What is a safe overclock settings for my Asus GTX 980 Strix card?

[Jason Burge]

I am a complete beginner at overclocking of any kind and decided to try my hand at it. I heard that doing the wrong thing when overclocking can mess up your parts so I need help so I can know what I am doing.

I am using MSI afterburner to overclock my GPU. I dont even know what any of these perameters mean. So what settings and why should they be set to that value?

Core Voltage?
Power Limit?
Temperture Limit?
Core Clock?
Memory Clock?
Fan Speed? -says auto by that. I guess I dont need to set anything.

Thanks for the help.

Here is my current readings on Afterburner.

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[gotovato]

Overclocking on the stock bios is basically 100% safe. They implement idiot proof max values for a reason. This meaning, you can basically max out power target, and voltage without killing anything. Most important factor? Temps. Keep the temps in check. Below 80ish is safe. Fan speed doesn't matter as long as the card is running cool and you don't mind the noise. Basically I'd start by bumping up the core clock by 15mhz or so till it crashes during a stress test like heaven or valley or fire strike. This will tell you max OC at stock voltage. Next you do the same with memory. Once this is done you add voltage and keep going till its unstable or your temps are too high, then just dial back your settings. With stock locked cards I typically crank the voltage to max and power to bout 110% or so. I think the max it'll let you go is 125% if I remember correctly. You will not risk killing anything if the card is running cool. Temps will be your killer. Once you think you have a stable OC run heaven, let it loop for 20min or so, then run valley, and fire strike, then game. I've had OC's pass benchmarks yet crash in games. This is normal. Either way, you should be able to get 1450mhz on the core or so. It depends on silicone lottery. My buddies 980 strix did 1480 stable with voltage maxed, power at max, and fans at 65% and it stayed under 75c at all times.

Also, pay attention to your benchmark scores. Make sure they are going up, not down. If they're going down, your OC is not stable.

 

[Tradesman1]

Here's a basic guide:
http://lifehacker.com/how-to-overclock-your-video-card-and-boost-your-gaming-30799346