# GPU Overclock and other random questions...



## omniphil (Dec 19, 2011)

I know the CPU has Mhz slots that it switches between depending on load,
Will the kernels that have overclocked GPU's do the same as well?
We keep seeing kernels with a 384mhz overclocked GPU, but does it stay that high or is it demand based like the CPU?

I am finding that with the Nexus and the current state of apps available that I really have no need for an overclock as the apps aren't that taxing yet. I am guessing the GPU is probably in the same boat. I don't really notice much difference at all using the phone with these overclocked kernels and since battery life seem a priority for most, I am wondering if there's any folks out there that will make a stock kernel with optimization on in. I think Apex is close as that one has a 1.2Mhz version and is undervolted, but the GPU is over clocked. It would stand to reason that the GPU overclock would lead to slightly less battery life.

I've played some of the newer Gameloft games and with or without the CPU and GPU overclocked it runs just fine.
I guess it's going to be like the Droid 1 that I switched from. When it was new it was plenty fast for the apps out at the time, but then as the apps matured and got more complex the little droid that could started to lose some of its steam and overclocking did certainly help. Maybe in time we'll all be playing these virtual reality games that really max out the hardware on the Nexus and we'll need some extra Oomph. But Currently, Is there anything that really need this thing to be overclocked for just to lose battery life?

PS, Wasn't the OMAP 4460 supposed to be a 1.5Ghz chip? If so why are people having difficulties getting it to run at much over 1.4 Ghz?

What do you guys think?


----------



## Snow02 (Jun 14, 2011)

http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1380064


----------



## jrkoffjonsn (Dec 30, 2011)

The OMAP4460 was indeed supposed to be clocked at 1.5ghz.

http://www.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12843&contentId=53243

Check down the page to the second red table and shes on the right.


----------



## miketoasty (Jun 10, 2011)

jrkoffjonsn said:


> The OMAP4460 was indeed supposed to be clocked at 1.5ghz.
> 
> http://www.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12843&contentId=53243
> 
> Check down the page to the second red table and shes on the right.


Very interesting so Resound is running stock and we are UC'ed... Can't wait to see a 1.5 kernel!

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using RootzWiki


----------



## Joel S (Dec 20, 2011)

omniphil said:


> I know the CPU has Mhz slots that it switches between depending on load,
> Will the kernels that have overclocked GPU's do the same as well?
> We keep seeing kernels with a 384mhz overclocked GPU, but does it stay that high or is it demand based like the CPU?


 The CPU scaling is controlled by the governor that you select, and all the kernels I've seen for Android include a number of governors, leaving the default as the active one when installed (ondemand I think is the default). There are a number of 'em (you can hit up Google for definitions of all the options) but the Performance governor will lock the CPU at max speed, awake, idle, sleeping, whatever, the rest will scale depending on system load, etc. They all have different methodologies for how quickly they ramp up the speed, and if they step through the speeds, or just go min to max. 

As far as the GPU, I'm not sure if it scales. I wouldn't think it would scale much though.


----------



## Mexiken (Jul 23, 2011)

jrkoffjonsn said:


> The OMAP4460 was indeed supposed to be clocked at 1.5ghz.
> 
> http://www.ti.com/general/docs/wtbu/wtbuproductcontent.tsp?templateId=6123&navigationId=12843&contentId=53243
> 
> Check down the page to the second red table and shes on the right.


This is not completely correct. The SoC is supposed to be scalable to 1.5. That means, this line of processors is guaranteed to run at up to 1.5 GHz. The problem with it is, the PCB that Samsung used isn't jiving with the higher CPU clocks, and that's why you're seeing issues getting it up to it's max.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


----------



## abqnm (Jul 3, 2011)

Mexiken said:


> This is not completely correct. The SoC is supposed to be scalable to 1.5. That means, this line of processors is guaranteed to run at up to 1.5 GHz. The problem with it is, the PCB that Samsung used isn't jiving with the higher CPU clocks, and that's why you're seeing issues getting it up to it's max.
> 
> Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk


You are correct. The chips are binned at both 1.2 and 1.5GHz. This means that the 1.2GHz SoCs are 1.5GHz SoCs that may not be capable of performing at that level. I don't know what the SoC is actually binned at and it could be a mix of 1.2 and 1.5 just all clocked to 1.2. So some may work fine at 1.5 and some maybe not. Also the SoC may be clocked to 1.2 for heat reasons as well as the bin process. Only way to know is to test it, which I find no need to do at the moment.

As to the GPU situation, I am inclined to think differently than the OP. I believe that much of the reduced CPU load is due to more of the OS rendering being handled exclusively by the GPU instead of both GPU and CPU. So, I believe that increasing the GPU speed would help performance more than just the CPU speed. Also I think that underclocking the GPU, if possible, would reduce battery consumption as I think the rendering done in the GPU is tied into the screen metric in the battery manager which uses in obnoxious amount of power. I know that it is a huge screen and a lot of pixels, but with the dimmest setting and mostly black backgrounds (more efficient on samoled) this thing still drains like crazy. Which is what leads me to believe the GPU is tied into the screen metric and is actually being used more than you think.

That is what I see of the situation. I may not be entirely correct about the GPU but it sure seems that way.


----------

