Undervolting can damage video card?

Graphics / Linux Linux
1

Thanks for read my topic.

Using nvidia-settings command line is possible configure voltage and clock values.
Example
If default voltage is 1.,20 if undervolting to 1,10 without underclocking can damage the video card ?
The video card will to do the same work and undervoltage does instability ?

Thanks for your reply.

2

Voltage control is not available under Linux for NVIDIA GPUs but generally it’s harmless. At most it will cause instabilities.

3

Actually under-volt is possible, but indirectly:

  1. Overclock by applying voltage offset.
  2. Limit clocks, this will limit voltage too.

Details:
By applying frequency offset, you shifting frequency-voltage graph up along frequency axis, this cause GPU to run same clock speed, as it could on lower voltage. Then by locking clock speed in range, you prevent it from using higher voltage. Which results in about same frequency at lower voltage, and as result lower TDP.
commands:
# nvidia-smi -i 0 -lgc [X],[Y]
$ nvidia-settings -a "[gpu:0]/GPUGraphicsClockOffsetAllPerformanceLevels=[Z]"
Note: Overclocking part(clock speed offset) requires coolbits 8 and not rootless xorg. Also maybe you should set different attribute for older GPU: e.g GPUGraphicsClockOffset[i] where i is your maximum performance level from NVIDIA-settings->PowerMizer tab->Performance levels, e.g 4

where:
X - min clock, can get from NVIDIA-settings->PowerMizer tab->Performance levels, left in table.
Y - max frequency, you can choose your maximum frequency under load before changes, or something lower if you want to lower Power Draw even more/your silicon are unlucky. (analogy in MSI afterburner - at which frequency did you flat freq-volt graph)
Z - clock speed/frequency offset, depends on your silicon lucly. (analogy in MSI afterburner - how much did you shift graph up.)
e.g. settings for my 3070ti:
‘X’ - 210
‘Y’ - 1920
‘Z’ - 200

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