How detrimental is overclocking the GPU

I would like to get some extra performance while gaming as sometimes I do encounter some fps lag and would prefer not too. I could lower the settings but I'm a sucker for nice graphics.

To the question how detrimental is it to the GPU to overclock it? I'm not going to push it to it's limits or anything and I will monitor the temperature and also have a cooling pad. I just wonder how much it affects the longevity of the unit (This is probably impossible to answer) I'm hoping for 3 years out of this computer but don't want the video card to be toast after 2 years cause it was overclocked.

Thanks for any insight

 

The main enemy for OC is the heat. The higher you OC mean the higher heat it will produce thus the higher chance of overheat then you'd see a BSOD. It is best to constantly monitor the heat all the time and note it down, try every clockspeed by use that particular setting then jump into game for an hour then note the temp, to see which one is give the best possible result.

For overclocking, yes the lifetime of the hardware will be reduce because you push it pass the limit of the normal time it should take for non-OC hardware. And yes it is impossible to predict since it can happen at anytime. As long as you do not OC it too high, you'd be fine.

As for me I also OC the GT555M, and I OC it at 780/1560, I use to OC it up to 800/1600 but because of I'm keep getting a lot more BSOD due to overheat shutdown, then I lower it down and it rarely to never receiving the BSOD since then. Oh one more thing, for the temperature it can also be affected by the room temp. And for OC-ing, a cooler is recommend.

 

Pretty much what CGSDR said, except I would start a bit smaller. You can download NVIDIA System tools, which will allow you to safely overclock right from the NVIDIA Control Panel, which is great for a beginner. I would start with 750/1080, and then itll do Memory Clock on its own I believe. After you become comfortable with it and want to overclock more you should download MSI Afterburner, which will let you overclock higher like 780/1560

 

Thanks guys!

I started using MSI and over past 2 hours slowly increasing the clock rate by like 10-20 at a time and almost up to 750 and I think that's as high as I will go anyways.

Now I was wondering, I don't plan to have this overclock applied 24/7, only when gaming. So is it bad for the hardware to have it set as the default rates and then before gaming switch it to 750?

 

Nope thats perfectly fine. With optimus it turns off the NVIDIA GPU anyways so it doesnt really matter

 

Dont worry, it will not 24/7 OC the GPU, that's the advantage of the Optimus, it will only OC when it detect a 3D app or game is running. I use EVGA Precision to OC and it allow you to set what OC setting you want to run in the setting > profile menu, though I'm not sure if it available in MSI Afterburner or not.

If you want to get higher than 750/1500, you have to use a custom/modded VBIOS, however this will void your warranty should anything wrong happen, and this is the reason why I can OC up to 800/1600 and it will also allow you to OC up to 950/1900, but I never OC to 900/1800 because it would be too unstable because even at 850/1700 it is already unstable so 950/1900 is out of question.

 

i OC to about 830 and i run stable all day long no issues, the card cuts itself nearly off when yur not gaming because of optimus

 

Any OC applied through Afterburner won't be 24/7. There's a couple of states involved here, and Afterburner only affects the high 3D state.

Intregrated graphics - NVIDIA card off, when web browsing, etc.
Low 3D state - NVIDIA GPU on, for 1080p video and the like.
High 3D state - NVIDIA GPU on, for gaming, or anything else intensive.