ASUS GTX 980 STRIX SLI OC questions 1.5Ghz Core/8Ghz Mem

[aoch88]

Hi guys, I tried to overclock my ASUS GTX 980 STRIX SLI to 1.5 Ghz Core and 8 Ghz Memory at stock voltage. So far everything works fine, no problems whatsoever. However, I have a few questions:

1. I understand that there is a power limit to these cards and the moment it exceeds, the clock speed will drop. If I look at GPU Tweak monitoring during my gaming session, the highest it went was 103%. Does this mean that I have not reached the power limit and can overclock higher? GPU Tweak monitoring says "Max GPU clock: 1500Mhz"

2. The value in GPU Tweak which I input 1500Mhz is the core normal clock or boost clock? How can I tell/know what is the boost clock?

3. I can overclock without increasing the voltage and I didn't encounter any issues in games like BF4, DA Inquisition. How can I test to make sure if everything is really rock solid stable? If the overclock is not stable, would it result in dropping fps?

4. Do I really need this and has anyone tried it out yet?
http://overclocking.guide/increase-the-nvidia-power-limit-all-cards/

[aoch88]

I did a simple test. I play DA Inquisition same save game/scene with stock settings, I get solid 60 FPS (vsync on)
When I overclock (i.e. 1420Mhz), the same scene tends to get fluctuation in fps and cause stutter. It drops to 57 fps then 60 fps, etc. Any ideas why is that? Is it because the overclock is not stable and I need more vGpu?

[Chino]

1. That is correct.

2. The value you set in GPU Tweak is the Boost Clock. Open GPU-Z. In the Sensor tab, look for the GPU Core Clock reading. Click it and select Show Highest Reading to find your Maximum Boosted Frequency.

3. Usually benchmarking programs like 3DMark or Unigine Heaven will tell you if your overclock is stable.

4. No. Unless you plan to unlock the voltage restriction by NVIDIA, there's no purpose to increase the power limit for your cards.

[aoch88]

Thanks Chino.
It looks like this forum is rather quiet and dead. I can't believe the fact that only 1 response is what I get in ROG forums??? Seriously, is it even the right choice to buy ASUS products with this sort of support/help from the community? 🙂

[Chino]

The response rate for ROG forums is pretty good actually. You don't have to wait days just for a reply. 😛