Once you have started to successfully overclock, fine-tuning is what ensures you keep overclocking in a completely safe way.
Overclocking is not as dangerous as it used to be — chip quality on the market is far better now — but you still must not take too many liberties with your GPU. Otherwise you may end up causing serious damage to not just your graphics card but also your motherboard.
There are simple steps to follow to fine-tune your overclocking.
Remember that overclocking will void your GPU’s user warranty. Do overclock — but at your own risk.
Steps for fine-tuning your overclocked GPU
You’ve already deduced the maximum limits of core voltage and core clock. Now find the levels of both at which each of your graphics-intensive programs runs smoothly.
Start any game — or other software — that you think needs overclocking.
Raise the core clock to the point where the software operates smoothly.
If the screen goes dark, glitches appear, or any other problem arises, revert to the previous core clock level you were running at.
To push further, increase the core voltage by small measures, then raise the core clock again.
When you find the level at which that specific software runs without difficulty, save it as one of Afterburner’s five profiles — just press the save key.
From then on, when you open that software, activate its profile by clicking its number — and you’re good to go.
Why not just run the maximum all the time?
The reason for not keeping maximum overclock permanently engaged: at maximum overclock the core voltage is at its highest, generating the most heat — so the fan has to run at its highest speed to dissipate it.
That generates noise, and noise is disturbing. By saving profiles at the levels where each program runs smoothly, you spare yourself the unnecessary roar of the fan.
Always-max overclocking won’t cause immediate problems — but the higher you constantly run, the shorter your GPU’s life will be.Operating at only the level required is the best way forward.
Launch options worth setting
Through Afterburner’s settings you can decide whether the application launches at start-up or only when you choose.
In the latest version of MSI Afterburner there is a key that applies your then-prevailing settings automatically at Windows startup. Alternatively, click the settings icon to open the ‘MSI Afterburner Properties’ dialog and tick ‘Start with Windows’ for the same result.
The stress test
One last practice useful to every Afterburner user: put your system through a stress test. It checks the efficacy of your graphics card under the setting you’ve chosen as your maximum overclock.
Run your benchmarking application — but this time don’t click ‘Benchmark’. Just let the program run.
Let it run for a few hours — a couple at least. If no issues arise and it keeps running without difficulty, you can rest assured your maximum overclock is safe.
Still hunting for your optimum level? Run the program for a few minutes; if there are no issues, raise the overclock and repeat — until an issue appears. Then step back to the previous level and repeat step 2 to confirm that level is safe.
With the steps above taken, you can proceed to overclock your system safely — quietly on weekdays, at full throttle when the game demands it.