WE NEED TO START OVERCLOCKING MOBILE!

FOR HACKERSPACE TAIPEI

DATE: DECEMBER 10, 2013

BY PIETER (HWBOT.ORG)

LET’S TALK OVERCLOCKING

Performance Tuning

Overclocking

Overvolt

Underclocking

Undervolt

• Saving $$• Free additional performance• Free power saving• Two axes: frequency and voltage• Temperature and power consumption trade-

off

COMMUNITY (“YOU’RE NOT ALONE”)• Hundreds of communities worldwide• Estimate ~ 10,000 overclockers worldwide• Varying from stock cooling to liquid helium

Air17%

Cascade3%

Dry Ice3%

LN219%

Phase Change6%

Stock8%

Water43%

Haswell Cooling @ HWBOT

IT’S GOOD FOR PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT TOO

0.00%

0.50%

1.00%

1.50%

2.00%

2.50%

3.00%

3.50%

2.97%

2.54% 2.49%

1.95% 1.85%

2.21%2.01% 2.03%

1.80%

RMA of Desktop Motherboards (source: hardware.fr)

COMPETITION DRIVES INNOVATION

• Ten years ago, industry disliked overclocking. Now we have dedicated products!

1998 2003 2008 2013

SO OVERCLOCKING IS GOOD!

• It’s fun, entertainment

• Getting the more for the same value

• Improve hardware design

• Driving technology through competitive spirit

• Community feeling

DESKTOP 10 YEARS AGO: ENTHUSIASTS!!!Turbo PLL (overclock FSB higher than bios allows)

Voltage modification(overvolt higher than bios allows)

MOBILE IS LAGGING TEN YEARS BEHIND

• Is it overclockable? Sure.

• What’s the record? No idea.

• Lack of structure, dedicated community, competition

• Information is out there (“PLL4 overclock”), but hard to find and hard to do

FOUR PILLARS OF THE OVERCLOCKING ECO-SYSTEM

PLATFORM BENCHMARK HARDWARE TOOLS

FOUR PILLARS OF THE OVERCLOCKING ECO-SYSTEM – APPLIED TO DESKTOP

PLATFORM• Desktop PC• Windows OS• (rarely Linux)• Driven by gaming

BENCHMARK• Plenty available• Good security• Very competitive

HARDWARE• Designed

specifically for OC• In-house

overclockers (RD)

TOOLS• BIOS fully

unlocked• Special software• Extreme OC

bioses

Overclocking on desktop has a fully functional eco-system, where users have options provided by the industry and can push hardware to its limits

FOUR PILLARS OF THE OVERCLOCKING ECO-SYSTEM – APPLIED TO MOBILE

PLATFORM• Mobile devices• Android• Linux

BENCHMARK• Plenty available• Lots of security issues• Under scrutiny

nowadays (ask mobilegeeks!)

HARDWARE• Designed only for

specific purpose (no oc)• No attention for

performance tuning(eg: OS update schedule non-Google)

TOOLS• Kernel: only built by

enthusiasts• Roms: only built by

enthusiasts• Software: only built by

enthusiasts

Overclocking mobile devices (and derivatives) is only driven by enthusiasts. Lack of competitive spirit to drive the industry to build better hardware and provide OC tools.

KICK OFF THE ECO-SYSTEM

Benchmark +Competition

Overclockabledevices

Kernel / rom devs want “fastest”

HOW HACKERSPACE CAN HELP

BENCHMARK: HWBOT Prime• Prepare for Android platform• Open source (everyone can check the code)• Secure submission to competitive ranking

TOOL: Kernel unlocking• Raspberry Pi or Odroid• Develop open / unlocked kernel for overclocking

TOOL: Rom for overclocking• Rasperry Pi or Odroid• Build OS for overclocking

HWBOT PRIME CHALLENGES

• Java-based benchmark

• Github: https://github.com/frederikcolardyn/benchbot/

• Challenges

• Improve compatibility with Android platform

• Use HWBOT API to send scores online

• Hardware detection

• (match to HWBOT database)

Desktop version Mobile version

KERNEL CHALLENGES

• Choose specific device, project is “Full Unlock”

• Raspberry Pi, Odroid

• Challenges

• Improve DVFS tables

• Study available datasheets

• Unlock “PLL overclocking”

• Unlock GPU overclocking

ROM CHALLENGES

• Choose specific device, project is “Full Unlock”

• Raspberry Pi, Odroid

• Challenges

• Compatibility with kernel

• Build OC tool (eg: with slider)

• Optimize file system for benchmark