question about the CPU

Discussion in 'iOS Apps' started by dccorona, Aug 31, 2008.

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  1. dccorona, Aug 31, 2008

    dccorona macrumors 68020

    dccorona

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    Jun 12, 2008
    #1
    forgive me if this is a noob question
    i don't know much about the iPhone's CPU, except that it is approx. 600MHz but is underclocked to 400MHz
    I am also aware that people have found ways to overclock it
    although I know nothing about overclocking

    would overclocking the CPU allow the iPhone to render better graphics in games?
    and also, how simple is overclocking? (I'm not about to try it, but I did have an idea)

    If overclocking can easily be done by software (again, forgive me if this is totally incorrect/impossible) and can improve graphics, could an app technically overclock the CPU when its running, and then return the CPU to its normal underclocked state when it is closed? If this is possible, it could improve game performance
     
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  2. Joe Hill, Aug 31, 2008

    Joe Hill macrumors member

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    Jun 25, 2008
    #2
    I believe the iPhone/iPod touch has a separate chip for graphics. I also don't think an application could unlock either, as the current SDK doesn't allow for direct control over the hardware.
     
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  3. ayasin, Aug 31, 2008

    ayasin macrumors 6502

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    #3
    Overclocking a cell phone's CPU is a really bad idea in 98% of cases. It can lead to hardware damage as well as basically killing your battery life.

    No official software can overclock the CPU as it's not part of the SDK. Overclocking the CPU wouldn't help game rendering anyway because there's a dedicated graphics chip.
     
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  4. dccorona, Aug 31, 2008

    dccorona thread starter macrumors 68020

    dccorona

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    #4
    i was thinking purely hypothetical
    i was pretty sure such a thing wouldnt actually be allowed

    but it seems that allowing it wouldnt do much anyway
    it is, however, good to know that apple could potentially increase processing power in the future if need be, without a hardware update
     
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  5. macduke, Sep 1, 2008

    macduke macrumors G3

    macduke

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    #5
    Probably not.

    Even if they released a higher powered battery, it might get too hot due to size contraints. They would need passive cooling, such as extra heatsinks, or active non-moving, such as what I believe is called a "piezoelectric" cooling system.

    The processor speed would not be increased unless there was a hardware update.
     
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