SOLVED: Why Can’t I Overclock My GPU? – 4 Reasons

Overclocking involves increasing the megahertz performance of computer hardware or components to increase their potential performance.

GPU overclocking improves the performance of your graphics, rendering more frames and providing much better gameplay. It also increases the capabilities of your graphics card, which helps you perform more tasks in a shorter period. Still, overclocking also increases the power consumption and temperature of the GPU.

In today’s article, we will find out the possible reasons why you can’t overclock your GPU. We will also show you some simple methods that you can follow to fix your GPU overclocking issues. So, let’s get into this topic without wasting any more time.

Why Can’t I Overclock My GPU?

It is due to incorrect settings or false modifications while overclocking your GPU. You may have been using unsupported software, and you must verify if your GPU even supports the overclocking feature. According to the manufacturer, always use the utility software to overclock your GPU. 

Only the latest motherboards support overclocking from the BIOS. Otherwise, you have to use an official utility software according to your manufacturer and brand that will allow you to easily modify and increase the megahertz and power of your GPU. NVidia and AMD are the two most popular GPU manufacturer brands.

NVidia offers the most popular GeForce lineup. These GPUs have different manufacturer brands like Gigabyte, MSI, ASUS, and Zotac. Each of these manufacturers provides all types of capable utility applications that allow the users to easily modify, add, or overclock the hertz of these GPUs to gain more.

Whereas AMD offers its Radeon series GPUs that some known brands like Sapphire, XFX, EVGA, MSI, etc. manufacture. Both these brands offer various types of utility software that allow customization. But they also offer crucial driver software like GeForce Experience and AMD Adrenalin Edition.

Here are some possible causes and their permanent fixes to solve GPU overclocking issues. But before doing any sort of recovery, please ensure that even if your GPU supports the overclocking feature, the manufacturer brand or the previous owner does not already overclock it.

BIOS Settings

System BIOS is the most important software installed on your motherboard that helps to customize, modify, and change the settings of almost all hardware and components connected to your system’s motherboard. From GPUs, storage drives, and USB ports to power supply voltage, all can be modified from BIOS.

If your bios don’t support the overclocking feature, you can not overclock your GPU using BIOS settings. Sometimes, some BIOS has overclocking features locked in the settings you need to enable before modifying your GPU. But make sure your motherboard supports the overclocking feature.

• How To Fix It?

Restart your system and press the following shortcut keys “F1, F10, F2, F12, Esc, or Delete” according to your motherboard’s manufacturer to open the BIOS settings. Head to the “Overclocking” section and select the specified GPU. Increase the values of memory and core clock megahertz accordingly.

Hardware Limitations

Already overclocked version of GPUs (OC Versions) doesn’t support much overclocking, just like old GPUs that never had the overclocking feature unlocked. If the previous owner or manufacturer already overclocks the GPU, it is not recommended to overclock it again to exceed the limits.

Exceeding the hardware limitations can be dangerous for your hardware. In the case of GPUs, overclocking them to the limits is never recommended. It will require more power, resulting in a short circuit that can permanently damage the GPU, motherboard, and PSU, or sometimes the whole system can be affected.

• How To Fix It?

Inspect and accurately calculate your GPU’s memory and core clock limitations. To do that, download and install the GPU-Z information utility tool from the official website of TechPowerUp. After the installation, run the application. Compare the “GPU Clock” and “Memory” to “Default Clock” and “Boost.”

If the “GPU Clock MHz” value is higher than the “Default Clock MHz” and almost exceeds the limits of “Boost MHz,” then the GPU is already overclocked by the manufacturer or previous owner. It is not recommended to overclock an already overclocked GPU because it can damage the processing unit of that GPU.

Overheating Issues

Overclocked GPUs consume more power, so higher temperatures require a good airflow system. Dust can block your computer’s air vents, trapping all the heat inside the chassis, which can be a tremendous problem for your hardware and components because electronics don’t do well in the heat.

It is unsafe to overclock your GPU when the temperatures are already high. It may also be due to the thermal compound of your GPU’s processing unit that requires a fresh replacement. The grey thermal compound dries over time, whereas the silicon pads tend to last longer. Always monitor the GPU temperature.

• How To Fix It?

To monitor your GPU’s temperature, open the Windows “Task Manager” by pressing the “CTRL+Shift+Esc” shortcut keys. Head to the “Performance” tab and scroll down to “GPU 0”. You can easily monitor the real-time temperature mentioned below of your GPU’s model on the left panel.

You can also use the Open Hardware Monitor portable application to inspect the real-time temperatures of your GPU. Download, extract, and open the application. Scroll down until you see your GPU’s model with the manufacturer’s icon. Inspect the “GPU Core” in “Temperatures.” Below 70°c is considered okay.

Software Incompatibility

Software compatibility is crucial for it to work properly, providing authentic results to change the settings that must be applied over the GPU’s chipset. Only supported software of the specified GPU can do these overclocking settings accurately without causing any damage or risk.

Suppose your motherboard BIOS doesn’t support the overclocking feature. In that case, you can still safely overclock your GPU using a trusted utility software specified by the manufacturer, such as Gigabyte Xtreme Engine, MSI Afterburner, AMD Overdrive, etc. Use the application software per your brand and manufacturer.

The correct software and settings are essential to prevent problems while overclocking your GPU. MSI Afterburner is the most popular and trusted software that supports almost all GPU brands and manufacturers. It has the easiest real-time overclocking setup with a minimal and user-friendly design.

• How To Fix It?

Download and install the MSI Afterburner software from MSI’s official website. The latest version is always instructed to avoid bugs. After the installation, run the program. From the “Clock” panel below, increase the “Core Clock MHz” and “Memory Clock MHz” according to your GPU’s capability. Don’t exceed the limits.

After modifying the settings, ensure the power limit is at least 100% because the overclocked GPU will require more power to increase performance comprehensively. Set the “Temp Limit” to default 83°c or lower. Now click the apply option with the symbol below to confirm the modifications.

Can You Fry a GPU By Overclocking?

Yes, exceeding the core speed of your GPU to cross the safe limits can permanently damage your GPU. Overextending the overclocking will require more power, and sometimes, the voltage can fluctuate, resulting in short curation that can fry your GPU’s components and permanently damage the motherboard.

While overclocking, it is important to inspect and calculate every MHz value accurately; too much can force the GPU to consume more power, producing much more heat, and an increase in the temperatures will fry and damage the processing unit and ICUs of the GPU. Also, avoid doing stress tests.

Is It Safe To Overclock Low-End GPU?

Yes, GPU overclocking is safe if you do not exceed the capacity limit of your GPU. In the case of Low-end GPUs, it is a very helpful feature that enables these old GPUs to outperform and provide more frames and performance. Overclocking your low-end GPU to gain more performance will be a good idea.

Overclocking increases the temperature of the GPU because it consumes more power. It also stresses the motherboard; that’s why it is never recommended to overclock using a very poor motherboard that can not handle that stress, resulting in a recovery reboot or unfortunate damage to the hardware.

Conclusion

GPU is not overclocking due to a BIOS that doesn’t support overclocking, or the features have been locked in the settings. Hardware limitations can also affect the capabilities of the GPU to overclock and perform. It is never recommended to exceed the capacity limitations of the GPU to avoid any serious issues.
Exceeding the capabilities of your GPU can permanently damage its processing unit. It will require more voltage, which can fluctuate, resulting in a short circuit that can surely fry or damage the components of your GPU and motherboard. Do not limit the power and usage in the overclocking software utility.
Software compatibility is crucial because incompatible software will not detect, support, or overclock the GPU. Using the utility application according to your brand and manufacturer of the GPU is the only solution to safely modify the overclocking settings that can be applied and tested in real-time.
Overclocking a low-end GPU will be a game changer for low-end gamers because overclocking will surely increase performance and frames. But ensure you have the appropriate PSU with voltage spare while overclocking any GPU. Always keep your computer’s chassis air vents clean to increase the airflow.