How to overclock a GPU? [2023]

The graphics processing unit, or GPU, is a significant part of your computer system. It has become one of the most crucial computing requirements for business and personal use. Overclocking the GPU is necessary for current-era load-intensive usage—in this process, we increase the clock speed of the graphic card for better performance. If your graphic card does not fulfill your need, it’s good to overclock your graphic card 15% to 20% beyond its out-of-the-box specs. It gives you excellent performance while gaming, multimedia playback, video rendering, and more. 

For your information, overclocking the graphics processing unit is an easy way to increase performance if you follow all the methods step by step. But this process may damage your graphic card or other components if you don’t follow the proper method step by step. So be careful while overclocking the card for extra power and performance. In this article, we can learn how to overclock a GPU or graphic processing unit and get ideal output while ensuring everything goes well. I suggest you read this post until the end to know every step needed for stable overclocking. 

What exactly is the GPU overclocking?

All graphics cards have a fixed ‘clock rate’ or performance level. But you can quickly increase the clock rate; of the graphics card to get better graphics while gaming. It is a trick to increase the clock speed of your graphic card and memory card using different software. The procedure is called ‘overclocking’. This allows your GPU to get better power, faster rendering, and smoother gameplay. In the new models, overclocking helps a lot. After overclocking, you will experience better results immediately.

What do you need for GPU overclocking? 

For overclocking, we will need two pieces of software to perform certain operations. One software is used to increase the GPU’s clock speed, and the second software is used to test if the setting changed by the first software is stable. We will also need third-party software for the overclocking, which is used to monitor the temperature of the GPU. We recommended the MSI Afterburner software, which is used to overclock the GPU, and for the stress testing, we recommended the FurMark. Download these two software for overclocking your GPU.

How to overclock a GPU?

First of all, open the downloaded MSI Afterburner software. The main dashboard will display the current clock speed of the GPU and its memory clock speed. You will see the temperature on the right side of the dashboard. In the center of the dashboard, the basic overclocking reading core voltage, power level, core clock, and memory clock. The power provider allows your GPU to draw more power from the PSU. The core clock shows the clock speed of the GPU. Memory clocks show the memory clock speed. Avoid raising the temperature. 

Step 1: Benchmark your stock settings

Go to Furmark and check the current clock speed performance benchmarks. It lets you benchmark your performance, temperature, clock speed, and FPS. Write these numbers down, or take a screenshot. This will help you compare later. Start the superimposition to select any options from the preset menu. It’s perfect to choose an advanced setting for your games. You can use superpositions to get 100% performance of your graphic card. But it’s essential to disable Vsync before benchmarking your graphic card.

Step 2: Overclock your GPU chip

Overclocking your GPU chip gives you the first step of overclocking. It can help you to get better graphics. It is essential to slowly start overclocking the GPU. Firstly increase only 5% clock speed and check the stability of your graphic card. When the graphics card is stable, it can’t raise any issue in overclocking, then increase a bit more, then again check the stability of your graphics card. When your graphic card fulfills your need, then stop to increase the clock speed. It cannot increase the clock speed fastly and can hardly damage your computer components.

Step 3: Overclock your GPU memory

Memory is just as important as the underlying GPU’s clock speeds for better graphics performance. Try overclocking the GPU memory by 10%, or 50 to 100 MHz. Anything less than 8-10% can give you a stable output. In case your computer isn’t properly working, or your games start to crash, your hardware may not be designed to overclock at all—or you may have exceeded your computer’s temperature limit. When overclocking your memory clock speed, it may not always produce crashes. Sometimes, it just decreases the performance while the memory correction errors.

Step 4: Fine-tune

Start fine-tuning by increasing the GPU clock speed by 10MHz and wait. Then, if the graphics card is stable, increase it again to 10MHz. After that, rerun the benchmark to perform the stress test. Alternatively, you can also run two to three home gaming sessions to check how the device performs in the long run. While gaming, you may find that your device automatically reboots or the screen freezes. This shows that you have gained the limit. Now, reduce the clock to 10 to 20 MHz. This will stabilize the core clock. You can then repeat the same procedure with the GPU memory clock.

Step 5: Increase the power limit

Once you hit your limit, you can either leave your clock where it is or you can change the Power Limit and Temperature Limit toggles in MSI Afterburner and see what happens. Now start your game. Even without overclocking, you’ll likely have your PC’s fans cranking up, and your GPU won’t throttle its clocks as fast or as fast. Use RivaTuner or MSI Afterburner’s software to test your GPU’s performance. Enable and configure the on-screen display to monitor your GPU’s clock rate and other data while gaming or using your benchmarking tools.

Step 6: Fine-tune again and test

After unlocking more power, increase your GPU overclock again to 10 MHz and test each time. Your card will likely exceed its previous crash point. We achieved GPU overclocks of +170 MHz to +450 MHz on our gaming PC. It took us quite a bit of fine-tuning to find the sweet spot, so be patient to get the best results. Once you get a stable clock, benchmark your system again with 3DMark or Furmark. Benchmark your favorite games too. You will notice the difference in both numbers and actual gameplay. 

Conclusion

Overclocking your graphic processing unit (GPU) is a great way to increase your performance. It’s necessary when your graphics card can’t give you good performance in gaming, multimedia playback, or video rendering. After overclocking, you will experience better results immediately. The method of overclocking is straightforward. Just download the MSI Afterburner software. Open this software to display your GPU’s current clock speed, select the advanced setting, slowly overclock your GPU chip and memory, and increase the power limit.

It’s important to test while increasing the core clock and memory clock to maintain the temperature. The temperature rise can damage your computer components. MSI Afterburner is a very nice software and has a great function to overclock your graphic processing unit (GPU). It will show you the clock speed and temperature of your graphic card. Lastly, it’s a good suggestion to check the temperature of your graphic card in the coming weeks. I hope this article is beneficial to you.

Atif Liaquat

Tech Hardware Expert

A graduate in Computer Engineering from the prestigious NUST, Atif Liaquat possesses an innate passion for computer technology that dates back to his childhood days of experimenting with hardware and software. In the past six years, he has parlayed this passion into a successful writing career, delivering a wealth of knowledge to his readers with his unique blend of technical expertise and clear, engaging prose. His rare ability to demystify complex tech concepts for a broad audience distinguishes him in the industry. Atif's insightful and educational content continuously piques the curiosity of readers, cementing his position as an invaluable voice in the tech world.