How to Overclock a NVIDIA Quadro NVS

The NVIDIA Quadro NVS line of video cards addresses a need found at most enterprise-level organizations: multiple-monitor displays. Most every video card in this series is designed to optimize the multi-monitor display experience and allows for as many as four screens. For users with older Quadro NVS graphics processing units or using graphic-intense applications, you may notice a decrease in performance. For improved graphic rendering, the Quadro NVS allows for overclocking.

The term overclocking describes the process of running a video card at a clock or bus speed it hasn't been rated for -- a speed often higher than default. The common practice of overclocking a GPU comes from the desire to increase graphic processing performance for little cost to the user. Increasing the performance of the Quadro NVS is as simple as adjusting several settings.

Open Control Panel. Enter "NVIDIA" in the search bar to locate and select the NVIDIA Control Panel. Open "3D Settings" and select "Set PhysX Configuration." Choose "Quadro" from the drop-down menu and click Apply. Click the "Manage 3D settings" tab. For Multi-display/mixed-GPU acceleration, select "Single display performance mode." Scroll down to Texture filtering - Quality and set it to "High performance." Click "Apply." Go to Device Settings and, under the Create Profile tab, click "Save." Restart the NVIDIA Control Panel and navigate back to Device Settings. Go to the Stored Profiles tab and select the created profile. Select Custom and adjust the GPU settings. Click "Save" to finish.

Increasing the performance output of a GPU creates the secondary effect of heightening device temperatures. While the Quadro NVS comes with fans to evacuate heat generated from the device, the heat output of an overclocked video card can be too much for the existing fans to handle. Long-term exposure to temperatures higher than the device is rated for causes damage to the GPU that will result in hardware failure.

Install an internal temperature monitoring widget as this will display real-time temperature readings on your GPU from the computer desktop. When temperatures reach dangerous levels, cut back on graphic-intensive applications to lower the temperature. Custom GPU cooling fans also exist to aid in the effort of reducing device temperatures. These accessories attach to the NVIDIA Quadro NVS and increase cooling efficiency for greater overclocking capabilities.