What is overclocking?
Overclocking is a default increase in the memory and core frequencies of a video card, resulting in a higher speed than the manufacturer intended during development. When overclocking, you can increase the power and / or voltage limit, but remember that this will increase power consumption. It's relatively safe to experiment with this, but note that extreme frequencies and temperatures can damage your equipment faster than normal. With efficient overclocking, you can achieve higher mining earnings and lower electricity consumption!
What is underclocking?
Underclocking is the opposite of overclocking. With underclocking, you reduce the memory and core frequencies. When underclocking, you can also lower the power and / or voltage limit, which will result in lower power consumption.
Overclocking or underclocking for mining?
Both. You must find a middle ground between power consumption (reducing the power limit) and hash rate (memory and core frequencies).
As you increase the frequencies, your graphics card needs more power to be able to operate at higher frequencies. If you have free electricity, you can increase the power limit to allow even higher frequencies to be used, but remember that higher power consumption = higher temperatures.
The word overclocking is usually used for overclocking, underclocking, or both.
What software should I use for overclocking?
Мы рекомендуем MSI Afterburner... You can download the latest MSI Afterburner here.
MSI Afterburner allows you to adjust frequencies, fan speed, temperature limit, fan curve, etc. It also lets you keep track of your graphics cards' temperatures, power consumption, and more.
How to overclock your GPU for mining?
Please note that overclocking is slightly different for NVIDIA and AMD graphics cards.
When changing the settings of video cards NVIDIA, you add or subtract a value from the default, while for video cards AMD you are specifying an absolute value.
The overclocking process is relatively straightforward. You only need to specify:
- Power limit
- Core frequency
- Memory frequency
Follow these steps to overclock your graphics cards with MSI Afterburner:
1. Launch MSI Afterburner.
2. Unlink the Power Limit from the Temperature Limit [1 in the image above]. This will allow you to change the power limit without changing the temperature limit.
NOTE: As you increase the following parameters, you need to gradually increase each of them and always check the stability with a benchmark or stress test (by running a game or some benchmark tool). If the system is stable (no crash, no blue screen of death, no reboot), you can try higher values.
3. Specify the power limit (Power Limit) [2 in the image above].
4. Specify the core frequency (Core Clock) [3 in the image above].
5. Specify the memory frequency (Memory Clock) [4 in the image above].
6. Click on the checkbox to apply the settings [5 in the image above].
7. Change the video card [6 in the image above] and repeat steps 3,4,5 and 6. This is only necessary if you have multiple video cards.
8. Click on the save icon [7 in the image above] and select the profile number [8 in the image above] to save the profile.
9. Make sure Startup [9 in the image above] is enabled. MSI Afterburner will launch when Windows boots.
Where can I find the overclocking settings for my NVIDIA graphics card?
For most NVIDIA graphics cards, you can try basic universal settings:
- 75% power limit
- +100 Core Clock
- +200 Memory Clock
These settings should be suitable for most NVIDIA graphics cards. If you see problems with these settings, you can try decreasing the core or memory frequency. If the settings are stable, you can increase the frequencies by 50. Repeat this until the mining remains stable.
Again - always increase the parameters gradually and stress test the system before the next increase.
Where can I find the overclocking settings for my AMD graphics card?
For AMD graphics cards, you should slowly increase your base core and memory frequencies by 50 MHz.
Repeat this process until the mining remains stable. Always increase the parameters gradually and stress test the system before the next increase.