• Some users have recently had their accounts hijacked. It seems that the now defunct EVGA forums might have compromised your password there and seems many are using the same PW here. We would suggest you UPDATE YOUR PASSWORD and TURN ON 2FA for your account here to further secure it. None of the compromised accounts had 2FA turned on.
    Once you have enabled 2FA, your account will be updated soon to show a badge, letting other members know that you use 2FA to protect your account. This should be beneficial for everyone that uses FSFT.

Overclocking the Mac Mini

Hopefully my roommate's Mini will be ordered within a few days. Whichever one he gets, I'll be getting the other model so we can determine where the PLL_CFG stack is.

Currently, I am cleaning up the apartment for visitors, so modding prep and research time is dimished.

I will add important updates from my end here. Any more info on locating the stack or on changing the SYSCLK is appreciated.
 
Cardinal Fang said:
Because the Rascal Scooter has an electric motor? (Is this a trick question?)

If you need more info, a good place for beginners would be here. :rolleyes:
Click to expand...

I've always wanted to take one of them scooters and re-wire it.. add like a turbo button *something that bypasses the voltage regulator or something*

course.. I also wanted to take a shopping cart and personalize it.. like Al Bundy did.
 
mac mini in a 5.25 bay.....mmmmm fun.

if/when i get a mini id like to make a carrying case for it and such...on unrelated same type topic...anyone see pics of that place in TX that lets you rent a mac mini for web hosting and then after 2 years you can buy it cheap or something like that? cluster of mini's......I wonder if the cost/power ratio would be as good as the virginia cluster's
 
I reckon the best way to over clock a mac is to install linux on it..... but Im just being a cynical PC user - actually, I like macs, and OSX tbh....... good luck on this one..... _b
 
sev said:
I reckon the best way to over clock a mac is to install linux on it..... but Im just being a cynical PC user - actually, I like macs, and OSX tbh....... good luck on this one..... _b
Click to expand...

I'm sorry, but how would installing Linux on a Mac have any kind of resemblance to overclocking it?
 
Kaos said:
mac mini in a 5.25 bay.....mmmmm fun.

if/when i get a mini id like to make a carrying case for it and such...on unrelated same type topic...anyone see pics of that place in TX that lets you rent a mac mini for web hosting and then after 2 years you can buy it cheap or something like that? cluster of mini's......I wonder if the cost/power ratio would be as good as the virginia cluster's
Click to expand...

they already have carrying cases for them.. i saw a few different sites with them...

also.. i finally saw one in real life tonght at comp usa.. it was just kinda there.. and i didn't even notice it because they had a microsoft keyboard and mouse on it and a 15inch lcd.. then i walked by a 2nd time and saw it.. they reall'y arent even trying to advertise or hype them at all.. it is kind of interesting.. oh, also.. the top is kinda soft.. i can push on it and it moves a bit.. but the rest of ti is strudy, and simple.. which is good.. i had a thought though.. take out that cd drive and it will give out an extra 3/4th of a inch or so to add better cooling if you do OC it.. the really should make one that is double the width with an internal psu, 3.5 hdd.. more dimm slots. and upgradeable video.. then it would be quite a bit more tempting to buy...
 
This looks like a good carrying case for the mini:

http://www.tombihn.com/page/001/PROD/300/TB0351



Now, while I'm waiting for my mini to be shipped, I'm looking at the pictures of it and trying to figure out what case mods can be done. Nutty.

I wonder if the top panel glows? I think it needs to. Hmmm... such a tiny box poses an interesting challenge...
 
you can bet yer briskets i'll be putting a few blue LEDs in that monkey when i get it
 
well, inspired by this thread, I decided to seriously look into overclocking my powerbook. It was an easy resistor move (actually, removal and just a solder bridge elsewhere-- the resistors that decide the powerbook ti are 0ohm resistors so solder bridges are fine). The speed bump from 400 to 500MHz is definitely noticible.
 
just an fyi, i've got a few Xice video card heatsinks that might help you out in your watercooling adventure...

they're straight barbed 1" square blocks (simple loop inside) and about .5" high that you could easily (i believe) mount on the inside of the mini.

I've got one connection system that uses 4 "hooks" that might work with the processor holes...

i'd be happy to send you a couple.

dave
 
dave_graham said:
just an fyi, i've got a few Xice video card heatsinks that might help you out in your watercooling adventure...

they're straight barbed 1" square blocks (simple loop inside) and about .5" high that you could easily (i believe) mount on the inside of the mini.

I've got one connection system that uses 4 "hooks" that might work with the processor holes...

i'd be happy to send you a couple.

dave
Click to expand...


I appreciate that. If you could take some pics and post them to the thread, I'd be much obliged.
 
My roommate has ordered his Mini. Pictures when it comes. His keyboard should be here within a week :p
 
scottatwittenberg said:
would you overclock a laptop? no..
Click to expand...

Humm lets see I use to run an apple ibook 500@600. The video ram was overclocked on my toshiba p4 notebook. My dell 600m is not overclocked but I don't play games on it. So yes I would and have overclocked laptops. I am interested in people overclocking the mac minis as I'm thinking one would make a nice small osx server to replace some older bsd boxes I have. I figure as it would be a good thing to play with. It's like does anyway want to buy my clear ibook 800. I need some extra cash to play with as I'm getting ready to buy a new car and I'm a poor college student :)
 
swatbat said:
anyway want to buy my clear ibook 800. I need some extra cash to play with as I'm getting ready to buy a new car and I'm a poor college student :)
Click to expand...
how much? pics?
 
Enjoy!

http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/macmini/

I cannot locate the fifth jumper (that stands for MSB in PLL_CFG) if it exists at all. This pin can be simply grounded elsewhere. Or somewhere further down in the resistor mess. If somebody will get 1.58GHz running stable and without strange "750MHz" CPU speed glitch I might consider going back to it again.

Yes, I usually throw resistors out and get away with solder "bridges".

Leo :D
 
Nice! That didn't take long. :) Great work!

On many macs, those resistors are 0ohm, so you could probably just make a solder bridge to make the job a little easier.
 
ya cha cha said:
As we have found with mobile Bartons, sometimes processors made to run cool, can also run very very fast when properly cooled. The g4 mini is designed to run cool at 1.25ghz, who knows what happens when you remove the heat restiction and see how high that processor can fly.
Click to expand...
I have read in some official 744x docs that 1.33GHz speed chips are selected not by speed but by... thermal efficiency! For the hell of it I can't quickly find the reference now but it was one of pdfs on Freescale's 7447 product page.

So 1.33GHz is running much cooler than 1.25 or 1.42. That was quite interesting news.
That is the one that potentially good subject to overclock!
 
LBodnar said:
Enjoy!

http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/macmini/

Leo :D
Click to expand...

Questions
#1 Did you increase the CPU voltage at all?
#2 What is your soldering setup?
#3 How is it cooled?
#4 PLL_CFG is 5 bits. Why are there only 4 jumpers here? EDIT: I didn't read up. never mind!
#5 Pics of modded setup?
#6 Screenshots of profiler and benchies?

This is standard procedure in PC land :p Sorry if I seem a little skeptical ;)
 
dariob said:
I don't know a whole lot about watercooling, but that image shows mounting holes. Couldn't you use those?
Click to expand...
Once you measure those mounting holes, if they don't match any existing waterblock, you should have emachineshop make one. You can design your own, I'm sure you've heard of this. Cheers and good luck mwarps!
 
mwarps said:
Questions
#1 Did you increase the CPU voltage at all?
#2 What is your soldering setup?
#3 How is it cooled?
#4 PLL_CFG is 5 bits. Why are there only 4 jumpers here? EDIT: I didn't read up. never mind!
#5 Pics of modded setup?
#6 Screenshots of profiler and benchies?

This is standard procedure in PC land :p Sorry if I seem a little skeptical ;)
Click to expand...
1. No I did not.
2. A standard Antex CS18 fine tip iron. A pair of eyes and a magnifying glass for inspection.
3. No changes to anything else apart from jumpers. If you mean Apple design, the laptop-style fan (flat barrell) blows horizontally through a tiny 2"x2" heatsink.
4. These jumpers are 0 Ohms so you really CAN find the last one if it is there at all. Looking at the BGA pinout I think it is pretty good jub we have at least four together!
5. Trust me, all you'll see is just hires scan of messed up jumpers area. It looks pretty much like in here: http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/eMac/eMac-upgrade.html
6. 1.5GHz is here: http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20596
I'll put up 1.42GHz screenshots and Xbench later. I did not bother because I have simply converted 1.25 into 1.42GHz stock model speed-wise. I have 1.5 benchmarks but without CPU part as I have hard lockup at altivec FFT part. I even have this weird 1.58GHz benchmark somewhere. I'll post it later tonight.

I don't want to claim anything or prove it! You are welcome to use it, abuse it and take it further (e.g. voltage and cooling mods.) :)
 
LBodnar said:
1. No I did not.
2. A standard Antex CS18 fine tip iron. A pair of eyes and a magnifying glass for inspection.
3. No changes to anything else apart from jumpers. If you mean Apple design, the laptop-style fan (flat barrell) blows horizontally through a tiny 2"x2" heatsink.
4. These jumpers are 0 Ohms so you really CAN find the last one if it is there at all. Looking at the BGA pinout I think it is pretty good jub we have at least four together!
5. Trust me, all you'll see is just hires scan of messed up jumpers area. It looks pretty much like in here: http://www.lbodnar.dsl.pipex.com/eMac/eMac-upgrade.html
6. 1.5GHz is here: http://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=20596
I'll put up 1.42GHz screenshots and Xbench later. I did not bother because I have simply converted 1.25 into 1.42GHz stock model speed-wise. I have 1.5 benchmarks but without CPU part as I have hard lockup at altivec FFT part. I even have this weird 1.58GHz benchmark somewhere. I'll post it later tonight.

I don't want to claim anything or prove it! You are welcome to use it, abuse it and take it further (e.g. voltage and cooling mods.) :)
Click to expand...


Thankee. Do you think the locking up is due to perhaps insufficient voltage or cooling? The FSB is within spec, the L3 is within spec, so it really just sits at the processor, though I suppose the power supply could be at its max. I doubt that though.
 
mwarps said:
Do you think the locking up is due to perhaps insufficient voltage or cooling? The FSB is within spec, the L3 is within spec, so it really just sits at the processor, though I suppose the power supply could be at its max. I doubt that though.
Click to expand...

I don't think heat is an issue, it has been shown by overclocking eMacs - after 66% clock rise you can drop single system fan speed few times and this had no effect on a stability!
Also the Altivec crash at 1.5GHz happens straight after startup when everything is still cool. Even more strange, everything else works fine, 100% CPU utilization under F@H, simultaneous 3D game, etc apart from Xbench. However who knows...

I bet voltage can fix it and then you might want to look at better cooling.

I have managed to recover Xbench score from 1.58GHz test. It does not have CPU part which was the only way to get the Xbench to run at all.
Code: 
	System Info		
		Xbench Version		1.1.3
		System Version		10.3.7 (7T21)
		Physical RAM		512 MB
		Model		PowerMac10,1
		Processor		PowerPC G4 @ 750 MHz
			L1 Cache		32K (instruction), 32K (data)
			L2 Cache		512K @ 750 MHz
			Bus Frequency		167 MHz
		Video Card		ATY,RV280
		Drive Type		ST940110A
	Thread Test	140.97	
		Computation	101.56	1.37 Mops/sec, 4 threads
		Lock Contention	230.38	2.89 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
	Memory Test	129.74	
		System	144.88	
			Allocate	1031.67	672.96 Kalloc/sec
			Fill	156.30	1244.17 MB/sec
			Copy	74.97	374.84 MB/sec
		Stream	117.46	
			Copy	113.90	832.64 MB/sec [altivec]
			Scale	120.10	886.31 MB/sec [altivec]
			Add	120.82	773.26 MB/sec [altivec]
			Triad	115.31	704.56 MB/sec [altivec]
	Quartz Graphics Test	178.87	
		Line	138.29	3.52 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
		Rectangle	158.49	11.15 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
		Circle	167.93	3.87 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
		Bezier	188.24	2.05 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
		Text	317.95	5.18 Kchars/sec
	OpenGL Graphics Test	128.85	
		Spinning Squares	128.85	90.17 frames/sec
	User Interface Test	229.75	
		Elements	229.75	73.90 refresh/sec
	Disk Test	56.90	
		Sequential	49.13	
			Uncached Write	76.30	31.80 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Write	72.97	29.88 MB/sec [256K blocks]
			Uncached Read	24.12	3.82 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Read	76.10	30.75 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Random	67.58	
			Uncached Write	63.50	0.95 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Write	64.91	14.64 MB/sec [256K blocks]
			Uncached Read	68.05	0.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Read	74.96	15.43 MB/sec [256K blocks]

And here is the current 1.42GHz score. If you compare thread test results, obviously the one above is running at 1.58GHz...

Code: 
Results	121.24	
	System Info		
		Xbench Version		1.1.3
		System Version		10.3.7 (7T21)
		Physical RAM		512 MB
		Model		PowerMac10,1
		Processor		PowerPC G4 @ 1.42 GHz
			L1 Cache		32K (instruction), 32K (data)
			L2 Cache		512K @ 1.42 GHz
			Bus Frequency		167 MHz
		Video Card		ATY,RV280
		Drive Type		ST940110A
	CPU Test	157.44	
		GCD Loop	121.70	4.75 Mops/sec
		Floating Point Basic	170.88	617.97 Mflop/sec
		AltiVec Basic	168.31	4.89 Gflop/sec
		vecLib FFT	179.26	2.78 Gflop/sec
		Floating Point Library	162.08	6.49 Mops/sec
	Thread Test	122.95	
		Computation	88.04	1.19 Mops/sec, 4 threads
		Lock Contention	203.72	2.56 Mlocks/sec, 4 threads
	Memory Test	131.10	
		System	146.65	
			Allocate	918.35	599.04 Kalloc/sec
			Fill	172.78	1375.37 MB/sec
			Copy	73.63	368.16 MB/sec
		Stream	118.54	
			Copy	116.29	850.09 MB/sec [altivec]
			Scale	118.42	873.96 MB/sec [altivec]
			Add	122.36	783.13 MB/sec [altivec]
			Triad	117.27	716.51 MB/sec [altivec]
	Quartz Graphics Test	170.74	
		Line	136.23	3.47 Klines/sec [50% alpha]
		Rectangle	157.68	11.09 Krects/sec [50% alpha]
		Circle	164.85	3.80 Kcircles/sec [50% alpha]
		Bezier	177.87	1.93 Kbeziers/sec [50% alpha]
		Text	255.52	4.17 Kchars/sec
	OpenGL Graphics Test	121.93	
		Spinning Squares	121.93	85.32 frames/sec
	User Interface Test	232.68	
		Elements	232.68	74.84 refresh/sec
	Disk Test	57.92	
		Sequential	50.80	
			Uncached Write	79.92	33.32 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Write	71.72	29.37 MB/sec [256K blocks]
			Uncached Read	25.55	4.04 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Read	76.09	30.74 MB/sec [256K blocks]
		Random	67.35	
			Uncached Write	62.90	0.94 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Write	65.27	14.72 MB/sec [256K blocks]
			Uncached Read	68.17	0.45 MB/sec [4K blocks]
			Uncached Read	74.07	15.24 MB/sec [256K blocks]
 
Superweirdness on the 750MHz bit. That's just plain odd. We shall see. Any idea where the voltage controls are? The Specs seem far less open on that front ;)
 
mwarps said:
Superweirdness on the 750MHz bit. That's just plain odd. We shall see. Any idea where the voltage controls are? The Specs seem far less open on that front ;)
Click to expand...
Have a look at the board scan via a link off my page. I am going to give it a very thorough study later this week:) I have found a voltage settings chip in my eMac but never bothered to try to play with the settings. By the way it had a link to unpopulated connector - for tuning or testing? They are just generic voltage control chips from ST or alike. Same with bus clock. Maybe this is the way too. I tried to raise bus clock from 133 to 150MHz in my eMac but it did not like it :D

Seems logical that all settings resistors/jumpers should be on one (most accessible) side of the board so I bet they are on the bottom side. Or back side. Whatever! :)
 
mwarps said:
Superweirdness on the 750MHz bit.
Click to expand...
This could be pure instability at the CPU speed detection phase or simply OF not expecting such high/unusual value. Who cares about indication if it works in the end? We have to have somebody with 1.42 to try that...

I did not try higher setting because they all involve setting PLL_CFG MSB (missing fifth jumper) to 1. No, not true, I have tried 1.92GHz and it did not even chimed :D
 
pr0zac said:
Came across this today:
Overclocking Apple Mac Mini
Looks to have a nice small amount of info on how to get some power out of these things. Should help those of you interested in this get started.

-zac
Click to expand...


ummm...dude? the guy who wrote that stuff posted 2 posts above yours. :) he's involved in this thread.

dave
 
pr0zac said:
Came across this today:
Overclocking Apple Mac Mini
Looks to have a nice small amount of info on how to get some power out of these things. Should help those of you interested in this get started.

-zac
Click to expand...

*Blink*

Mmmm reading the thread. So tasty :p
Sorry, couldn't resist.

Thanks though!!!! The thought was there, just not the reading :)
 
Just got a message from guys running 1.42 at 1.58GHz with no problems (apart from that weird 750MHz indication in the Apple system profiler.) Maybe higher speeds will give proper reported speed ? :D
 
LBodnar said:
Just got a message from guys running 1.42 at 1.58GHz with no problems (apart from that weird 750MHz indication in the Apple system profiler.) Maybe higher speeds will give proper reported speed ? :D
Click to expand...


Excellent work, I'm inclined to buy a Mac Mini and do this.

A question, not sure if it has been asked, any way to change bus speed?
 
LBodnar said:
Just got a message from guys running 1.42 at 1.58GHz with no problems (apart from that weird 750MHz indication in the Apple system profiler.) Maybe higher speeds will give proper reported speed ? :D
Click to expand...

Hmmm, Now I'm conflicted. 1.58 is nice, but it's only an 11% increase over 1.42, but a 26% increase over 1.25... must... find... voltage... jumpers...

*runs off screaming into the golden morning*
 
anybody see the screen savers this evening, they got 1.58 out of one of the 1.25 ones
check there show notes
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top