[Q] Overclocking and voltage control

[p4ranoid4ndroid]

Can someone point me to where I can learn how to use set cpu and set voltage properly. Just installed superotimized kernel and wondering how to take full advantage of it

 

[Dani897]

Can someone point me to where I can learn how to use set cpu and set voltage properly. Just installed superotimized kernel and wondering how to take full advantage of it

overclocking is pre-enabled, under volting can be done through an app the link is in the thread. there are 2 settings. try about -50v each if that works fine bump one down to -75mv at a time. test the phone over a day or two and see how it runs, see if it has sleep death after a few periods of inactivity, especially extended periods, see if it has sleep death while charging, which seems to make a difference that will test the low setting.
see if the phone shuts down without freezing, and see if it shuts down without freezing while charging, the heat in the battery makes a big difference, play some 3d games. if you have freezing issues you can disable overclocking under different situation with set cpu or se t the volts to a more conservative setting.

 

[ewingr]

overclocking is pre-enabled, under volting can be done through an app the link is in the thread. there are 2 settings. try about -50v each if that works fine bump one down to -75mv at a time. test the phone over a day or two and see how it runs, see if it has sleep death after a few periods of inactivity, especially extended periods, see if it has sleep death while charging, which seems to make a difference that will test the low setting.
see if the phone shuts down without freezing, and see if it shuts down without freezing while charging, the heat in the battery makes a big difference, play some 3d games. if you have freezing issues you can disable overclocking under different situation with set cpu or se t the volts to a more conservative setting.

I've been told that undervolting can improve the battery time. Of course, lots of varying opinions of how good/bad it may be to overclock.

If I want to just undervolt, is that possible with SetCPU?

 

[spartan062984]

overclocking is pre-enabled, under volting can be done through an app the link is in the thread. there are 2 settings. try about -50v each if that works fine bump one down to -75mv at a time. test the phone over a day or two and see how it runs, see if it has sleep death after a few periods of inactivity, especially extended periods, see if it has sleep death while charging, which seems to make a difference that will test the low setting.
see if the phone shuts down without freezing, and see if it shuts down without freezing while charging, the heat in the battery makes a big difference, play some 3d games. if you have freezing issues you can disable overclocking under different situation with set cpu or se t the volts to a more conservative setting.

I've been told that undervolting can improve the battery time. Of course, lots of varying opinions of how good/bad it may be to overclock.

If I want to just undervolt, is that possible with SetCPU?

Interesting stuff...



I too would like to know if it is possible to simply under-volt. Does anyone know the optimal settings for SetCpu with the Captivate...or does it vary depending on each users profile/ phones?

 

[p4ranoid4ndroid]

So Ive been playing around with various settings for set cpu and voltage control and all has been well so far. The only problem im having is voltage control seems broke. I try to open the all but it just black screens. I tried to clear the memory and unistall and reinstall and still have the same problem. Any ideas?

 

[Dani897]

http://forum.xda-developers.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=432086&d=1288709102

^you can under volt setirons kernel and disable overclocking with this app.

i find my battery life to be less than stock with this kernel, i need to see if it is a common issue, maybe because it is not a captivate kernel. but in the past with unhelpfuls kernel for 2.1 battery life was awesome.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Interesting stuff...



I too would like to know if it is possible to simply under-volt. Does anyone know the optimal settings for SetCpu with the Captivate...or does it vary depending on each users profile/ phones?

It's going to depend on the individual CPU in your phone. Your best result is to start at a given clock speed and begin lowering voltage in the smallest step possible, test for stability, repeat until you begin to notice instability (or you just run out of voltage options). You can just undervolt without increasing clock speed any, or you can not undervolt yet raise clock speed, or you can overclock and undervolt, depending on how your particular chip reacts. Some might need additional voltage to stabilize the snapdragon at 1.2Ghz while others (mine for example) is stable Able @ -100mV and 1.2Ghz. Overclocking silicon is the ultimate in YMMV.

Another thing to bear in mind is that increasing clock speed necessarily increases power consumption. There is no way around this. So a chip at 1.2Ghz will use more juice than 1Ghz even with the same voltage. It's difficult to say at this point whether, say, the Snapdragon @ 1.2Ghz and -100mV uses more or less power than the same chip @1Ghz and stock voltage. It's absolutely possible that the former uses more power, which would explain why you see at least one claim here of battery life decreasing even when voltage settings are left untouched.

 

[spartan062984]

It's going to depend on the individual CPU in your phone. Your best result is to start at a given clock speed and begin lowering voltage in the smallest step possible, test for stability, repeat until you begin to notice instability (or you just run out of voltage options). You can just undervolt without increasing clock speed any, or you can not undervolt yet raise clock speed, or you can overclock and undervolt, depending on how your particular chip reacts. Some might need additional voltage to stabilize the snapdragon at 1.2Ghz while others (mine for example) is stable Able @ -100mV and 1.2Ghz. Overclocking silicon is the ultimate in YMMV.

Another thing to bear in mind is that increasing clock speed necessarily increases power consumption. There is no way around this. So a chip at 1.2Ghz will use more juice than 1Ghz even with the same voltage. It's difficult to say at this point whether, say, the Snapdragon @ 1.2Ghz and -100mV uses more or less power than the same chip @1Ghz and stock voltage. It's absolutely possible that the former uses more power, which would explain why you see at least one claim here of battery life decreasing even when voltage settings are left untouched.

Thanks for clarifying Hawkeye! I will report back on in a few days once i have tested out a few profiles. In my opinion, I feel that it is best to leave Over-clocking at default and maximize battery utilization with setcpu. However, the thought of over-clocking the Dragon beast is VERY tempting. Who wouldn't? I will definitely check out the differences when playing games and such.

 

[hawkeyefan]

Thanks for clarifying Hawkeye! I will report back on in a few days once i have tested out a few profiles. In my opinion, I feel that it is best to leave Over-clocking at default and maximize battery utilization with setcpu. However, the thought of over-clocking the Dragon beast is VERY tempting. Who wouldn't? I will definitely check out the differences when playing games and such.

I have to tell you, I'm not personally very fond of SetCPU on this device, even though I paid for the app (ugh). With raspdeep's voltage control app and SetIron's OC/UV kernel, the CPU defaults to 1.2Ghz at stock voltage, which for a basic setup is fine. Voltage Control app is phenomenal for adjusting in increments of 25mv at a time...one setting is for high clocks (1Ghz - 1.2Ghz) and the other is for < 1Ghz. It's probably best actually to start with the lower clock setting in Voltage Control, as your phone will spend the lion's share of it's time at those clocks and so that is where you should see the most gain in battery life. My only gripe is that I can't get the boot settings to stick on the Captivate so I have to go in and adjust them each time I reboot the phone. no biggie there.

SetCPU, on the other hand, has caused me loads of problems in the past, including causing the phone not to wake up from sleep and just atrocious battery life, I assume from constantly polling the CPU clock to measure clock speed. I have not experienced any of that with Overclock Widget, but I also don't use any of the independent clockspeed controls in the app...basically it's just a widget to display clock speed the way I use it. Otherwise, Setiron's kernel gives the 200mhz overclock and I just let the Hummingbird deal with changing clocks on its own. Jmo, but it works for me with no resulting battery drain beyond the additional I expect as a result of the extra 200mhz.

edit: whoops, long day. hummingbird in my post from above, not snapdragon. I need a drinky poo.

 

[spartan062984]

I have to tell you, I'm not personally very fond of SetCPU on this device, even though I paid for the app (ugh). With raspdeep's voltage control app and SetIron's OC/UV kernel, the CPU defaults to 1.2Ghz at stock voltage, which for a basic setup is fine. Voltage Control app is phenomenal for adjusting in increments of 25mv at a time...one setting is for high clocks (1Ghz - 1.2Ghz) and the other is for < 1Ghz. It's probably best actually to start with the lower clock setting in Voltage Control, as your phone will spend the lion's share of it's time at those clocks and so that is where you should see the most gain in battery life. My only gripe is that I can't get the boot settings to stick on the Captivate so I have to go in and adjust them each time I reboot the phone. no biggie there.

SetCPU, on the other hand, has caused me loads of problems in the past, including causing the phone not to wake up from sleep and just atrocious battery life, I assume from constantly polling the CPU clock to measure clock speed. I have not experienced any of that with Overclock Widget, but I also don't use any of the independent clockspeed controls in the app...basically it's just a widget to display clock speed the way I use it. Otherwise, Setiron's kernel gives the 200mhz overclock and I just let the Hummingbird deal with changing clocks on its own. Jmo, but it works for me with no resulting battery drain beyond the additional I expect as a result of the extra 200mhz.

edit: whoops, long day. hummingbird in my post from above, not snapdragon. I need a drinky poo.

LOL. No Worries. I myself made the same mistake. I thought something was odd with my post. SnapDragon...Hummingbird....Bulbasaur.....I knew what you meant. lol

 

[p4ranoid4ndroid]

Still not having any luck with the voltage control app. Ive tried flashing different roms to see if it would work. I undervolted it to 100/75 the first time i did it and now i cant change. Only a little worried

 

[Dani897]

i guess there was an issue with the set on boot scripts not working. supposedly that is fixed, i dont know for sure though, i haven't updated.

 

[ewingr]

From what I'm gathering, in order to undervolt, you must have a kernel to su pport that, for example Setirons.

I'm not necessarily interested in overclocking, as it performs well as is. Of course there are arguments that overclocking may ultimately harm the phone, and arguments that by the time that happens, you'd be ready for a new phone. In any event, if I start getting slower, I may interest in overclocking.

Does anyone know if dramatic improvement in battery performance with underclocking?

 

[swimomatic]

I've noticed quite a bit of a difference, just pretty difficult to tune it precisely. (Coming from a person who enjoys overclocking computers a little too much). I just wish there was an app that would test each frequency and then let you know which one failed (without having to manually set it).