# GPU Clock vs GPU Core Clock



## danboy24 (Jan 23, 2019)

Hi Guys
Simple question I'm sure. On the Graphics Card tab in GPU-Z I see a GPU Clock. On my 1080ti these are showing as 1546Mhtz and 1600Mhtz, which I assume refer to the standard speed and the boost speed when the card needs a bit more power
However when I check the Sensors tab I see the GPU Core Clock which is showing 1923Mhtz. I can't work out what this is if my boost clock max is 1600htz? How is this GPU running at 1923htz?


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## rtwjunkie (Jan 23, 2019)

The boost levels listed by manufacturers are conservative estimates.  Each card will vary a bit in reality. 

I believe as long as the card does not exceed thermal or power limits, higher boost levels will frequently happen. GPU-z is measuring what the card is actually doing.


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## londiste (Jan 23, 2019)

GPU Boost 3.0

Given no limits being reached (Temperature, Power, Voltage) GPU is clocked higher until one of the limits is reached.
Spec Base and Boost clocks are quite conservative on both Pascal (GTX1000-series) and Turing (RTX2000-series) cards.


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## W1zzard (Jan 23, 2019)

GPU Clock and GPU Core Clock is the same exact thing, I wasn't even aware of the naming difference in GPU-Z 

Regarding the higher clocks. There's "rated" boost, which is the 1600 MHz number, it's a conservative value what to expect. The actual boost clocks are almost always higher, in your case reaching 1923 MHz.

Everything is working as expected


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## danboy24 (Jan 23, 2019)

Thanks RT
I guess I'd expect the card could be running a bit faster than the boost speed, but if you're right that's an increase of 15% over boost. Seems very high, and it raises the question why bother setting the boost speed at all if the card throttles up to whatever it feels comfortable with anyway?

Thanks guys
I posted before seeing your replies. 
I guess the card I have is quite good given it will push that far, or maybe this is normal for this model? Either way a 15% increase over boost seems really good


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## londiste (Jan 23, 2019)

Graphics Card tab has both by the spec base and boost clocks as well as OC values you have set yourself, these are static values. Sensors tab reads the actual current clock speed.

The simple reason for conservative spec clocks is that there are loads that drag the GPU frequency way down. That in addition to primarily Temperature Limit being a fairly common problem.

When cooling constraints are removed - under water or a good air cooler, any Pascal/Turing card will boost to somewhere around 1850-1950 MHz. With casual OC, over 2000MHz - 2012MHz and 2025MHz seem to be the easy enough frequencies to reach. Anything north of 2040 will need some work on the overclock and a good GPU specimen. Above 2000MHz the power needed for higher frequencies will go up pretty fast and you will start hitting Power Limit or more likely the Voltage Limit first.


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## danboy24 (Jan 23, 2019)

Thanks Ion
What do you think I could reasonably push the memory to?


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## Vayra86 (Jan 23, 2019)

danboy24 said:


> Thanks Ion
> What do you think I could reasonably push the memory to?




11.5 ~ 12 Ghz is about where the fun stops most of the time.

But, higher clocks don't always translate to higher performance. Be sure to use a points-based benchmark to see whether your OC still pays off. Otherwise its best to just back down a bit for stability's sake.

As for your core clock 1923mhz is nothing special for Pascal. Try aiming for 2000.


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## W1zzard (Jan 23, 2019)

danboy24 said:


> Thanks Ion
> What do you think I could reasonably push the memory to?


Around 1500 MHz should be a good start, then play games and see if you experience any crashes or visual artifacts


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