Overclocking an NVIDIA GeForce video card

From year to year, technology develops: new computer models are released, the most interesting game, but... that’s not the problem - the computer’s video adapter, unfortunately, tends to become outdated. What to do? Buying a new computer is an option; or is it possible to overclock your computer's graphics adapter?

So, in this article we will look at how to overclock an NVIDIA GeForce graphics adapter (I must say, this is one of the most reliable GAs on the market).
Often it works “to the fullest”, but not to the limit of its capabilities; it uses only 70-80% of the resources put into it. It is possible to overclock the graphics adapter using overlocking.

What is Overlocking? This is a procedure during which some computer component is overclocked by increasing frequencies above the standard mode; this should increase the performance of the video card.

To overclock a video card, you need to know the following information:

1. To increase the frame rate, you will increase the voltage of the microcircuits - this means that the power supply may not be able to cope with the load. It is possible that this will never bother you, but you also cannot exclude the possibility that the computer will turn off only after turning on. The only way out of their situation is to buy a new power supply.
   
   
2. You are already happy playing productive games at high settings without bugs, when suddenly your computer turns off due to overheating? This is normal, because you have increased the performance of the video card, therefore its “heat dissipation” will also increase. There is reason to think about upgrading the cooling system: installing a new cooler or adding a liquid cooling system.
   
   
3. It is necessary to increase the frequency gradually: 10-15% of the standard setting will be more than enough to start with. Otherwise, the video card may not be able to cope with the load and fail.
   

If, when running a powerful game or a specialized test for a long time, the temperature readings remain normal, then try the following steps:

• BIOS firmware
  
  
• use of specialized utilities
  

The first option, that is, flashing, is recommended for more experienced users. Beginners are advised to limit themselves to the following applications:

• GPU-Z
  
  
• NVIDIA Inspector
  
  
• FurMark
  
  
• SpeedFan
  

If you decide to overclock your video card, we warn you: in this case, the damage will not be repaired under warranty.

Step 1: Measure and track temperatures

SpeedFan shows you the temperature of some computer components. These, of course, include the graphics adapter. It is necessary for the utility to work non-stop: when editing some criteria, you need
“measure” temperature changes.

If it rises to about 65 degrees under heavy load, don't worry - it's within normal limits. If this heating to such a temperature occurred without a load, the best solution would be to abandon the idea of ​​overclocking your computer.

Step 2: “Stress test” with FurMark

1. After starting the program, click "GPU Stress Test"so that the program loads the computer through.
   
   

   
   
   

2. When a notification appears on the screen, tap it "OK". The notification itself warns of possible PC overheating.
   
   

   
   
   

3. Then a window with a cool animation, the so-called “Donut”, will open on the screen. You will be able to look at it for about a quarter of an hour, while at the same time observing the temperature indicator. When the test time is up, the reading should not be higher than 80 degrees.
   
   

   
   

FurMark can also perform a video card benchmarking procedure. In the end, you will have an assessment of the performance of your video card and you will be able to compare it with what will be on your PC after overclocking.

Action 3: Measurement of standard indicators

Most of the NVIDIA GeForce data will be examined in detail below:

1. It is necessary to look at the values ​​of such indicators as "Pixel Fill Rate" (“pixel fill rate”), "Texture Fill Rate" (“texture fill rate”) and "Bandwidth" (“memory bandwidth”). Games depend on these indicators, because they demonstrate the performance of the video card.
   
   

   
   
   

2. Below are indicators of the frequency of the graphics core memory and shader units of the video card, which will be replaced by you in the future. In the utility you will see them as "GPU Clock", «Memory» и "Shader". If you increase this data, performance will improve.
   
   

   
   

Step 4: Change the graphics adapter frequency

Perhaps this stage will be the most important, and the main thing is not to rush, do everything slowly and deliberately, so as not to damage the device. The work will be done using the NVIDIA Inspector program.

If you decide to cancel subsequent actions, then use the button "Apply Defaults".

1. On the main screen you can monitor indicators such as frequency "Clock", voltage, speed of rotation of the cooler blades in a row "Fan" and the temperature indicator of the video card. And everything is in percentage.
   
   
2. Click on the button "Show Overlocking", and a panel for changing settings will open in front of you. Raise the value first "Shader Clock" somewhere to 10 percent, moving the slider to the right. "GPU Clock" will be upgraded automatically. To save what you have changed, click on "Apply Clock&Voltage".
   
   

   
   
   

3. Next, you need to check the functionality of the video card with updated settings. To do this, re-open the FurMark application and launch “Bagel”. The picture should run smoothly, without artifacts or any bugs, and the temperature should not exceed the threshold of 85 degrees. If this threshold has been raised, then change the frequency to a lower one and restart the test. Then repeat this algorithm, and, again, if necessary, reduce the frequency.
   
   
4. If the temperature of the video card and other components does not rise above normal, then it is possible to add frequencies. Again, we would like to remind you that all this needs to be done slowly and be able to “finish” on time.
   
   
5. In the end, all you have to do is increase the column "Voltage" approximately one division and be sure to save the changes.
   

Step 5: Save Settings

You can save the new settings by clicking on the button "Creat Clocks Chortcut".

After this action, a shortcut will be created, by launching which you will apply the new configurations. It is also possible to set this file to automatic download by placing it in a folder called "Avtozagruzka", which is in the menu Pusk.

Step 6: Review changes

Finally, you need to repeat the tests in the FurMark program, make sure that you were able to change the values ​​in the GPU-Z program. Calculating the percentage of performance improvement will be simple: compare the initial and received data.

A process such as Overlocking a video card is quite long and complicated, it requires a lot of attention. A competent approach will increase the performance of the video card by up to 20%, that is, increase it to the level of luxury devices.

In this article, we looked at the procedure for overclocking an NVIDIA GeForce video card. Before trying to overclock your video card, follow the basic recommendations at the beginning of the article so as not to cause any damage to it.