Overclocking a laptop?
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    Adm¡nistrator JungleMan1's Avatar
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    Post Overclocking a laptop?

    Just got a 20 gig hard drive, want to overclock my Compaq 1275 (366mhz K62). Any info?

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    Registered User Damned Angel's Avatar
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    just leave it as is. overclocking a laptop is not the best idea. the cooling in them is designed to be just good enough to cool the current shipping processor. besides that, most have no cpu speed options to tweak.

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    The best way to tweak your laptop for the most speed possible - install Linux - other than that - sell it and get a faster one - attempting an OC on a laptop is like placing a jar of nitro glycrin over your bed during an earthquake - just don't do it - your laptop will overheat and it will be as reliable as a Packard Bell P-66
    Death is lighter than a feather - duty heavier than a mountian.

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    Adm¡nistrator JungleMan1's Avatar
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    I'd install Linux if it had IE and if it would support *ANY* of the devices I own...

    BTW, what are the Linux system requirements.

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    Ewww, I've seen Linux on a laptop. It doesn't do very well, especially with newer machines. Nor does BeOS, QNX, BSD, or NT. The best OSes for a laptop are Windows 3.1, 98 SE, or 2000, with 2000 being the best of the bunch. 2000 has a higher RAM overhead, but once that's out of the way, it's at least 25% faster than 98 because it's pure 32-bit, no 16-bit stuff left over like 98.

    The best way to speed up a laptop is add RAM. Until recently, most laptops came with tiny amounts of RAM. You want at least 128M for 98, and 256M for 2000. That will almost eliminate disk swapping under normal use. ANYTHING you can do to avoid using the disk will help a LOT!

    If your laptop supports it, upgrade to the new 5400 RPM IBM drive. Most laptop hard drives spin at a puny 4200 RPM! Considering desktop drives can hit 15,000 RPM, this is TERRIBLE! The new IBM drive should be about 25% faster!

    Remove the PCMCIA cards when they're not in use. If you don't need the modem, no sense in leaving it in to chew up a few extra CPU cycles, and it'll squeeze a few more minutes out of the battery.

    A FEW laptops can have the CPU upgraded. You might want to look into that, but unless you're a REAL master tech, let an expert handle it; replacing the CPU on a laptop is a real chore!

    And of course, defrag and scandisk regularly. Again, anything to minimize disk access time will REALLY help on a laptop!

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    Flabooble! ilovetheusers's Avatar
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    To your original post. Do not overclock a lap top. They are a pain in the butt to keep cool as it is. just my 2 cents.

    I had linux on a laptop of mine dual booted with 98se. It worked just nifty and it had far less power than your pc. It didn't do anything though. just sat there as my houses proud Linux machine. Didn't have a damn thing that it could do and I don't know squat about linux. It ran really well with nothing running though, course that seems to be the power of Linux. It'll never crash 'cause it'll never have any software written for it you'd ever use at home. I had my laptop running for 6 years straight. Never once ran an application but damn it was stable.

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    For info on running Linux on a laptop: http://www.linux.org/hardware/laptop.html

    I actually meant the linux post as a joke - however Linux runs fantastically well on ALL my laptops: AST 800N 486 DX-2 66 w/12mb ram, Toshiba 225 CDS w/P-133/cd/32m to my 4000CDS p2-233 w/160MB Ram and USB. However I am still a newbie and do not do much with it.

    If you are just learning linux - try VMWare - www.vmware.com - it gives you a virtual machine (x86) to install and run another OS on - ie - linux under 2k! Toggle back and forth between the two (check docs, while running linux) while you are learning.

    As with any computer - RAM, RAM and more RAM. And some units have a socketed mobile processor that would then be upgradable, however it is rare - check e-bay.
    Death is lighter than a feather - duty heavier than a mountian.

    The answer to your question is: 00110100 00110010

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    JB - you MAY be able to upgrade the processor in that machine - I am upgrading my p2-233 to a p2-400 - but you will need to tear it down and see if the processor is soldered on or in a mobile module card (MMC) or a socketed CPU, then just find a compatible CPU and replace it - BUT watch your heat!!
    Death is lighter than a feather - duty heavier than a mountian.

    The answer to your question is: 00110100 00110010

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    Adm¡nistrator JungleMan1's Avatar
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    Don't think I would attempt it myself anyway.

    I will call the computer store but they're probably going to charge me a sh*tload.

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    Registered User Pyroate's Avatar
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    It can be done though there is a set of switches just above the cpu the white pages at comaq's web site should tell you at least they used to. be careful though i did overheat a cpu in this way by just throwing one wrong switch.
    I can win any argument with any computer made yet. Since they really haven't learned to fight back.

  11. #11
    Rudders
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    Look at my homepage www.mgrudkin.clara.net and look a the 1200 series section. I do not have the specific details of the 1275 model, but if you want to open it up, and send me ALL the DIP switch settings that you can find, I will work it out for you. You should be able to get at least 400 out of it, but can't be sure until i see the settings that you have.

    Rudders

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    I have a Compaq Presario 1645 laptop,

    it has
    p3 500MHZ
    6GB HD
    ...

    anyway there were just a set of dip switches under the cd-rom drive and I set it for 133FSB instead of 100, and got 667MHZ out of it.

    My point being, with laptops they have variable speed fans controlled by the motherboard. These fans under normal operating circumstances( including under full load) would only be running at maybe 50% of their rated speed. SO, if your overclock the processor, the motherboard will accomadate this new amount of heat and bump up the fans more That is why laptops are excellent for overclocking, because the motherboard will adjust the fans accordingly.

    Just think about it, my sisters laptop (3GHZ p4) is crunchin prime95 constantly. She leaves it on her bed, and the fans are on the bottom!!
    MOst importantly, the fans aren't even running at full speed inthat situation. It is insame, but it shows you how much reserve colling power the system has!

    DOn't assume that all laptops have this much cooling power, but a lot of them do, you just have to understand how fast the fans CAN go vs. how fast they are going, and experiment different situations from that point.
    Now its time for me to overclock my sisters laptop...
    Last edited by danwat1234; May 24th, 2005 at 02:13 PM. Reason: dont assume...

  13. #13
    Laptops/Notebooks/PDA Mod 3fingersalute's Avatar
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    Do as you will, but as mentioned above (in this ridiculously old thread) - laptops have heating problems already, o/c'ing is just asking for trouble.

  14. #14
    Intel Mod Platypus's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by danwat1234
    my sisters laptop (3GHZ p4) is crunchin prime95 constantly. She leaves it on her bed, and the fans are on the bottom!!
    A P4 is a bit of a different consideration, as they have quite sophisticated on-chip thermal control, if they get hot they slow down their processing:

    http://www.digit-life.com/articles2/p4-throttling/

    Your sister may find she gets more crunching done if the system is allowed proper ventilation - maybe suggest that to her?

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    Registered User AlienDyne's Avatar
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    Hmm.. guys, this post is kinda old. 4 years later, I think Jungleman got rid of it!

    For the record, I fully agree with Damned Angel.
    The wandering Odysseus of the web.

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