Is 6000 MHz memory clock too risky for a mobile GPU?

I have never seen a 6000 MHz memory clocked mobile GPU by default. Why is that? Even the latest high end GTX 980M has 5000 MHz memory clock. Many high end desktop GPUs out there have clocked at 6000 MHz and some even at 7000 MHz.

I am currently using my overclocked GTX 870M at 6000 MHz. I know there are many people using their GPUs at 6000 MHz with overclock. It surely adds considerable heat to the GPU but the gains from it also good.

I have been using GTX 870M like this for six months and now there are some crackling noises come from GPU when it is stressed. I can't help but worry if this is the reason it does like that. It can be very well something else but that drives back to me to the first question. Is it for safety or just for cutting down the power of mobile GPUs? I would like to know your opinions about that.

 

If it works without corruption or lockup, no issue. I am surprised they don't run 6000MHz vRAM considering the cost of the cards compared with desktop. I can't imagine the power requirements or heat would be that much more significant.

 

I have overclocked my 970M before to around 6000Mhz but that was really pushing it... God knows how my new one will do.. I'll run some benches and see...

 

Set it to 5600 - problem solved. Way less risk, less heat, little less performance.

 

for Kepler cards it's fine I think. Never seen someone with a 780M, 870M or 770M that couldn't handle 6000MHz on the memory.

But Maxwell GPUs, at least the 980M, have low voltage vRAM and don't allow the memory clock to push that high normally. It's a similar scenario to the 680M.

Since you didn't list the GPU you were thinking about, I explained both sides. I'm not sure how AMD cards handle things but they're pretty irrelevant right now XD.

This would require them to care about us =D

 

The reason they don't go faster is that the traces are more compact on MXM causing interference limiting the speed.

 

Yes, I wonder how much TDP cost by adding 1000 MHz (effective) with overclock? 5, 10, 15 watt? Could somebody clarify it?

I'm not sure that my GTX 870M's strange acting caused by overclock, it could be entirely something else. I sincerely hope yours will run safe and sound.

True but once you see the GPU's 6000 MHz performance it is not possible to unsee it. I suppose I'm greedy

I meant 700M series and newer. I didn't know 980M have low voltage vRAM. I'm sure I saw some people who managed to reach 6000 MHz with their GTX 970M.

I’m not sure I follow because of my English. Could you please provide a simpler explanation (if this wasn’t the simplest already)?

 

Look at a desktop card, the chips are more spread out allowing greater spacing for all of the GDDR5 data lines, in MXM they are squished together creating greater interference (noise on the bus).

This is why over volting the ram chips does not really help.

 

So basically the more memory chips you put on an MXM card the lower the frequency?

 

Totally OT, but nice touch with the vote options

 

The closer the spacing, dual sided vs single sided should not impact too much as the PCB acts as a shield.

 

no problem for amd. always running at 6400

 

Every sample is different, also AMD get less out of that speed so it could come down to how they handle the bus

 

I see but I have to disagree with the latter. Overclocking the ram chips actually do help a lot in terms of performance in my case. With 1006 MHz core clock (+39 from stock) and 6000 MHz memory clock, the GTX 870M's stock 3DMark 11 GPU performance jumped from 6637 (according to Notebookcheck, average score of five notebooks) to 8105 which I think is a massive improvement. Also in games with the same setup, for example Tomb Raider's performance in its benchmark test jumped from 64 FPS to 72 FPS. In average of games and synthetic performance, it mostly on part and sometimes even surpasses the performance of the GTX 780M.

Very nice. How is your temperature at these speeds?

 

I think @Meaker was saying that on mobile cards, overvolting the memory chips doesn't really increase their overclocking headroom.

870M gets a bigger benefit from memory overclocking than 256-bit cards like 780M because its backend has been chopped off a bit, similar to 660 Ti vs. 670 for example.

 

That kind of reinforces my belief that 160GB/s is the sweet spot for memory bandwidth for the most part. I rarely if ever noticed benefits going from 160GB/s to 192GB/s (5000MHz to 6000MHz), but since the 870M's base is 120GB/s, overclocking it from 5000MHz to 6000MHz bumps it to 144GB/s which is a lot better.

And then we have crap like the 960 desktop card which even with maxwell's memory benefits you couldn't hit 160GB/s >____>

Edit: I said 970M, but I meant 870M. Fixed it now. 970M benefits too though.

 

Yes I am talking about adding voltage to get beyond 1500-1600mhz memory clocks.

HBM will allow increases now as cores get more powerful to feed then. GDDR5 is about done on the high end.

 

Let's hope so... HBM seems to be the next miracle just like GDDR5 was... I hope it lives up to the expectations in the end...

 

Ah okay. Sorry for my misunderstanding. I thought it was only possible adding voltage to the core, not the memory. You're right, 870M is cut down from 660 Ti (same GK104 and exact amounts of cuda cores but lower core and memory clock). Similarly I think 780M is cut down from 670.

I wish I knew what causing crackle noises come from the GPU. I want able to use my GPU with overclocked.

 

Noises are usually coil whine.

 

Do coil whine noises appear from the start or after some time? Or both?

 

Depends on the load. So you might not hear it in some games, but others will.

for example, I hear coil whine from my system when playing Witcher 2, but not Witcher 3.

 

Get old enough or loose enough of your high frequency hearing and you won't notice any coil whine

 

True, it does more frequent crackling noises when it is full stressed, for example in Furmark burn-in-test or Crysis 3. Could you please describe what is like coil whine noise you're hearing? Is it like a buzzing noise? Like in the video below. Or is it like I described (crackling noise)? It happens even if FPS is capped at 60.

Next thread mine will be: how i became deaf... lolol

 

I used some hot melt glue to quiet a coil before and worked like a charm. But yeah, it can vary like Linus says. My 980m whines, but it's usually when idle, and not real noticeable.

 

If it is only coil whine, I can live with that. AFAIK it doesn't damage the GPU. But I don't know for sure. The sound isn't like the video below again from Linus', though this seems far more worse than I have. It isn't constant noise like this one, it is randomly happening at high loads and temperatures.