Theoretical question regarding the differences between OC a CPU and a GPU

[segal.arye]

WGH

Sup guys? I'm new around here, so allow me to introduce myself first.

My name is Arye, I'm a 23 y/o from Israel, and have always been interested in electrical/mechanical engineering. (Currently working on my final year project in order to receive my B.Sc. in mechanical engineering.)

I've never actually overclocked anything, so everything I know about the subject (which isn't much) is purely theoretical, drawn from articles I read online and on forums, based on what other people have experienced.

My question is about the differences between the OC capabilities offered to us by GPU manufacturers (Nvidia/AMD). As far as I know, GPU overclocking begins and, well, ends in increasing the voltage supplied to the GPU (a feature granted to us by the graphics card manufacturer), and that's about that. No BCLK adjustments whatsoever, locked multiplier, etc. Whereas in CPUs, it's a whole different story, in which the entire chip is unlocked (take Intels' K-series as an example).

If what I wrote above regarding GPU overclocking is indeed correct, why won't the manufacturers let us control its internals like Intel and AMD do? Will we have that kind of control in the future?

That's about it, guys. Would really like to hear your thoughts and opinions regarding the matter!

Thanks a lot in advance,

- Arye.

 

[Filter]

Ummm. You can control every aspect of gpu overclocking. I think you have been mis informed

 

[segal.arye]

I see. Thanks!

Any other replies are more than welcome.

- Arye.

 

[Filter]

I see. Thanks!

Any other replies are more than welcome.

- Arye.

Just down load a prgram like msi afterburner. you can change core clock. shader clock., memory clock voltage. etc

 

[Lord_Exodia]

GPU's and CPU's are designed completely differently and don't obey the same laws. Some aspects are similar but others are not. Things like multipliers, BCLK, etc.. don't exist in the GPU world.

With GPU's your basically unlocking shaders etc.. via bios flashing/tweaking and in rare cases software tweaking e.g. rivatuner etc..

You are also changing GPU, shader, and vram frequency as well as voltages. But that's about it on the GPU side.

Also worthwhile learning is the bottle-neck scenarios

The more work you put on the GPU's e.g raising the in game resolution, IQ settings (AA, Texture Quality etc..) the less chance you have of being CPU bottle-necked.

Overclocking in different scenarios

You get a performance boost that is notable if;

You overclock your GPU and it(gpu) is the bottleneck or system is even
You overclock your CPU and it(CPU) is the bottleneck or system is even

You don't get a performance boost that is notable if;

You overclock your GPU and system is cpu bottle-necked
You overclock your CPU and your system is GPU bottle-necked

Too many people do not understand these concepts and try to overclock a GPU when they are CPU bottle-necked and wonder why they aren't seeing any performance increase. Or they are overclocking their CPU and their GPU's are holding back the system (not powerful enough) and wondering why they aren't getting a performance increase in games.

 

[segal.arye]

Thank you for the thorough explanation, Lord. I will continue reading on the subject as much as I can.

Thanks a lot for all the replies!

- Arye.

 

[Lord_Exodia]

Thank you for the thorough explanation, Lord. I will continue reading on the subject as much as I can.

Thanks a lot for all the replies!

- Arye.

No problem, my pleasure. Keep up the good work, we need more mechanical engineers in the world too.