Learn the fundamentals of how to overclock your GPU. Knowing how to overclock will mean a free speed lift for gaming PC. Let us show you the ways to overclock your GPU.
The first step to check if you want to do anything to your PC is to make sure it is totally up to date. Check Windows Update to get your operating system up to date. In addition, make sure the latest drivers, whether it is an AMD or Nvidia GPU, for your graphics card are also installed. Next, prepare your overclocking software.
You may try MSI's Afterburner software; its latest beta version includes monitoring for DirectX 12 titles. It has an easy-to-use interface and handy on-screen displays to keep track of in-game things. Try also downloading the Unigine Heaven benchmark. It is a GPU-intensive 3D rendering test, which will stress your card with a continuous loop.
Benchmark Baseline Performance to Overclock GPU
Benchmarking is a dry, boring process, it will reveal in black and white what overclocking has done to you GPU. To check, test a game with a built-in benchmark at your present settings and take note of the minimum frame rate scores and final average. In addition, Heaven tests your monitor's native resolution by hitting F9.
Play with Frequencies to Overclock GPU
First, boot up Afterburner and make sure the little Windows logo is not lit up. Ticking that button ensures the existing boosted settings are applied when the system boots up.
Next, boot up Heaven in a window, access the Afterburner control panel while Heaven is circling, then on a 1080p screen, run it at 720p, and 1080p on a 1440p or 4K panel. Begin shifting the memory slider to the right in 5-10MHz increments, striking the tick button to apply the boost each time. Check the looping Heaven runs for visual artifacts appearing on-screen.
Keep pushing the memory slider up in small increments until you start to see those telling signs of weakening memory or until the card or system crashes. Then, dial back the clockspeed by either one or two steps, apply the new memory clock and leave Heaven operating for a longer period of time to make sure it stays stable at the new speed. If you see more memory artifacts drop down another 5-10MHz step and test again. Take note of the stable clockspeed offset and reset the card to its default settings.
Overclock GPU
Before starting to boost the GPU clockspeed itself, push the power perimeter slider up to max. This allows the graphics card to bring more power to the silicon and drive up the temperature limit. Push the GPU clockspeed up by 5-10MHz increments, testing the game window for artifacts as you put on each step change.
Processor relics manifest in different ways to memory issues. Watch out for pixel-sized dots of different colors surfacing around the screen. Dial back the GPU clockspeed if you see any processor artifact, in the same manner as the memory, to find the stable boosted clockspeed.
After that, close down Heaven in windowed form and restart it fullscreen at your native resolution. Leave it looping for ten minutes to ensure it stays fully stable at your new clocks. Hit F9 to benchmark and check the performance increase your efforts have given you. Now repeat your earlier gaming and 3DMark tests to see what else changed. Finally, click the little Windows logo on Afterburner and bright it up. This way, every time you boot you will run at your newly discovered, overclocked settings, says Gamespot.