One-click T42 Overclock

[dr. zoidberg]

For anyone that is interested in overclocking their T42, I've successfully managed to achieve a stable 200Mhz OC. It's not a whole lot but it's better than nothing.

Note that all of these procedures are specifically tailored to my needs and system. If you want to use it on your's you will probably need to modify it a bit

Summary
By using the AccessIBM button, I made some batch files that will overclock/reset my FSB, increase/reset the fan speed and increase/reset the CPU voltage. I got a 200mhz overclock (fsb=112) with a maximum temperature of 69deg after 1 hour of running orthos. The CPU could go, and indeed went more but the PCI bus couldn't take it (audio was flaky)


Software required:
SetFSB
ADMIN NOTE: As of 10-Jun-2012, a couple of online virus scanners are indicating that this .ZIP file is infected with a Trojan. Please proceed at your own risk!
NHC Pro PR6 (yes, this procedure requires the pro version for profile switching unfortunately)
Thinkpad Fan Control
Thinkpad Button Customizer
Windows XP

For simple overclocking, you can just use SetFSB but I wanted to do a bit more. I wanted to be able to overclock and un overclock using a single click or button press while simultaneously adjusting fan speeds and voltages. I normally run under volted with CPU dynamic switching using Notebook Hardware Control so what I needed to do was
1. Change CPU profile to Max performance (necessary so SetFSB won't crash)
2. Increase the voltage to the CPU
3. Increase the fan speed to max to ensure the most cooling possible

Step 0 - Find max FSB speed
(a) Use the Thinkpad Fan Control utility to set the fan to the fastest speed.
(b) Use SetFSB to find the fastest speed the CPU will run at by using a stress test like Orthos/Prime95 (keep an eye on the temperature: in my tests it reached around 85, which is still below the recommended maximum). On my computer, I have to overclock the FSB to at least 110Mhz or else it will hard lock. I was able to reach an FSB of 116mhz however this was too fast for the PCI bus which caused my soundcard to stop working. At FSB=112Mhz, everything was OK.
(c)Use NHC to dial down the voltage of the OC'ed CPU to keep the temperature more sane (stays less than 70 for me)


Step 1
(a)Install the NHCIBM ACPI. I used this to control the fan speed but you can use the Thinkpad Fan control If you want to.
(b)Create a new profile (I called it "Max performance - for oc") that you will use when the CPU is OC'ed. In this profile, set the CPU to max performance and force the voltage value from Step 0. In the ACPI configuration, set the fan speed to max

Step 2 - install batch files
Copy these batch files to some directory on your local drive Don't forget to edit the batch files and replace all the paths and NHC profile names with your own names!.

Step 3 - Access IBM button
open the Thinkpad button customizer and select an application to launch: "C:\windows\system32\cmd.exe" For the parameters put "/c <setoc.cmd>" where "<setoc.cmd>" is the FULL path and file name of wherever you copied the batch files.

Step 4 - Enjoy
If everything works, the folllowing should happen:
If the CPU is NOT OC'ed (i.e. fancontrol is not running) the batch file should change the profile to your OC profile, fancontrol.exe should start and setfsb will run and change the fsb.
If the CPU IS OC'ed, fancontrol.exe will be stopped, setfsb will reset the fsb and the profile will be switched to whatever profile you defined.

Its complicated and convoluted I know, but I find it quite useful so I thought I'd share it. Some may find the benefits too little to be worth the trouble but for those looking to eke out every las mhz on these ageing lappys this is for them

Feel free to give comments and / or suggestions!

[KristianJ]

I tried SetFSB a couple of weeks ago and got a stable overclock of 200MHz on my T40, but couldn't figure out how to have it operating from startup. Do you have the program running from startup and if so, how did you set it up to do so?

[agarza]

Interesting.

I dl'ed SetFSB, but tell me what I'm doing wrong:
http://img528.imageshack.us/img528/7316/wrongbc8.png
After that, the program exits.

Do I have to install first prime95 or link that software to SetFSB ?

[KristianJ]

I'll get back to you on that - I recall reading on another thread around here of some issues with some T4x machines, but can't remember what it was. In any case it's probably not to do with prime95 (since SetFSB works on its own)

[FTC]

...some issues with some T4x machines,..."

That is right. The problem is... not all the T4x use the same PLL (clock generator chip) Some are programmable PLLs, others are not. So, for instance my T40 (2373-7BU) can be succesfully overclocked wirh Setfsb, but my T42 (2373-L77) can not.
So, in summary, if you try SETFSB and it does not work, chances are your machine has a non programmable PLL, thus can not be overclocked.

[dr. zoidberg]

I tried SetFSB a couple of weeks ago and got a stable overclock of 200MHz on my T40, but couldn't figure out how to have it operating from startup. Do you have the program running from startup and if so, how did you set it up to do so?

I don't have it running from startup because I want to be able to switch it on and off on the fly. If you want it on startup, just add setfsb to your startup folder with the following switches:

Code: Select all

SetFSBu_ThinkPad-X31.exe -s112 -w5

This tells it to set the FSB to 112MHz after a 5 second delay

That is right. The problem is... not all the T4x use the same PLL (clock generator chip) Some are programmable PLLs, others are not. So, for instance my T40 (2373-7BU) can be succesfully overclocked wirh Setfsb, but my T42 (2373-L77) can not.
So, in summary, if you try SETFSB and it does not work, chances are your machine has a non programmable PLL, thus can not be overclocked.

Yes, like I said, this is for my specific laptop. At first I though my T42 wasn't overclocable because SetFSB would lock up the computer when I changed the FSB. Then I found out I had to increase the FSB to at least 110 Mhz before it would work.

Is there a list of which T4x are overclocable? If not, it may be a good time as any to start one!

[T400plus]

something along similar lines for a aged but still alive T41 with a 1.6 GHZ pentium M cpu ?

[aaa]

Did you try it? It should be mostly, if not exactly, the same procedure.

[T400plus]

I want to try but where do i get the programs from?.

T41 1.6 GHz pentium M (banias)...

[aaa]

Well the link for SetFSB is right there. That is what does the overclocking.

You can get tpfancontrol here:
http://sourceforge.net/projects/tp4xfancontrol/

You don't need all of the programs mentioned.

[yak]

I just downloaded SetFSB from the link provided in the first post and Avira AntiVir tells me there's a TR/Killwin.C.16 trojan in the exe.

[T400plus]

I tried setFsb to get the following
intel 855 PM/GM(E)
model 2672CAJ
PLL Error
SMBUS Address :1880
byte count 7
pll Data
d3 ce 7f c1 07 00 b1 .....lot of zeroes

I presume i got a special version of the PLL.

[Harryc]

Can one of the Mods/Admins check the setfsb download for a trojan please? I am running Linux so I cannot.

[richk]

I scanned it with the latest symantec anti-virus definitions and didn't find anything.

[Harryc]

Thanks Richk.

[clovisfc]

Definitely has a virus!

[Mike Blake]

Definitely has a virus!

When I checked it with Symantec it showed a trojan too.

[T400plus]

and danger in running setfsb?
AND HOW DO I CHECK IF THE OVERCLOCK HAS BEEN SET?
t41 2374 - 7fu ,1.7 pentium 735 ,windows 7

[Vonfeffer]

Hi guys, is there a setFSB for the T43? What about the SL410???

thanks

Von Feffer

[systemBuilder]

It's not very worthwhile to overclock anything less than 1.8 Ghz.
The 1.7 Ghz and slower laptops have a smaller L1 cache and the cache size is a large bottleneck, overclocking won't help much if the problem is the cache. It's better to try to overclock a low-end 1.8 Ghz machine because it has a 3 MB L1 cache, not a 2 MB L1 cache from the 1.7 Ghz and slower machines. The speed bump from 1.7 Ghz to 1.8 Ghz is like night and day.

[ajkula66]

Huh...none of the CPUs used in T4x/R5x machines had more than 2MB L2 cache.

Dothan-cored ones (all with 2MB) begin with 1.5 (PM 705).

[systemBuilder]

Huh...none of the CPUs used in T4x/R5x machines had more than 2MB L2 cache.

Dothan-cored ones (all with 2MB) begin with 1.5 (PM 705).

I am pretty certain that all 1.7 Ghz machines and below are Banias cores, i.e. with a 1 MB L2 cache.

[ajkula66]

I am pretty certain that all 1.7 Ghz machines and below are Banias cores, i.e. with a 1 MB L2 cache.

Wrong you are on this one.

http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_Pentium_M_(Dothan)

[Adda]

1MB Cache = Banias
2MB Cache = Dothan

Fixed link:
http://www.thinkwiki.org/wiki/Intel_Pen ... 8Dothan%29