Graphics Memory Overclocking

There were no problems with overclocking the memory o MSI card. The maximum frequency I hit was 950MHz. After that, the test scene transformed into a chaotic commotion of polygons of every color and size imaginable. The graph below shows the performance of NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra with an overclocked memory and a fixed GPU frequency:

Well, the performance gains are rather small. Let’s view them in percents and compare to the graphics memory frequency gain:

Again, there are no surprises. We have a maximum feedback from memory overclocking in FSAA modes, and minimum – in AF modes.

Overall, the graphics memory proved less willing to speed up than the GPU. We’ve got only 5% performance gain at maximum.

Overclocking Both: GPU and Memory

When overclocking both the graphics core and memory to their maximum, 625MHz / 950MHz (457MHz DDR), we have of course higher results than if speeding them up separately:

The diagram below shows the relative performance gain in different work modes. I also put down the graphs of the relative GPU and memory frequency growth.

So, extreme overclocking made the NVIDIA GeForce FX 5900 Ultra card run about 20-30% faster. Overclocking brings similar advantages in every work mode, which indicates a good “balance” of the product. The maximum performance gain was in 1600x1200 with FSAA and AF enabled – as this was the hardest operational mode for the card.