Instability is when you have application crashes, freezes, driver crashes, BSODs, major stutters, or shutdowns. Unfortunately, there is no conclusive stress test for GPUs other than OCCT, and playing games is a great way to find instability. One of the best stress tests is just playing games. OCCT can be used instead of HWiNFO as well.

OCCT: OCCT stress tests while providing sensor values from HWiNFO.

GPU-Z: GPU-Z is a software that reports the model, VBIOS, and the hardware specifics of your GPU.

HWiNFO: HWiNFO is the most frequently used monitor software as it presents the values of all the sensors available and is an excellent software to have when overclocking your CPU, RAM, and GPU.

Other software may be lacking in certain features and are generally not recommended.

MSI Afterburner: This software is the most widely used and robust.

If using a Lovelace GPU, disable ECC in the Nvidia Control Panel for more performance (needs more testing). Some GPUs can have a higher power limit by shunting or by flashing a higher power limit VBIOS. Note that laptops and some GPUs cannot go over 100%. Go to MSI Afterburner, max out power and temp limits, and prioritize the power limit. While still in settings, go to User Interface -> User interface skinning properties and select a skin, such as the MSI Cyborg Afterburner skin, as it will be easier to follow.ĭownload HWiNFO and run it in sensors only. Setting a high fan curve is always preferable for benchmarking, but the same overclock settings may not be stable on a lower fan speed.

Set a fan curve as high as possible while still being audibly tolerable. Settings -> Fan -> Enable User Defined Control. Definitions of HWiNFO Performance Limitsĭownload MSI Afterburner and set a fan curve.Benefits of Overclocking and Undervolting.

Msi overclocking