GPU OCing Help Thread

[Otis11]

Ok, so this is going to be continually under construction, but i decided we needed a GPU OCing help thread (as the title suggests) to compile as much knowledge as we can about how to get the most out of our cards. So here it goes, please feel free to add/make suggestions to this:


Notes Before Starting:

For GPUGrid, shaders have the largest impact on points. Core makes no difference. Dedicated crunchers can actually drop the core freq. to keep temps down. Doing so may impact gaming performance though. Effects of memory speeds have not been determined, but are slight at best.

Although graphics cards (105C) tend to be rated higher than CPUs (with some exceptions - 70C), we recommend bumping up the fan speed also. These chips were designed for high temps, but not to hold those temps 24/7. (IMO - Temps below 80C are acceptable, but opinions vary)

As long as Temps are kept in check, hardware longevity should not be an issue.

GPUGrid Stable OCs:
(please give these a week to let your RAC settle and make sure it is stable. Also, please note 24/7 or not)
I believe all 200 series should work at 685/1477/1160 and most should work at 702/1512/1188

Numbers after card are PPD Stock/Strong Overclock

GT 240:15.7k/20.1k
550/1340/1700- WhiteFireDragon
.......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: Galaxy.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 58C
405/1595/1701- WhiteFireDragon
.......... OS: Win XP.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 85% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 67C

GTS 250:??k/??k

GTX 260(216):??k/34k

626/1350/1053 - Otis11
.......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: EVGA .......... Cooling: Stock fan@40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: ???
666/1436/1107 - Otis11
.......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: EVGA .......... Cooling: Stock fan@40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: ???
576/1512/999- CaptMorgan
.......... OS: ????.......... Brand: EVGA .......... Cooling: ??? .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: ???
702/1512/1188 - Otis11
.......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: EVGA .......... Cooling: Stock fan@40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 62C

GTX 275:34.7k/42.0k
648/1458/1188- WhiteFireDragon
.......... OS: Win 7.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 40% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 71C
705/1566/1220 - HuffPCair
.......... OS: ????.......... Brand: BFG.......... Cooling: Stock fan@75% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 68C
633/1620/1134 - mreuter80
.......... OS: ????.......... Brand: EVGA .......... Cooling: Stock fan@50% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 60-70
468/1620/1134- WhiteFireDragon
.......... OS: Win XP.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 80% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 69C
485/1656/1152 - Kryja
..........OS : Win XP32.......... Brand: BFG.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 65% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 70
576/1656/1188 - SMTB1963
..........OS : ???.......... Brand: ???.......... Cooling: ??? .......... Voltage: ???.......... Temp: 70

GTX 280:??k/??k

GTX 285:??k/??k
651/1532/1244 - CaptMorgan
.......... Brand: EVGA .......... Cooling: Stock fan@70% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 61

GTX 295:??k/??k
701/1577/1233 - Mabyboi
.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Swiftech Epsilon waterblock.......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 42
717/1600/1233 - Mabyboi
.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Swiftech Epsilon waterblock.......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: ???
725/1600/1300 - Mabyboi
.......... Brand: EVGA.......... Cooling: Swiftech Epsilon waterblock.......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: ???



Scale for G200b: (to assist in OCing step by step)

1242-1271=1242
1272-1315=1296
1316-1342=1332
1343-1364=1350
1365-1385=1368
1386-1423=1404
1424-1451=1440
1452-1467=1458
1468-1494=1476
1495-1532=1512
1533-1559=1548
1560-1576=1566
1577-1603=1584
1604-1641=1620
1642-1668=1656
1669-1685=1674
1686-1712=1692
1713-1750=1728
1751-1772=1764
1773-1791=1782
1792-1817=1800
1818-1854=1836
1855-1880=1872
1881-1899=1890
1900-1925=1908
1926-????=1944

- Thanks SnowCrash




GTX 460:30k/??k
800/1600/1800 - PoppaGeek.......... 30k
.......... OS: Vista 64.......... Brand: MSI 1gig DDR.......... Cooling: Stock fan @ 59% .......... Voltage: Stock .......... Temp: 48C (25.5C room)
828/1656/1566 - SMTB1963 .......... 34-36K ppd
.......... OS: ???.......... Brand: ???.......... Cooling: ??? .......... Voltage: ???.......... Temp: 60

GTX 465:??k/??k

GTX 470:??k/??k

GTX 480:??k/??k
???/1712/????- SnowCrash.......... Stable
.......... Brand: ????.......... Cooling: Stock.......... Voltage: 1138mv.......... Temp: ???



GTX 560:??k/??k

GTX 570:??k/??k
842/1684/1652- SMTB1963 .......... Stable
.......... Brand: ???.......... Cooling: ???.......... Voltage: ???.......... Temp: 65

GTX 580:??k/??k



Tools:
Voltage Tuner Thread - Thanks Ikiller123
EVGA Precision
RivaTuner
CUDA mem test - Thanks PG

[mreuter80]

I only changed the shader clock, but here are my numbers.
GTX 275:
633/1620/1134 - 25470 PPD (24/7)

Otis' oc'ed 260 is not much behind.

Should I change anything else? I thought the shader clock have the most impact on this project.

Temps would be also interesting. My card hits temp higher 60s lower 70s depending how warm it is in the room. This may increase when the summer is here.

[Otis11]

Haha, that's why this is interesting... if I can get 275 performance out of a 260.... That's alot of potential when you consider how many 260's we have. And then what could a 275 do?

Yeah, shaders are the only thing that matter here... But I just OC everything and keep the ratios the same right now. When I hit a wall, I'll find what is the limit and OC the rest higher.

The only reason I'm unsure about putting temps is the ambient has a big factor on that... I'm sitting at a constant 62C, but then my room is a 65-67F. Might give people false impressions. Thoughts?

[Mabyboi]

Mabyboi... please fix haha, ill be overclocking it again in a few days... for more points .. oh. and 24/7

701/1577/1233 stable.. maxes at 42c

for now... im hoping for:

725/1600/1300

or close to that.

[CaptMorgan]

I believe everyone should set there fan @ least 60-typically mine has not gone above 70 or feel it does not need too. But the fan increase will help with temps, a bit, I got a new rig comin online soon and GFX temps worry me just as much as CPU temps as everything is pretty tight in there

[Otis11]

Sorry Mabyboi - fixed. In my defense... by the time I had added all that, it was 1 in the morning.

Great point Capt'n. I said I felt below 80C was acceptable... comments?

[CaptMorgan]

Ok I was responding to your Post-typed, hit quick reply then kablam forum crash! Anyways since then I have figured out Riva Tuner and upped my fan setting's and also upped my shaders on Gigabyte 260! But 1 of my 260's temp is @ 60c, with most of fans I have set to a minimum of 60% the Gigabyte is reading about 49/50c right now. I hope this helps don't want to go off topic but felt it was semi related

Edit: sorry also also tools to be discussed/recommended could be RivaTuner or something simple like Precision which is compatible with all Nvidia cards

[Snow Crash]

Couple things ...
Please add a link or a reference to EVGA Precision.
In some threads there are discussions about if voltmods (soft or hard) will help shader OC ... on the GTX295 it definately helps.

Core OC does not matter one single bit ... take a look at your monitors in GPUZ and you will see they get 0% load. I actually downcloak 1 step on my core to try and help keep temps down.

Speaking of temps ... If you have a GTX 295 you might think these guys are all crazy talking about 70C and 60% fans ... sheesh ... you can't possible OC a 295 and stay in that range
I have a 120mm case fan pointing at an angle from the GPUs power connecters towards the back of the unit, all slot covers have been removed. Now I run it caseless (still using the extra fan) and can just about stay at 80-83C with 64% fan.

Conventional gpu crunching wisdom says only helps a little bit. I am in the process of determining where (on my machines) turning memory freq up or down starts to make a measurable difference.

If you have a dedicated crunchers check out the OS effect on runtimes because it matters more than memory, almost as much as shaders OC.

I'll post some real OC numbers a little bit later.

[OldChap]

On the subject of fans I have been running an evga 9800gtx for getting on 18months 24/7 (since Fah GPU started...when was that?) apart from the odd down time and it is at 100% at all times so if noise is not a factor to you I think you can trust the hardware to hold up

[Otis11]

Thanks for all the replies guys! I think I got everything changed above...

Links added

I know Core makes no difference, and I'll note that. I just clock it up b/c it's my main rig and I happen to game on it occasionally.

OC - I don't think hardware failure is an issue if temps are kept in check... is that what you're getting at or did I miss something?

Also, what do you guys think about mentioning the cooling method and Brand of the cards? First lets people know what they can expect, the second would allow us to see if there is any difference between different brands.

When you post OCs, please mention the details!

When we get enough data, I'll start throwing together some charts and try to figure out the best way to make an impact.

[mreuter80]

Brand: EVGA
Cooling: stock cooler - fan @ 50%
Voltage: stock

[CaptMorgan]

This will be my new setup soon and why I am concerned with cooling



to me it does not seem like much room to breath- but was thinking of doing something similar to what it sounds like you have SC

[Otis11]

Brand: EVGA
Cooling: stock cooler - fan @ 50%
Voltage: stock ... I will look it up later

and my name is: mreuter80 just copy and past it

Sorry about that...

And thanks for the stats!

Edit:

hey Otis11 ... you have a serious issue with spelling user names
I don't mind if you forget the number behind my name, but please put the 1st r between the m and e

Just saw that... Man I was way to tired last night... Again, sorry, but it's fixed now!

If anyone sees anything else I missed or could improve on currently let me know!

And what do you guys think on temps? Don't want to blow it off... but Idk if it's useful to say as they would vary by ambient and case conditions?

[mreuter80]

Sorry about that...

And thanks for the stats!

thanks for updating and collecting all this

[OldChap]

Yep otis when I first started I was concerned about the ability of the fan to run like this....I have to run 100% on gx2's to keep temps in check plus I added extra fans.... My personal view is run as cool as possible....cheaper to change a cooler than a card but this problem never came up....so my point was...... new guys...no need to worry!

[Otis11]

Have we had any Hardware failures to attibute to crunching? And what were their causes? That's a question I get alot when explaining to people... Maybe if we can kill that, we can get more involved...

[INFRNL]

This will be my new setup soon and why I am concerned with cooling



to me it does not seem like much room to breath- but was thinking of doing something similar to what it sounds like you have SC

That is some mighty fine looking Hardware you have there Capt. looks kind of familiar

@ otis; are you sure your nubers are accurate for your 260? I have a 260-216 shaders @ 1550 I think (will have to verify) and my numbers are not near that high

[Mabyboi]

That is some mighty fine looking Hardware you have there Capt. looks kind of familiar

@ otis; are you sure your nubers are accurate for your 260? I have a 260-216 shaders @ 1550 I think (will have to verify) and my numbers are not near that high

he secretly is running 4x 295's... just with bad numbers...

[CaptMorgan]

That is some mighty fine looking Hardware you have there Capt. looks kind of familiar

Why do I feel like I got sloppy seconds

[Otis11]

That is some mighty fine looking Hardware you have there Capt. looks kind of familiar

@ otis; are you sure your nubers are accurate for your 260? I have a 260-216 shaders @ 1550 I think (will have to verify) and my numbers are not near that high

Oh no you didn't!!!

Haha, just messin with ya. Yeah, I think it might actually be a hair higher... here's why:



2/19 took out 2nd 260
2/22 lost internet, so idled for a bit
2/24 messed with my computer, Boinc suspended for a few hours
3/2 (yesterday) was messing with clock speeds a bunch and restarted it

Everything between 2/19 and 3/2 was a single 260 at 1350... If you can find a flaw, please let me know...

Just a note, I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but instead of the default 20% I put CPU usage at 100% as I didn't want my GPU waiting on the CPU at all... Told Mabyboi to do the same cuz I think it helps, but you're free to try it out.

he secretly is running 4x 295's... just with bad numbers...

I wish... then I could do something about it and kick some scientific @$$!

[123bob]

Have we had any Hardware failures to attibute to crunching? And what were their causes? That's a question I get alot when explaining to people... Maybe if we can kill that, we can get more involved...

Here is my total hardware failure history through my years crunching WCG, Grid, and folding at F@H....

1. 4 RAM sticks during the time when we were having the Micron D9 issue. I still believe it was the chips, not the load from crunching, but can't be totally positive. All the RAM was lifetime warranty and was easily replaced by all the vendors. No problem or hassle.

2. I recently lost an eVGA 260-216. It went dead short between the 12vdc power lines. Looks like it shorted out the power regulation section. I beat that card pretty hard crunching the Grid, so I think that did it, more than anything else. It was just weaker than the rest. I am currently running 15 260-216s on Grid and F@H. They are still going strong.

3. This has absolutely nothing to do with crunching, but more to do with being careless. I dropped a screw during maintenance on an ABIT IP35 Pro. I didn't notice it until I had already hit the power switch. Zorched that board.... It was a good clocker too....

4. Fumble fingered an expensive Super Micro board on my Harper rig and turned it into a single socket board. That one I have to say was me, even though I still don't quite know how. That rig is still running a single chip that was supplied from Charles, via Dave. (Thx again, to both of you...)

So, crunching is pretty safe as long as you are watching your temps, take care of them, and blow out the dust bunnies at least every 6 months. That's been my experience, given the amount of hardware I run.

BTW, good thread!

Regards,
Bob

[mreuter80]

Just a note, I'm not sure if it makes a difference, but instead of the default 20% I put CPU usage at 100% as I didn't want my GPU waiting on the CPU at all... Told Mabyboi to do the same cuz I think it helps, but you're free to try it out.

I think that should be captured in the list as well. My CPU usage is at 28% (as per BOINC manager).

How do you change that by the way. I wouldn't run it for a long time, since the CPU is for WCG, but I would try and see whether it has an impact.

Cheers

[Mabyboi]

I think that should be captured in the list as well. My CPU usage is at 28% (as per BOINC manager).

How do you change that by the way. I wouldn't run it for a long time, since the CPU is for WCG, but I would try and see whether it has an impact.

Cheers

Gpugrid.net -> your account-> gpugrid preferenced -> edit, change 20 to 100

And it wont alter your WCG, im doing both WCG and GPUgrid, and i have my cpu usage set to 100% for both, and it hasnt changed how fast i get my WCG WU's done... only made the GPUgrid ones faster.

[Otis11]

Thanks Bob, I'll go through that in just a bit... maybe make a myths about DC thread or something...

And when you set CPU usage to 100% it doesn't reserve a CPU or even use it much more... All it does is allows the CPU to be used. I'll explain better later, but time for class now!

[mreuter80]

Gpugrid.net -> your account-> gpugrid preferenced -> edit, change 20 to 100

And it wont alter your WCG, im doing both WCG and GPUgrid, and i have my cpu usage set to 100% for both, and it hasnt changed how fast i get my WCG WU's done... only made the GPUgrid ones faster.

Wow this is very surprising, because I thought this setting is for projects that have a screen saver (WCG, Spinhenge, SETI, Einstein, etc.).
The parameter says on those projects how much of the CPU should be dedicated to running the screen saver graphics (and taking resources away from the number crunching).
I thought in GPUGRID, the setting has no effect.

If it has an effect it should be definitely mentioned in the first message.

I will try this one.

Thanks for the info