It seems ever since the pandemic, the PC hardware market has been wading in and out of stormy waters. One crisis after another keeps PC component prices inflated, with only a handful of small windows in between where gamers can buy parts at MSRP. I let one such window slip from my hands last year when I failed to pull the trigger on the RTX 5080, at a time when it was retailing at $1,000. After the September-October window, however, GPU prices breached the stratosphere, and all my upgrade dreams were shattered. With another two years (at least) of this hardware crisis on the cards, I decided to make the most of my existing GPU, the once-great RTX 3080. I've used the Ampere card mostly at stock settings in the three years that I've had it, but I finally took overclocking and undervolting seriously to squeeze a few more years out of it.

I started with overclocking

It's what I was most familiar with

Overclocking hasn't been relevant these past few generations, so I never bothered to push my GPU beyond stock settings. The performance during these three years has been great, all things considered. That said, my objective this time was to see how far I can push the core clock and memory clock of the RTX 3080, and whether it will translate to real-world FPS gains. I ran the Cyberpunk 2077 benchmark at Ultra ray tracing and DLSS Balanced settings to get a baseline. Then, I used MSI Afterburner to gradually increase the core and memory clocks, running the benchmark after each increment. I found that a 100MHz and 600MHz increase to the core and memory clocks, respectively, was the sweet spot, beyond which performance started dropping. The average FPS stayed the same, but the minimum and maximum FPS saw a 33% and 15% jump, respectively.

I tested the stability of the overclock with OCCT's 3D adaptive test ("steady" load and "extreme" preset), and it completed without any crashes or visual artifacts. While overclocking didn't improve the average FPS in Cyberpunk 2077, it significantly made the framerates more consistent, thanks to less jarring frame drops. The GPU temperature also received a healthy bump, but tuning the fan curve in Afterburner ensured it didn't cross 80℃. The noise and GPU power levels didn't spike significantly, but I still believed that undervolting would yield better overall results.

I gave Lossless Scaling a shot

Universal frame generation for unsupported GPUs

Lossless Scaling is a third-party tool that offers universal frame generation and upscaling, ideal for GPUs that don't support these features natively. While my RTX 3080 has access to Nvidia's latest DLSS upscaling capabilities, frame generation isn't available for Ampere cards. So, I paid the $7 fee for Lossless Scaling and got to work. Before diving in, I knew I would limit myself to X2 frame generation and nothing higher than that. The latency and artifacting issues with higher presets would do more harm than good. I used LSFG 3.1 with the LS1 scaling type and the X2 mode to get double the frames. The results in games like Cyberpunk 2077 and Alan Wake 2 were better than what I had expected. I was running them at 80–100 FPS for the first time. I saw barely any artifacts, and the latency wasn't noticeable at all. In titles like Rocket League, however, the visual experience was legitimately worse compared to in-game upscaling without any frame generation. Fast-paced titles seemed to be a challenge for Lossless Scaling.

Still, for a $7 tool with universal game support, I couldn't complain. I was able to enjoy 2X frame generation on my 5-year-old graphics card and enjoy a decent single-player experience. Multiplayer games still struggle with Lossless Scaling, but those aren't my thing anyway. For now, I intend to use Lossless Scaling in more titles (new and old) to test how good it is in a variety of genres.

I finally undervolted my GPU

Better late than never

Some gamers undervolt every GPU they own, but I had never dabbled in it before. As I mentioned above, I was happy with the stock performance of my RTX 3080. Besides, I thought undervolting would reduce the GPU performance in exchange for lower thermals. I also didn't want to go through a hit-and-trial to find an optimal undervolt and spend time stress-testing it. However, with the prospect of no GPU upgrades looming ahead, I had to give in and explore GPU undervolting. Hence, I returned to MSI Afterburner, navigated to the Curve Editor, and moved the curve to select a lower voltage at the same clock speed. It took me a few tries to get a voltage that didn't result in a freeze or crash during OCCT testing.

After a few sessions of Cyberpunk 2077 and Rocket League, I was glad to see no noticeable drop in performance. The average and minimum FPS were mostly the same as before, but the lower temperature and fan speeds were welcome changes. Undervolting may not vastly improve my GPU's performance in the future, but it will ensure it stays cool and silent, potentially minimizing wear and tear. I'm planning to combine GPU undervolting and overclocking to see if that will improve the FPS gains without pushing the temps too high.

Make the most of the hardware you have

Many gamers would have planned to upgrade their CPUs and GPUs this year (or next year). The AI data center demand had other ideas, however. With all of us stuck with the builds we have for the foreseeable future, maximizing performance and extending the lifespan of our hardware makes a lot of sense. If your GPU doesn't support modern frame generation features, Lossless Scaling can come to the rescue. If your CPU runs too hot, undervolting can slash your operating temperature. And even overclocking can yield positive results in some cases.