How To Fix Your GPU Not Working At Full Potential

Overclocking is the act of increasing the clock rate of a graphics card’s VRAM. In simple terms, it means that you’re essentially “boosting” your card’s processing power.

This is usually done to gain a small advantage in gaming or to achieve higher frame rates in a particular game.

With the ever-increasing demand for greater frame rates and detail when playing games, many PC gamers have begun overclocking their graphics cards to gain a visual and performance advantage.

However, overclocking can be risky, and can cause issues with your system. In this article, we’ll be discussing everything you need to know before overclocking your graphics card.

What is overclocking?

First things first. Let’s talk about what overclocking is, and isn’t, so you can better understand the potential risks and benefits. 

Overclocking is the process of increasing the clock speed of a graphics card’s VRAM (or its processor), which can cause two things to happen: heat and stress. 

Heat is a result of increased components and a poor thermal environment; stress occurs when the graphics card isn’t capable of handling the extra strain being placed on it. 

Stress can result in a graphics card failing, especially if overclocking is done improperly.  There are many different methods of overclocking, some more effective than others. 

We’ll be focusing on the most commonly used method, which is increasing the core clock (the rate at which the processor works) of your graphics card.

Overclocking pros and cons

Before you start overclocking your graphics card, it’s important to first understand the pros and cons of doing so. 

Overclocking can be a great way to gain a small performance boost for your system, but there are a few things you need to keep in mind.

 

While overclocking can provide a small performance boost, increasing the clock rate of your graphics card comes with a number of risks.

First and foremost is the risk of damaging your graphics card by overheating it. This can cause your graphics card to fail, resulting in you needing to either buy a new graphics card or spend money to repair your old one.

Overclocking can also affect your hardware other than performance. Overheating your graphics card can shorten its lifespan, causing you to have to replace it sooner than you normally would have.

Which graphics card can be overclocked?

Now that you understand what overclocking is and the potential risks involved, it’s time to answer the most important question: which graphics card can be overclocked? Overclocking is only safe for certain cards from specific manufacturers, like NVIDIA and AMD.

To ensure your card isn’t overclocked, make sure it has a “Digital Power” or “Power Limit” option somewhere on the card.  

NVIDIA cards can only be overclocked if they’re from a specific manufacturer, like EVGA, ASUS, or MSI. 

These are the only NVIDIA graphics cards that can be overclocked due to their power regulation system.  The same goes for AMD cards, but we recommend not overclocking them. 

AMD graphics cards can be overclocked, but only to a certain point before they become unstable and fail.

How to overclock your graphics card

Now that you know what overclocking is and some of the potential risks involved, it’s time to go over how to overclock your graphics card.

First, you’ll need to find your graphics card’s overclocking settings. This can vary between different graphics cards and different manufacturers, but it’s usually listed in the BIOS. Next, you need to know the maximum clock rate your graphics card is capable of reaching.Once you know this, you can start increasing its clock rate.

Overclocking your graphics card isn’t as simple as pushing a button, but it can be done in less than an hour. Your best bet is to use programs like EVGA PrecisionX, because they can help you overclock your card with more accuracy and ease.

Final words: is overclocking worth it?

Overclocking your graphics card can give you a small performance boost, but it all comes with risks. We recommend against overclocking your graphics card, as it can damage your hardware and shorten its lifespan.

Overclocking isn’t worth the risk, so let’s recap: Overclocking can cause your graphics card to overheat and fail, shorten its lifespan, and cost you money to repair it.   If you want to overclock your graphics card, you can, but we recommend against it.