I have a question on overclocking.

[Medalofhalo]

Hello,I have a question on overclocking my new GPU to get more FPS , I recently purchased a Sapphire R9 270 @GB overclock edition and it says on the back it stays cool when overclocking and in the AMD Overdrive tab in the catalyst control center it has a graph of a way to overclock.and I was wondering how to overclock with out my computer doing a massive death explosion.I am using a 480W max PSU and the GPU needs a 500W PSU,I really want to know if it is safe to overclock

 

[CGurrell]

See http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/340404-33-wolfram-overclocking-guide

 

[nikoli707]

what is the brand and model number of the power supply? knowing what the amp rating on the 12v rail or rails will be the indicator of what you are working with. also knowing what processor you have is helpful.

 

[Medalofhalo]

what is the brand and model number of the power supply? knowing what the amp rating on the 12v rail or rails will be the indicator of what you are working with. also knowing what processor you have is helpful.

PSU - http://www.logisyscomputer.com/viewsku.asp?SKUID=PS480D2&DID=POWERSUPPLY
CPU - AMD Athlon X2 340 dual core 3.20 Ghz

that is the AMD overdrive feature http://imgur.com/OebLl2u

 

[JackNaylorPE]

Forget the advertising .... let's skip what it says on the back of the card and see what it actually is.

1. Download and install the flying doughnut (Furmark), MSI AFterburner and HWiNFO64 or GPUz
2. Run Furmark till the yellow graph reaches the right side of screen.
3. Record max temp., max voltages and max power draw.
4. Use MSI Afterburner and slowly work ya way up to the settings in the 2nd link below
5. Rinse and repeat for steps 2 and 3

The R2xx series cards are very aggressively overclocked in the box and therefore you won't be able to squeeze that much more out of it.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_270x_gaming_review,8.html

Using one of the better custom cards...the MSI for example will pull 177 watts.

http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/msi_radeon_r9_270x_gaming_review,24.html

They were able to overclock it from 1120 MHz to 1175 MHz .... just 4.9% ..... adding 4.9% to 177 watts is just 8 watts....even doubling that adds just 17 watts . I highly doubt that your PSU will be bothered by the extra 17 watts unless it is already below the recommended minimum of 500 watts

AMD claims that the R series cards are fine at 95C. .... I'm a bit more conservative and wouldn't extend past 85C.

Here's their settings

PSU - http://www.logisyscomputer.com/viewsku.asp?SKUID=PS480D2&DID=POWERSUPPLY

that is the AMD overdrive feature http://imgur.com/OebLl2u

That is a bit light on the quality / size recommendations tho still well below the max draw of 286 watts in the Guru3D tests

 

[nikoli707]

yes i agree... that power supply is strangely low end with not much head room.

i wouldn't bother with overclocking your 270 since with that cpu your already seeing a big bottleneck. you would be better off getting a new cpu altogether.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($83.69 @ Amazon)
Total: $83.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-13 20:07 EDT-0400

this one should drop right into your motherboard no problem and will give you a huge jump in performance all around.

 

[Medalofhalo]

yes i agree... that power supply is strangely low end with not much head room.

i wouldn't bother with overclocking your 270 since with that cpu your already seeing a big bottleneck. you would be better off getting a new cpu altogether.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant

CPU: AMD Athlon X4 760K 3.8GHz Quad-Core Processor ($83.69 @ Amazon)
Total: $83.69
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-08-13 20:07 EDT-0400

this one should drop right into your motherboard no problem and will give you a huge jump in performance all around.

okay,thank you for your advice