MSI afterburner overclock doesn't work

[fredrikinzix]

I have an MSI GTX 980ti.

I can set overclock, i can increase voltage and everything, but nothing applies, it says that my base should be around 1250MHz, but still when i open games it goes from 912MHz to 1139ish MHz, doesn't matter if i "overclock" or not, it always sits on those two values, the same with the voltage, i thought it might be a voltage issue and that it couldn't go any higher, but i increased voltage, and it did nothing, it says "+20" but nothing happens.

these are my current settings

IDLE: https://gyazo.com/35c30c28c70697664748b88793ade1e9
LOAD: https://gyazo.com/c1705d8086c7c065570060e5011b91cc

As you can see, it's nowhere near where the "boost" and "base" values should be. I've tried reinstalling GPU drivers and reinstalling Afterburner, it did nothing. The only thing i've found from googling is changing a setting "enable unofficial overclock", but apparently it only makes it so you can overclock past the limits of the program.

 

[PC-4LIFE]

Download GPU-Z.
In the sensors tab, check if there is a perfcap, and list the perfcap here.

 

[fredrikinzix]

Download GPU-Z.
In the sensors tab, check if there is a perfcap, and list the perfcap here.

The perfcap is listed as utilization.

i'm not sure but i feel like sometimes the GPU doesn't go up to 100%, it always lays around 40%.
https://gyazo.com/1f2e78a729ce9edd8bcc6dc9f04486a1
I was wrong. for some reason the overclocks now work "over" my limits. but hell thank you i guess.

if it isn't any trouble, i saw some people say that you can safely max out the voltage slider in afterburner. Is this true?
Also just some basics, should i focus on mem clock or core clock?

EDIT
it stopped working again, i tried increasing both the mem and core clock to +175, and it still stayed at 1139, which is the new idle for some reason.
i tried lowering back to the first settings the overclocks worked on, but it didn't help.
this is under load: https://gyazo.com/bd34fb1dd53a99936f89dc6f4a4b16f0

EDIT 2 https://gyazo.com/f9743b6dcccdd0d44bfa3972dfbb6c78
I started the "bus interface test" on GPUz because it was the closest i have to a benchmark installed. and it went up to 1329mhz, which doesn't make sense considering i haven't overclocked and it says that the boost is 1228mhz. Also the voltage went up a little, and the perfcap went from utilization to VRel. I feel like the clock is random in a way, it doesn't make any sense, sometimes it goes up, sometimes it doesn't, and when it does boost, it goes to what i feel is almost random numbers.

 

[PC-4LIFE]

Download GPU-Z.
In the sensors tab, check if there is a perfcap, and list the perfcap here.

The perfcap is listed as utilization.

i'm not sure but i feel like sometimes the GPU doesn't go up to 100%, it always lays around 40%.
https://gyazo.com/1f2e78a729ce9edd8bcc6dc9f04486a1
I was wrong. for some reason the overclocks now work "over" my limits. but hell thank you i guess.

if it isn't any trouble, i saw some people say that you can safely max out the voltage slider in afterburner. Is this true?
Also just some basics, should i focus on mem clock or core clock?

EDIT
it stopped working again, i tried increasing both the mem and core clock to +175, and it still stayed at 1139, which is the new idle for some reason.
i tried lowering back to the first settings the overclocks worked on, but it didn't help.
this is under load: https://gyazo.com/bd34fb1dd53a99936f89dc6f4a4b16f0

EDIT 2 https://gyazo.com/f9743b6dcccdd0d44bfa3972dfbb6c78
I started the "bus interface test" on GPUz because it was the closest i have to a benchmark installed. and it went up to 1329mhz, which doesn't make sense considering i haven't overclocked and it says that the boost is 1228mhz. Also the voltage went up a little, and the perfcap went from utilization to VRel. I feel like the clock is random in a way, it doesn't make any sense, sometimes it goes up, sometimes it doesn't, and when it does boost, it goes to what i feel is almost random numbers.

Util means it isn't being used, or not as much as it needs to be.
VRel is a pretty common one, and I'm not sure you can do anything about it. My card is limited to 98% becasue of VRel. Changing Voltage or power consumption doesn't change it.

Maxing out the voltage will increase heat, and decrease card lifespan.
Whether you want to do that depends on how long you plan on keeping the card.