3080TI undervolting advice?

[1mongus]

Right now I'm trying to undervolt my GPU and I'm following this guide: https://github.com/LunarPSD/NvidiaOverclocking/blob/main/Nvidia Overclocking.md#undervolting

I'm just a bit confused as to why I have to increase my core clock to +125 before messing with the curve? I'm not overclocking since my GPU is factory overclocked and I don't want to mess with it for hours to get a 0.5fps boost, so is increasing the core clock to +125 necessary for the undervolt? Does the amount of voltage I should lower it to depend on what my core clock is?

If you're wondering what I'm referring to in the guide, there's a link that shows what I'm talking about here:

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SPECS:
MB: Gigabyte Z690 UD DDR4
RAM: Patriot Viper Steel 2x16gb 3600mhz DDR4
CPU: i5-12600k
GPU: Gigabyte RTX 3080ti Gaming OC 12G
SSD: Samsung 790 EVO 2TB
OS: Windows 11

 

[looniam]

its not about another .5 fps but getting the most out of what you're undervolting to.

however never knew i had to, because i don't always. though fwiw, some nut jobs save undervolt/+clockspeeds profiles for different games.

 

[ir_cow]

The goal is to get the highest frequency with the lowest voltage. In that video, after editing the clock curve, the voltage is now capped at 925mv (0.925v). If left alone the video card will peak frequency at 1980Mhz. However the Curve is only working off NVIDIA boost. This means that the frequency is governed by voltage, temperature and total power draw allowed. By undervolting it, you use less power, generate less heat and therefore if done correctly can achieve a decent clock frequency at a lower power draw.

Regardless of your curve, the GPU still needs X voltage to reach X frequency. So you might be able to for example reach 1900 Mhz with .900mv, but 2000Mhz would need 1.05v. These numbers aren't exact, but you get the point.

 

[wolf]

There are multiple ways to undervolt, that is one method where you up the core clock, and lower the maximum power target. I use a method where you pick one spot in the curve to be your top clock and can leave power untouched.

CTRL+F brings up the voltage curve. What I do is then hold CRTL and grab a point and drag the entire line down, then choose your undervolt target point, lets say its 825mv, drag that single point up to the desired speed, lets say 1830mhz and hit apply on the main MSI AB window, every point to the right of the one you applied should now be a flat line.

Companies like NVIDIA need to design and ship the cards with settings that work for absolutely everyone. So they need to have a clock/voltage curve that errs on the side of caution for stabilities sake. This does not take into account individual GPU variances and your win in the 'silicone lottery'. It's very easy with Ampere cards to achieve stock performance with a good undervolt.

 

[1mongus]

There are multiple ways to undervolt, that is one method where you up the core clock, and lower the maximum power target. I use a method where you pick one spot in the curve to be your top clock and can leave power untouched.

CTRL+F brings up the voltage curve. What I do is then hold CRTL and grab a point and drag the entire line down, then choose your undervolt target point, lets say its 825mv, drag that single point up to the desired speed, lets say 1830mhz and hit apply on the main MSI AB window, every point to the right of the one you applied should now be a flat line.

Companies like NVIDIA need to design and ship the cards with settings that work for absolutely everyone. So they need to have a clock/voltage curve that errs on the side of caution for stabilities sake. This does not take into account individual GPU variances and your win in the 'silicone lottery'. It's very easy with Ampere cards to achieve stock performance with a good undervolt.

The goal is to get the highest frequency with the lowest voltage. In that video, after editing the clock curve, the voltage is now capped at 925mv (0.925v). If left alone the video card will peak frequency at 1980Mhz. However the Curve is only working off NVIDIA boost. This means that the frequency is governed by voltage, temperature and total power draw allowed. By undervolting it, you use less power, generate less heat and therefore if done correctly can achieve a decent clock frequency at a lower power draw.

Regardless of your curve, the GPU still needs X voltage to reach X frequency. So you might be able to for example reach 1900 Mhz with .900mv, but 2000Mhz would need 1.05v. These numbers aren't exact, but you get the point.

Right, so to be more specific; do I need to up the overclock anything to undervolt? Is there any benefit to upping the clocks before undervolting? And if I do overclock, would I need to choose a higher voltage during the undervolt?

 

[nguyen]

Best way to explain undervolting is you can get the same Clocks with lower voltage, therefore keeping the same performance but using less power.

Let say at default, your 3080Ti reach a stable clocks of 1950mhz @ 950mV, undervolting it down to 1950Mhz @ 850mV would reduce the power consumption by 50-70W, making your card run cooler&quieter.

Here is 3090 at stock

Here is undervolting (-125mV)

Right, so to be more specific; do I need to up the overclock anything to undervolt? Is there any benefit to upping the clocks before undervolting? And if I do overclock, would I need to choose a higher voltage during the undervolt?

Yes you need to overclock so you can keep the stock clocks but lower voltages, Ampere has plenty of overclocking headroom so try +180mhz overclock in conjunction with undervolting

 

[wolf]

Right, so to be more specific; do I need to up the overclock anything to undervolt?

I don't often use that method but yes to make it an effective undervolt (without drastic underclocking too), you up the core clock by say 150mhz, then drop the power target, maybe start with +150mhz and 90% power target and see where it lands you? Or you can try the other method I gave if you have a specific clock frequency in mind.

 

[eidairaman1]

Right, so to be more specific; do I need to up the overclock anything to undervolt? Is there any benefit to upping the clocks before undervolting? And if I do overclock, would I need to choose a higher voltage during the undervolt?

Leave the clocks alone, start lowering the volts till you are unstable, then bump it up 1 or 2 notches from where you were unstable, if you were OC'd you'd start from stock volts and then lower it the same, so for stock clocks your volts may be lower than volts for an oc state

 

[agent_x007]

Right, so to be more specific; do I need to up the overclock anything to undervolt? Is there any benefit to upping the clocks before undervolting? And if I do overclock, would I need to choose a higher voltage during the undervolt?

NV cards with Turbo Boost 3.0 will boost to whatever highest frequency and voltage (in this exact order), they see on F/V curve (limited to Vrel on BIOS side per NV spec).
You can't have ANY points on frequency higher than what your desired voltage is (flat line).
Otherwise your card can boost to max Vrel regardless of what you will set.

Increasing lower voltage point to be higher frequency than all points after it - is the simplest way to do this.
If you don't like it, just lower frequency on all points after certain one, so that they won't have higher frequency than it. That way, card will bypass them when boosting, and voltage GPU will use will be limited to value from that "certain poi
nt" (as can be seen on video you pointed to in first post).

Here's example of my downvolt F/V curve (it's "oc'ed", because it's stable at this frequency and this voltage) :

 

[Mussels]

There are multiple ways to undervolt, that is one method where you up the core clock, and lower the maximum power target. I use a method where you pick one spot in the curve to be your top clock and can leave power untouched.

CTRL+F brings up the voltage curve. What I do is then hold CRTL and grab a point and drag the entire line down, then choose your undervolt target point, lets say its 825mv, drag that single point up to the desired speed, lets say 1830mhz and hit apply on the main MSI AB window, every point to the right of the one you applied should now be a flat line.

Companies like NVIDIA need to design and ship the cards with settings that work for absolutely everyone. So they need to have a clock/voltage curve that errs on the side of caution for stabilities sake. This does not take into account individual GPU variances and your win in the 'silicone lottery'. It's very easy with Ampere cards to achieve stock performance with a good undervolt.

NV cards with Turbo Boost 3.0 will boost to whatever highest frequency and voltage (in this exact order), they see on F/V curve (limited to Vrel on BIOS side per NV spec).
You can't have ANY points on frequency higher than what your desired voltage is (flat line).
Otherwise your card can boost to max Vrel regardless of what you will set.

Increasing lower voltage point to be higher frequency than all points after it - is the simplest way to do this.
If you don't like it, just lower frequency on all points after certain one, so that they won't have higher frequency than it. That way, card will bypass them when boosting, and voltage GPU will use will be limited to value from that "certain poi
nt" (as can be seen on video you pointed to in first post).

Here's example of my downvolt F/V curve (it's "oc'ed", because it's stable at this frequency and this voltage) :

^ I also do it this way
You *must* have a flat line for it to work. Reset your clocks in AB, set it to minus clocks (as low as it goes) and then you can use ctrl-click and drag to raise the voltage you want, to the clocks you want.

1.6GHz lets me run every game at 120FPS+ (most need FPS capped to prevent it passing the 165Hz my monitor can display anyway)

I get crazy performance and drop from 350W to 210W:
(Values are max readings over the last 5 hours, most demanding game was dying light 2. i cropped the min/avg out)

 

[1mongus]

So are the clock numbers and the voltage numbers equivalents? Let's say I up the clock speed by 25. Would lowering the voltage curve by 25 be an effective undervolt? And if they are, wouldnt it just the same as stock if I lowered it by the same amount as I overclocked it?

Also, if I decide to overclock before undervolting, would undervolting reduce the stability or performance gain from the overclock?

Thanks for the help everyone.

 

[agent_x007]

1) So are the clock numbers and the voltage numbers equivalents?
2) Let's say I up the clock speed by 25.
2a) Would lowering the voltage curve by 25 be an effective undervolt?
2b) And if they are, wouldnt it just the same as stock if I lowered it by the same amount as I overclocked it?

3) Also, if I decide to overclock before undervolting, would undervolting reduce the stability or performance gain from the overclock?

Thanks for the help everyone.

It's kind of complicated... but I try to explain.
Ad. 1. Not from GPU side, it always checks Frequency value on F/V curve first, and compares that to a point it operates at now.
Ad. 2. It increases frequency across ALL voltage points by 25MHz (standard "slider" OC)
a) You can't lower the voltage the same way as you lower the frequency.
Voltages are "fixed" on x-axis, and can't be adjusted on their position.
Lowering a point on the curve by 25MHz may either make it slower (because frequency is lower), or it will be skipped during standard turbo boost 3.0 card operation (ie. when it's frequency value is lower than the previous point on the curve).
It does not undervolt it, in anyway.
b) N/A (not applicable)
Ad. 3. If you are overcloking by using core frequency slider on MSI Afterburner - undervolting makes it pointless as it bypasses it completely (you can have one profile for "standard OC", and second one for undervolting).

Y = Frequency, X = Voltage, "+1" = next voltage point :
If (Y+1 > Y), use X(Y+1) as new GPU voltage, repeat "If";
else Y+1 = Y, use Y(X) as new GPU voltage (ie. don't change anything), repeat "If";
else Y+1 < Y, Y = Y+1 (skip this frequency/voltage point), repeat "If".
^This is boosting 3.0 in a nut shell.
(with negleted points about Vrel being Ymax/Xmax, if Power or Thermals get out of hand lower Y [throttling], etc. which aren't needed for undervolting discussion)