You can improve GPU rendering performance and stability by managing thermals on NVIDIA Ampere GPUs and considering undervolting for sustained boost clocks.
Understand power, thermals, and performance on Ampere GPUs
NVIDIA Ampere GPUs draw substantial power under load. For reference, the RTX 3080 starts at 320 W and the RTX 3090 starts at 350 W, with some board partner models reaching up to 480 W.
High power draw raises heat output. If cooling is insufficient, the GPU can overheat and throttle, which reduces performance. Consistently running at maximum voltage without adequate cooling also prevents optimal boosting behavior.
How GPU Boost and thermal throttling affect performance
GPU Boost increases frequency when power and thermal limits allow it; cooler temperatures enable higher sustained boost clocks and better performance.
- Poor thermals limit or disable boosting, lowering performance.
- To protect the hardware, the GPU will downclock automatically when it hits thermal limits.
- For RTX 3080 and RTX 3090, thermal throttling typically begins around 81°C.
Why undervolting can help with rendering workloads
For compute‑intensive tasks like GPU rendering, manual undervolting of Ampere GPUs can reduce power and temperatures while maintaining target clocks. Because the card can still boost when undervolted (and may sustain higher boost due to lower temps), you can achieve better performance-per-watt and more consistent render speeds.
Notes
Chaos does not take any responsibility for any instability of the hardware, operating system, or applications that occur due to it. We recommend that this method is only taken into consideration if you have advanced knowledge in computing.