Undervolting Laptop CPU

[kotrtim]

I have a turionx2 1.6GHz laptop, the normal voltage rating is 0.800V @ 4X (800MHz) and 1.075V @ 8X (1600MHz), the laptop is about 41C idle but rises up to 66C when running games.
I can run the CPU at 0.900V @ 8X but when i switch task, i.e. jump from game to desktop, it crashes. Then i tried 0.925, everything is OK, but i get crashes when i am trying to quit RMClock. The CPU max temp after undervolting is 60C.

I don't understand why turion CPU is set to such high voltage 1.075V, by AMD, it just works fine at 0.925V, i wish i could just tweak the bios (dell inspiron), customize it to use 0.925V instead of 1.075V and let PowerNow do its job, so I don't have to use RMClock.

 

[CTho9305]

I don't understand why turion CPU is set to such high voltage 1.075V, by AMD, it just works fine at 0.925V

i tried 0.925, ... i get crashes

Sounds like you and AMD have different ideas of what "fine" is? From a stability perspective, undervolting is the same as overclocking.

 

[kotrtim]

does undervolting harm the CPU? Is it safe to play around with voltages under 1.075V regardless of the clock multiplier?

 

[CTho9305]

I would not expect undervolting to physically harm anything. Obviously if the computer crashes at an inopportune moment you could lose data.

I've seen people on forums claim that undervolting the core while running the memory at normal (or high?) voltages can cause damage, but I don't see how that could possibly be true. See disclaimer in my sig though.