Overclock the N900?
 

There was an earlier thread (which I can't find for love nor money) but i wanted to maybe discuss the viability of an overclock app.

Looks like the Stock CPU at 100% is clocked at 600Mhz and im guessing there is a 10% leeway on tolerances built in there.

A lot of people slated the option to overclock but Manufacturers need to take into account a lot of variables when specifying clock settings and im pretty sure we could squeeze more power out of this device if it is possible to force higher 100% clock speeds.

Not sure what the operating temperature range is for this device but it can probably operate at 100% in fairly high ambient temperatures which suggests that there is probably more scope for overclocking than people may imagine.

Remember that this device is configured to work worldwide, in hot climates as well as cold.

I'm no expert in mobile devices but i know a fair amount about components and tolerances in kit that comes to market so if anyone has any input feel free to rubish my claims or add any additional info.

I would suggest that 625MHZ should be eaily obtained but im pretty sure you could have a stable device at 650MHZ running at 100% for long periods with no issues if you can clock just the CPU and leave other bus speeds at specification. I havent looked into the architecture of the device but does anyone know the the CPU and GPU can be clock modified individually or do they share the same bus with each other or any other components such as memory?

Re: Overclock
 

I'd be wary, its not as if there is a nice CMOS jumper to clear the bios if you muck things up.

Re: Overclock
 

No but i woudl have thought that clock speed is software controled so if you were to brick to the point where it does not boot then you should be able to reflash.

Re: Overclock
 

Before I start out, I'll add a little disclaimer saying I know very little about the specifics of stuff like this.

I guess there'd be no problems even running it at >800mhz as it'd be idle with very few cycles running most of the time. However, one runaway process which wouldn't be uncommon on a device like the N900 could spell disaster...

Re: Overclock
 

I'm seeing a new category for the Darwin Awards emerging ;)

Re: Overclock
 

Ah, silly comments starting already? How helpful.


If you knew anything about the architecture of CPU installed in the N900 you may retract that comment.

Educate yourself:
http://www.arm.com/products/CPUs/ARM_Cortex-A8.html

Re: Overclock
 

I don't know enough about the gritty details, but on the Summit, at the OMAP3 power presentation Igor Stoppa (and he's no n00b when it comes to Maemo HW :D ) very explicitly said - please don't overclock it - it WILL fry.

Re: Overclock
 

Lighten up dude....google "emoticons" and educate yourself ;)


If you vape your hardware somehow, rest assured that I have a whole bag full of ....

http://www.gearfuse.com/wp-content/u...lson-muntz.gif

... with your name on it.

Re: Overclock
 

The link you provided is too general for this purpose. The "up to 1GHz" doesn't apply to all Cortex A8:s.

However, the ARM Cortex A8 600MHz found in the OMAP3430 SoC can easily be overclocked to >850MHz.

The Omnia HD, with an identical SoC (not only identical CPU) to the N900, is overclocked to 800MHz by default (see pic below). In comparison, the Iphone 3GS has an 833MHz chip, but is underclocked to 600MHz by default. Now, which is better? ;)

http://mysymbian.neostrada.pl/Omnia/cpuOmnia.jpg

Re: Overclock
 

Wow, let's overclock it - then it will be less stable, with shorter battery life.

What could possibly go wrong?