Overclocking the graphics card: The correct steps to do this and increase the performance of games without harm
Playing video games on your computer is definitely a great thing, but sometimes issues like stuttering or lag occur while playing, which ruins the fun of the game.
The traditional solution to these problems, which is even recommended by computer manufacturers, is to reduce the game's graphics settings to match the capabilities of the device, especially the graphics card.
But this will also lead to losing the fun of the game as long as you do not get high-resolution graphics. The ideal solution is to either invest some money in buying a professional external graphics card, and if you do not know click on the link in red to review the prices before buying, or overclock the current graphics card without having to spend a penny on a new graphics card.
It is simply about raising the graphics card frequencies and thus raising its performance to match the smooth running of games. Although this process takes a long time, it is easy and does not require any advanced skills, because the process is based on Software and not Hardware, so you will not need to do anything on the graphics card except changing some numbers through a program on the computer.
If you intend to do this, you are in the right place. Here is the guide to overclocking your graphics card and improving gaming performance in the right way without causing any harm. Let's not forget that we also provided you with a comprehensive topic about overclocking the processor .
Important Note: Any error may damage your graphics card or other components of your computer. Therefore, any steps below are done at your own risk.
We disclaim any responsibility for any damage caused.
Before you start anything, there are a few things you should keep in mind before even thinking about overclocking your graphics card. The most important of these things is " heat ". Since you are increasing the performance of the graphics card beyond the default limit, this means that you will also need to increase the power consumed by the card used, which results in a significant increase in temperature.
So, make sure to provide proper ventilation for the graphics card so that it does not get damaged after overclocking. It is also important to know that not any graphics card can be overclocked, as the process is best done on discrete graphics cards based on the PCI-Express port in desktop computers, as they are advanced and more streamlined for overclocking. However, we do not recommend doing this on laptop graphics cards, whether AMD or Nvidia, and of course overclocking an Intel graphics card is a fantasy.
We will also need some software to complete this process correctly. The first program is Unigine Heaven which will perform tests on the graphics card to see the level of performance, where we will perform a benchmark before and after overclocking to see if there is an actual change in performance or not. This particular program was chosen because it displays important statistics and results such as the actual speed of the card, temperature, number of frames per second...etc. It is also very easy to use. It is completely optional, as you can use any benchmark program you like.
Signs of a problem with the graphics card and how to overcome it
The second program is MSI Afterburner , which is essential here as it controls the graphics card settings and overclocks them. Don’t be fooled by the name, it is aimed at MSI graphics cards but it also works on any other GPU-based graphics card from AMD or Nvidia. It is completely free and has a strange user interface that may seem complicated but is easy as we will see. [ Click for direct download ]. You may also need the GPU-Z tool to see the overclocking results in real time, as it monitors any changes that occur to the graphics card.
First: Do a quick benchmark to see the actual performance.
Now that you know what any user should know before overclocking their graphics card, if you are ready for it, you should first run a test to check the actual performance of the graphics card currently so that we can make sure after finishing that there is a real change in the performance of the graphics card.
You can use the recommended Unigine Heaven program, which runs some reviews that consume 100% of the graphics processor resources to see the maximum performance level that has been reached. Just after running the program, click on the "Benchmark" button at the top left or press F9 and wait about 5 or 10 minutes for the test to end so that the results are displayed immediately. Save these results by clicking on the "Save" button so that you can compare them with the new results after overclocking.
Second: Start overclocking the graphics card using Afterburner
Now let's move on to the most important part of this article, which is overclocking the graphics card. As mentioned in the previous lines, we will rely on the MSI Afterburner program to complete this process, which is very simple to use. You download and install it like any normal program, then run it to show you an interface divided into 3 parts. Starting from the left, you will find an interactive panel that displays the card speed and the memory currently consumed, then in the middle you will find the basic control options that we will change, and on the right is another interactive panel that displays the power that the graphics card is currently consuming in addition to the temperature.
Despite the chaos that the graphical interface of the program seems to be, there are only 3 changes that we will focus on: Core Clock, Memory Clock, and Core Voltage. The first represents the graphics processing speed in the card, the second represents the speed of the VRAM in the graphics card, and the last controls the amount of power - in volts - that is drawn from the computer's power supply. Keep in mind that changing any of these values incorrectly can make the graphics card and the computer in general unstable.
So be sure to change these settings gently until you encounter a stability problem, then undo the last change made to reach the highest speed with a fixed stability percentage. Note that MSI Afterburner does not allow you to change the power amount ( Core Voltage ) by default , but you can enable this by clicking on the "gear" icon and from the " MSI Afterburner properties " window, select the Unlock power control option and press Save.
To overclock, you need to change the Core Clock value first and the Memory Clock value second, raising both of them by 10 MHz, then click the "Check" mark to apply the settings in reality! If nothing happens like a significant increase in temperature or the device shutting down automatically, repeat the process again, go to the program and raise both values by another 10 MHz.
After doing this several times, run GPU-Z and notice the new values for the graphics card performance. After the changes made via Afterburner, you should find a difference between the value displayed in Clock Default and GPU Clock, as the former means the default speed of the graphics processor, and the latter means the actual speed of the graphics processor after overclocking, so it should be greater as shown in the image above. The difference does not affect the processor speed , but also the video memory, which should increase slightly. Now run Unigine Heaven to perform a benchmark, where you should notice an increase in the number of frames per second (FPS).
If things are running smoothly and there are no issues, open Afterburner and raise the Core Clock and Memory Clock again, then note the differences and changes in GPU-Z and test the performance. Continue doing this until you start experiencing problems with your computer such as a video card crash, blue screen , or noticing instability in performance when running the benchmark.
When this happens, you can return to the last value you set for the Core Clock and Memory Clock where performance was completely stable. Alternatively, you can raise the Core Voltage or power level so that the graphics card is able to run at higher frequencies. You can raise the Core Voltage in Afterburner by 5mV and then run the benchmark. You should notice better stability in performance without suffering from any overclocking issues.
One thing I want you to keep in mind is that when you raise the Core Voltage, the temperature of the graphics card will also increase almost double. So keep an eye on the temperature through Afterburner itself or through Unigine Heaven. Note that you can increase the speed of the cooling fan of the card through the Fan Speed control bar in Afterburner, but we do not recommend doing so - instead, leave it in "Auto" mode because the graphics card will automatically increase the speed of its cooling fans whenever it needs ventilation, as the built-in temperature sensors detect the need to do so.
Generally, after you reach a Core Clock , Memory Clock , and Core Voltage value that is no longer acceptable to the device, perhaps because the temperature is too high or because many problems and malfunctions have appeared, you can return to the last values where things were completely stable without problems, and these are the final values for overclocking your computer's graphics card.
Third: Conduct an efficiency test and make sure everything is fine after overclocking.
Once you’ve completely tinkered with your graphics card and found the best overclocking settings, we recommend running Unigine Heaven for a final benchmark but letting it run for an hour or two straight. This is the test that will let you know if the card’s performance is stable and will remain so over long gaming sessions or if stability issues will arise. Once you’ve gone through an hour or two without experiencing any issues, you’ve completed a completely successful overclock. Congratulations!
Fourth: Save these settings in Afterburner
Note that the settings and values you have set in Afterburner will not remain fixed or basic, but you can at any time return everything to its default and undo the overclocking without any complications. To make things easier, Afterburner provides a profile system, meaning that you save the specified overclocking settings, and you can enable or disable them with the push of a button. This is very useful for maintaining the integrity of the graphics card, as when you are doing simple work you do not need the graphics card to do heavy work, while when playing games you can enable the overclocking settings to get better performance.
All you have to do is look at the lower right corner of the program interface, then make sure the "Lock" icon is enabled. After that, click on the "Save" icon, which is in the form of a floppy disk, and you will notice the five profile icons flashing in red, click on file number 2 to save the overclocking settings in it, then click on file number 1 to be assigned to the default settings. This way, you can easily click on file number 1 to return the graphics card to its normal state, and click on file number 2 to apply the overclocking settings when playing.