GTX 480 overclocking.

Okay, so, for anyone who has ever overclocked one of these before or knows how to without bringing temps to extreme levels, what are some safe settings to overclock at? Right now I'm using MSI Afterburner to overclock, and, from what I've read, I have to change/adjust the core, shader, and memory clock speeds. And, if it helps, my GPU usually idles anywhere between 40 and 46 C. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.

When it comes to overclocking, it's best to take small, gradual steps for each setting. For the GTX 480 specifically, you'll want to find the max of the core first, then the memory. Since the core is locked to the shader, you'll pretty much be finding the max of both when you OC the core.

To find your maximum overclock, do the following:

- Up your fan speed to at least 70%. You'll need this to combat the extra heat made by the GPU by overclocking. You can also make a custom fan profile to go up as temperatures increase.

- Run Furmark in the background (or MSI Kombustor. Both are good for stressing the GPU).

- Up the core clock by 10mhz. Or, if you can't, up the shader clock by 20mhz.

- Leave the GPU stress test running for about 5-10 minutes. Watch it closely, as any flickering or artifacting of any sort means it is unstable.

- If no flickering/artifacting/crashing occurs, then increase the core clock by another 10 mhz. Keep doing this until it shows any problems.

- Once it flickers/artifacts, drop the shader clock by 5mhz increments until it stops flickering. That is your maximum OC.

- Do the same for the memory.

Okay, whenever I have more time I'm going to download Furmark and try that test. I think you covered everything in your answer so I should be fine. That said, are there any high OC settings that are known to work for the 480, or should I just stick with doing it incrementally?

And, quick question about Furmark. In the settings before starting it up, should I check off all the boxes (Xtreme burning mode, Displacement mapping, Post FX)? Also, as for MSAA samples, should I set that to the max, or should I just set everything to the bare minimum?

Well, the reason to do it incrementally is so you don't damage your card with clock speeds it can't handle. Max OC's I've seen with GTX 480's range from 750mhz core all the way to 900. It's best to figure out where your card can get to instead of taking the risk of trying someone else's.

And, quick question about Furmark. In the settings before starting it up, should I check off all the boxes (Xtreme burning mode, Displacement mapping, Post FX)? Also, as for MSAA samples, should I set that to the max, or should I just set everything to the bare minimum?

Halak41

Those are really up to you. For me, I just used Xtreme burning mode and ran that. I guess if you enabled all those settings, it would put an even greater stress on your card, but I found Xtreme Burning Mode to be sufficient when OC'ing.

^

Okay, thanks raven. Very helpful as always. I was just wondering which settings (either low or maxed out) would be best when testing the limitations of the GPU. Now all I have to do is figure out how to overclock my CPU properly.