GeForce GTX 1080 Overclocking Guide With AfterBurner 4.3.0 - Video Example - results and conclusion

by Hilbert Hagedoorn on: 05/27/2016 02:00 PM [

] 13 comment(s)

An example video of V/F Curve tweaking

Right, since all this might seem a little complicated I made a small video to demonstrate it in a real-world situation. Please do keep in mind that my English is pretty bad (being Dutch). AfterBurner comes with Pascal GPU memory tuning, overvolting, allowing control and adjustment parameters for overclocking as well as the new GPU Boost 3.0 implementation:


Original	This sample	Overclocked
Core Clock: 1607 MHz	Core Clock: 1607 MHz	Core Clock: 1782 MHz
Boost Clock: 1733 MHz	Boost Clock: 1733 MHz	Boost Clock: 1950~2050 MHz
Memory Clock: 10000 MHz	Memory Clock: 10000 MHz	Memory Clock: 10800 MHz

Now we'll push a little harder. If you are going to OC in the default manner (equal to a basic curve) and thus not with a linear curved clock frequency tweaks then your values be something close to this (all based on a founders edition GeForce GTX 1080 card of course):

Core Voltage : +100%
Power Limit : 120 %
Temp. limit : 85C
Core Clock : + 175
Memory Clock : +575 (we found our maximum sweet spot here for GDDR5X), but we've heard stories of people reaching even 12000 MHz (effective data-rate).

So the results then, below the numbers are based upon the actual linear curve overclocking as shown in the video above. All in all you can add a little extra performance with that Boost frequency now hovering at ~ 2 GHz and the memory at 11000 MHz (effective data-rate). We expect AIB card with better cooling to more easily reach the 2.1 GHz domain. Let's startup 3DMark FireStrike and run a default (non-overclocked session to get the baseline result:

So above the results with the founders edition card at defaults, 19370 point, that's already pretty nice of course. But now let's look at the product when overclocked based on +100% Voltage and a curved V/F tweak (the one shown in the video).

So yes, we gained a nice 1302 points with this fairly modest tweak. We do have to say that the overclocks with pascal yield not a lot of extra performance compared to the GXT 900 series. Hence GTX 980 and GTX 980 Ti cards will remain popular for a while. Now obviously the same applies for gaming. Below a number of results based on the overclock as explained and described above.

And for brevity's sake, let's chart up the FireStrike results as well:

Final Words

You are going to really like the overclocking the GeForce GTX 1070 and 1080 with the new V/F controls. Other however just as well should just stick to that old fashion method with the sliders. It works just as well and yields the same results really.

The new Boost features work out well, however let's be totally honest here, they mostly are safety features rather then tweaking features, really don't let Nvidia fool you. If you set the GPU temp target at 90 Degrees C, then once it hits that point it will start to downclock in one way or another. That's a safety feature, certainly not an overclock feature. It's the same with utilization limiters and also the same with the power limiter, you get an TDP assigned and once you pass that power signature it downclocks, and thus by design that stuff is not going to help you with your overclock, contrary... by design it's there to keep the card from frying itself. And that once again literally means that all GeForce GTX 1070 and 1080 cards based on a reference design will perform rougly the same with a certain set of parameters and Frequency thresholds aside from your usual exception here and there (ASIC quality and temperature will be very important for this factor).

The GeForce GTX 1080 is impressive in it's default performance already, and yes, tweaking doubles the fun. Heck even without voltage tweaking the 1080 yields results by just fooling with temperature and power targets and clock frequency.While not heaps, it is extra free extra performance, at little extra risk (if you do it right). So grab yourself the new AfterBurner tweaking software if you feel you want that additional performance, experiment a little -- we can definitely recommend that.

Hold it, you're not done Sir - we've got more Pascal GPU related content for you to read:

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