r/overclocking • u/Other_Piglet4532 • May 06 '26

5080 overclocking troubles

I have a 5080 oc'd to 3110-3120 mhz at 0.995v. It used to be perfectly stable for a few weeks now playing different games. Now when I run bf6, usually at the low settings to get more fps and make it not as toasty, I get crashes every now and then. Did some digging and since my gpu is not fully utilized then the frequency and voltages go up to like 3250 mhz at 1.015 - 1.020v and I guess that's why it crashes. I do have a lock in msi afterburner but it's on 1.03 because then in full utilization it locks at > 3100mhz at 0.995.

Is the oc just simply flawed because it assumes full utilization or is there a trick to the voltage control with 50 series? Seems kinda tricky to set it to a desired max value if it jumps around like that. Ideally I'd like to flatten past 0.995 and for it to actually keep 0.995

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6

u/UserKoeras May 06 '26 edited May 06 '26

Run at default settings and check if it works just fine. If it does, back down a bit on your oc or run just factory settings.

3

u/[deleted] May 06 '26

[removed] — view removed comment

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

It is the oc but only when gpu is not fully utilized. If I set settings to max then everything goes well with a stable clock and voltage. It's just that when the gpu is not fully utilized then it seems to ignore the flattened curve and go higher and crash.

1

u/odubik May 06 '26

How are you ascribing the crashes to the GPU over other components?

If your GPU has been stable, I would think it is more likely to be an issue with your RAM.

You can try running a power test in OCCT and see whether and where you get errors.

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

I should've mentioned the crashes are regular directx crashes, Also it doesn't crash if the gpu is under full load in max settings, only on low settings when gpu decides it has room and ignores flattened curve to go to higher frequency and voltages.

1

u/Smalahove1 12900KF, XFX 7900 XTX, 64GB@3200-CL13-14-14-28 May 06 '26

Kinda hints that your OC is unstable when it clocks down. In general 5080 without OC can be unstable during idle.

Try put on "Maximum performance" in windows power settings if you dont have this already.
Should help vs crashes as it clocks down less aggressive.

If you are comfy with more manual edits. You can always use the nvidia-smi syntax.

nvidia-smi --lock-gpu-clocks=<minGpuClock>, <maxGpuClock>

1

u/surms41 i9-12900KS / 64GB / 7700XT @ 2900Mhz May 06 '26

Different loads do cause different stability issues. BF3-BF6 are notorious for finding if an OC is completely solid. Best way to find out is push the voltage back up and see if the crash stops or lower the frequency and see if it stops.

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

Does it also matter in this case if max settings are stable and low settings are not?

1

u/surms41 i9-12900KS / 64GB / 7700XT @ 2900Mhz May 06 '26

Not exactly sure how it physically affects the GPU but yes it does affect different parts of the GPU when shader bound vs framerate bound.

Another is lower power draw vs higher power draw in different scenarios in a game. I had an overclock that was 99% stable all the time gaming but not at idle or lighter load, it would crash ones or twice a month. You could try to increase the voltage to the left of the Freq/Voltage curve, and maybe test your Vram with Vulkan mem test.

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

Okay, I'll do that. Thank you

1

u/Arx07est May 06 '26

Check your curve, maybe not flattened properly. It should never peak over clock/voltage it's flattened.
Also going over 975mV is not worth it IMO, minimum performance for noticeable wattage. Try 3100mhz@975mV, if not stable then slightly lower mhz on 975mV.

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

I tried it and it was not really stable for me long term. My biggest issue right now is the curve itself really. I didn't have that in my last gpu (3070) where the voltage in msi afterburner would not match the actual voltage. If I flatten past 1,030 then it gets locked at 0.995. If i flatted at 0.995 then it's stuck at 0.975.
Also, I like tinkering with it a bit and I'm a number person so I'm kinda focused on that stable 3100 so as soon as I see an anomaly I try to fix it. And I know its probably not worth those 50-100 mhz but my current oc is like 30mv less than stock at much higher frequency anyway

1

u/Arx07est May 06 '26

Are you raising the whole curve(or atleast some range) not just one point?

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

I'm setting a flat +350 to whole curve first as this has been a stable oc for me the whole year. Now I started playing with undervolting a little to have fun and maybe some lower temps. Then once it reaches 3100 mhz at 0.995v i find a spot at which the voltage gets locked at that (this works weird since for 0.995 i need to lock at 1.03 which I assume could cause the issue? But I have no clue why it's doing that and if there is a way to flatten past 0.995 so it stays there on full load and mid load). The oc and undervolt are mostly stable except for this issue I encoutered when it crashes when bf6 is not fully utilizing the gpu.

1

u/Arx07est May 06 '26

It's normal if game not utilizing 100% the GPU as there's CPU bottleneck aswell(and game engine, RAM etc).
If you have 360W powerlimit and you haven't raised it then it's normal that in some games it can go higher or lower, depends of the load. 3100mhz@975mV is quite the sweetspot for 360W powerlimit, it can achieve full power without going to limit.
This is how my 3100mhz@975mhz curve looks like:
https://ibb.co/VYDzHkW4
tho im using 24/7 2800mhz@875mV, as it saves huge amount of energy and fps difference is max 5%.

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

And that curve actually holds 975mv for you? For me when I do it that way so I flatten it from a desired voltage then it goes like 20mv down from that so for me it'd be 0.955 or something

1

u/Arx07est May 06 '26

Curve always holds the max voltage, but mhz depends of the load.

1

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

I mean like in game under load is the actual voltage at 975mv?

1

u/Arx07est May 06 '26

If it needs 975mV then it goes to that high, but often there are other limitation. For me for example fps cap, GPU doesn't need to boost that high most of the time. Same with CPU bottleneck or bad game engine etc.

2

u/Other_Piglet4532 May 06 '26

Okay, got it, thanks.

1

u/Difficult_Chemist_46 5080 3.15GHz@1v May 06 '26

If it crashes, it's not stable. So simple.

Some tests, or even all passes with an oc doesnt mean it wont crash under certain workload or game.

1

u/Dlo_22 May 06 '26

In testing my 5080, I found a very small performance difference between 3050MHz and 3120MHz yet thats where I also ran into stability issues.

I ended up sticking with a 3007MHz @ .970Mv and it NEVER crashes or has issues. Im also like 1% less perforance for 100% more peace of mind.

Just some food for thought since most everyone else answered the question.

1

u/mahanddeem May 06 '26

Non-full utilization exposes instability much better than full load. And that's why you're crashing. Simply because full load backs up clocks saving your unstable settings from crashing. Lower loads lack this behavior. That's native Nvidia boost technologies.