How to find the clock generator (PLL) in your notebook/desktop.

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Lots of people ask this question:

So I thought I would just write everything that I know. This thread is a work in progress, so please help out if I miss something

Method 1:

Let me quote nando4 here:

This is the best method in my opinion, though it doesn't work if your PLL is "write only".

So here are the steps to use si-sandra:
1. Download and install si-sandra.
2. click on the hardware tab then click on "mainboard".
3. scroll down to "system clock generator" then look if "read back support" is "yes".
4. I believe if "read back support" is yes then it has detected your PLL.
I have tried it on my laptop ( screenshot) and "read back support" is no.
So I can give no further instructions for si-sandra, but I believe if your PLL is not "write only" then it should be shown in the mainboard section in sandra.

Google should provide more info on si-sandra.



Method 2:
Again another software method "trial and error". Not as safe as method 1, but it should have a greater chance of working.

1. Download setfsb here

2. Select the first PLL (clock generator) in the drop down list.
3. Press "getfsb", if you get no error and your CPU frequency is detected correctly then do step 4. Otherwise try step 6.

4. Hit "setfsb" and see what happens, if the system doesn't lock up then go to step 5, otherwise step 6.
5. Move the top slider a tiny bit, then hit setfsb again. Use CPUz to check if the overclock/underclock worked. If not then see step 6.

6. Pick the next available PLL in setfsb and start from step 3.

Keep doing this until a PLL works or until you run out of PLLs to choose.

If nothing in setfsb works, try the same method with clockgen.

You can speed this process up by checking the vendor ID byte:

Method 3:

Find the datasheet/specsheet/schematics for your notebook/desktop.
The PLL should be written there.

Usually it takes some time for this info to be released. So this method is good when your notebook is old.


Method 4:
This method most people have a problem with. Maybe because you could lose warranty or whatever...

Try to get a look at the motherboard of your notebook/desktop. This is very easy on a desktop, not so easy on a notebook.

Just read the model of the PLL straight from the chip itself.

It's usually (but not always) near a crystal that says 14.318MHz.
I guess the most common brand would be ICS. Also SLG and RTM are very common.

ICS is made by IDT.
SLG is made by silego.
RTM is realtek.

Look for a chip with something like "ICS*****" or "SLG*****" or "RTM*****".

It comes in two main shapes, rectangle and square. Some might say a square is a special type of rectangle so just look for a rectangle

A lot of PLLs have 64 pins.

here are photos of my PLL.

And here is a very useful link that will help you spot the PLL.


Method 5:
This method should probably be tried first, but I think it's a boring method so I write it last

Look on the internet to see if someone already found the PLL in your notebook/desktop...


That's about it, if you dont know your PLL by now, I don't know what to tell you really.

I will say this:
If you have any problems with these methods, I will try to help.
You just have to give the details

But I take no responsibility for anything that goes wrong, you should understand that there are risks and you could kill your notebook/desktop.

If you know your PLL:
Try grub2 bootloader overclocking.
Still can't overclock, then check my other thread:
PLL Pinmod Overclocking Methods and Examples

Like I said, this thread is still being worked on, so take that into account before you say anything bad about it. but please do give any advice you think is helpful. I appreciate it

Photos and more detail will me uploaded soon.

New photo attached, it's from my latest notebook (gt627). The PLL is ICS9LPR113AKLF:

 

+ rep for this, will definitely be helpful to people wanting to OC their CPU.

 

Sandra has read my pll but i cannot find it .Can you help with this one ?

 

About method 3... Do mainstream OEMs like Acer and Sony even release this information, ever?

I'm under the impression that they're trying their hardest to prevent you from overclocking your PC using whatever means necessary, so I'd be surprised if they actually helped by giving out the necessary information.

 

Check all of the options in sandra. You should be able to see the name of the PLL somewhere in sandra. Check on sandras site for how to use it.

It should definatly work for you.
Just look through every part of sandra.

your notebook should be very easy to overclock.
You could just try every available clock generator in setfsb and it's likely one will work.

Some notebooks that are over 3 years old do have the schematics online. But you have to look really hard.

 

i couldn't find pll in sandra so i user good old method . I saw there are no warrany sticker and opened the laptop . It was quiet easy with vaio . I think this is the pll number ?


if it's not , here the pic of whole motherboard , so you tell which is it


Thanks in advance

edit
i have these pics in 2592 and 4000 resoulutions , so i can post them for easyer zooming ?

 

I dont see it in either of those pics, maybe it's on the other side of the motherboard.

Did you try this in sandra:
uncheck "Ignore unknown PLL IC" option under "Motherboard Information" tab, and re-run again.

 

Yes i tryed that . If it's checked it doesnt even show Clock Generator under ''MI'' tab. I'll to see other side of the motherboard tommorow. It's 4.37h in the morning at me so it's time for sleep . Thanks for tip.

 

Moral_Hazard, I think the best way maybe to read the data @07h and 08h In SetFSB.

It seems to hold true, the Vendor ID and Chip Revision ID are held here for ICS RTM and SLG.

With some help from everyone, we could make a Database.

 

That is a great idea.
Might need to make a thread for that, I am willing to help.
I know where to find a few setfsb screenshots in this forum, so that could be a start.

If you start the thread, I'll help you out with finding the info.

 

Hi.

Sorry for bringing this top back up. But I've installed SiSoftwarer Sandra, and I cannot see System Clock Generator anywhere, I've looked in the correct place, under Memory Module, the whole section is not there???

Do we need to use a specific version of SiSoftware Sandra? Even if it was not detected I'd have thought the System Clock Generator entry in SiSoftware Sandra would still be there? Just no for both items?

Any ideas????

Thanks
Will.

 

I don't know why si sandra is so bad at this. I don't think it will ever be able to detect your PLL. You might want to email SiSoftware and see if they can help.

 

Well even if it could not detect it, you'd still think it'd show the clock generator section as in your screenshot no? That part is totally missing from the version I am using.

What version was you using in your first post?

 

It was not the version they have now. I will download this new version to check if it still shows the correct thing for me.

Yes even the new version shows me "system clock generator".

 

Problem is, those are desktop overclocking tools, so it is very likely that the PLL chips found on notebook motherboards are not compatible with those programs.

Besides, is overclocking a notebook a very smart idea? You will probably only get a couple hundred megahertz increase unless you boost the voltage and tweak other settings which would lead to increased heat output.

Then you would have to worry about the maximum amount of voltage the chip could take and other factors.

 

Yes it is a smart idea. Most intel chips are the same. What is the difference between an X7800 and my T7300?

Answer = Nothing.

The fact is for a small increase in heat you get at least 500mhz.
My T7300 and T8100 are both stable at 2.7ghz with stock volts.
The T8100 is still cool at that speed.

 

Must be some way to find the pll via software for my lappy

 

i have a 950 mhz OC

 

To each their own I suppose, but I would personally never OC a notebook for permanent use!

 

BIOS overclocking

on my laptop 60c under OCCT

 

I've found the datasheet for my laptop, it has a system block diagram on it, should this have the PLL on? It uses Intel PM45 chipset,

 

Yes I would expect that to have the PLL written in there somewhere.

Do you have a link to the datasheet?

 

Turns out it's not for my laptop, it was Acer Aspire 7730. http://www.intellcity.ru/content-2/...cer/service-manual-Acer-Aspire-7730-7730G.pdf

Any PLL in Setfsb I try all I get is either PLL ID Error or PLL Byte Error.

 

There are many different PLLs, setfsb does not support some types.

If you find the datasheet for your PLL you can email abo (creator of setfsb) and give him a link, he may be able to add support.

 

I'm sure the PLL is supported, just whats this PLL ID Error?

 

PLL ID error I think has to do with the brand of clock generator.

e.g. you have an ICS PLL but you try to use one of the silego PLLs in setfsb. You would get the PLL ID error as I understand it.

 

How do I resolve it?

 

Take apart the notebook and find the real PLL. But don't do this if you have warranty.

 

Moral-hazard, ok, I went through these methods and end up opened up my laptop(tecra 8100) and found the ICS chip. Unfortunately,9248AG-92 is not included in the SetFSB PLL list. So what to do next?I am using the latest version of SetFSB.Since 9248AG-92 must be a rather old ICS chip so may be I should use older version of SetFSB in stead?

 

Try a program called softFSB and also clockgen and CPUcool and systool.

I will try to find a datasheet for your PLL, maybe you might get grub2 OC working or a hardmod to a higher FSB.

Could you also please tell me the number of pins the chip has and your FSB frequency?

There are some similar PLL datasheets:
http://www.idt.com/products/getDoc.cfm?docID=2446435
http://www.idt.com/products/getDoc.cfm?docID=18687908
http://www.idt.com/products/getDoc.cfm?docID=2446444

 

48 pins. fsb = 100 mhz

 

Can you do this please:
1. Open Setfsb.
2. click on the "diagnosis" tab.
3. Select "pll diagnosis" as the clock generator.
4. Click getfsb.

And upload a screenshot here.

Can you also try overclocking with any PLL in SETFSB that starts with "ICS9248"

 

Enclosed is the captured image for pll diagnosis.

I've tried 3 ICS9248 with following result.

ICS9248BF-87 83.3 mhz fsb
ICS9248BF-96 72.5 mhz
ICS9248BF-102 66.8 mhz

 

Even if it shows the wrong FSB, maybe still try changing it. You never know what will happen.

The PLL diag didn't help in this case. And without the exact datasheet it's not easy to overclock.

I think the only option is to try to overclock with every ICS PLL in setfsb, clockgen and CPUcool.

You have a hard PLL to overclock. Even my 10 year old toshiba had a better one. Sorry to say, but it's not looking good.

If your CPU is in a socket, you might be able to try the CPU BSEL pin mod to overclock. But you would have to find a datasheet for your chipset.

 

Hi to all,
I think my Thinkpad R61i has ICS954309.
There is no support for this clock gen in any of the applications available for setting the FSB.
Any help?

 

did you try using a similar PLL in setfsb?

 

No luck

 

Can you do this please:
1. Open Setfsb.
2. click on the "diagnosis" tab.
3. Select "pll diagnosis" as the clock generator.
4. Click getfsb.

And upload a screenshot here.

 

It could not find the PLL. Believe me I know what I am doing. I have overclocked all my old desktop systems for every component possible.
In some chineese forums I found that ICS954309 is locked for software control. It was written by the author of SOFTFSB.

 

Hi slavun, maybe you should see this thread:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=393027

 

Here it is a screenshot:

From Desktop

If anyone have had a success with Thinkpad R61i can share it.

CPU Properties:
CPU Type Mobile DualCore Intel Core 2 Duo
CPU Alias Merom-2M
CPU Stepping M0
Engineering Sample No
CPUID CPU Name Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU T5850 @ 2.16GHz
CPUID Revision 000006FDh
Core Voltage 1.363 V

CPU Speed:
CPU Clock 997.5 MHz (original: 2166 MHz)
CPU Multiplier 6x
CPU FSB 166.2 MHz (original: 166 MHz)
Memory Bus 332.5 MHz
DRAM:FSB Ratio 10:5

Motherboard Name Lenovo ThinkPad R61

Chipset Properties:
Motherboard Chipset Intel Crestline-PM PM965
Memory Timings 5-5-5-15 (CL-RCD-RP-RAS)

Graphics Processor Properties:
Video Adapter nVIDIA Quadro NVS 140M (Lenovo)
GPU Code Name G86GLM (PCI Express 1.0 x16 10DE / 0429, Rev A1)
GPU Clock (Geometric Domain) 169 MHz
GPU Clock (Shader Domain) 338 MHz
Memory Clock 100 MHz

 

Looks like you didn't press "getfsb" in the screenshot so I can't see th registers.

 

I dont' think so. If I didn't press it the words "Unknown" would not be in blue font. They would be gray.

 

You're right.

Looks like setfsb cannot access your SMbus. If you have an intel chipset you can find the SMbus driver on their website. Installing that *might* help.
Probably wont though.

I see no real option except to open the notebook and pin mod the PLL.
Sorry.

 

Hello Dear OC Community,

finally I found a board like this for my problem. I have a Toshiba L505-10J Notebook and the grapic card is already overclocked succesfully.

Now I want to OC the CPU, also cause my tempertures are quite good (I have a extern cooling pad) they're arround 35-40°c in IDLE and on max. 45-50°. I think with these temps I may take a chance to overclock it.


NOW, my problem: I cant figure out the PLL, and i can't set the FSB or anything in the BIOS. I tried seperate programs but none of them was able to display the Clock generator..-.- (I think i rly tried everything, but of course u may recommend something.)

Can someone help? Just say the information u need i would be so appreciative

The details are:

- Intel Core 2 Duo P7450 2,13 GHz (3MB L2-Cache/1066MHz FSB)
- 4096 MB DDR3 1066 MHz Arbeitsspeicher
- 400 GB SATA-Festplatte 5400rpm
- 1024 MB DDR3 ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4650

Thx and greetz from Germany

 

Hi sm0thy, did you try method 2 (from the first page of this thread)?

Would you be against opening the notebook?

 

Yes i tried it already, it was the first i did. But my notebook freezes everytime i try a wrong PLL :/ i think thats not healthy for my laptop to let it crash 150 times.. and thats with every programm.

If i could be sure to find the PLL inside the book and my PLL is actually supported by any program, i would even open it. Can someone here tell me his
experiences with OC a Toshiba Notebook, or something like this? If its known that Toshibas books are unoverclockable its not worth it to open the notebook, is it?

greetz sm0thy 8]

 

Toshiba probably does enable TME on their notebooks (both my toshiba tecra A9 and M9 had TME enabled). So you would probably have to pin mod the PLL to overclock:
http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?p=4998927

 

Oh my god thats a little way to complicated for me :O I think its not recommendable to overclock my notebook with such a professional guide i dont unterstand 100%.. It should be in german if its difficult like this

 

sisandra did not report any clock generator tab