Head over to the Overclock website and enter your graphics card information with the word overclock into the site’s search engine. Look through forum posts and read how others have successfully overclocked that same card. What you want to look for and write down are:
Maximum core clocksMaximum memory clocksSafe maximum temperature (when in doubt, 90 degrees C is good to use)Safe maximum voltage
This information will provide a reasonable guideline about how far you can safely overclock your GPU.
Download NVIDIA GeForce Video Card Drivers Download AMD/ATI Radeon Video Card Drivers
Next, download and install the tools you’ll need for overclocking:
MSI Afterburner is widely popular, detailed, and provides full overclocking control for graphics cards of any brand. Unigine Heaven Benchmark 4.0 is used for benchmarking and stability testing.
Now that the Core Clock is set, perform the same process of raising speeds and benchmarking — this time with the Memory Clock. The gains won’t be as big, but every bit adds up. Once you’ve overclocked both the Core Clock and Memory Clock, save this configuration as “Profile 3” in MSI Afterburner before stress testing. If a crash happens and/or you see any artifacts and/or a Maximum GPU Temperature above the safe maximum temperature (switch back to MSI Afterburner to look): If your video graphics card can stress test for hours without problems, then congratulations! You’ve successfully overclocked your GPU. Save the benchmark results given by Unigine Heaven, and then save the configuration as “Profile 4” in MSI Afterburner. Compare your original benchmark score with this last one to see the improvement! If you want these settings to load automatically, check the box for Apply Overclocking at System Startup in MSI Afterburner. Most video graphics cards use default/stock settings that leave some headroom. That means there is more power and capability available, but it’s not turned on by the manufacturer. If you have a Windows or Linux OS system (sorry Mac users, but it’s not as easy or worth it to attempt overclocking), you can increase core and memory clock speeds to boost performance. The result improves frame rates, which leads to smoother, more pleasing gameplay.
Important Overclocking Best Practices
It’s true that reckless GPU overclocking can permanently stop the graphics card from working (i.e. bricking) or shorten the lifespan of a video graphics card. But by proceeding carefully, overclocking is quite safe. There are some important things to bear in mind:
Not every graphics card is designed to and/or capable of overclocking as well as others.Two identical graphics cards can overclock at different values; results will vary (typically based on a system’s hardware and the games being played) from one computer to the next.Overclocking a GPU won’t make unplayable games (i.e. your system doesn’t meet the minimum requirements) playable. But it will let you enjoy playable games at higher video resolutions and/or frame rates.It’s usually easier/safer to overclock a desktop computer than a laptop since the former is generally better at dissipating heat.It’s normal to experience a computer crash and/or a blue/black screen during any overclocking process. So don’t be alarmed when it happens. Just continue (reboot if necessary) where you left off.Overclocking may void a manufacturer’s warranty (not a big deal if the warranty has expired).
