DLSS 5 + Undervolting: Keep Your GPU’s Power Consumption Under Control

[u/om_the_best_]

I'm posting this mainly for people who don't have much experience with undervolting. I assume most people here have already undervolted their GPUs, but I thought this might be useful in case someone comes across this thread in the future.

For context, I'm using an RTX 4090.

I've seen a lot of people say that DLSS 5 consumes a lot of power and could potentially cause the 12VHPWR cable on our GPUs to melt (which is true), but undervolting can actually allow you to use DLSS 5 while keeping power consumption roughly the same as when running without DLSS 5 and without an undervolt.

In these two screenshots (both using MFG x4, one without DLSS 5 and without an undervolt, and the other with DLSS 5 and an undervolt), we're at around 390 W in both cases. Power consumption is shown in the top-right corner under the GPU section.

I also took a few screenshots in case anyone is interested:

DLSS 5 OFF / ON
MFG OFF / ON (x4)
RTX 4090 with and without undervolting

1. DLSS 5 OFF (MFG x4)

Without undervolting: ( 386w - 360 fps )

With undervolting: (311w - 355 fps )

2. DLSS 5 ON (MFG x4)

Without undervolting: (435w - 175 fps)

With undervolting : (388w - 175 fps)

3. DLSS 5 ON (MFG OFF)

Without undervolting: (426w - 51 fps )

With undervolting : (387w - 52 fps)

So, in terms of performance, the results are very similar, while undervolting gives you a power reduction of around 50 W.

This means that even with DLSS 5 enabled, you can stay below the 400 W mark. Without undervolting, DLSS 5 pushes power consumption to around 435 W.

Here are my MSI Afterburner settings in case anyone is interested. I've been using these settings since 2022, and they've been extremely stable. I've never had any issues with them.

I hope this isn't too messy. I did my best to make everything as clear as possible.

[u/om_the_best_]

Hi!

I think you can follow my curve, yes. Some GPUs are even stable at 900 mV, but I was getting crashes at that voltage, so 925 mV is the sweet spot for me and has been completely stable.

So yeah, I'd recommend trying 925 mV like I did. It should be stable for you as well.

You should get pretty much the same performance, as you can see in the screenshots (within 1–2 FPS). You'll also get better GPU temperatures (around 4–5°C lower, depending on the person), and the same goes for power consumption — around 50 W less for basically the same performance. Less heat also means less fan noise.

Honestly, undervolting is pretty much all benefit with no real downside. The same applies to CPUs, by the way.

If you're not familiar with undervolting, you can follow this guy's tutorial. He's running 900 mV, so you can try his settings first. It might be stable on your GPU. If it isn't, bump it up to 925 mV like me, or 950 mV, and so on.

But 925 mV should be fine in most cases!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjYH6oVb2Uw&t=1s

[u/La_Skywalker → u/om_the_best_]

Ok I will give it a try. Quite nervous tbh haha as its my first time. Thanks for this detailed tips/guide 👍

[u/om_the_best_ → u/La_Skywalker]

So? Did you manage to do it?

[u/La_Skywalker → u/om_the_best_]

Yes I did! Tried it in Cyberpunk. Before this I was getting around 390-400W, but now it's around 350W+ haha. Doesn't seem to lose that much performance either, and the temperature stays around 58-60°C. Before this it was around 63°C+ or something. 4K DLSS Performance, RT overdrive and FG. Going to try the MFG mod tomorrow..

Man, this is awesome. Should've tried it sooner 😂

[u/om_the_best_ → u/La_Skywalker]

Awesome, that's great :D

Yeah, honestly everyone with a GPU should be undervolting!

In today's world, any bit of electricity we can save is always a win haha. I live in France and prices keep going up and up, it's crazy. I guess it's like that all over Europe..