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Overclocking Tool for the Mac Pro
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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.
Honestly, it's easy to get a hundred or so extra MHz on stock voltage. No problems until you start going 0.5 - 1 GHz faster than stock.
If voltage is too low, you'll (on windows at least) get a BSOD. I think Linux and Leopard gave me hard freezes. That's about it, really. If voltage is too high.. that's when you start running into things like heat problems and the possibility of damaging things.
Overclocking was what made the low-end i7s well worth their money. People are running those at 4 GHz with relative ease.
They also included changes to more than just the FSB.
If the voltage is anything but the recommended EMF, then the silicon components will be damaged.
What does that last part have to do with anything?
Okay, now Im convinced to tell people to stay away from this App.
THERE IS NO VOLTAGE CONTROL.
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.
Blow some diodes?
Do you actually know what you are on about?
I used to overclock hardware way way WAY beyond what people thought was possible just to see what chips could do, I ran on the ragged edge of stability 24/7.
Guess what? They all survived. Nothing popped, nothing went bang. I was putting 20-50% more voltage through a chip than it did at stock.
I've overclocked: Intel 2.4ghz Northwood, AMD XP3000+, AMD XP-M 2600+ (from 2 to 2.6Ghz!), AMD 64 3000, 3500, 3700, X2, Intel Core Duo, Core 2 Duo.. So thats pretty much every type of hardware in the last, ooh, 6/7 years. Only one i've missed is the latest Intel and AMD chips, and thats because I have a Mac Pro now.
Raising the bus speed without voltages is pretty much THE SAFEST overclock on the planet. You know you have gone too far when things start falling over. If something does go bang (in the unlikely event) that means that part was weak and was going to fail IN THE NEAR FUTURE.
If I can have a E6600 2.4Ghz (1.3V) at 3.456 (1.5V) and nothing happens for a year then im quite happy to overclock my 2.66 to 2.93 or beyond. Except with my Mac Pro i'd do a few mhz a week, the range of tasks I would put it under would quickly show if something was wrong.
Was the memory/system bus speed link fixed? That was/is the largest hamper in OCing Mac Pros. The CPU has tons of headroom, the memory not so much.
Unfortunate you are correct.
However, solution is easy. You buy 1333 or 1600Mhz ram.
I recon my 2.66Ghz quad here would get nicely to 3Ghz (150Mhz bus, 1200Mhz memory) without missing a beat.
Unfortunate you are correct.
However, solution is easy. You buy 1333 or 1600Mhz ram.
True, but it does highlight one area bios has an advantage over efi. Better control over the OCing process which AMD and Intel both under the table condone (Black Edition/Extreme). Or at least in the aftermarket mobo world, it is better.
Its not if EFI vs BIOS is better, EFI *IS* better, its just apple locks it down.
Im sure there is a apple internal firmware in the R&D dept that has all the system controls open for changing
Its not if EFI vs BIOS is better, EFI *IS* better, its just apple locks it down.
Im sure there is a apple internal firmware in the R&D dept that has all the system controls open for changing
Yes, EFI is better than BIOS. If EFI made overclocking easier you would think that mobo makers would jump on the chance of using it and promoting the crap out of it. But that doesn't appear to be the case.
Wouldn't doubt that Apple probably has all the options one could dream of accessing via EFI in house, but sadly that doesn't help those wanting to overclock their machines much.
I don't think I've ever dealt with EFI.
For example, the BIOS in my laptop tells it what to boot from and lets me set the system date and time, as well as view some system information.
What would having EFI offer me?
For example, the BIOS in my laptop tells it what to boot from and lets me set the system date and time, as well as view some system information.
What would having EFI offer me?
Honestly? A GUI. Basically it should be able to offer the same environment that you get when you boot off a OS X disc. Plus you don't have to see the scrolling text of hardware discovery (which most people don't see due the the OEMs use of the stupid splash screen).
One of the reasons I joined MacRumors was to get away from these arguements. People even have arguments amongst themselves... about what thickness of arctic silver is the most effecient.
You have EXPERIENCE and FULL access to system settings. My argument was for inexperienced mac user OC noobs. Yes I ve done my fair share of Ocing on aswell.
The first things to go in overclocking are diodes and fuses. As diodes have small voltage tolerance and fuses are obvious. If the component dies overclocking doesnt mean that it will die in the near future. All parts FAIL EVENTUALLY.
Though I understand trying to get away from arguments that go round and round with seemingly no end in sight, you joined a forum to get away from arguments?! Thats like saying I didn't want to get shot so I stood over by the targets down range at the gun range. On a Saturday afternoon.
Either way, anyone putting down the money required for a Mac Pro and then dabbles with an overclocking tool should get their sanity checked. Or work for their money.
Better come up with a better one than that - many BIOS systems have GUI interfaces (current Dell Latitude laptops, for example).
Either way, anyone putting down the money required for a Mac Pro and then dabbles with an overclocking tool should get their sanity checked. Or work for their money.
I guess you never overclocked in the pc world. As an old time overclocker I spent far bigger dollars on the pc side than I ever did on my mac pro. Anyone who overclocks know the risks and is very willing to take them. Not for others to worry about what they do. If you don't approve of overclocking risks, you should not even be in this thread. There really is no argument here. It's a hobby. Like racing and supercharging your car. If it's not for you, cool, but don't criticize those that enjoy it.
By the way, this does seem to work fine with Snow Lepoard, at least in 32 bit mode.
*Snip*
The Extensible Firmware Interface (EFI) is a specification developed by Intel for the software that is run first when a computer is powered up. It replaces the earlier BIOS technology. EFI allows vendors to create operating-system-independent device drivers that are stored within the hardware itself. In that sense, it is similar to Open Firmware, the hardware-independent firmware used in PowerPC-based Apple Macintosh computers, Sun Microsystems SPARC computers, and others. EFI also allows the operating system to run in a sandbox, delegating networking and memory management issues to the firmware instead of the OS. Attempts by the OS to access the hardware are converted to calls to the EFI drivers. The EFI BIOS is also used to select and load the operating system, replacing the need for a boot loader. EFI is one of the pieces of the framework necessary to implement Trusted Computing.
Pick one.
Though I understand trying to get away from arguments that go round and round with seemingly no end in sight, you joined a forum to get away from arguments?! Thats like saying I didn't want to get shot so I stood over by the targets down range at the gun range. On a Saturday afternoon.
Its not the arguments, its the completely irrelevant topic on how to shed 1 degree Celsius off the CPU core Temp.
Oh, well for the end user there is no real advantage. It seams that nowadays the only advantage BIOS has is in the overclocking arena. And that is most likely due to no one creating EFI interface with that in mind.
But as another poster said above me hardware abstraction can be seen as a plus.
Either way, anyone putting down the money required for a Mac Pro and then dabbles with an overclocking tool should get their sanity checked. Or work for their money.
work for my money? please show me 1 place that i can BUY a 4.2GHz Core2Duo? cuz thats what my 3.0GHz E8400 is clocked at with a tuniq tower.
your ignorance and koolaid drinking should really be in check.
besides, at the time i purchased a regular desktop and HTPC, the 3.0GHz C2D's were twice the price of a 2.2GHz, so i bought 2 E4500's and over clocked them both to 3.14 and 3.0GHz. (yes i bought new heatsinks, but even the cost of the $30 heatsink, it was still less than half price)
thats almost something for nothing if you ask me.
Macs in General SUCK for games, look at the other thread about the GTX285 being avalible, this one guy recorded 44fps in OSX and 105 in Windows on the EXACT SAME HARDWARE (he dual booted on his system, both scores were with the 8800GT)
if macs get that kind of crap framerate (less than half) you might as well buy a full out gaming machine for $500 from newegg rather than get a GTX285 from apple.
the CPU speed probably isnt a problem, you would overclock your MacPro if you do heavy encoding. overclocking can shave at least 30% off the time required to encode.
not OCing your ram IS BAD, over clocks are generally far more stable if your FSB and ram speeds are 1:1, the ram apple uses is just cheap garbage Micron or samsung ram, it would be best to just throw out whatever was included and get some overclocking OCZ Corsair or Supertalent ram (for cheaper than what apple charges i might add)