Having a proper understanding of what the GPU clock and memory are, how they work, and what difference they could make to the performance is important for us when we shop for graphic cards. It’s a difficult purchase decision when we can’t figure out the difference between the GPU clock vs Memory clock.
In this article, we will walk you through all that you need to know regarding the two clocks, how they work, their difference, how to optimize, and the risks related to overclocking. Keep reading to find out more about the specifications to make your best purchase decision.
What is GPU Clock, and How Does it Work?
The GPU of our computer is such a crucial part of our PC. The GPU is pretty much responsible for anything related to graphics and other intensive performance of the system graphic processing. One of the two main types of clock speed for the graphics card is the core clock speed or the GPU clock speed.
The GPU clock speed is the speed at which the processors of our GPU work. The faster we have this clock speed, the faster we can get the results for the calculations performed. We measure the speed of our GPU core clock speed either in GHz or in MHz for example, a core clock that has a speed of 2 GHz could perform 2 billion instructions per second. How it impacts our PC could be reflected in the type of task our GPU performs.
If we want to understand the impact it has, we should observe our video and gaming performance on the processor because the GPU core clock speed is so essential for such high-performance tasks. Suppose we increase the GPU’s clock speed; it will also increase the heat released and power usage.
What is Memory Clock, and How Does it Work?
The memory clock is also just as important as our PC’s core clock. The memory clock speed is what we call the memory frequency. Th memory clock helps to operate the memory of our GPU. The GPU memory is what stores all of our CPU data which are related to the textures as well as the 3D models that exist. So, the speed at which our GPU memory accesses this data is worked out by our GPU memory clock.
We are normally measuring our memory clock frequency either in GHz or MHz If our GPU memory clock speed is around 4 GHz, that means we could access the memory 4 billion times per second in speed. The more speed the GPU memory clock has, the faster we can have access to all the data that should be processed. So, we see this memory clock as a very important part of increasing performance.
But we need to keep another thing in mind as well when looking for the right memory clock. The higher the clock speed, the more heat is produced, and the more power is consumed. So, make sure you don’t overclock the memory clock of your GPU at the expense of efficiency.
How does GPU Clock vs Memory Clock Affect Gaming Performance?
The biggest difference we have identified between the two is as to which component of the GPU the clocks are affecting. For example, the GPU core clock is responsible for the speed of our GPU’s processor when performing tasks, and the memory clock is responsible for how fast our GPU’s memory is accessed for data.
So, how it affects the gaming performance is like this; since the GPU’s core clock is that of the processor chip, it has a more prominent impact on our gaming performance compared to our memory clock, which is a part of our VRAM speed. Mostly for FPS games, the memory speed affects performance only by around 10% of its potential, while 90% of FPS performance and speed is determined by our core clock speed and its efficiency. But usually, how far it’s impacting and how essential it is for gaming depends on the type and nature of the games played.
How Can I Optimize My GPU Clock and Memory Clock for Better Performance?
One common way we optimize and improve performance is by overclocking the GPU clock and memory clock speed of our graphic cards. And what we call overclocking is the ability of our PC to enhance the clock speed even beyond what is set as the default speed for both the GPU clock and memory clock. We are literally doing this by manually altering our GPU and memory clock by maintaining high-speed performance.
There are so many options we have available for overclocking. For example, many of us use the MSI after-burner interface for doing this. We have to be very careful when overclocking because when the setting is not compatible with the configuration, it will end up overheating. We also have the MSI Kombustor, a software we use to check on the stability of our overclocking process.
What are the Risks of Overclocking My GPU Clock and Memory Clock?
When we dont do the overclocking of both our core clock and memory clock speed the right way, even though we will have an impressive upgrade on the overall performance, we will also ending-up with some risks too.; for example, overclocking will increase the heat production in the PC and also takes up on a lot of power as well. The overclocking will also reduce the lifespan of our hardware components.
It happens due to all the exhaustion the overclocking causes. That is why we recommend using extra cooling to protect the hardware components. Another disadvantage is you will end up voiding your warranty for the PC by making a change in the original capacity of your GPU core clock and memory clock. They will refuse to refund or repair when there is any kind of breakdown in the PC.
Is GPU Clock or Memory Clock More Important?
Both of them are important for different reasons. We need the GPU clock to increase the speed of our GPU processor, which is essential for the chip to run and exist. We need this speed for executing more instructions for a faster, higher rendering of FPPS, especially for gaming. While at the same time, we need our memory clock to speed up the data processing activities of our GPU memory. If we don’t have a balance between the two, we won’t have a properly functioning system unit because both create the speed and efficiency in how fast and how well the CPU and memory perform. The system will struggle otherwise.
VIDEO CREDITS: PCWorld YouTube Channel
Is 7000 MHz Memory Clock Good?
Yes, we see it as a pretty normal thing. We have the GDDR with a quadrupled transfer cycle for which the card is pretty much 1750 MHz conflated for an effective transfer of 7000 MHz with the rate of 7000 MT. So this type of memory is totally fine to have.
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