struggling with GTX 980 gaming 1 overclock

[karklinskarlis1993]

i tried with oc software but still cannot manage anything stable (oc guru ii, evga precision, afterburner). been trying to oc my gpu for almost 2 days, without success.

it comes factory oced to

• BASE: 1228 MHz / BOOST: 1329 MHz / 7.0 GHz

i tried slowly adding +150mhz core clock, with 120% power. succeded on 3DMark extreme. later on 200mhz/200mhz memory, 125% power, 0.035V.. results was even weaker than stock speeds, loosing about 600points in 3Dmark.
above that nothing really stable found, crashes all the way, even with voltage upping up to +0.045V. should not it suppose to be one of the best overclocker in 980 market?

i got enough power to eat (corsair ax860)

any suggestions to share, what can i do to make it run smooth? how far should i go with these voltages? as i know, gpu limit is 1.25v i guess?
i just saw this review and this example has 13k points, while i am having 6k wihtout overclock with the same model. is it approriate?(http://www.guru3d.com/articles_pages/gigabyte_geforce_gtx_980_g1_gaming_review,26.html)

 

[MxPhenom 216]

every card is different. Your card will not overclock in the same way as the next, regardless if that particular card is "known" to OC well. Welcome to the silicon lottery.

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

every card is different. Your card will not overclock in the same way as the next, regardless if that particular card is "known" to OC well. Welcome to the silicon lottery.

still its a wonderful frame pushing card, really satisfied. for comparison, with 2 of r9 280x in crossfire i am having the same performance as in gtx 980, even 1/3 of amd power consumption.

 

[Toothless]

Sounds like you got the bad end of the lottery. My 660 won't even push +20/+20.

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

Sounds like you got the bad end of the lottery. My 660 won't even push +20/+20.

is it really depends on the luck? i just got it for sale for about 50euros cheaper than in most stores.. does nvidia knows which of their production oc bad and which - good?

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

the question is, isnt that too small of a voltage i am adding (+0.045V)? should i try bigger with 200mhz clocking?

 

[Shou Miko]

is it really depends on the luck? i just got it for sale for about 50euros cheaper than in most stores.. does nvidia knows which of their production oc bad and which - good?

it's like the silicon lottery like buying a cpu, some cards do the devils oc others like almost non at all.

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

it's like the silicon lottery like buying a cpu, some cards do the devils oc others like almost non at all.

or maybe i am just adding too tiny voltage for that increasement?

 

[xvi]

More volts should, in theory, raise stability. You might also hit a wall where the device will need a lot of volts before pushing through to the next range of overclocks (I'm looking at you, AMD FX series). Adding volts is certainly more dangerous than raising clock, so there's a danger that something bad might happen. For the most part, as long as you watch your temps, it should be fine.

 

[Toothless]

Though too much voltage is still bad, even if the temps are good.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Though too much voltage is still bad, even if the temps are good.

Eh, not really. Its not the voltage thats the problem, its the current. Degradation of the chip will happen at any degree of overclocking, but its not really anything to worry about, especially since most people don't keep their hardware long enough for it to matter too them.

@OP

I recommend starting with +50mhz boosts on the core clock, or whatever is closest to 50, but still a multiple of 13 (due to boost states of the card, assuming it stayed the same from Kepler for Maxwell) and only mess with the core for now, then switch to memory once you find your max stable boost. If you lose a significant amount of points 500+ after an increase, drop it back a bit, since its not stable.

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

thanks guys...
so my question still remain - doesnt maxwell cards support protection against overvoltage, crossing that line above extreme level, when hardware shuts down to prevent further damage? i have heard somewhere, on maxwell its limited to 1.21V till shutdown.

stupid, noob question - where can i find a stock, default voltages added to hardware? didnt see it on gpu-z (wtf).. temps are not an issue. +0.035V gave me about 10 degrees increase above stock benchmarking temperatures.

edit: i guess i found the voltages added by default. i will keep trying tonight for atleast small oc. hoping for not burning it out though

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

so i managed to go through 3dmark firestrike extreme with +150mhz boost, 50mV voltage, 122%power target without mem oced. from stock to oc = 6000 - 6600.. seems good so far?

small boost. +190mhz, 63mV, 122% power target, without mem oc. from 6600 to 6800

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

bump.
so looks like the problem was a lack of voltage.
i added more and firestrike score automatically increased.

last question, and we can shut down this thread.

is it safe to use for casual usage +75mV on maxwell gpu? (temps are just fine)

 

[Jstn7477]

bump.
so looks like the problem was a lack of voltage.
i added more and firestrike score automatically increased.

last question, and we can shut down this thread.

is it safe to use for casual usage +75mV on maxwell gpu? (temps are just fine)

Voltage should be fine, NVIDIA restricts it at driver/BIOS level to 1.212v maximum, but I think some people have worked around that a bit and gotten closer to 1.3v, which is still pretty safe IMO. I just run mine at 1468/2000 1.2v at the max power level (111%) and it still runs nice and cool.

 

[Nordic]

I have read the nvidia reference specification was 1.26v, but most board partners are running at 1.212v. I would suspect that up to 1.26v is very safe voltage.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

Voltage should be fine, NVIDIA restricts it at driver/BIOS level to 1.212v maximum, but I think some people have worked around that a bit and gotten closer to 1.3v, which is still pretty safe IMO. I just run mine at 1468/2000 1.2v at the max power level (111%) and it still runs nice and cool.

They haven't been able to get passed the 1.212v barrier on the 970/980 cards yet I don't think, but on 780/Titan they did. For instance mine. I can run it all the way to 1.3v or 1.325v with LLC modification.

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

i consider, my oc was successful after all. +10fps reached and stable enough. tommorow i will stress test it for atleast 4hours. thanks guys.

 

[Nordic]

I have read the nvidia reference specification was 1.26v, but most board partners are running at 1.212v. I would suspect that up to 1.26v is very safe voltage.

To do more than just say something like the above, I should include a link. First off, I was wrong. What I read said 1.256v.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/1666-zotac-gtx-980-extreme-benchmark-review-overclocking

 

[MxPhenom 216]

To do more than just say something like the above, I should include a link. First off, I was wrong. What I read said 1.256v.

http://www.gamersnexus.net/hwreviews/1666-zotac-gtx-980-extreme-benchmark-review-overclocking

On 700 series like the 780 and Titan, above 1.212v on air is not recommended. Beyond that water cooling is really needed and then around 1.35v+ LN2.

 

[Nordic]

On 700 series like the 780 and Titan, above 1.212v on air is not recommended. Beyond that water cooling is really needed and then around 1.35v+ LN2.

On my zotac 970 I can supposedly unlock it to 1.26ghz. Reports online are hit and miss if you can bump the voltage, but the proprietary software is terrible. Supposedly in that article this card is supposed to have unlocked voltage.

It runs at 55c on air right now at the lowest fan setting (43%) and is really quiet. I haven't felt a need to play with voltage. I can get to 1500mhz easy already.

 

[MxPhenom 216]

On my zotac 970 I can supposedly unlock it to 1.26ghz. Reports online are hit and miss if you can bump the voltage, but the proprietary software is terrible. Supposedly in that article this card is supposed to have unlocked voltage.

It runs at 55c on air right now at the lowest fan setting (43%) and is really quiet. I haven't felt a need to play with voltage. I can get to 1500mhz easy already.

Its the VRMs temps you have to worry most about and they are usually 10-20c higher than the core.

 

[dcf-joe]

You can always try a modded BIOS like I did with my 980 Gigabyte G1 Gaming edition.

Go here: http://www.overclock.net/t/1517316/...d-980-firmware-zosons-h2o-and-air-custom-bios and choose which BIOS you want and the follow the instructions in the original post.

Using that BIOS, I pulled off the overclock that you see in my post in the Heaven thread. I have my current 980 stable in BF4 at 1581 core and 1966 memory, using the stock air cooler.

Unigine Heaven 4.0 Benchmark Scores

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

so guys.. i managed to hit 1529mhz boost clocks on realtime, 7,8GHz memory clock speed with adding 6milivolts, and power target 122%, enough stable, with imho small temps (about 64degrees).. for now i want to fully stresstest for about 4hours to see if there is some instabilities.
i have heard a bad reviews about stresstesting maxwells on furmark.
can you suggest which soft to use for constant loop testing for about 4hours? i was using Valley Benchmark 1.0 looping for 20minutes hitting 65degrees max - i am not sure is this app enough to stresstest ?

here is screen below (dont make fun of my screen, its 1680x1050, i know its bottleneck for this card, but still mostly i am using it for gpu-rendering, not gpu-gaming)

 

[karklinskarlis1993]

bump for the last post with question