EVGA has updated its Precision X1 overclocking utility for GPUs, and while it is a minor, the sole addition of a "boost lock" feature is a welcome upgrade for some users.
The newest iteration—version 0.4.8.0—is just the third release to not have a "beta" label attached, even though EVGA has yet to issue a 1.0 version. It's fairly polished, both in the visual presentation and functionality.
With regards to the new boost lock feature, this allows you to "lock the graphics card frequency to the highest performance state," EVGA explains, adding that it does not support SLI.
This is sort of a throwback to overclocking in the days of old, as Overclock3D points out. Activating the boost lock toggle essentially does away with a card's programmed boost frequency and variable clockspeed settings, and replaces all that bouncing around with a fixed frequency.
Our friends at TomsHardware briefly tested the feature in a short run of Call of Duty: Black Ops 4, using a GeForce RTX 2080 Ti FE graphics card.
If you look at the graph in the upper-left corner, you can see how the GPU jumps around a bit at default settings, represented by the jagged line. The green bar highlights when the boost lock feature was enabled, first at 1,635MHz (the card's base boost value) and then at 1,755MHz. In both cases, the line is flat because the GPU is staying put.
It's not exactly an essential feature for overclocking, though it's nice to have that option, for those who want it. One thing to note, though—the GPU stays locked at whatever clockspeed you set, even when idle, so overall power usage is going to be higher with boost lock enabled.
You can download the latest Precision X1 release here.
