Are you being limited by temperature or voltage currently?  The sensors tab of GPU-Z will give you that info (no offense if you already know that).  It will throttle itself for temperature anyway, so no real worries there.
 
Others will have their preferred method of performing an OC.  I personally look for the OC without any voltage first.  I do 10MHz jumps and test for stability at each.  As soon as I hit my first unstable, I back up 5MHz.  If it is unstable, I drop down 1MHz at a time until it is.  If it is stable at the 5MHz drop, I go up 1MHz at a time to find the ceiling.  At that point, assuming I'm not happy with the OC, I look at the reason for the cap.  If it is voltage I start to add it incrementally and then retest from my last known good 10MHz increment.
 
I have not touched the memory on mine (...yet).
 
Mine boosted to over 1250MHz without me changing anything.  I added the AIO and it started hitting 1316MHz because temperature was my original cap cause.  I then starting to play around with the voltage.  I am now boosting over 1400 with my +100MHz OC and I believe I am at 108% power target.  I have no idea if it will go higher.  1400 was my goal and it is stable so I stopped.
 
 

Do you see where it says PerfCap Reason?  In the screen shot that has the blue?  That is the reason it topped out in that instance.  If you mouse over it you can read the cause.
 
Pwr: Limited by total power limit
Thrm: Limited by temperature limit
VRel: Limited by reliability voltage
VOp: Limited by operating voltage
Util: Limited by GPU utilization
 
If you know why you are limited, you can make adjustments for it.  So, if it said you were capped for Thrm, you could increase fan speed to lower temps.  Pwr and you could adjust your power target, etc.

CoercionShaman
Do you see where it says PerfCap Reason?  In the screen shot that has the blue?  That is the reason it topped out in that instance.  If you mouse over it you can read the cause.
 
Pwr: Limited by total power limit
Thrm: Limited by temperature limit
VRel: Limited by reliability voltage
VOp: Limited by operating voltage
Util: Limited by GPU utilization
 
If you know why you are limited, you can make adjustments for it.  So, if it said you were capped for Thrm, you could increase fan speed to lower temps.  Pwr and you could adjust your power target, etc.

 
It's VRel.  See screenshot taken while in game.  I am confused though.  How is the card bottle-necking?  I do have a 4K monitor, but this card is supposed to be a beast!
 
So, with it topped out at VRel, what's the recommended step?
 

 

arestavo
Start by maxing the "Power Limit" slider, and hit apply. This will allow your GPU to boost farther, and won't degrade your video card at all.
 
Next start increasing your core clock speed in ~25MHz increments, and hit apply. ***After each 25MHz bump, run a benchmark such as Valley and look for any artifacts. If there aren't any observed after 5 to 10 minutes, bump up the clock another 25MHz. Once you observer artifacts, either lower your overclock by 10MHz and test again, or add +10Mv.
 
It is also a good idea to have GPU-Z running in the background, or use the OSD (on screen display) to monitor temperature, core clock speed (to see if it is going down a lot), and those limits that CoercionShaman pointed out.

When you say "Power Limit" slider, are you referring to the 'Power Target' sliders in PrecisionX? 

arestavo
Yes indeed - sorry if I called it by something else, I stopped using PrecisionX and started using Afterburner months ago because it crashed my games.
 
Vrel looks like it needs more voltage to sustain the clock speed. But I am not too sure how that translates into actual use, because I almost always see a slight drop in GPU speed (~13MHz) and a small dip in voltage whenever I stress my 980 Ti. Let me try it on mine and see if I get the Vrel code too.
 
EDIT: Yep, I get the Vrel code as well, but it isn't any sort of problem at least for me. I assume it is just that initial 13MHz drop.

Thanks for getting back with me.
 
I was not aware that I could use MSI Afterbuner with an EVGA card.  I thought I had to use precision X.  I noticed with I have precision x open, it crashes GW2.  Let me download Afterburner and try it.

VREl is reliability voltage.  That is your card saying it is uncertain that it can maintain the current boost with the supplied voltage.  The only way to fix that that I am aware of actually means modifying your boost table which then means flashing the bios.  Maybe someone else can offer something different.  I read in a thread at some point that KBoost can help with that but I can't say that I am familiar with it.

I wouldn't think so, but you can always call EVGA's 24/7 tech support line and ask them - https://www.evga.com/about/contactus/ 

Phily

CoercionShaman
VREl is reliability voltage.  That is your card saying it is uncertain that it can maintain the current boost with the supplied voltage.  The only way to fix that that I am aware of actually means modifying your boost table which then means flashing the bios.  Maybe someone else can offer something different.  I read in a thread at some point that KBoost can help with that but I can't say that I am familiar with it.

Does this mean I should RMA the card with EVGA?  Currently, the card is not being overclocked, it is at stock presets.  If it cannot maintain the current boost with the supplied voltage that is it defective?

Not if it is performing at and maintaining the advertised clock speeds.  And it is being over clocked by default as you have an SC.   Your boost was at 1290MHz when it happened.  The card only claims 1216MHz boost clock.  You are already above that.  My card gives VRel at times, but is still running over what it should have been anyway, so I can't complain about it.
 
EDIT:  Just saw your post from a few minutes ago.

You are going to have to increase your voltage as you are already hitting VRel.  Just increasing the power target at this point will probably give you more boost all on its own.  The card will limit with VOp as the reason if you hit the max voltage cap.  It is going to protect itself.
 
I just use steps of 10 because I find it easier to find the absolute stable OC with the smaller increases.  Arestavo was recommending 25MHz jumps.  Nothing wrong with that if you want to make that size of a jump.

I don't know if you have ever used the site, but overclock.net has some pretty amazing guides and info.  Those guys post up their own bios hacks and somebody has already tested everything at least twice.  NOTE:  I am not condoning or recommending flashing your bios with one that has been modified.  I am a very simple overclocker and have nowhere near the knowledge of many.  It may provide you with some useful information, though, and, at the very least, some interesting reads.

That isn't a picture of your GW2 video settings, the next tab down is what you should take a screen shot of.

arestavo
That isn't a picture of your GW2 video settings, the next tab down is what you should take a screen shot of.

CoercionShaman
What he said.
 
I have VSync enabled and can hit 60 FPS consistently in GW2.  I haven't logged in for a bit, though.  Driver issue?  You definitely have something else going on there.
 
I will log in this weekend and see if I am abnormally low as well.

@arestavo and @CoercionShaman, opps, thanks for pointing it out.  Didn't realize I took the wrong picture.
 
Below is the a screenshot of the video settings.
 
I was always told to uncheck VSync as it limits you.  If you have it set, you should get higher frames.  Is this incorrect?
 

You definitely have some issues and I don't believe it is solely your card.
 
And I feel a bit stupid for recommending overclock to you.  I just clicked on your rig to see if your monitor was listed and saw your note about your working build on overclock.  Speaking of which... you need to update your rig page.  Still shows 2X7970s.
 
Are you still running the 3 Catleap monitors?  We never asked what resolution you where playing at and can't see the res in your screen shot.

CoercionShaman
You definitely have some issues and I don't believe it is solely your card.
 
And I feel a bit stupid for recommending overclock to you.  I just clicked on your rig to see if your monitor was listed and saw your note about your working build on overclock.  Speaking of which... you need to update your rig page.  Still shows 2X7970s.
 
Are you still running the 3 Catleap monitors?  We never asked what resolution you where playing at and can't see the res in your screen shot.

 
Sorry, my rig outdated.  I need to update everything.
 
Current rig:
 
i7 3770k
24GB GSkill Ram 1600
ASROCK Extreme 4 Z77
Corsair closed loop cpu cooler
Corsair AX1200 PSU
 
Monitor is Crossover 434K 43" true 60HZ 4K
4:4:4 Chroma
DP 1.2
3840 x 2160 Resolution.
http://www.crosslcd.co.kr...mp=product&pg=434K
 

I just happen to pull up GPU-Z while playing and a ton of pink (Thrm) came across the perfcap.
 

Phily
I just happen to pull up GPU-Z while playing and a ton of pink (Thrm) came across the perfcap.
 

So it is throttling because it is hitting temperature cap.  It is showing 81°C and you can see it just dropped so it was probably at 83°C when it happened.  Did you set a custom fan profile?  It only shows 49% fan speed.  You are going to have to raise that.