If I had just set a new world record for GPU overclocking, I'd surely be making a lot more fuss about it than AMD has

Breaking the GPU Frequency OC Record - YouTube

My first serious attempt at overclocking a graphics card was about 26 years ago, getting a whopping 190 MHz on an Nvidia Riva TNT2 Ultra, which normally ran at 150 MHz. I was so pleased with myself that I told everyone and anyone about my achievements. So when I learned that AMD and a top overclocker managed to hit 4,769 MHz on a little Radeon chip, I certainly expected something more noteworthy than a brief video and nothing else.

Using a Radeon RX 9060 XT graphics card, stripped of its standard cooler to allow for a liquid nitrogen sink, the pair seemingly hit the aforementioned clock speed with ease, if the video is anything to go by. Which can't be right, because as anyone who has tried to do serious clocking will know, it's fraught with challenges.

Not that AMD's marketing division appears to be aware of this, or if it is, then it doesn't consider it to be all that important. How exactly was that 4.77 GHz clock reached? What tests and benchmarks were used to measure stability and performance? What stopped the team from getting any higher? Why does the video show a GPU-Z screen for an RX 7600 XT and not an RX 9060 XT?

All important questions in the world of competitive overclocking and all of them unanswered.

Please don't think for one moment that I'm dismissing the efforts of Alverson and Golibersuch, because I'm genuinely impressed by how they managed to squeeze an additional 52% out of the Navi 44's clock speed. That's an enormous overclock, by any metric you care to use.

A screenshot of a YouTube video by AMD, showing top overclocker Splave looking at a monitor displaying overclocking software — (Image credit: AMD)

It's AMD's marketing that I'm disappointed by. Partly because, as far as I can tell, there are no official world records stored anywhere for GPU overclocks. CPUs certainly are (e.g. HWBot), but the humble graphics processor seems to be generally ignored. So without any kind of 'official' method of ratification, we only have AMD's word that it's a world record.

But no matter whether it is or isn't a record, it's still a hugely impressive achievement and one that highlights not only the skills of the overclockers but also the capabilities of AMD's hardware. In other words, it deserves to be thoroughly promoted, not relegated to a brief video on one of AMD's subsidiary YouTube channels. There's not even a hint of this in AMD's Newsroom page.

Well, in the words of the mad titan himself, I'll do it myself. Oh wait, I just have. You're welcome, AMD.

Best graphics card 2026

1. Best overall: AMD Radeon RX 9070

2. Best value: AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 16 GB

3. Best budget: Intel Arc B570

4. Best mid-range: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti

5. Best high-end: Nvidia GeForce RTX 5090

👉Check out our full graphics card guide👈

TOPICS

Nick, gaming, and computers all first met in the early 1980s. After leaving university, he became a physics and IT teacher and started writing about tech in the late 1990s. That resulted in him working with MadOnion to write the help files for 3DMark and PCMark. After a short stint working at Beyond3D.com, Nick joined Futuremark (MadOnion rebranded) full-time, as editor-in-chief for its PC gaming section, YouGamers. After the site shutdown, he became an engineering and computing lecturer for many years, but missed the writing bug. Cue four years at TechSpot.com covering everything and anything to do with tech and PCs. He freely admits to being far too obsessed with GPUs and open-world grindy RPGs, but who isn't these days?

You must confirm your public display name before commenting

Please logout and then login again, you will then be prompted to enter your display name.