# Undervolting GPU
## Introduction
This section covers advanced techniques like **undervolting (UV)** and **overclocking (OC).**
**Under-volting** helps reduce power draw and heat, improving thermal efficiency and battery life. The aim is to *find the lowest optimal voltage that the GPU can use* without causing performance losses or instability.\
\ **Over-clocking** pushes your GPU above factory clocks for higher performance. This usually increases temps, but mixing it with UV mitigate the effects (more on that later)
{% hint style="info" %}
**Note**
Undervolting is also sometimes referred to as "Undervolting + Overclocking" which is what the guide aims to do.
This way you can achieve better thermals and power consumption while maintaining the same performance
{% endhint %}
New or worried? Click here to read about common misconceptions
1. ***Is overclocking dangerous?***\
\- Modern GPUs limit how far you can push the voltage unless you have a modded VBIOS or have a physical modification to your card.\
\
Therefore, your card’s voltage is safe, and increasing clock speeds will not increase the voltage to unsafe values.\\
2. ***Will undervolting reduce performance?***\
\- In most cases, undervolting actually improves performance if you're power limited (overheating) since it almost always reduces GPU temps and stops the GPU from throttling. Worst case scenario, you just get a cooler GPU.\\
3. ***What are the best UV/OC settings for my GPU?***\
\- There is no best overclock or undervolt settings.\
\
Every GPU is different physically and will UV/OC differently, so copying settings is not advisable. It all depends on silicon lottery and you need to test it yourself
## Prerequisites ⚠️
1. **Overclocking Software**
* [MSI Afterburner](https://www.msi.com/Landing/afterburner/graphics-cards)\\
2. **Monitoring Software**
* [HWiNFO](https://www.hwinfo.com/download/) -- It displays the values of all sensors available.
* [GPU-Z](https://www.techpowerup.com/download/techpowerup-gpu-z/) -- It reports hardware specifics of your GPU.\\
3. **Benchmarks**\
In order to test our UV, we need to stress test to make sure the values are stable. Instability is when you have *artifacts, freezes, crashes, major stutters, or shutdowns.*\\
* One of the best ways to stress-test a GPU is to just run some games (eg:- Cyberpunk 2077)
* [Superposition](https://benchmark.unigine.com/superposition) -- Dedicated benchmarking software. Make sure to set the preset so it maxes out the VRAM *without going over.*\
\
It's also has pretty reliable scores if you want to graph/see performance regressions.
[](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/69487009/155036041-4eed7d4b-1103-4d88-876c-d5878cbaf70e.png)
## Undervolting ⚡
* **Before proceeding, ensure you have installed everything from** [#prerequisites](#prerequisites "mention")
* For demonstration purposes, we are going to be using an example 4060M GPU. Your GPU settings and UV **WILL VARY.**
* You can click the images to get a zoomed view
## Steps
{% stepper %}
{% step %}
Run a game or the superposition benchmark software.\
\
Then, open GPU-Z and head to the `Sensors` tab.\
Note your `GPU Clock` and`GPU Voltage` values (should be ≥ \~0.975v).\
\
Keep note of the `GPU Temperature`\
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Open MSI Afterburner. Inside, do `CTRL + F` to open the curve editor.\
The bottom horizontal line is your **voltage.**\
The vertical line to your left is your **clock speed.**\
\
It should look like this:
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Remembering your max `GPU Voltage`, click the dot directly above it.\
These are your stock values. (*In my case*, 1.01v & \~2500Mhz as highlighted in white)
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Next, go down by 25mv and click that point. (*In my case,* that would be 0.975v )
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Then, **hold shift + drag the point** **upwards** till the highlighted `GPU Clock` value on the left reaches your stock clocks from before. (*In my case,* I dragged it from 2400MHz to 2500Mhz)
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Next, again, **hold shift, select the entire region to the right of your value** *(0.975v in my case)* **and drag it fully down.**\\
It should look like this:\\
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Run the **SuperposItion Benchmark** to test your settings.
{% hint style="info" %}
BSODs or crashes are normal. Don't worry. If you need additional help or can't figure it out, post on the subreddit or ask in our discord below.
{% endhint %}
\
If you do not experience crashes or artifacts, repeat Steps 4 till 8 again.\
If you hit an unstable voltage, keep increasing the voltage by 5mv until you have stable results again.\
\
(*Suppose,* 0.975v is unstable for you. Increase it by 5mv - 0.980v - and test again. If it's still unstable, keep going until you have stable results).\\
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Finally, after you've determined your stable settings,\
apply the settings [](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/69487009/155014073-4aac5d7b-91d6-4b96-abd1-ab51287cb248.png) and save [](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/69487009/155004968-6f7ee82e-1575-4605-9932-644e5d702d45.png) them to a profile. [](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/69487009/155006086-5e300602-f099-4c6e-a3bf-29962b2905d2.png)
{% endstep %}
{% step %}
Click this [](https://user-images.githubusercontent.com/69487009/155013987-f6c7f084-c4cb-4804-bc98-1786056959a7.png) to have the your settings applied at startup.
{% endstep %}
{% endstepper %}
{% hint style="success" %}
Congratulations! You should now have a lower temperature while maintaining the same performance! Compare your `GPU Temperature` from Step 1 vs now!
{% endhint %}
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