Overclocking: Is It Worth It?

Overclocking is a popular topic among computer enthusiasts, and it can be a great way to squeeze more performance out of your hardware. However, it's not without its risks, and manufacturers often don't officially support overclocking.

When it comes to graphics cards, overclocking can be especially appealing. Many entry-level cards have some overclocking headroom, and with the right cooling system and power supply, you can push your card to achieve impressive performance gains. But it's essential to keep in mind that overclocking while not officially supported by the manufacturer.

To get started with overclocking, you'll need a good utility like MSI Afterburner, which supports both AMD and NVIDIA graphics cards. This software allows you to tweak various settings, such as fan speed and temperature, to achieve optimal performance.

For our R9 290X, we'll focus on three essential sliders: power limit, core clock, and memory clock. The power limit allows the GPU to pull in more power, which is usually necessary depending on how far you want to push the overclock. The core clock is the most critical setting, as higher values generally result in better performance. Lastly, the memory clock plays a significant role in getting the most out of your card.

To begin, it's best to start slowly and bump up your power and core clocks slightly. You should also test your card with Burn-in Test from Afterburner Load utility to ensure stability and watch for artifacts like randomly showing images. Keep an eye on temperatures to avoid exceeding the max values of your card.

Once you have both the core clock and memory clock roughly set, it's essential to tweak them further. Sometimes, even if a core clock is stable on its own, pushing up the memory can cause issues. Therefore, test both settings together to ensure everything is solid.

Since our R9 290X Lightning is already overclocked nicely out of the box, we'll focus on fine-tuning it. I settled on 1440 MHz for the core, 1500 MHz for the memory, and a +25 boost to the power limit. With these settings, I achieved impressive gains in both 3D Mark: Fighter Strike and Bioshock Infinite.

In 3D Mark: Fighter Strike, the R9 290X pulled in an extra six percent, while the GTX 780 saw nearly eight percent more performance. In Bioshock Infinite, the R9 290X improved by ten percent, with the overclocked GTX 780 getting a nine percent boost. The R9 290X Lightning continued to shine in Metro Last Light, with an almost ten percent improvement.

Overclocking can indeed provide free performance gains, but there are risks involved. As long as you don't go too far, it can be a rewarding experience. So, is overclocking worth it? That's up to you to decide. Share your thoughts in the comments below.

If you missed my recent review of the HTC One M8 Google Play Edition, check out that video linked in the description for this article.

WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enhey guys this is austin and today i'm here with the tutorial showing you how to overclock your graphics card who wants to run it stock anyway overclocking while it can be a little intimidating is actually very straightforward when you buy a graphics card you have a few sliders to play with that allows you to get the most out of your card i'll be doing this tutorial using a couple high-end graphics cards that are designed for overclocking the msi r9 290x lightning and the evga gtx 780 with acx cooler however you can overclock most any desktop gpu some graphics cards do overclock better than others as when you start to overclock you're putting more strain on things like the power delivery as well as the cooler however even entry level cards have at least some overclocking headroom you also need to keep in mind that the rest of your system also needs to be able to handle overclocking make sure there's good airflow in your case to keep things nice and cool and that you have a decent power supply with enough overhead to handle giving your gpu some more juice one thing to definitely keep in mind is that overclocking while very easy to do isn't officially supported by the manufacturers if you crank everything all the way up and your car breaks don't expect to get a new one from the warranty that said things are pretty safe assuming you don't go completely crazy it's no coincidence that a lot of the graphics card companies actually create a lot of the overclocking software my favorite utility is msi afterburner which supports both amd and nvidia graphics cards even if they aren't made by msi inside you'll find all the sliders you need to overclock your card as well as taking a look at things such as fan speed and temperature to overclock our r9 290x we need to pay attention to three of these sliders the power limit the core clock and the memory clock changing the power limit will allow the gpu to pull in more power which is usually a necessity depending on how far you want to push the overclock the core clock is the most important thing is the higher this is generally the better performance and lastly is the memory clock which also plays a big role in getting the most out of your card once you're ready to begin it's best to start slowly bump up your power and core clock slightly and then give it a try while testing in actual games is always important while we're working out settings combustor is a great tool that comes with afterburner load up the gpu burn-in test and let it run for 5-10 minutes definitely keep an eye on your temperature to make sure it's not exceeding the max of your card as well as watch the test itself closely if you see artifacts like this randomly showing up in the image you're pushing the overclock too high so it's a good idea to pull back a bit and try again once you're looking at a stable core clock it's time to move on to the memory it's pretty much the same process just slowly bump it up until you start running into artifacts or crashing now once you have both of them roughly where you want them definitely tweak a little bit more because sometimes even though a core clock might be stable on its own once you start cranking up the memory it might kind of mess with things and vice versa so definitely be sure to test both of them together to make sure that everything is nice and solid since the 290x lightning is already overclocked nicely out of the box i settled on 1440 megahertz on the core 1500 megahertz on the memory with a plus 25 bump to the power limit with the gtx 780 set to 106 on the power limit i got an extra 90 megahertz on the core and 300 megahertz more on the memory taking a look at the results in 3d marked fighter strike both cards see a nice little gain with the 290x pulling in an extra six percent and the gtx 780 seeing nearly eight percent more performance in bioshock infinite the 290x gets an impressive 10 improvement where the overclocked 780 gets a 9 boost jump to metro last light and here again the 290x lightning improved with an overclock by just under 10 and the 780 pulls in just under 8 if you're willing to spend a little time overclocking can get you was basically free performance there are some risks but as long as you don't go crazy it can really pay off so what do you guys think is overclocking worth it let me know in the comments below also in case you guys missed it i recently reviewed the htc one m8 google play edition probably one of my favorite phones i've ever tried so if you guys want to check out that video it will be linked in the description of this video anyway guys thank you so much for watching and i will catch you in the next onehey guys this is austin and today i'm here with the tutorial showing you how to overclock your graphics card who wants to run it stock anyway overclocking while it can be a little intimidating is actually very straightforward when you buy a graphics card you have a few sliders to play with that allows you to get the most out of your card i'll be doing this tutorial using a couple high-end graphics cards that are designed for overclocking the msi r9 290x lightning and the evga gtx 780 with acx cooler however you can overclock most any desktop gpu some graphics cards do overclock better than others as when you start to overclock you're putting more strain on things like the power delivery as well as the cooler however even entry level cards have at least some overclocking headroom you also need to keep in mind that the rest of your system also needs to be able to handle overclocking make sure there's good airflow in your case to keep things nice and cool and that you have a decent power supply with enough overhead to handle giving your gpu some more juice one thing to definitely keep in mind is that overclocking while very easy to do isn't officially supported by the manufacturers if you crank everything all the way up and your car breaks don't expect to get a new one from the warranty that said things are pretty safe assuming you don't go completely crazy it's no coincidence that a lot of the graphics card companies actually create a lot of the overclocking software my favorite utility is msi afterburner which supports both amd and nvidia graphics cards even if they aren't made by msi inside you'll find all the sliders you need to overclock your card as well as taking a look at things such as fan speed and temperature to overclock our r9 290x we need to pay attention to three of these sliders the power limit the core clock and the memory clock changing the power limit will allow the gpu to pull in more power which is usually a necessity depending on how far you want to push the overclock the core clock is the most important thing is the higher this is generally the better performance and lastly is the memory clock which also plays a big role in getting the most out of your card once you're ready to begin it's best to start slowly bump up your power and core clock slightly and then give it a try while testing in actual games is always important while we're working out settings combustor is a great tool that comes with afterburner load up the gpu burn-in test and let it run for 5-10 minutes definitely keep an eye on your temperature to make sure it's not exceeding the max of your card as well as watch the test itself closely if you see artifacts like this randomly showing up in the image you're pushing the overclock too high so it's a good idea to pull back a bit and try again once you're looking at a stable core clock it's time to move on to the memory it's pretty much the same process just slowly bump it up until you start running into artifacts or crashing now once you have both of them roughly where you want them definitely tweak a little bit more because sometimes even though a core clock might be stable on its own once you start cranking up the memory it might kind of mess with things and vice versa so definitely be sure to test both of them together to make sure that everything is nice and solid since the 290x lightning is already overclocked nicely out of the box i settled on 1440 megahertz on the core 1500 megahertz on the memory with a plus 25 bump to the power limit with the gtx 780 set to 106 on the power limit i got an extra 90 megahertz on the core and 300 megahertz more on the memory taking a look at the results in 3d marked fighter strike both cards see a nice little gain with the 290x pulling in an extra six percent and the gtx 780 seeing nearly eight percent more performance in bioshock infinite the 290x gets an impressive 10 improvement where the overclocked 780 gets a 9 boost jump to metro last light and here again the 290x lightning improved with an overclock by just under 10 and the 780 pulls in just under 8 if you're willing to spend a little time overclocking can get you was basically free performance there are some risks but as long as you don't go crazy it can really pay off so what do you guys think is overclocking worth it let me know in the comments below also in case you guys missed it i recently reviewed the htc one m8 google play edition probably one of my favorite phones i've ever tried so if you guys want to check out that video it will be linked in the description of this video anyway guys thank you so much for watching and i will catch you in the next one