undervolting (and possibly underclocking) sandy bridge

If I'm right, it wasn't really possible to undervolt the Arrendales easily with software. Is it already known whether it's possible again with the new Sandy Bridge CPUs?

I'm receiving a Sony SB with a i3-2410M soon, and I'd like to undervolt it (and perhaps underclock it a bit later) to get more battery life and less heat/noise.

 

No it is not possible. I'm 100% sure you cannot. Intel doesn't like people doing it so they have in a way removed the feature completely with their new i series processors. The way the voltage is given is different compared to core 2 system hence you can't undervolt.

 

Mmm too bad, thanks for the quick reply.

 

Why doesn't intel like people doing it? If they want to pay for a higher-end chip and lower the rates down to that of a lower-end chip, why would they have a problem?

 

Because the chip is now more complex, the voltages will change over the entire turbo spectrum and the gains would be very little.

 

I don't see how the gains would be "very little" compared to undervolting any other processor. Most processors have a varying, but pretty wide margin just to play it safe and make sure everything always works 100%. They can't figure out what is best for each chip so they make them all the same. End users can take the time to figure it out though. This is pretty much the principle behind both undervolting and overclocking. I seriously doubt Intel has all of a sudden managed to correct that. Just because they have disallowed that sort of stuff now doesn't mean they are any better and makind chips run the highest speeds they can with the least amount of voltage. I guess I can see why they would want to lock overclocking, but locking undervolting just seems silly. Does anyone know if desktop sandy bridge can be undervolted?

 

They have options via the BIOS/UEFI for desktops but notebooks are more constrained and do not have these options.

 

First people strive for Sandy Bridge as " I read it is supposed to be so much faster".... then start to underclock it....

Go and understand that.

Arrandale seems to be much more heat-efficient in reality.

 

Undervolting is not the same as underclocking!

 

I'm aware of that, but you also mention underclocking

I used to have an overclocked AND undervolted CPU on my last laptop

 

Yea just wanted to know whether that is possible, just as an option to keep open. e.g. when I need to use it without being plugged in for a long period and I don't need much processing power. Then again, Intel does already do that probably enough automatically of course.

 

Can't we all agree that Intel has probably already figured out the lowest 100%-stable voltage at specific frequencies to maximize efficiency without a stability compromise?

Intel knowledge > End user knowledge.

 

It isn't that easy. It is not about knowledge.
Just like cars - modern cars have engines that could produce more PS if equipped with the right software/chip (that's why we have chiptunning). Why manufacturers don't do that by default?

1. Marketing ---> Same engine sold in different cars with different power depending on the price of the car

2. Warranty ---> Audi would rather sell you a "non-tuned" engine and save the trouble of servicing costs instead of giving you the full power and risk more warranty support costs.

So it is not about knowledge - it is about what priority has the usage of your knowledge - to save costs one way or another or to get the most of something. At the end of the road it is all about money and not about optimal settings.

 

^ undervolting leads to instability and system crashes...all to squeeze an extra 10 minutes off the battery.

Lame.

 

I don't agree. You obviously have no idea It CAN lead to, it DOESN'T have to though. Just like overclocking the CPU or GPU - it doesn't necessarily lead to any bad effects if done with moderation.

Also - it is not that much about 10 or 20 minutes extra batter life but about cooler running laptop --> lower FAN noise and so on.

As I said I had overclocked AND undervolted my Pentium M CPU - this way it was more powerful (+33% !) AND just as cool (if not even cooler) as when not overclocked. And it was running just as stable - never had any problems.

In fact I still have a laptop around (not mine) which has the same modification done to it - it is now 5 years old and still working fine and stable.

 

No. Intel sets specifications with generous margins of error to work across a broad range of operating conditions without any issues. There is plenty of room for improvement.

 

Exactly. You never know where the limits exactly are for each component... but there is only one way to find out ---> explore