Default GPU Frequency
Before we look at performance, we need to find out the actual real-world gaming frequency the video card performs. With both NVIDIA and AMD GPUs today, the GPU frequency is very dynamic. What may be quoted as the “Boost Clock” is not necessarily the performance it will actually run at. Typically, GPUs today can exceed the “Boost Clock” dynamically. We need to find out what it actually runs at, in this way we can see how well things like cooling and power headroom are working.
To do this we will record the GPU clock frequency over time while playing a game. We use Cyberpunk 2077 for this with a very long manual run-through at “Ultra” settings. We also record GPU-Z sensor data to look at GPU temperature, Voltage, and Power.
By default, the video card is set to run at a GPU clock of 2044MHz and a Boost of 2491MHz at the maximum boost. The gaming clock is 2044MHz. According to our testing, this video card is running well above that gaming clock of 2044MHz. In fact, it’s running very near to the total maximum boost frequency of 2491MHz, at least a lot closer to it. In the graph, it starts off strong, above 2480MHz, and then starts settling down to around 2440MHz while gaming. This is above the gaming clock, and very near to the maximum boost. Therefore, you are getting strong performance out of the box thanks to the dynamic clocks.
According to GPUz, it’s pulling this off at just 38% fan speed on automatic. The GPU temperature is 75c and Fan Speed is 1394RPM. The GPU Chip Power Draw is an even 100W and GPU Voltage runs at 1.150V.