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Overclocking? What about underclocking?

H

Hinokagutsuchi

Limp Gawd
Joined
Jul 8, 2003
Messages
371
I'm going to be moving my server computer from it's current housing over to a HTPC case, and unfortunately, cooling is an issue with all htpc cases. It's going to be an issue with this because it's going in my entertainment center, and will probably have a limited airflow.

The computer itself isn't even doing a whole lot right now, and that's not going to change. Right now it's running Suse and samba, and with the move I'll probably change over to something like damnsmalllinux. However, with the server now being in my entertainment center, there's the option of connecting it to my television and stereo.

Here's my questions:
1) Would underclocking provide any cooling advantage at all? I'm thinking of dropping the cpu down from 1.4ghz to 700 to 800 mhz. Is that a bit drastic?
2) What would be required, processor wise, for dvd playback? 800mhz? 1ghz?

Thanks.

And if this is more fitting for one of the processor forums, then please bump it. I felt it would fit better here as the main issue is cooling.
 
To underclock you would need to simply lower your FSB speed or better yet just drop your multiplier down in your BIOS. Dropping your Multiplier will still allow your RAM to run at its normal speed but will effectively slow down your processor. However, I'm not sure if it will do anything for your temps, though it may.

And a question about samba on DamnSmallLinux. I tried doing that once, and it didnt work. It said there was something missing in the linux kernel or something and it couldnt install. Can i PM you if i decide to try to install it again and ask for some help?
 
If you want quite a bit if in depth info check this site:

http://www.silentpcreview.com/

They have lots of good info about building silent computers and reducing heat generated by components. There is a forum for the site too.

There's a bunch of material on underclocking and undervolting, small form factor machines, etc.

Stuff you might find useful in building an HTPC.
 
All you need is 400mhz for dvd i think. My 900mhz can play with plenty of room to spare. You haven't mentioned what kind of stuff this is.
 
Underclocking = to reduce power consumption, but only when you lowever your vcore and other voltages. I underclock when downloading. Why be a pig and contribute more to global warming by running a system way higher than needed for the internet.
 
(cf)Eclipse said:
the bios works well in my experience.. ;)
Click to expand...

Heh. I suppose :)

Seems it would be a pain to undervolt while using the net (which is what scwam mentioned), and then have to reboot when you want to change to a more CPU intensive task.

Oops just noticed he said he "underclocks" not "undervolts"
 
scwam said:
Underclocking = to reduce power consumption, but only when you lowever your vcore and other voltages. I underclock when downloading. Why be a pig and contribute more to global warming by running a system way higher than needed for the internet.
Click to expand...
To fold with it 24/7.

 
veek said:
Heh. I suppose :)

Seems it would be a pain to undervolt while using the net (which is what scwam mentioned), and then have to reboot when you want to change to a more CPU intensive task.

Oops just noticed he said he "underclocks" not "undervolts"
Click to expand...
use cool and quiet. you can make the cpu change voltage and multiplier anywhere from the max your cpu supports down to 4x and .8v...

so i could set it up so that my board runs at 320x9 and 1.4v VID with an offset of .15v (probably actually ~110%)

but then with cool and quiet doing it's thing, it can drop the cpeed down to 320x4 and the VID down to like.. 1v. this will cut heat output a tremendous amount, and when i need some power, the system will automatically speed up ;)
 
scwam said:
Underclocking = to reduce power consumption, but only when you lowever your vcore and other voltages. I underclock when downloading. Why be a pig and contribute more to global warming by running a system way higher than needed for the internet.
Click to expand...
I'm sure global warming has bigger concerns than people running their PC's at stock speeds while browsing the web. :rolleyes:
 
Honestly, I've underclock my system every summer to combat my non airconditonned computer room (it had an ethernet hookup so I immediately claimed it as my comp room... and we bought the house in the winter, much to my suprise when it shot up to 80f outside, it shot up to 80f inside too!).

I've found that keeping ths FSB at stock, 200mhz, while cutting back on the multiplier (to 6x) produces MUCH better results than knocking the FSB down and keeping the multiplier stock. Sandra's memory test, SuperPi etc. show major improvements while keeping the memory bandwidth open.

Now, I undervolt my 3800 X2 to 1.1v (even 1.0v if it's a really hot day) and drop the speed anywhere from 1ghz to 1.2ghz. My idle temperatures are 2'c above ambient (so, um, like... 29c) and my load temperatures are closer to 35c. Remember, the ambient temperaure in my room is (checks thermometer) 27c!!. On nice, cooler days my load temp hovers around 30c, even before I had water cooling (stock AMD heatpipe cooler modified to accept an 80mm fan). You can drop the Vdimm voltage, and the chipset voltage all down too, reducing case temperatures as well.

Forgive my early morning attempt at a post. But underclocking works, well as long as you drop your Vcore as low as possibly stable for a much slower (try 50% of the original) clock. A 366mhz POWER! G3 processor (so like, at most a 500mhz PIII) is the basic recomendation for running any DVD software, as long as you're not doing any true 1080p decoding (in which case you need alot more power).

Cool N Quiet is also a good idea.

I'm sure global warming has bigger concerns than people running their PC's at stock speeds while browsing the web
Click to expand...

Pssht, I fold. Curing Cancer > Ozone Layer.
 
Yeah, I use NHC for my laptop and when I'm running on battery I underclock the hell out of the thing. Generally speaking if I'm on battery I'm just typing/surfing the web/something of that nature, and NHC allows me to lock what speed it runs at.

Not sure if there's a verison of NHC for desktops though cause I only use it on my laptop.
 
kill4killin said:
And a question about samba on DamnSmallLinux. I tried doing that once, and it didnt work. It said there was something missing in the linux kernel or something and it couldnt install. Can i PM you if i decide to try to install it again and ask for some help?
Click to expand...

Your guess is as good as mine. When it comes to linux I'm one step above "bull in a china shop". I haven't actually tried it yet. You can PM if you want, but it's probably going to be a few weeks before I do anything.

Thanks to everyone else for the replies. I'm going to go ahead and lower the voltage down on the chip to underclock it. Someone asked what hardware it was, and I really don't have much of an idea. Right now it's running some AMD chip at 1.2ghz(should be 1.4). I think it's a 1600+ Barton, but I'm not sure. That may be another computer...

Er, anyway. The computer has 512 mb of ram(if it doesn't already, it will) and whatever AMD chip is in it. I'll have to get a graphics card as well to do the tv out. It's just a regular color television, no HD or anything, so it shouldn't take anything at all to run dvds.

I just got a phone call and now I forgot the rest of what I was going to say. Ah well.
 
It's running linux, and as far as I know, CPUZ runs on windows. At least, it did four or five years ago (the last time I used it :/)

As far as I can tell, it's an AMD Athlon running at 1.4ghz. I think it's a barton, but I'm not 100% certain.
 
well, just go into the bios and change it. i doubt it'll be more than 5-10mhz off of where it's set :D
 
As I'm setting up my friend's OS on a free dell computer he got from someone (it's from 2002 with a pentium 4 chip and Geforce 2), I have tested it's power usuage. It's got a crappy psu that measures .62 to .64 PF rating. This is not a very efficient number (my enermax is .98-.99PF, 80%+ efficiency). Yet it's wasting a lot of watts, it's only consuming a mere 60-70 watts at idle. My current system of today's standards uses 115-125 completely down volted and 170 with both GPU's in and down-volted.
 
Lool into k7mctrl. Lets you change this stuff on the fly with certain motherboards.Anyways Bartons don't usually run at 1.4, do a 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' if the cache is 512 it's a Barton otherwise it's something else.
 
444 said:
Lool into k7mctrl. Lets you change this stuff on the fly with certain motherboards.Anyways Bartons don't usually run at 1.4, do a 'cat /proc/cpuinfo' if the cache is 512 it's a Barton otherwise it's something else.
Click to expand...
cat /proc/cpuinfo said:
processor : 0
vendor_id : AuthenticAMD
cpu family : 6
model : 8
model name : AMD Athlon(tm)
stepping : 1
cpu MHz : 1250.927
cache size : 256 KB
fdiv_bug : no
hlt_bug : no
f00f_bug : no
coma_bug : no
fpu : yes
fpu_exception : yes
cpuid level : 1
wp : yes
flags : fpu vme de pse tsc msr pae mce cx8 sep mtrr pge mca cmov pat pse36 mmx fxsr sse syscall mmxext 3dnowext 3dnow
bogomips : 2465.79
Click to expand...

And there's the CPU info. It's running at 1.2ghz instead of 1.4ghz because I haven't bothered to go back and change it.
 
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