I'm curious about the differences between overclocked (OC) and standard GPUs. For example, how does a ZOTAC 5080 OC edition stack up against a PNY 5080 that doesn't mention OC? Is it just marketing hype, or is there a notable performance difference?
1 Answer
Honestly, it's mostly marketing. NVIDIA has included GPU Boost in their cards since the GTX 600 series, so even standard cards automatically overclock themselves based on thermal and power limits. The base clock speeds advertised often don’t mean much because the card will boost higher than that unless something's wrong. Plus, with software like MSI Afterburner, you can easily tweak your GPU settings manually. So, unless there are specific enhancements, an OC version may not be worth the extra cash.
True! Different brands might tweak the clock ratings slightly, but really it's just a sales gimmick. Research what suits you best before buying; functionally, there's not much difference.