Undervolting + Gaming?

Hey guys

Im gonna recieve my Dell Studio XPS 13 within 2 business days, and I've been wondering...

If I undervolt and I game, what're the effects? Cuz I've heard that when you stress ur cpu like when u game or something, its really bad for the cpu when its undervolted.

Is that true?

 

Nope. If undervolted properly there is no performance hit. And if its not undervolted correctly there is still no actually performance hit, your computer would just crash. The only effect UV has on games is keeping your laptop cooler while playing them and if for some reason you were on battery, giving you a few more minutes battery life while playing.

 

Nono I dont mean performance hits, i know that wont happen, but i mean in the long run.

Cuz my friend said that it'll eventually kinda rot ur cpu cuz it's getting less power than it's supposed to when u stress it out to the max, and as such will cause eventual degradation.

 

Your friend is full of crap. If anything, undervolting is better for your CPU in the long run, since it produces less heat, which results in less thermal expansion and contraction.

 

Yup. Undervolting is actually better for your computer because internal temperatures are lower. I'm assuming your friend doesn't understand what undervolting is (which is odd because conceptually its not hard). Computer parts require certain amounts of power to operate. To be safe (and save money) manufacturers intentionally feed excess power to a component to prevent failure. Undervolting is lowering the amount of power to reduce to the amount of excess. This makes the system more effiecent and run cooler (less energy used).

For example. Say a CPU takes on average 40 watts to operate at max. A single unit may actually take 35-45 watts to operate. To be safe the manfacturer may set the unit to 55 watts. With undervolting you are trying to lower it to 45-50 watts, more than enough for even max load but wasting less power.

 

I couldn't have said it better myself, Senor Mortgage.

HellDemon, the worst that might happen if you undervolt too aggressively is a Blue Screen of Death, an issue which will go away as soon as the voltage is set back to a safely high level.

Basically, there's nothing to lose, and battery life and cool temperatures to gain.

 

:O Awesome! Non-Hot Laptop here i come!

Thanks so much guys, I just needed some clarification!

 

Any time. And the next time you see this friend of yours, slap him in the back of the head for me.

 

I can almost guarantee you that undervolting wont harm your hardware, it will do the opposite.

Undervolting has been around for bonks and you will rarely hear (if at all) about it causing hardware issues.

 

If undervolting is good for your computer, is overclocking bad?

 

Not if you do it in a safe and controlled manner. Make sure you have sufficient cooling for your machine, and run stress tests ever bit of the way. Most notebooks have locked multipliers in the BIOS; you wont be able to overclock anyway.

There's a lot of articles on overclocking desktop machines though. I'd definitely check them out. A lot of the new quad-cores run very cool right out of the box, so you can overclock without even installing any new cooling equipment.

 

Overclocking, in itself, is not bad at all. Overvolting, on the other hand, can cause damage if done too much, since it generates more heat.

 

Overclocking in general will create more heat which can reduce the long term life. It can be risky when pushed to the limit.

Overvolting for a superclock on the other hand is riskier.

 

Undervolting is inherently beneficial due to lower temperatures.

Overclocking, and overvolting, don't cause damage by themselves, but if you overdo it there can be damage.

 

to overclock and not damage any thing you need to just be responsible....

don't over heat it
don't push it way to far...

always watch your temps!

 

Undervolting=good
Overclocking=Good if done properly
overvolting=I'm gonna go with bad here... (yeah it is good if done properly, but most of the time, you won't know when you've crossed the line)

 

Adding more voltage is fine as long as you watch your temperatures. That's how it's done in the desktop world, on notebooks you don't really have those options in the BIOS typically. I get 3.2 GHz on stock voltage (1.275) over 2.4 GHz stock. To get to 3.4 GHz I need about 1.32v, to get to 3.6 I need around 1.42v. It's all about watching temps.

 

The average user should never need to over volt, the cons outweigh the pros.

Undervolt sould be done, imo, on every machine. It should be one of the first things you do when you get a lappy

 

Is it possible to both undervolt and overclock? Or is that just contradictory

 

It is possible, if your motherboard and BIOS support overclocking. It's just that usually, stock voltage does not allow for very much overclocking, and undervolting decreases that even further.

 

My desktop runs a 600 MHz overclock with a 0.09375v undervolt, so it is possible.

 

As long as you check for stability using a program like Orthos or Prime 95 and it passes a few hours without any errors or crashes you should be fine.