Overclocking
Who else here overclocks their PC?
Up until last night, I have had my AMD 1055T based system OCd from the stock 2.8 MHz up to 3.8 MHz (motherboard, RAM and video card OCd, too. . .all on air cooling). For the CPU, it required me to increase its voltage from 1.3 to 1.43 (I'll spare you all from all the other voltage settings, such as the CPU-NB, SB/HT, etc.). This resulted in a CPU idle temperature of 41 degrees Celsius, which flew up to 47 degrees (and higher) when doing basic tasks. During gaming and other heavy processing, such as mixing, it could shoot up into the high 50s.
Based on research during my first ever OCing adventure, I turned off AMD's Cool and Quiet technology in order to OC. Cool and Quiet will wind down the CPUs multiplier and voltage when the system is idle (meaning automatically decreased MHz and power). Last night, I decided to tweak some things. I decreased the voltage (below the stock voltage of 1.3, down to 1.27), turned on Cool and Quiet, and flipped on AMD's Turbo Core technology. Turbo Core needs to be turned off when doing heaving OCing because Turbo Core will automatically increase the CPU's voltage in order to give it the MHz boost. If the afterburners kick in when you have your processor overvolted in order to overclock, the increased voltage from Turbo Core can fry the CPU.
After some messing around, I now have a milder OC (to 3.26 MHz), but at a lower than stock voltage. With Turbo Core, the voltage will automatically increase, along with the speed of up to 3 processors (out of the 6 on the CPU), up to 3.726 MHz (when needed). When I do my mixing (which is about the only thing that uses all 6 cores of the 1055T to their fullest), I can simply reboot, select a OCd BIOS user profile and I'm back to having an OC at 3.8 MHz. I will probably experiment tonight and see just how high of a clock setting I can get with this undervolt. I have a feeling I can get to 3.3, especially since Turbo Core is enabled. This will just basically get me a higher clock setting when Turbo Core kicks in (shooting for at least 3.8 MHz ).
What's the point of all this? Well, I now have a PC that is overclocked, but overclocked using less voltage then stock. This gobbles less energy and produces less heat. In a fairly small room that houses my PC, stereo system and a 46" LCD (which doubles as a space heater during the winter months. . .and during the not so wintery months), less heat makes a big difference, especially with the horribly humid KC summer rapidly approaching.
With the Cool and Quiet technology enabled, I can watch the voltage, CPU multiplier, and temperature drop when idle. With Cool and Quiet, the CPU will patiently sit waiting at ~900 MHz at 1.27v, eagerly awaiting to crunch some numbers. It now runs at a cool 36 degrees Celsius at idle and I have only seen it get up to 41 degrees when doing basic tasks (which was the previous idle temperature). On top of all this, I notice no difference in speed when doing basic tasks. Therefore, my PC will likely remain in this state 80% of the time (when not gaming and recording/mixing, etc.).
Underclocking
Don't throw out that old(ish) computer! I think underclocking may be ideal for those looking for a HTPC.
Being an expert procrastinator and not wanting to work, late last night, I also briefly experimented with significant undervolting and underclocking, to 1.1v and 2.0 MHz respectively. When I upgrade my motherboard, CPU and graphics card (hopefully later this year), I will probably use them to cobble together a 100% dedicated HTPC. As a result of undervolting and underclocking, I anticipate I can build a 100% silent and cool HTPC. Undervolting/underclocking the 1055T should allow for near ambient idle temperatures and even very low temperatures when under load. If desired, the 1055T allows you to turn off up to 5 of its 6 cores, which should allow for even lower temperatures (would likely only turn off 2 of the 6 cores, though). An HTPC shouldn't require much horsepower from the CPU, motherboard, and graphics card; therefore, I expect undervolting/underclocking to not break a sweat with this setup.
In spite of my procrastination, luckily I was also able to wrap up my real work. . . the same work I sometimes forget allows me to buy such toys. Regardless, this did require me to stay up until 2:00 AM. The "cup" of coffee this morning was more the size of a mop bucket. . .2 sugars, please!
Paul
