Lack of Overclocking RTX Cards
It has been a busy month in the Hardware Asylum Labs between the Live Stream with FunkyKit to the launch of multiple products across all of the segments. While that might make any hardware enthusiast happy it is a strange time for it to happen given the holiday season. It could be the “situation” messing with release schedules or an actual uptick in product awesomeness. Of course with all of the new RTX 30 series video cards the only one that seems overclocker friendly is the RTX 3090 which is technically the “Titan” range and the full embodiment of the RTX 30 series GPU. Thing is, according to NVIDIA we aren’t supposed to be buying it. As consumers we are supposed to be limited to the RTX 3080 and lower where the clock speeds are high with absolutely zero headroom for overclocking.
Before the snowflakes chime in yes, you can overclock an RTX 30 series however that overclock you are doing is actually within range of NVIDIA Boost and all you are doing is forcing the card to run your mild 3D apps slightly faster (which you will never notice).
Real overclocking is that where you push beyond the core clock and beyond the boost clock into the range where enthusiasts love to live and aside from a few factory options the is not possible with retail video cards and cost prohibitive at the high-end.
Related Links
The Funky Kit Show - With Dennis Garcia - Live Ep.114
SFX Power Supply Overclocking
When we think about overclocking most of us gravitate to “big”. We want big performance and to get the big numbers we need excessive hardware. Big video card (for the high numbers) Big processor for the high clocks, baddass motherboard (cause: reasons) and a super small Power Supply.
Wait. That isn’t right?!?
In the past SFX power supplies have been the go to solution for small form factor PC builds. Before that we would often rely on the case manufacturer to provide a PSU but, things changed when the SFX standard started to become popular.
The biggest issue with small power supplies is getting the circuits small enough to not only fit into the small chassis but also be efficient enough to pass an 80+ certification. Due to these limitations the power ratings have often been in the low 400w range. Cooler master released a new SFX PSU design that not only gives us big power but stays with the small form factor.
Of course, what better way to prove how good a PSU is than to do some overclocking. The overclocking sessions started with figuring out how the PSU was going to operate, when does the PSU turn on and does it generate a bunch of heat. As the clock speeds ramped up so did the power draw and yet the PSU stayed cool and extremely stable. Stable enough to run a Core i9 10900k at 5.3Ghz and a RTX 2080 Super at 2130 to net a Hardware First Place at HWBOT. Not too bad for a PSU that is smaller than a couple of Pepsi cans.
Related Links
EVGA Z490 Dark Motherboard Review
Episode 118 featured music:
Little People - Start Shootin' (http://www.littlepeoplemusic.com/)
