Graphics Card for Better Gaming Performance

If you need a bit extra oomph from your PC’s pics card without spending tons of cash on a new model, overclocking the GPU is a straightforward manner to head about it. And it has become simple, with Windows-based PCs as a minimum—even as the process is time-consuming, it doesn’t require any precise understanding or superior skills. Here’s the way you cross approximately it.

Warning: while the threat is relatively low, there’s a risk that overclocking your GPU or different additives on your PC could harm it. Proceed with a warning, and don’t sue us if your tower catches fire or steals your car.

A Windows-based PC: It’s feasible to overclock GPUs on macOS and Linux. However, Windows remains the house of PC gaming by a significant margin, which we will use in this manual. A discrete pix card: PCI-Express-based total computer cards are still the number one method of playing high-end PC games. This guide has paintings for AMD and NVIDIA cell playing cards on laptops. However, we don’t, without a doubt, propose overclocking those because warmness dissipation is a good deal more excellent tough in notebooks. Don’t do this on Intel graphics or different incorporated structures.

A benchmarking device: You’ll need something that pushes your card to the maximum of its strength to test its stability as you overclock. You can use the integrated benchmark in one of your favorite PC games or pass for a separate software designed for benchmarking. We like Unigine Heaven because it presents stats like clock pace and GPU temperature throughout the run—very reachable if you most effectively have one display.

Graphics Card

MSI Afterburner: This is the Swiss army knife of Windows-based GPU overclocking. Don’t be fooled through the call: although the software program is furnished loose by graphics card maker MSI, you don’t need an MSI card—it must include paintings on any NVIDIA or AMD-based GPU.

GPU-Z: Another staple of PC overclocking. It’s excellent to keep it open while you’re running to look at your effects in actual time.
Once you have got all your equipment hooked up and prepared to move.

Step One: Google Your Card

Every picture card is unique: in its fundamental design from NVIDIA or AMD, in the customizations added by manufacturers like ASUS or Sapphire, and in the path inside the tiny versions and imperfections from the producing technique. GPUs are fantastically complex machines—we’re not gambling with Happy Meal toys right here.

The point is that your outcomes from overclocking may be unique for your system and card. Just because someone with an ASUS GTX 970 STRIX was given one result doesn’t mean you’ll get that same result—you need to go through the (lengthy) manner to peer what your card can manage.

That stated it’s best to recognize as many as feasible about your hardware earlier than diving in. Do a Google search with your card version and “overclock” to see the results others are getting just to get a ballpark estimate and study your card’s particular foibles.

For example, my card, an NVIDIA GeForce GTX 970, has as an alternative famous reminiscence difficulty that makes the last half of gig video RAM carry out much poorer than the opposite three.5GB. That doesn’t affect my efforts to overclock the GPU itself, so I’ll continue beforehand. A universal look for “GTX 970 overclock” is famous for many threads on Tom’s Hardware and NVIDIA’s reputable forums, a particular full manual on ExtremeTech, or even some YouTube videos. Perusing the consequences earlier than persevering can most effectively be used.

Oh, and even as you prepare, it’s a terrific time to check and notice if you’re strolling the present-day version of your Pix card’s video motive force.

Step Two: Benchmark Your Stock Configuration

To look at the effects of your paintings, you’ll first need to look at which you’re starting from. So, run your benchmark device to get a baseline analysis before you do any overclocking. Ensure you crank the snapshot settings up excessively—you want every one of those benchmarks to push your GPU to one hundred of its energy. (Check GPU-Z while walking on the benchmark or in a while to ensure it drove your card to a hundred—if it didn’t, crank the portrait settings up to your benchmark software).

I used three extraordinary benchmarks for my tests, so on my stock GTX 970 earlier than any modifications to the Afterburner app, the results have been, therefore:

Shadow of War benchmark: 40.9 typical FPS, 79.Nine most, 24.2 minimum
3-D Mark Sky Diver: 33683 portraits score, 7814 physics score, 16826 blended rating
Heaven: 1381 specific rating, 54.8 standard FPS, 123.6 most, 24.Five minimal
Save your consequences in whatever format is available. (Some in-recreation benchmarks don’t have a shop option. However, you can simply write them down.) If you’re using Heaven, be aware that to honestly record a run, you want to click on the “Benchmark” button inside the top-left nook.

Step Three: Use Afterburner to Boost Your GPU Clock and Voltage
The Afterburner overclocking device suffers a bit from the “gamer aesthetic,” the unfortunate tendency for corporations to layout gaming-specific equipment to appear like something out of an alien mothership. But there are variables we’re going to focus on: the GPU clock pace and the voltage. The former is the inner pace at which your GPU’s core processor has set itself to run, and the latter is how much energy in volts the card is usually about to take from the PC’s strength supply.

Changing either of those values could make your GPU and PC entirely unstable. The aim is to gently enhance the clock pace and voltage till you run into balance troubles, then pull back and determine a solid most. Note that within the modern-day model of Afterburner, you may need to click on the Settings button (the equipment icon) and allow the “free up voltage manage” option before the slider becomes available to you.

Make a word of the stock settings here (a screenshot may be on hand). You’ll want it in case you make a deaf on the final configuration.

Change the clock velocity first. Raise it by 10 to 20 MHz, then apply the placing with the test mark button. Resist the urge to bump up the clock using large chunks—it’s fantastic to your PC and convey this manner to a screeching halt.

Check GPU-Z to ensure that your GPU is the usage of the new center clock cost. After applying the modifications in Afterburner, GPU-Z needs to display the default “lively” clock and the newly implemented clock in the “Default Clock” and “GPU Clock” fields, respectively.