Overclocking Reference GeForce 980

glenimp617

glenimp617

glenimp617

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30 Sep 2005
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Hi all,

Installed a reference 980 last night so not really had chance to put it through its paces. I did run heaven benchmark just to get an idea

It ran at 80c and reported to be running at 1394MHz which I assume is the top boost so not throttling back. The fans were audible, but didn't check to see how fast they were running.

Ideally I'd like a +200mhz increase on the core. ASIC is over 72% can't remember the exact figure.

any recommendations? I don't know what temps everyone else is getting on the ref boards, but don't want to overclock if im already at the top end of high

Thanks
 
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Getting to 1600 Mhz is quiet a challenge if you mean 200 Mhz increase over your boost speeds, so don't be surprised if you do not hit such a figure.

Anyway, normally Ref designs can go up to 80 degrees which is normal for stock fan profile. If you want to overclock, ramp up / create a more aggressive fan profile in MSI AB or EVGA precision X to give you more headroom.
 
Thanks for the reply

I have just been looking on the nvidia site and the standard boost clock is 178 lower than mine? I therefore assume mine is running +178mhz boost. Not sure how or why?

stock bios as well
 
Nvidia has a technology called boost 2.0. When there is thermal and voltage headroom, the card automatically overclocks itself for a nice performance bump. Generally its why you see cards with after market coolers, Hybrid and water cooler cards seemingly run at higher speeds as cooler temps typically translates to a higher boost clock.

You will often see two figures being quoted in places. Base Clock and Boost clock speeds. Base clock is the basic speed. Boost Clock is what the card will generally boost too. However this is a conservative figure in most cases and will be exceeded typically. Easier to provide a conservative figure and have everyone beat it then setting a high figure and it failing to be reached. Adiditonally better quality chips will typically boost to higher speeds normally then lower quality chips for a given voltage
 
I'm on a reference 980 here 71% ASIC 1531/8000 stable under water. Worth noting that ASIC quality is irrelevant to overclocking potential - it's essentially a measurement of how power efficient the card is.

Boost 2.0 is a great feature if you don't want to manually overclock. It is however a complete PITA when it comes to manual tuning. Each boost bin is pinned to a corresponding voltage so as you up the clock speed the voltage increases automatically. The problem is voltage increases aren't needed to maintain stability so adding it needlessly hinders headroom - higher temps and higher likelihood of reaching the power target.

The only way to get the absolute most out of it is by testing then editing the BIOS specifically for your own card. The BIOS in it's stock state is just too generalised.

Unless you're prepared to do a lot of reading, testing, flashing then re-flashing I would stick with what you have :)
 
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