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Overclocking an Intel Centrino Duo

post #1 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:26pm
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I have a Sony Vaio laptop. Not anything special, but enough to run some decent games, with the help of 3D Analyzer, an emulator that lets me run games that require hardware like HW lighting and transform.

I have 1G of RAM, 128MB Graphics, and am currently running a 1.6Ghz Intel Centrino Duo rated at 2.75 Ghz. The only thing separating me from running a lot of the newer games out there is a minimum system requirement of a CPU speed of 3ghz. Would it be safe to overclock my laptop CPU speed up from 2.75 to 3? Or is my CPU speed actually 1.6 and too risky to clock to 3?

Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:28pm
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Overclocking laptops is generally not a good idea due to lack of sufficient cooling
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post #3 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:28pm
First, check your temperatures with CoreTemp. If they're acceptable, then you can try playing with the settings till you get a stable overclock you're happy with.

But if the stock speed is 1.6 GHz and it's already at 2.75, I don't think you're gonna squeeze much more outta it...
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post #4 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:30pm
If it's anything like my brothers new Vaio then the BIOS (where you overclock at) is locked. You could try downloading SetFSB. EDIT: it lets you change the CPU's speed in Windows (No BIOS tweaking needed)
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post #5 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:30pm
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I realize that this may cause overheating, but I've never really had a problem with my laptop heat anyways. Besides, I plan on overclocking it only when I play a game. This is possible, isn't it? To have different settings on my computer?
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post #6 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:32pm
Unless you have a program like EVGA E-LEET or Asus AI Suite, it's not possible to have overclocking profiles without going into BIOS.

If you want to do that, you would have to change the overclock manually everytime, considering that you can even access those settings.
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post #7 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:36pm
There are games that require a 3GHz dual core? I don't think so... My 2180 at stock 2.0GHz plays anything nowadays--you're more crippled by the graphics card and the 1GB of RAM than the CPU speed.
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post #8 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:38pm
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Well, I've never tried playing the games. It's just the system requirements that hold me back. If all of my requirements meet the minimum but the CPU speed, should I still be able to run it?

Also, Coretemp:




EDIT: Keep in mind that the actual CPU is 1.6. It's rated at 2.75, though.
Edited by Symphonia - 2/7/09 at 6:45pm
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post #9 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:53pm
1st when you say stops you do you mean game wont even play, or just plays so bad not worth it? If the latter might not be just CPU. What GPU what OS? 1GB RAM below the sweet spot for XP and just not enough for Vista and certain games more RAM is really a must.

2nd be careful to understand the rated speed vs actual speed. Where are you getting these rated speeds? I am curious as my TL-52 1.6 usually rated at 3.2Ghz. Yes you should be able to OC that CPU up to A "rated" 3Ghz. An OC up to just above 1.7Ghz should do it. I think you likely can get an OC of say 1.9Ghz to 2Ghz give or take.

You would need to be concerned about temps. Give me more info on your hardware. Also use a program like CPUID HWMonitor to monitor temps now while not OC'd. What are they? Both idle and running say orthos for like 10 minutes or until temps stop rising which ever takes longer. By knowing the non-OC temps will give us an idea of how close you are to the thermal wall before OC.

Undervolting is sometimes an option to control temps. If this is a Core Duo vs Core 2 Duo there might be an issue. I need to research more but there is something different from past reading the Core Duo can't do just not sure if it is UV.

That is enough questions for now. If you answer I will offer more and answer any of your questions.

Edit: I missed a lot while typing. Yes you can OC I do, see my sig. Give more info and I will try and help.
Edited by Asus Mobile - 2/7/09 at 6:57pm
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post #10 of 17
2/7/09 at 6:55pm
What do you mean the actual CPU is 1.6, but it's rated at 2.75? Have you actually overclocked it yet?

Anyhoo, regarding the CPU speed, look at it this way--Farcry2 only requires something like a 3GHz Pentium 4. I don't think your lappy's CPU is really going to have a problem with other games cpu-wise. Also, what gfx card do you have in your lappy?
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