Laptop Oc

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

How many types of Ocing are there? I mean, is there only GPU Ocing or can u overclock ur whole laptop as well(like for example when people say : "gonna overclock my alienware")?

& what are their differences?

Sorry for the n00b question.:awe:

 

[dave_the_nerd]

nvidia and AMD gpu drivers have options for overclocking. Or there are software utilities available to do the job, like MSI Afterburner.

Most of them should work on a laptop too, although that's assuming the OEM hasn't done anything tricky to disable it.

As far as overclocking the CPU goes, the BIOSes I've seen in laptops tend to leave out the OC options, so I wouldn't expect you'd have much choice in the matter there. To be quite frank, most laptops are already so undercooled and run so close to the thermal limit that I wouldn't even consider overclocking them.

 

[peonyu]

It depends on the laptop, most of the time you cant oc in the bios. If its a very popular model of laptop though you can sometimes find a modded bios with full overclocking options in it [fsb, multipliers, voltage etc]. Failing that you can try a program like Setfsb or Getfsb, you need to know the PLL of your laptop though.

 

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

nvidia and AMD gpu drivers have options for overclocking. Or there are software utilities available to do the job, like MSI Afterburner.

Most of them should work on a laptop too, although that's assuming the OEM hasn't done anything tricky to disable it.

As far as overclocking the CPU goes, the BIOSes I've seen in laptops tend to leave out the OC options, so I wouldn't expect you'd have much choice in the matter there. To be quite frank, most laptops are already so undercooled and run so close to the thermal limit that I wouldn't even consider overclocking them.

U wouldn't consider ocing the cpu or the gpu?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

U wouldn't consider ocing the cpu or the gpu?

Personally, no.

The sorts of people who would, would probably want to OC the GPU for gaming performance's sake. (Laptop GPUs are often pretty weak.)

But it's not worth the trouble to me for the, likely, very small performance gains. (It's not like desktops where you can eke out 20-30% more CPU or GPU speed relatively easily.)

 

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

K thx. I already knew about Ocing laptops being a no no, but I just wanted to know about the 2 types of Ocing.

Just for knowledge sake, what does CPU Ocing accomplish?

 

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

Oh & what about people who say that Ocing doesn't make the graphic card heat up, but that only messing around with voltage does? Are they wrong?

 

[Sleepingforest]

Overclocking the CPU helps in CPU intensive tasks (unzipping huge files, for example), but it doesn't make an large enough impact on gaming to make it worthwhile.

The answer to the other question is a bit more complex. Both CPUs and GPUs essentially are doing math: logical operations on values stored as 1s and 0s in the memory. Now, the computer can only distinguish between 1s and 0s by the amount of electricity present; a 0 is a low amount while a 1 is a higher amount. A computer calls anything above a certain threshold a 1.

Overclocking means your computer tries to do these calculations faster, so it has to move around and change the values more times per second. When it goes too fast, it starts to get sloppy, and stores 0s as 1s or 1s as 0s by accident. Then errors and glitches start happening.

To adjust for that, you can tell the computer to use a higher threshold and move around more electricity so the margin of error when changing the values matters less. But moving around more electricity produces extra heat.

In a laptop, the parts are very carefully calibrated to give a certain performance within a very tight heat envelope, as there are far weaker fans and less air moving around in a laptop compared to a desktop. Overclocking can be done to a small extent "for free": that is, without changing the voltage to compensate for errors. But that's pretty small on a laptop since almost all of the performance has been eked out already. Altering the voltage even a tiny bit is going to result in some pretty significant heat increases, so it's usually not worth it on a laptop.

This is not 100% technically correct, but I figure it's good enough to explain voltage and it's role in overclocking.

 

[Puppies04]

K thx. I already knew about Ocing laptops being a no no, but I just wanted to know about the 2 types of Ocing.

To put is simply, when gaming you will either be CPU or GPU limited depending on the game, that said some games might be CPU limited one minute and GPU limited the next.

OCing either CPU or GPU will help out in these bottlenecked scenarios but as has already been pointed out most laptops run very close to their thermal limits (or close enough that you wouldn't be able to OC by very much) and this assumes the laptop is new with no dust build up, is being used in a well ventilated area and the room isn't too hot to begin with.

A few laptops (think alienware) allow overclocking in the bios but you would have to keep a close eye on temps because you could end up throttling your chip which would make gameplay choppy. That said most have the overclocking options disabled in the bios, I certainly wouldn't OC a laptop even if the option was available.

Can I just ask a quick question though. Do you specifically need a gaming laptop, by that I mean could you use a laptop for non gaming tasks while out and about and have a desktop setup for gaming at home. The only reason I ask is because gaming laptops tend to be very expensive and perform very poorly compared to their desktop siblings.

 

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

Very nice explanation sleeping. Thx for the crash course D

 

[Puppies04]

Oh & what about people who say that Ocing doesn't make the graphic card heat up, but that only messing around with voltage does? Are they wrong?

They aren't wrong per se, increasing voltage is the main culprit for increased temps and it is sometimes possible to either lower the voltage from stock at stock speeds or overclcok the card at stock voltage while remaining stable but you really are beating a dead horse at that point.

Mobile GPUs just don't have the same performance that desktop parts do if you aren't happy with the performance then buy a desktop or get ready to spend double (or triple) your current budget on some SLI enabled gaming laptop beast.

 

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

and this assumes the laptop is new with no dust build up, is being used in a well ventilated area and the room isn't too hot to begin with.

Since u mentioned ventilation, let me just ask this here so as to not create another thread. Do laptops have dust filters? & if so, can I access them in order to clean them? or should I go to a tech store so a professional does it for me?

As for your other inquiry, yes I am gonna need a gaming laptop, and not a desktop.

 

[tweakboy]

How many types of Ocing are there? I mean, is there only GPU Ocing or can u overclock ur whole laptop as well(like for example when people say : "gonna overclock my alienware")?

& what are their differences?

Sorry for the n00b question.:awe:

Grab a SSD for that laptop it will bring it to life. No need to OC it. the bigger difference is SSD over HD mechanical,, night and day diff. gl

 

[tweakboy]

and I think all the gurus here agree with me.

 

[Sleepingforest]

Erm... I think he's asking WHY you need a gaming laptop. Their battery life is pretty poor, and they can't offer the power of a desktop, as well as costing more.

You can easily install dust filters (laptops usually don't have them). Cleaning is usually pretty easy, but you'll need to look online for each kind of laptop.

 

[Puppies04]

You can easily install dust filters (laptops usually don't have them). Cleaning is usually pretty easy, but you'll need to look online for each kind of laptop.

I agree, you could add aftermarket dust filters but a quick wipe down of the air vents every week or so and either a blast out with compressed air or a going over with a hoover twice a year is usually more than enough.

My XPS 17 has been cleaned with this method and the thermals are still within a degree or two of when it was brand new. I would estimate it has been used for 150-200 hours gaming time and 300-400 hours of less intensive browsing/office/media playback type tasks.

 

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

When u say hoover, do u mean a reversed hoover(where the air is blown instead of sucked)?

 

[dave_the_nerd]

When u say hoover, do u mean a reversed hoover(where the air is blown instead of sucked)?

I wouldn't use a vacuum - something about the way they work means the nozzle has enough static charge built up in it to nuke a Cray. (I know it's true, I read it on the internet.)

That's why they sell those cans of compressed air as "computer duster."

Well, that and for inhalant abuse.

 

[SHIROI RAKUEN]

I wouldn't use a vacuum - something about the way they work means the nozzle has enough static charge built up in it to nuke a Cray. (I know it's true, I read it on the internet.)

Yeah, me neither.

 

[Puppies04]

I wouldn't use a vacuum - something about the way they work means the nozzle has enough static charge built up in it to nuke a Cray. (I know it's true, I read it on the internet.)

That's why they sell those cans of compressed air as "computer duster."

Well, that and for inhalant abuse.

I actually do use a vacuum but only on the exhaust vent which is nowhere near any critical components. Probably best if people don't go putting vacuum nozzles near their laptops though, next thing you know someone will be asking why their laptop wont turn on after they gave their RAM dimms a quick clean .

Good catch.

 

[Ratman6161]

Actually even trying to overclock a laptop is a waste of time. The cooling just is not there. A couple of times I've tried stress testing laptops using Intel burn test while I monitored the system with CPUZ and Hardware Monitor. This was with first generation mobile i5's byt the way. As the test begins to run you see the cpu ramp up to its maximum turbo boost frequency. Then the temperatures start to rise - reaching about the low 80's. At that point thermal throttling kicks in and you actually see the CPU frequency go down. This is with everything stock too. So at least with these particularly laptops (but I really suspect all of them) even without overclocking, the thermal limitations are going to prevent you getting much, if any faster than stock. At stock speeds they are already at the limit.

 

[Puppies04]

Actually even trying to overclock a laptop is a waste of time. The cooling just is not there. A couple of times I've tried stress testing laptops using Intel burn test while I monitored the system with CPUZ and Hardware Monitor. This was with first generation mobile i5's byt the way. As the test begins to run you see the cpu ramp up to its maximum turbo boost frequency. Then the temperatures start to rise - reaching about the low 80's. At that point thermal throttling kicks in and you actually see the CPU frequency go down. This is with everything stock too. So at least with these particularly laptops (but I really suspect all of them) even without overclocking, the thermal limitations are going to prevent you getting much, if any faster than stock. At stock speeds they are already at the limit.

As has been said repeatedly in this thread, most laptops are locked down in the bios anyway so unless you are going to try and get 3rd party software or mod the bios you won't be OCing anyway. Also some Alienware laptops are overclockable but they have pretty much the best laptop cooling on the planet built into them.