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In the realm of PC gaming, undervolting and overclocking offer distinct advantages. Whereas overclocking promises more raw performance at the cost of higher temperatures and greater power draw, undervolting has seen a surge of popularity for those looking for more stability and power efficiency.

Curious to know if there was a way to get the best of both worlds, I attempted to overclock and undervolt my RTX 4070 Ti Super and discovered that overclocking to a stable frequency followed by applying an undervolt can improve the GPU’s efficiency and boost its performance simultaneously, thanks to the extra headroom that allowed the GPU to sustain its boost frequency for longer. Here’s how I did it.

Establishing a baseline

The first step

No two RTX 4070 Ti Super cards are the same, thanks to silicon variance. Due to this, to gauge the stability and efficiency of the GPU in stock configuration, I had to establish a baseline against which I could benchmark any subsequent optimization, which would be an overclock followed by an undervolt.

I used my AMD Ryzen 7600X paired with the 4070 Ti-S, with a pair of 16 GB DDR5 RAM (32 GB taken together) sticks from Corsair running at 6000 MHz, a very standard 1440p gaming setup. With a display refresh rate of about 165Hz, the setup is well-equipped to observe any apparent changes as a result of the overclock and undervolt.

To evaluate the performance before and after the OC and UV, I took three 3DMark benchmark tests for their ability to capture different aspects of GPU performance, including:

1. Port Royal: Focuses on real-time ray-tracing performance by simulating lighting, reflections, and shadows.
2. Steel Nomad: For rasterization performance while simulating modern game-like conditions.
3. Speed Way: For testing techniques such as mesh shaders and real-time ray-traced reflection.

| Test | Score | Average FPS | | | –– | —– | ———– | | | Port Royal | 15,319 | 70.92 FPS | | | Steel Nomad | 5,474 | 54.75 FPS | | | Speed Way | 6,358 | 63.58 FPS | |

The RTX 4070 Ti-S demonstrated decent baseline performance across all 3DMark benchmarks, averaging about 77.66th percentile across the three benchmark tests in stock configurations. A high Port Royal score indicates robust ray-tracing capabilities in line with the architectural strengths of the Ada Lovelace design and is in line with expectations. Steel Nomad, meanwhile, returned a 78th percentile score, showcasing modest rasterization efficiency at 1440p — the sweet spot where the upper high-end 40-series cards shine. Finally, Speed Way, with its utilization of DirectX12 Ultimate features like mesh shaders and real-time ray-traced reflections, produced a balanced score of 6,358, indicating mostly stable frame pacing and efficient utilization.

3DMark

3DMark is a popular benchmarking utility that includes a collection of benchmarks to test your GPU’s performance with various settings. The free version of the program is enough to run some basic tests, while the paid version unlocks additional tests to collect more information.

The overclocking and undervolting

Modest, but not game-changing gains

After establishing the baseline, the next course of action was to proceed with the overclocking, which I did through MSI Afterburner. I implemented a core clock offset of +214 MHz, elevating the stock boost clock to sustained levels of 2,955-2,970 MHz under load. Additionally, a memory clock offset of +1000 MHz was applied, leading to an overall conservative overclock profile.

Subsequently, I implemented an undervolt through a 10% reduction in power limit, effectively lowering the voltage by approximately 75–100 mV under load while maintaining the elevated clocks. This is a conservative undervolt aimed to preserve the overclock’s integrity. This configuration yielded modest uplifts in benchmarks. The extra thermal and power headroom from undervolting enabled sustained core and memory clocks, resulting in enhanced framerates without compromising stability. I ran the same three 3DMark tests after this tweak.

Test	Score (UV+OC)	Average FPS	**Score Δ **	**FPS Δ **
Port Royal	15,765	72.99 FPS	+446	+2.07 (+2.92%)
Steel Nomad	5,580	55.50 FPS	+106	+1.06 (+1.94%)
Speed Way	6,537	65.28 FPS	+179	+1.79 (+2.82%)

While the uplift in performance is measurable across the three benchmarks, the gains are unequivocally modest. The small deltas are also reflective of the maturity of NVIDIA’s factory boost algorithms, which dynamically push the GPU close to its voltage-frequency curve out of the box.

It is worth noting, however, that undervolt and overclocking stability can vary significantly across workloads. While synthetic benchmarks provide consistent loads, real-world gaming scenarios introduce dynamic voltage-frequency changes depending on engine behavior.

Overclocking can carry inherent risks and, in some cases, void manufacturer warranties if not performed carefully. Results vary significantly depending on silicon quality, power delivery, and the efficiency of your cooling solutions.

MSI Afterburner

MSI Afterburner is one of the best overclocking software with many extra features to monitor your PC’s performance.

Should you overclock and undervolt?

For most light gamers and enthusiasts, modern GPUs like the Ada Lovelace, Blackwell, and RDNA 4 GPUs already deliver near-optimal performance out of the box, leaving limited headroom for dramatic gains. However, enthusiasts seeking quieter thermals or finer control over efficiency can benefit from the extra tuning flexibility that undervolting and overclocking can provide. It’s best not seen as a necessity, but as an optional refinement for those who enjoy optimizing their hardware.