Software Level Overclocking? (i.e. not in BIOS)?

[winterloggan]

I've been trying to learn more about overclocking, and from what I can tell it is programmed using the BIOS. I recently saw a youtube video discussing the "Turbo" button found on older computers, which could switch the speed of a CPU with the press of a physical button. Can you do something like this with modern CPUs? 

My thought is a number of physical switches on the outside of the computer. You would switch between the speeds like gears on a car, depending on the conditions. So you could switch to your first clock speed for saving power/ low heat output, or go up to your fourth clock speed for extreme gaming/power. Of course you could also switch between all of the other speeds in between. 

I know that for the old computers, that functionality was included in the hardware itself. Could you switch the speeds of the modern computer using a software that alters the clock speed? Or maybe simulates it, where the program can slow your speed down artificially, giving the impression that the clock speed is slower but still effectively lowering energy consumption? 

I've been curious about this topic for a long time, and created this LTT forum account just for this. I'm excited to hear some feedback!

[Mycrafter5]

17 minutes ago, winterloggan said:

I've been trying to learn more about overclocking, and from what I can tell it is programmed using the BIOS. I recently saw a youtube video discussing the "Turbo" button found on older computers, which could switch the speed of a CPU with the press of a physical button. Can you do something like this with modern CPUs? 

My thought is a number of physical switches on the outside of the computer. You would switch between the speeds like gears on a car, depending on the conditions. So you could switch to your first clock speed for saving power/ low heat output, or go up to your fourth clock speed for extreme gaming/power. Of course you could also switch between all of the other speeds in between. 

I know that for the old computers, that functionality was included in the hardware itself. Could you switch the speeds of the modern computer using a software that alters the clock speed? Or maybe simulates it, where the program can slow your speed down artificially, giving the impression that the clock speed is slower but still effectively lowering energy consumption? 

I've been curious about this topic for a long time, and created this LTT forum account just for this. I'm excited to hear some feedback!

The "Turbo" button wasn't really meant for increasing speed, it was meant for old programs to work on a newer higher clock speed chip by tuning the clock to around 4.7 mhz. Old programs, and old games on consoles like the Sega Genisis or SNES computed commands based on the clock speed. CPUs now a days automatically dial a certain clock based on current usage to save power and generate less heat, but no hardware or software switches accessable to a end user exist to do this. In addition, software also isn't permanently interlinked to the CPU clock, if you overclock your CPU, will it make the animations on your computer faster?

[porina]

It is possible to change some settings in software. For those using modern Intel processors, there is Intel Extreme Tuning Utility also known as Intel XTU. It has been a while since I played with it, but you can alter some things like voltages and clock ratios on the CPU without having to reboot. I don't remember it being able to change ram speed settings though.

[Naeaes]

The closest you would get would probably be with a "keyboard" with just the one or few buttons. Use macros like autohotkey to have the buttons initiate the in-OS overclocking features. The 'way too many macros' -video shows a few of those hack keyboards. You can make one or order it in. Just run the USB wire internally and solder in bulkhead buttons instead of keys. 

[papapoi]

18 minutes ago, winterloggan said:

 

there isnt much use for that now since most cpu's do that automatically, speeds adjust according to need, back in the old day when i was running a 486/33 which is like comparing a slug to a racehorse, it was needed for certain software,

ASUS has software which lets you adjust speeds to overclock/underclock via software, as well as other motherboard and gpu manufacturers. these days overclocking is somewhat easier than before when there honestly was no reason to overclock other than to brag how much you pushed the cpu without it actually burning up