing some numbers, but visually i cant see them on my screen, also i tested the games, and it was stable, or do you think i should run OC scanner and let the software find the best for me ?

Have you confirmed the performance overclocked is better than a lower setting? Recoverable problems will just make the GPU run more cycles. A high number in your overclock doesn't necessarily mean the card is running faster if there are errors happening.

No harm will come to the card, just probably a little unstable at your maximum point. Test stock, test a mild overclock, test your maximum, and then back it off a little. Compare everything with the same test and see if your results get worse at the top. If they don't, then stick with it.

 

[JasonNs_]

Have you confirmed the performance overclocked is better than a lower setting? Recoverable problems will just make the GPU run more cycles. A high number in your overclock doesn't necessarily mean the card is running faster if there are errors happening.

No harm will come to the card, just probably a little unstable at your maximum point. Test stock, test a mild overclock, test your maximum, and then back it off a little. Compare everything with the same test and see if your results get worse at the top. If they don't, then stick with it.

i overclocked my gpu, 180mhz core + 800mhz memory, got extra 15 FPS which i think is worth it for gtx 1660 ? and i ran 3 games highest settings i didnt see any flickering or crashing, but in same time msi kombuster showing artifacts numbers which scaring me a bit, shall i stick to it ? imma test mild OC and ill tell u the news.

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I was able to get my 1660 to 1660 super speeds (in superposition) with stock voltage oc on core and vram, so you might have some luck.

You aren't going to damage the card. Nvidia has too many protections/limits in place for this to happen.

Likely the reason you do not see any arctifacts is error correction. You don't see them, but they are there most likely, so you do want to make sure it is stable.

 

[JasonNs_]

I was able to get my 1660 to 1660 super speeds (in superposition) with stock voltage oc on core and vram, so you might have some luck.

You aren't going to damage the card. Nvidia has too many protections/limits in place for this to happen.

Likely the reason you do not see any arctifacts is error correction. You don't see them, but they are there most likely, so you do want to make sure it is stable.

may i know how much did you overclock ? so i might try that 😀

 

[NightHawkRMX]

I no longer own the card, but I'll try to dig up my settings if I have a photo

 

[JasonNs_]

I no longer own the card, but I'll try to dig up my settings if I have a photo

im so confused, i just added 150mhz core and ran kombuster, 0 artifacts, when i put 160 it started showing artifacts, so i sticked to 150, after that i added ONLY 100mhz to memory, had 3 artifacts in 3 mins ? how ? is that my maximum ?

 

[Eximo]

Depends on the memory. Each GPU and each memory chip is somewhat unique. They were sold with a certain frequency in mind, and exceeding that is the definition of overclocking. Not every GPU and memory is going to be able to achieve the best possible results.

Why it is kind of useless to look at someone else's overclock settings.

If increasing the memory by 100 is too much, drop it down a notch and try again. The point is to get the most performance possible with YOUR card.

 

[JasonNs_]

Thanks to both of you guys, found the best OC, 140mhz core and 800mhz memory and ran fine without single artifact.