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Overclocking Tool for the Mac Pro
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I recall forum members saying that the 2.8GHz and 3.0GHz versions of MacPro use the same type of heat sink. As for the 3.2GHz version, it uses a different one. The 3.2GHz version may be able to withhold more heat but besides higher cost, it might have less potential for OC due to other limitations (are there any?). In practical sense, which system do you recommend?
In the article it says the program is "boot proof". Does that mean you'll have to under clock it through the program? I brought it back to normal settings because I didn't wanna screw up my Mac Pro.
"boot proof" only applies to a warm reboot without shutting down or turning off the machine. After a power off, your Mac Pro will always run at stock speed until you run ZDNet Clock again.
Please see our FAQ for more info.
-Christoph
I have found that my play back apps like Quicktime and when I watch Youtube don't work so well in overclock mode... it's almost like the network connection goes too slow.. it's sort of choppy..
OK. I'm just now finding this tool. There is probably a lot of info on-line with results but this site doesn't seem to have to much...
I landed here on a net search for PhotoShop benchmarking having just installed CS4 and wanting to know if it was any faster then CS3. The bottom line on that... No, it's less than 110% of the speed of CS3 when Adobe could have easily made it 300% or more by multi-threading here and there.
But the good news is that the ZDNet utility works well! I've got a MacPro 1.1 I've upgraded to with a pair of X5355 quads. Here's some system specs:
Additionally I was streaming The Alex Jones Show and running Hardware Monitor with a large window graphing 25 or 30 sensor states. The ZDNet OverClocker looked like this on my system:
Performing the PhotoShop benchmark from this site: http://www.driverheaven.net/photoshop.php at two CPU speeds:
- At 2.66 GHz
Texturizer:............... 1.03 sec.
CYMK CC:................. 1.27 sec.
RGB CC:................... 1.54 sec.
Dust & Scratches:...... 1.63 sec.
Water Color:............. 11.32 sec.
Texturizer 2:............. 1.21 sec.
Stained Glass:........... 3.36 sec.
Lighting Effects:........ 3.41 sec.
Mosiac Tiles:............ 10.56 sec.
Extrude:.................. 44.52 sec.
Smart Blur:............. 62.85 sec.
Underpainting:......... 13.92 sec.
Total Score:..............156.62 sec.
- At 3.06 GHz
Total Score:..............138.81 sec.
Performing the PhotoShop benchmark from this site: http://www.retouchartists.com/pages/speedtest.html (Other Mac Results found ) The results were:
- At 2.66 GHz - 28.53 Seconds
- At 2.76 GHz - 27.43 Seconds
- At 2.86 GHz - 26.35 Seconds
- At 2.93 GHz - 25.32 Seconds
- [*]At 2.97 GHz - 25.53 Seconds
[*]At 3.01 GHz - 25.08 Seconds
[*]At 3.10 GHz - 25.53 Seconds
The speed bar in ZDNet OC changed from green to yellow at 2.968 GHz (2.97 GHz) thus the colors in the list above. I guess farther up it turns red but I didn't go there! Everything ran nice and cool - as usual! About 15 or 20 seconds after the final test run I copied these sensor readings:
- 25.0℃/77.0℉ - Ambient Air
- 30.0℃/86.0℉ - CPU A Heatsink
- 31.0℃/87.8℉ - CPU B Heatsink
- 28.0℃/82.4℉ - CPU Core 1
- 27.0℃/80.6℉ - CPU Core 2
- 28.0℃/82.4℉ - CPU Core 3
- 23.0℃/73.4℉ - CPU Core 4
- 23.0℃/73.4℉ - CPU Core 5
- 22.0℃/71.6℉ - CPU Core 6
- 17.0℃/62.6℉ - CPU Core 7
- 19.0℃/66.2℉ - CPU Core 8
- 42.0℃/107.6℉ - Memory Module A1
- 46.0℃/114.8℉ - Memory Module A2
- 44.0℃/111.2℉ - Memory Module B1
- 46.0℃/114.8℉ - Memory Module B2
Other notes:
I think that lowering the CPU speed back down any amount from an overclocked state is what causes the streaming audio and video interruptions that other users have commented about in this thread. After the photoshop testing session this happened to me several time but only if I lowered the speed from an accelerated state.
I imagine that if I were to profile an application which multi-threading scales near 1:1 across the procs (like LightWave 3D or another) then the results would show the clock scaling as well.
Overall the system feels much snappier and opening applications and documents in PS seemed almost 2x faster. I realize that it couldn't actually be 2x (or could it?) but perceptually it felt that way to me.
ZDNet OverClocker? I give it a big thumbs up as long as you don't back it down any after pumping it up. I guess I'll be using it from now on.
I would think the basics are probably compatible or at least should be easily modified. Who developed this app?
The developer said he was possibly going to make a version for iMacs, but since new ones have been released, I highly doubt he'll ever bother with this app again
Oh God,
Even pro overclockers know overclocking is dangerous to the system. In the hands of a mac user? Apple gonna have a lot of dead macs to deal with. I can guarantee that someone is going to slide the sliders all the way up. Pssh, there goes the northbridge... and a few grand.
No No No. This is a bad idea for most here. Anyway, macs dont have the cooling system to overclock.
Even pro overclockers know overclocking is dangerous to the system. In the hands of a mac user?
Apple gonna have a lot of dead macs to deal with. I can guarantee that someone is going to slide the sliders all the way up. Pssh, there goes the northbridge... and a few grand.No No No. This is a bad idea for most here. Anyway, macs dont have the cooling system to overclock.
You can check my sig to see how I overclock o:
2.83 GHz -> 3.71. Running smoothly too. :]
Honestly, the only reason I overclock is to emulate PSX, PS2, and Gamecube games more smoothly.
2.83 GHz -> 3.71. Running smoothly too. :]
Honestly, the only reason I overclock is to emulate PSX, PS2, and Gamecube games more smoothly.
Motherboard is in my sig as well. I use a zalman cooler (it's huuuuuuuge and copper.
) Airflow's alright, but i wish i had a full tower case.
It's a PC running Windows 7. I don't know what other kind of info to give you. Xion case from years ago. :[ Looking to get a... plainer looking one soon. Thermaltake or lian li if I can.
Okay, now Im convinced to tell people to stay away from this App.
THERE IS NO VOLTAGE CONTROL. NO Safeguards will protect against this. Undervolting a chip will cause system instability to the extreme, and might blow some diodes. If you want proof, go hang out with the peeps at the nVidia forums and you can hear all their stories.
But then no one here will listen
That and running benchmarks wont guarantee system stability. The processing environment is too artificial and not like how a real program will act. A game is much more system heavy.
The only difference between 2.93 and 3.06GHz are numbers. Performance is better spent increasing the GPU clock for like what 5FPS? I can only imagine a Mac Overclocker extremest.
THERE IS NO VOLTAGE CONTROL.
NO Safeguards will protect against this. Undervolting a chip will cause system instability to the extreme, and might blow some diodes. If you want proof, go hang out with the peeps at the nVidia forums and you can hear all their stories. But then no one here will listen
That and running benchmarks wont guarantee system stability. The processing environment is too artificial and not like how a real program will act. A game is much more system heavy.
The only difference between 2.93 and 3.06GHz are numbers. Performance is better spent increasing the GPU clock for like what 5FPS? I can only imagine a Mac Overclocker extremest.