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    When will Sandy Bridge processors support undervolting?

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by TSE, Jul 22, 2011.

  1. TSE

    TSE Notebook Deity

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    I am going to buy a MacBook Air soon, and while 6.5 hours of battery life is good, it is borderline what I need.

    So the obvious question comes up, when will Sandy Bridge processors be supported to undervolt? Are they supported on the Windows side yet?
     
    TSE, Jul 22, 2011
    #1
  2. madmattd

    madmattd Notebook Deity

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    Voltage is a BIOS thing is it not? PC Manufacturers would have to enable it. You can undervolt desktop Sandy Bridge I'm sure...
     
    madmattd, Jul 22, 2011
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  3. sgogeta4

    sgogeta4 Notebook Nobel Laureate

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    Desktop Sandy Bridge can be undervolted, notebook ones cannot. Whether notebook ones will be able in the future, unlikely, but I'm sure if there is a will (and the technical knowledge) there is a way.
     
    sgogeta4, Jul 22, 2011
    #3
  4. svl7

    svl7 T|I

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    The 2920xm allows undervolting per BIOS (as long as the BIOS has this feature). For example in the Alienware M18x.

    Pinmod isn't option as the CPU of the macbook air is soldered to the mobo as far as I know. The only possibility I can think of would be manipulating the VCCsense feedback, then you could decrease the voltage a few %, but it'd require some soldering work on the mobo.
     
    svl7, Jul 23, 2011
    #4
  5. zippyzap

    zippyzap Notebook Consultant

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    If you need something really lightweight with great battery life, have you considered a Lenovo X series, such as X220? At 3.5 pounds it isn't quite as light, and of course not as sexy looking as the Macbook Air, but it will give you crazy good battery life. This reviewer got nearly 9 hours of web browsing out of the standard 6-cell battery, and this end user uses an optional 9-cell battery (probably adds weight and bulk) and says this:

     
    zippyzap, Jul 23, 2011
    #5
  6. Tsunade_Hime

    Tsunade_Hime such bacon. wow

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    That and many undervolting software aren't compatible with OS X.

    If you need something relatively lightweight and ultraportable, the x220 with 9 cell + slice = 23 hours battery life.
     
    Tsunade_Hime, Jul 23, 2011
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