Overclock Guidance

[Buffy]

Hey,

I just bought two GTX 970 for Heavensward. I've never overclocked before. I downloaded the MSI Afterburner application. I'm messing with core voltage and and Core Clock and Memory clock.

Am I messing with the right things? I don't know what I'm doing, someone give me some knowledge.

Thanks

[orinthia]

I don't know what I'm doing

A least you admitted that. Realize that overclocking is a lotto in terms of your stable results, and the overclock itself might not make a big difference for the increased temps and possible instability. Still though, increment things slowly, test your baseline with a good different benchmarks and actual games, read up on others' results for similar cards online and what they tweaked, and don't be too disappointed if things don't go as well.

add: first result on google: http://www.extremetech.com/computing...tion-the-price He lists what he did, just don't start with those numbers.

[Kalmado]

As Orinthia said, do increments slowly. After google searching OC benches for my card it was suggested to start with a +150 to the core clock and +200 to memory clock. From there I would increase by +20 on each until I received artifacts, screen tearing, etc. Then I would scale it back by 5 each and go from there. I'd use Heaven, Valley, or some other benchmark tool. My G1 doesn't really overclock good so I only pushed it a little past the stock clocks. I have not messed with voltage on any product so I do not have any input regarding that matter. I hope this helps.

[Buffy]

Yah, ya'll are reinforcing what I was reading. It's annoying doing benchmarks after every change though. First one I did I cranked it and crashed the Heavensward benchmark, lol

[orinthia]

It's a slow process unless you reach a point where it's "good enough" and you never had a crash running benchmarks and games. And keep an eye on your temps if you raise the voltages any since it can cause overheating if not taken care of.

You could say it never really stops being a process though since some problems thereafter could be linked to that overclock. All your current games could be just fine and then something brand new comes out that pushes the card harder than your other stuff and causes crashes because of it. This hardly ever happens but small chance when going for max details at higher screen res. Though some benchmarks can cook cards harder than most any game, like furmark back in the day, so hopefully you have a very solid power supply as well for when the card burns more power.

[Buffy]

900 Watt power supply, should be fine.

However, I'm not really seeing the increases in performance I thought I would see. There is a good chance I leave them stock and let it go. I'm not sure the increased wear and tear is worth the 2-5 fps I might be getting on max.

[The Stig]

As much as a performance it'll net you in benchmarks, my view on it these days is that if you can't tell in a blind test, then it probably doesn't really matter.

Save your time and effort and just use what works. Later on when the hardware gets old and the latest game isn't too good on it, perhaps then would warrant an attempt at overclocking.

If you brought the bits yourself ,I'm unsure about warranties but besides the CPU are GPUs under the same cover? If you blow it accidentally (for whatever reason) would it be possible to get a replacement? System Integrators normally would provide cover, but when it's brought standalone I'm not sure

[Teknique]

Honestly with a single 970 you could run XIV on max settings at a rediculous resolution and still get over 10k score easy. Most cards if you overclock you void the manufacturer warrenty.
But then again i have no idea about overclocking, just that it tends to void warrentys.

[Exander]

Honestly with a single 970 you could run XIV on max settings at a rediculous resolution and still get over 10k score easy. Most cards if you overclock you void the manufacturer warrenty.
But then again i have no idea about overclocking, just that it tends to void warrentys.

Depends entirely on who you buy you're cards from.

EVGA will replace if if its killed by Overclocking... They sell overclocked cards as it is. They make graphics cards specifically For overclocking as well.. "Classified" Cards.

Just need to do you're homework. Grats on buying 2 970's tho they are a beast. I bought a pair of EVGA FTW's that romp up to 1412Mhz when I game. They are pretty much factory overclocked to be about 5% slower than a 980 for $150 cheaper. I can go higher if I custom bio's and increase voltage but for what it does.. I love them.

[Buffy]

Honestly with a single 970 you could run XIV on max settings at a rediculous resolution and still get over 10k score easy. Most cards if you overclock you void the manufacturer warrenty.
But then again i have no idea about overclocking, just that it tends to void warrentys.

As a follow up: I did indeed exceed 10k the first run, which disappointed me because I wanted a higher score.

Then I realized I had done something that reset the SLI, so that 10k was with just one card.

I re-engaged SLI and did 15k without any modifications or overclocking.

So yes, you can get 10k off just one card.