How to Overclock a GPU

 

These days we have a vast community of people that come together with the help of similarity and same goals. Each community has features or characteristics that make it stand out from other communities. An example of these characteristics could be things such as hobbies, passions, an identity or perhaps even traditions.

The thing about enthusiasts is that they like pushing things and learning new ways of making their passion feel variant and more diverse. Not everyone can tackle this situation in the same way nor is it everyone’s cup of tea.

Enthusiasts take months or years of experience and knowledge to finally be able to fully understand a concept. Once it’s in their grasp, they can tweak around however they like in order to fulfill set aims or objectives.

An good example of this practice is the gaming community which has thousands and millions of people coming together under the same umbrella of passion and hobby. This in return supplies innovative ideas running regularly with a steady pace of progress that enables each member of the community to receive more from their passion.

Computers have become a large part in our everyday life and for some enthusiasts, more even so. They are confident in their setups and machines, working hard and building something from the scratch.

One practice really common among most gaming enthusiasts is the art of overlocking a GPU. For easier understanding, we will be explaining each term separately before heading right into how exactly to overclock a GPU.

Not many people know how to overclock their graphic card, and even less are afraid to do so in order to not mess up their computers. Overclocking is a term used for describing in basic words the process of setting your CPU or GPU to run at speeds that are higher than their official speed benchmarks. This basically in other words, increases the component’s clock rate and makes it run on a rate higher than it was designed to run on.

Your graphics card typically runs at a fixed performance level or “clock speed”, which is set by the manufacturer. You can fine tune it and tweak around to increase performance. The higher you overclock your GPU, the more processing power you get.

By overclocking the speed, your GPU will increase in temperature and it will draw more power. It will result in increased rendering speed, smoother games and faster speed.

Can your GPU be overclocked?

Before you start, make sure to clean out the computer, check for any obstructions in air flow, make sure everything is dust free and running smoothly. The last thing you’d want is a damaged component or something that might hinder the overclocking.

Some older models of graphic cards don’t support overclocking so make sure to check online before you get started. Most GPUs released these days support overclocking and some are even built for it.

While you’re at it, also check the voltage since overclocking requires more voltage than normal due to the high processing. It will also generate more heat so make sure you have a good cooling system in place.

Getting Started

To make things easier, you can download a software in order to set standard speeds and put the system through a stress test. You may also want to monitor your GPU temperature to make sure you don’t push it too far.

Some examples of good software you can use include MSI afterburner, and Heaven Benchmark. The stress test is to check whether or not your card can run in a stable condition while gaming or other multimedia tasks.

Somethings or terms on the software you need to watch for are Core Voltage, Fan speed, Temperature Limit, Memory and Core clock and the boosts.

During the stress test, you will see changes in temperature, clock speed, and performance. In an MSI Afterburner, you can go to settings, tick Unlock voltage control, Unlock voltage monitoring, and Force constant voltage.

After a quick reboot, raise the core clock by 5% and see whether you’re running into any weird or unstable glitches, or bugs. Try 10%, or a 50-100 MHz boost with the memory, even though anything less than that will still give you good stable performance.

In case your computer crashes or game hangs, either the hardware isn’t designed to handle it or you can tweak the clock rate or increase the temperature limit to see if it runs on that. It will take a little time to find the perfect combination of settings since every GPU is different.

With your card cleaned up and ready for overclocking, you can typically max out the voltage and power limits on most graphic cards. That might mean 25 percent more power on some GPUs, or only 5-10 percent more power on others.

Two main parts involve overclocking the GPU memory and the GPU core speed. After finding the peak memory speed, adjust the memory clock down slightly (usually 25-50MHz) until it’s stable and there are no glitches.

Make sure to be extra careful with the core since core problems are far more devastating. The combination of these both will give you the optimum levels to run the GPU on.

Things to be careful of is to make sure you don’t overheat the system which may damage components or even the entire setup. Your fans may become louder and it’s okay to increase the fan rate. Keep a close eye on your GPU temperatures and invest in proper cooling.

Since overclocking puts on “stress” on the GPU and the system, it’s recommended to only overclock on games or media that genuinely require so. Pushing it too far may ultimately wear out the GPU faster and give you more problems in the future.

If you’re still getting trouble, try experimenting with different power limits. You are likely to visibly notice a 10 to 15% increase in performance and rendering speed. It allows you to play games at higher resolutions and better speed.