Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

[Wizzard]

Hello

I wonder if it is possible to overclock a PC in Linux. I had a SoftFSB and CPUFsb in Windows many years ago and would like to find something similar in Linux. Can anybody help me? Thank you very much

[Rog131]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Hmm - for GPU (repositories):

nvclock - Allows you to overclock your nVidia card under GNU/Linux
nvclock-qt - Allows you to overclock your nVidia card under GNU/Linux

rovclock - utility to control frequency rates of your Radeon card
Frontend: ATI Overclock
http://www.kde-apps.org/content/show...?content=47796


For CPU

MVpll
http://home.iprimus.com.au/mccvals/mvpll/

MVpll is an open source program written in C to adjust the settings of a motherboards clock generator chip under Linux. It allows manipulation of the the cpu speed on the fly without the need of opening up your computer case, adjusting jumpers or changing bios settings.

Note
Site Last updated: 25th September, 2002


Links:
Linux Overclocking Software
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...item=598&num=1

ATIpower: ATI Linux GPU Overclocking
http://www.phoronix.com/scan.php?pag...item=675&num=1

[dibl]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

I was going to mention the "Coolbits" option for the Nvidia proprietary driver, which is in that Phoronix article linked by Rog. I have the option enabled for my 7900 GS, although I rarely actually use it, and usually just for experimental purposes.

I set the overclocking on my motherboard with a Win XP installation, when I built the computer last year, using the Intel overclocking utility. Subsequently I nuked the Win XP installation, so it's kind of "permanent", if such a thing can ever be said about electronics. I have an old 8GB hard drive that I could connect temporarily if I wanted to change it for some reason.

Now we know what those small old hard drives are good for, once they become obsolete for live systems.

[Wizzard]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Well, where can I find that Intel overclocking utility? Can it be used also with onl first generation P4?

[dibl]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

It is the "Intel Desktop Control Center" here


But it only works with Intel motherboards, AFAIK.

[Wizzard]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Hello, I tried mvpll, but could not compile, so I tried newer program called lfsb, but it has some problem with ic2 extension. How can I load this extension?

Wizzard

[dibl]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Mehhh -- Mr. Google's first 30 hits turned up nothing on this

Is there an Windows-based overclocking capability/utility for your motherboard? I fear that's your only realistic avenue -- like me, you'll have to overclock it in Windows first, then set up Linux and kind of forget about changing it afterwards.

[integr8e]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Has anybody tried running the Windows overclocking utilities with Wine?

[SheeEttin]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Eh, I wouldn't try it... Wine isn't meant for that kind of thing. Besides, it'd probably hit some problems with talking to the hardware.
But, if you're willing to take the chance of bricking your hardware, I say go ahead.

[dibl]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

I'm with SheeEttin on this one. Wine, VMware, Virtual Box -- none of them sit directly on the hardware layer of your system. They do their "ins and outs" through the Linux HAL, to the extent permitted by Linux. If you happened to get part of a command set through to the hardware registers, but not all of it, you could end up with a very expensive door stop.

[integr8e]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

none of them sit directly on the hardware layer of your system. They do their "ins and outs" through the Linux HAL, to the extent permitted by Linux.

Thanks for pointing that out, that both answered my question and reminded me of one I wanted to ask. Do you have to run antivirus, antispyware/adware, firewall programs with VMWare? And does running a virtual OS alongside Kubuntu hog all your system resources?

[SheeEttin]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Well, it's more or less the same as running another whole computer on your network, so yes, you probably should run some AV/firewall software on it. (I'll probably get around to it myself one of these days. )
On resources, Windows XP uses up a lot of RAM, though it's not too bad on my processor (Pentium D 2.66 GHz, dual-core).
Oddly, starting "vmware" from a terminal, waiting until the OS is up, and hitting Ctrl+Z (in the terminal) reduces load quite a bit. (I haven't really tested this, though.) Ctrl+Z suspends a process, use "fg" to start it up again. (The OS emulation is done in a separate process. vmware just does the GUI.)

[Wizzard]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Well, this is my first Linux-only computer, so I don't want to install Windows directly, just in VirtualBox. Now I think that my question changed to "how to load the I2C extension".

[dibl]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Do you have to run antivirus, antispyware/adware, firewall programs with VMWare? And does running a virtual OS alongside Kubuntu hog all your system resources?

I personally do not use my Win XP virtual machine for web browsing or e-mail -- I only need it for a unique Windows app that I use. So I don't consider that "Windows Machine" to be much at risk for viruses or malware, although I believe that it is just as susceptible as a native Win XP installation, if a virus were introduced somehow. Moreover, whatever a virus would do to it would only be on the virtual machine -- it's not going to affect the Linux system.

As far as system resources -- I have 4GB of memory installed so my idea of "hogging" may be different than someone with 1GB of memory. "top" shows the VMWare process using 3% - 7% of resources when it is actively doing something, which is higher than most anything else that is typically running. Even xorg and compiz don't usually take more than 3%.

Hope that is informative!

[Wizzard]

Re: Overclocking on the fly: is it possible?

Well, I made it with i2c-dev extension, now I just need to find out the type of clock generator in my mobo (does anybody know when I can find it out? I have Intel 845HV chipset board).