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OverClocking/Undervolting Question

ThaiBoy02

Member
I am currently using Liberty ROM v2.0.1 and I have JRummy’s Droid X overclocking app but would appreciate if someone would be able to explain the difference and between Ultra Low Voltage, Low Voltage, Medium Voltage and High Voltage and the GHz settings within each Voltage settings. I have read RoOoler’s Guide on this subject but am still somewhat left in confusion of which settings are for what. So to Maximize Battery Life I would go with a Ultra Low or Low Voltage? But what GHz? Then to Maximize Performance I would use medium or High Voltage? But which GHz again? If someone would be kind enough to explain this to me, it would greatly be appreciated and sorry for the wall of text. Thanks in advance!
 
Overclocking your phone is a lot like overclocking your computer. Let me put it to you this way.

First you need to know what Mhz (Megahertz) and Ghz (Gigahertz) are. These are speed ratings for processors. The higher the Mhz, the faster. 1 Mhz is slow as hell. 1000 Mhz = 1 Ghz. 1200 Mhz = 1.2Ghz. See how that works?

Anyway, your phone is stock set to run "on demand" it's called at 1ghz or 1000mhz. On demand means that it switches between 300mhz - 1000mhz as you're using resources and it's upping the processors speed as you need it.

Overclocking is basically pushing the processor to perform faster than it is specified. So our case, we have a Droid X that is spec'd to run at 1ghz. Overclocking is pushing it higher and faster than it is specified.

On desktop computers, overclocking is done in the BIOS (basic input output system). When you overclock on a desktop, you need to adjust voltages to keep the processor stable at a hardware level. As in you tell the most basic operating system (BIOS) on a computer how fast to make a processor run and how much voltage to give to it. This is close to the same on a phone. Hence why they give you more options. When you up the voltage on a processor it tends to use more power. Android is based on Linux, and Linux has the ability to do "software overclocking" or in this case "kernel overclocking". Rather than using a BIOS, we do it from inside the actual operating system.

So learning lesson 1 over. On to 2.

1. Max Battery Life: If you want max battery life, you'll want to do the Ultra Low Voltage overclock. Be careful with this one because it can render your phone inoperable. If you decide, oh I'll do an ultra low voltage overclock to 1.45ghz, your phone probably will boot loop (IE it won't work). Even the ultra low voltage overclocks technically are high enough voltages to keep your phone stable. The app even warns you about using ultra low voltage at boot.

The lower the Mhz / Ghz, the less juice the phone will burn as well.

I have my overclock done through the "custom" area and my voltages are lower than the ultra low voltages and my overclock is at 1.3ghz.

2. Max Performace: If you want max performance and don't care how your battery is affected, crank it up to 1.35Ghz on the Medium or High voltage overclocks and your phone will scream. Your battery will also not last worth crap.

So to each side there are pros and cons. More questions?
 
Overclocking your phone is a lot like overclocking your computer. Let me put it to you this way.

First you need to know what Mhz (Megahertz) and Ghz (Gigahertz) are. These are speed ratings for processors. The higher the Mhz, the faster. 1 Mhz is slow as hell. 1000 Mhz = 1 Ghz. 1200 Mhz = 1.2Ghz. See how that works?

Anyway, your phone is stock set to run "on demand" it's called at 1ghz or 1000mhz. On demand means that it switches between 300mhz - 1000mhz as you're using resources and it's upping the processors speed as you need it.

Overclocking is basically pushing the processor to perform faster than it is specified. So our case, we have a Droid X that is spec'd to run at 1ghz. Overclocking is pushing it higher and faster than it is specified.

On desktop computers, overclocking is done in the BIOS (basic input output system). When you overclock on a desktop, you need to adjust voltages to keep the processor stable at a hardware level. As in you tell the most basic operating system (BIOS) on a computer how fast to make a processor run and how much voltage to give to it. This is close to the same on a phone. Hence why they give you more options. When you up the voltage on a processor it tends to use more power. Android is based on Linux, and Linux has the ability to do "software overclocking" or in this case "kernel overclocking". Rather than using a BIOS, we do it from inside the actual operating system.

So learning lesson 1 over. On to 2.

1. Max Battery Life: If you want max battery life, you'll want to do the Ultra Low Voltage overclock. Be careful with this one because it can render your phone inoperable. If you decide, oh I'll do an ultra low voltage overclock to 1.45ghz, your phone probably will boot loop (IE it won't work). Even the ultra low voltage overclocks technically are high enough voltages to keep your phone stable. The app even warns you about using ultra low voltage at boot.

The lower the Mhz / Ghz, the less juice the phone will burn as well.

I have my overclock done through the "custom" area and my voltages are lower than the ultra low voltages and my overclock is at 1.3ghz.

2. Max Performace: If you want max performance and don't care how your battery is affected, crank it up to 1.35Ghz on the Medium or High voltage overclocks and your phone will scream. Your battery will also not last worth crap.

So to each side there are pros and cons. More questions?

Wow great write up! I learned alot.


Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums
 
Very nice writeup.. I have my phone using custom settings as well. Min 300mhz at 19 volts and max 1.2ghz at 62 volts. My DX will run 1.4ghz stable.

One tip for people looking to Overclock, use QuickClock Advanced as it will calculate ur max speed and best voltage to use.

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums
 
bought the Droid Overclock app, I was hoping it would make some suggestions for me. Running Liberty version 8. What might be some settings to start with. It appears there are some presets, but they look to all be the same. Insight welcome. Battery life is marginal at best, but the speed feels fine...I guess, not sure what to compare it to. Thank you for your thoughts. I read above not to go to low on the voltage.
 
Don't forget that each phone is different and that one setting may work for one phone may not work for another. Also, when experimenting, do not "set frequency on boot" until you are absolutely sure the settings work with your device.
 
bought the Droid Overclock app, I was hoping it would make some suggestions for me. Running Liberty version 8. What might be some settings to start with. It appears there are some presets, but they look to all be the same. Insight welcome. Battery life is marginal at best, but the speed feels fine...I guess, not sure what to compare it to. Thank you for your thoughts. I read above not to go to low on the voltage.

Alright here we go.

No 1: It's not bad to use the ultra low voltage, as they are high enough voltages to stay stable, so even the ultra low overclocks are alright and enough to keep you phone okay. The thing about the ultra low voltage overclocks is that they are still high in my opinion, which is totally fine for people who just want to save a bit more battery while gaining a bit of performance.

No 2: You have to remember that each phone, just like each CPU when overclocking a processor is not the same. I used to have a Q9650 that I could overclock to 4.3ghz. Most people couldn't get that chip past 4ghz. Before that I used to have an AMD x2 6200+ that I could only overclock to 3.7ghz no matter what. People had that chip to at least 3.9ghz with only a moderate voltage increase. So each phone is individual, and you may or may not be able to reach higher overclocks, or it may be that your phone just doesn't overclock as high - this is totally normal.

No 3: My suggestion would be before you "set overclock on boot" make sure your phone is stable. There is an app in the market called "Linpack for Android" - this is a good stability test. I believe that SetCPU has a stability test as well. If you are really feeling up to it, just crank your CPU all the way to max in the "CPU Frequency Scaling" and play a game that is pretty graphically intensive. That will probably do it. If you phone stays on you should be good.

If your phone is not stable, it will probably reboot. This is why I say again, that you do not want to set your overclock to run on boot if it is not stable. Your phone will just bootloop and you'll either have to nandroid restore, or else just reflash either Liberty v.8 or AOSP Liberty. It doesn't matter which, if you reflash the ROM over the top over the bootlooping one you should be good. I've done this before.

No 4: ROM Voltages and Suggestions are these. I use the "Advanced Menu" - it will warn you not to mess with it if you don't know what you're doing, blah blah blah.

I run these settings:
300 Mhz @ 19v
600 Mhz @ 33v
900 Mhz @ 48v
1.3 Ghz @ 66v

This works on my phone, though it may or may not work on yours. I have these to set on boot / etc because I have tested it and found that it's stable under stress. Lower voltages on the low end cause it to reboot and lower voltages on the high cause the phone to not be snappy / responsive.

I would highly suggest using these voltages and clocks as just a base model / starting point. I would also suggest putting your voltage 3 or 4v higher than mine.

No 5: Profiles - I also use profiles. I keep my clocks all the way down when the screen is off, when it's plugged in I keep the clocks 900 - 1.3ghz, and when not plugged in and screen off is 300 - 1.3ghz.

I've found that this combination finds a very very good balance between battery life and performance. Right now my battery is at 40% and has been going 12hr, 6m, 13s.

Display 45%
Phone Idle 17%
Cell Standby 15%
Wifi 9%

And so on down to games, talking, etc. I send about 100 - 400 texts a day and it usually lasts about 16 hours. Which I think is fine for what I need.

Hopefully this provides a bit more information. I guess... Well I have been hobby overclocking computers (CPU, RAM, GPU) for years. So if my credentials are in question, feel free to question them. :icon_ poke:
 
Thank you for the detailed answer. Now I just need more cowbell : )

Sent from my DROIDX using DroidForums

The latest update kinda screwed up profiles for me. I uninstalled / reinstalled and redid the whole thing and they are still not refreshing when my screen comes on / goes off. Whatevers. I tweeted to jrummy so hopefully a fix comes out soon.
 
The latest update kinda screwed up profiles for me. I uninstalled / reinstalled and redid the whole thing and they are still not refreshing when my screen comes on / goes off. Whatevers. I tweeted to jrummy so hopefully a fix comes out soon.

Same here, and I also sent Jrummy an email. I had a 'screen off' profile previously, but I disabled it. After the update, it keeps becoming active while the screen is on. I was able to disable all profiles (uncheck use profiles option) and so my phone is useable now, but I hope a fix comes soon.
 
The latest update kinda screwed up profiles for me. I uninstalled / reinstalled and redid the whole thing and they are still not refreshing when my screen comes on / goes off. Whatevers. I tweeted to jrummy so hopefully a fix comes out soon.

Same here, and I also sent Jrummy an email. I had a 'screen off' profile previously, but I disabled it. After the update, it keeps becoming active while the screen is on. I was able to disable all profiles (uncheck use profiles option) and so my phone is useable now, but I hope a fix comes soon.

Mine was doing the same. Update seems to have fixed it for now though. Thanks for the update!
 
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