GTX 980 TI Overclocking Newbie

C

chanchan

Limp Gawd
Joined
Sep 14, 2005
Messages
482
Hi Friends,

It's been a long time since I tried overclocking video cards! Due to some disappointing issues and limitations with my old R9 290X I switched over.

I couldn't find any good comprehensive guide to over-clocking my card, I've gotten as far as using the MSI Afterburner and using some suggested speeds that I've seen majority of users and reviewers have hit - 1214 core / 1392 boost / 7600 mem I'm not sure if I can go higher with some further basic adjustments.

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Few confusing things are:

-What is Power Limit and how come I can only go 104%? I read everywhere they always say move to 125% right away
-What is Power Limit and linking to Temp Limit and this prioritization feature?
-Increasing the Core Voltage seems to have some mixed results, should I just leave at +0mV?

I was able to run Unigine Valley for 8 hours with these settings @ 2560x1440 with 8xAA so I think it's stable, the above screen shot is from that run.

Thanks!
 
The stock bios will limit you on power AND voltage.
If the card is already pre overclocked, it will already have a boosted power profile so the remaining amount you can tweak is reduced.
But you still may not be able to get the full 125% without a modded bios.

The power limit does not link to temp limit.
You are setting which one you want to be the first limiting factor.
Considering the cards bios will limit temp anyway and you want to leave power limit at max, this option doesnt matter.
Use it only if you want to set the temp limit to something lower than 83C.

Increasing core voltage wont achieve much unless you get a voltage unlocked BIOS.
No matter what I set my voltage to it rarely goes over 1.19V with my stock bios.
I'll refer you to a post I made earlier which might help.
http://hardforum.com/showpost.php?p=1041930569&postcount=25
Note these were highest overclock results. I adjusted to find the highest stable clock speed with MSI Afterburner. I used that to set the fan profile as well.

Many cards are extremely limited with the stock bios such that its practically impossible to harm them with overclocking.

Higher fan speed and maybe a bit higher voltage will help you.
But when the card gets over 60C it starts to automatically reduce the boost clock to try and remain stable.
So better cooling is key. Then unlocking the BIOS voltage and power are next.
 
Last edited:
The software for your specific card will be how you access those modes.
Afterburner will not know anything about them.
It will use the clocks that are set in the BIOS and let you overclock from there.
 
Nenu said:
The software for your specific card will be how you access those modes.
Afterburner will not know anything about them.
It will use the clocks that are set in the BIOS and let you overclock from there.
Click to expand...

Thanks! I read through the Gigabyte G1 Gaming review and Kyle explained it pretty thoroughly in there, but MSI Afterburner has been working and it's stable so I don't want to mess around for now :)

I really wished my card would give me a bigger Power Limit, I seem to be maxing my card out at 1350 - 1400 boost.
 
Higher fan speed is key.
Beyond that you need a higher power/voltage unlocked bios.

I ordered an Accelero Xtreme IV cooler for mine yesterday.
Then I can use the 1.25V 450W unlocked bios without overheating.
 
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