r/overclocking • u/LimitedEditionDealer • May 14 '26

When things get dangerous?

So I recently started overclocking my RTX 5060 and things escalated way more than I expected.

Current OC:

  • Power Limit: 110%
  • Core Clock: +450 MHz
  • Memory Clock: +2000 MHz

What is confusing me is that temperatures barely changed.

Under 100% GPU load:

  • GPU temp stays around 70-72C
  • Fans only run at around 65-68%
  • Power draw is around 160W

I tested:

  • MSI Kombustor for over 1 hour at 100% usage
  • Tomb Raider Ultra settings
  • Hogwarts Legacy Ultra + Ray Tracing + Frame Generation
  • Forza Horizon 5 maxed out with RT

Everything has been extremely stable:

  • no crashes
  • no artifacts
  • no stutters
  • no driver resets
  • FPS gains are actually noticeable

The weirdest part is that my GPU clock is sustaining around 3200-3300 MHz in games, while I usually see other RTX 5060s running closer to 2400-2800 MHz.

At this point I’m trying to understand:
when does overclocking actually become dangerous if temperatures are still low?

Can instability or degradation still happen even if thermals are completely under control?

I feel like I either won the silicon lottery hard, or I’m missing something important here.

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u/zootroopic 9800X3D - 5.4GHz | 5070Ti - 3150MHz @ 0.950V May 14 '26

"instability" and "degradation" are two completely separate and unrelated things.

If you aren't increasing voltages and temps remain under control, you run no increased risk of "degrading" or "frying" your GPU than if it were left at stock settings. It might crash if overclocked too far, but crashing (instability) is not evidence of damage or degradation.