GPU Overclocking 101

[XGZiDeus]

Hello

I'm a total novice.

I have GTX 1080 with an i7 7700. Today, Asus released and update for their Aegis III software where they added the overclocking feature.



I did some research and for a non-techie, this can still be very complicated. So, my question is:

1) Has anyone used this app for overclocking?
2) Would you or would you not recommend this app for overclocking?

Google searches almost always come up with this tool -- https://www.msi.com/page/afterburner

I really don't know where to begin. Pointing me to the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks

[XGZiDeus]

More searching got me this -- https://www.asus.com/event/VGA/GPU-Tweak-II/?_ga=2.244832837.1932420242.1527449319-161477819.1527449...

[Nate152]

Hello XGZiDeus

I'll direct you to here.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?87087-Overclocking-the-Strix-GTX-1080

[XGZiDeus]

Nate152 wrote:
Hello XGZiDeus

I'll direct you to here.

https://rog.asus.com/forum/showthread.php?87087-Overclocking-the-Strix-GTX-1080

Thanks. I did go through that with my limited and novice understanding and I do think I got a decent grasp about it. It didn't see anything about CPU overclocking though.

That said, What is the difference in terms of performance, overall stability and reliability when you OC your GPU and CPU? Should you only OC on or the other or both?

Appreciate the info.

[Nate152]

Some games benefit more than others from overclocking the CPU, all games benefit from overclocking the gpu. At 1440p (with AA disabled), you should gain about 10 Frames Per Second from overclocking just the GPU. With the 10 Series GPU's (Pascal), once the temp hits a certain temperature or hits the power limit, it will start to throttle. If you keep your GPU temp below 70c this should help sustain the highest clock speed.

Intel says up to 85c is ok for 24/7 on the CPU. I delidded the i7-7700k, have it liquid cooled and overclocked to 5.2GHz with 1.440v.

Benchmarks will show a big improvement overclocking both. When overclocking you must raise the voltage, and raising the voltage raises temps so good cooling is a must. Stability and reliability is achieved by running a stress test.

As of now I use MSI Afterburner to overclock the GPU, and overclock the CPU in the bios. Afterburner has onscreen display to see frequencies, temps, voltages and frames per second in real time.

Here is Far Cry 5 at 3840 x 2400 resolution, a tad higher than 4k.

[XGZiDeus]

Thanks a bunch!! This info is priceless! That video too is just jaw dropping. Video quality is beyond superb!!

I managed to get an 8% boost from my GPU alone netting a decent increase in FPS. I know I can still go up further but as a novice I would tread carefully. It's very stable (so far) and the temperature is where it should be.

I'm quite pleased.

[Nate152]

Overclock your GTX 1080 as far as it will go, you can't damage it as Nvidia has the voltage capped at 1.093v.

As for the CPU, temperature controls how far you can overclock it. For stress testing, you can take it up to 90c, for gaming and everyday use 80c would be the max I'd feel comfortable with even though Intel says 85c 24/7 is fine.

[XGZiDeus]

Noted. I'll get to OC my CPU when I upgrade. My i7 7700 stock performance will have to do for now.

How much. More juice would you consider a good OC for the GPU alone, specifically the GTX 1080? Say 10%? 25%? Something that could sustain 24/7 gaming. Stable and doesn't burn out.

[Nate152]

Slide the voltage to 100%, slide the power target to 120%.

Start with the Core Clock.

Open a game or a benchmark, ALT+Tab out of the game/benchmark and slide the core clock up 10MHz and click apply, Alt+Enter to return to the game, play for a minute to see it's stable. Keep doing this until it crashes or artifacts then back it off 10MHz - 20MHz. Most if not all GTX 1080's can hit 2000MHz, the good ones can overclock to 2100MHz - 2150MHz.

Then do the Memory.

The memory overclocks very far on Pascal you should be able to overclock the memory anywhere from 11000MHz - 11600MHz, do just like above in 100MHz increments then back it off 10MHz until it stops artifacting/crashing. Some games/benchmarks will vary on the overclocks.

Let me know what you end up with.

Do you have the 7700 or 7700k ?

[XGZiDeus]

Nate152 wrote:
Slide the voltage to 100%, slide the power target to 120%.

Start with the Core Clock.

Open a game or a benchmark, ALT+Tab out of the game/benchmark and slide the core clock up 10MHz and click apply, Alt+Enter to return to the game, play for a minute to see it's stable. Keep doing this until it crashes or artifacts then back it off 10MHz - 20MHz. Most if not all GTX 1080's can hit 2000MHz, the good ones can overclock to 2100MHz - 2150MHz.

Then do the Memory.

The memory overclocks very far on Pascal you should be able to overclock the memory anywhere from 11000MHz - 11600MHz, do just like above in 100MHz increments then back it off 10MHz until it stops artifacting/crashing. Some games/benchmarks will vary on the overclocks.

Let me know what you end up with.

Do you have the 7700 or 7700k ?

I only have the i7 7700.

The BEST I got is 2139 MHz for my GPU clock and 11696 for the memory clock. It's stable but I'm worried that it goes up and stays around 83-85C on a 60 sec benchmark test. I'm not comfortable with it for extended gaming. I know I could probably still put on a little more but for just minimal gain but putting too much stress on the GPU.

I'll stop here. For now at least. I'm very pleased w/ my GPU's performance. Once again I really appreciate the tips. It helped bigtime!