jrcbandit
Is it normal to not even be able to hit +100 on a FTW card? I can go +75 core (are you limited to increase in steps of 25? 80-95 wouldn't register properly after initially looking like it accepted it)
The frequency is growing only by steps of 25MHz. So when you add +75MHz and 0% voltage, then when it's under approximately 58C, it will run on higher voltage to achieve full frequency offset set by 25MHz-steps. But when it runs hotter, then voltage is being lowered down for example from 1081mV to 1050mV and according to that decrease of voltage, the frequency is being pulled down by 12MHz steps. - the lower voltage means less frequency by 12MHz steps.
This means, that if you can add only +75MHz frequency to the core, then you can try to set fans to 100% (to see full potential) and set voltage to 100%. The maximal voltage value reached when set on full 100%, will be offset in a V-T (voltage temperature) graph. So under 58C, it should show the full potential of increased frequency.
- you don't have to be afraid to add voltage, because it will never exceed the limits of the card, so will never damage it. Standard voltage on low temperatures could be 1093mV and when the card gets hotter, it is lowering the voltage to help it cool down - more voltage means more heat - more heat means less time of functionality, but that's not anything to worry about, because it is designed to run for maybe 15 years, so on very high temperatures all the time, it will still run for over 8 years, I suppose..
Still, if you set fans to 100%, then it could run at 1081mV stable all the time, so you will have stable higher frequency and the card will be still running on low temperatures, so it shouldn't decrease the lifetime of the card. Remember that the lifetime of the card is linked to the heat and not the voltage applied !