OPTIMIZATION,
WHY DO IT?
When
I was 16 I bought my first car. It as an old Ford 6
cylinder. I was tuning it up putting in new plugs and
points and a friend stopped by. He said we need to check
your pedal. I didn't know what he was talking about. He
told me to hang on to the throttle cable and got in the
car and pressed the gas pedal to the floor. The throttle
as about a 1/4" from being totally open. He helped me
optimize my carburetor. He said that most car makers
never give you all the pedal. I never did know why but
perhaps they had their reasons. From then on each new or
used car I bought got optimized. I want all the
pedal.
Computers
have processors and that equates to an engine in a car.
The manufacturers have to make sure your computer runs
under a wide ranges of circumstance and that sometimes
they compromise reliability over performance. Now I don't
know about you but I don't run my computer in a 100
degree room. If I did I might have problems bumping up
the processor speed. Some of the units we sell have had
their processors optimized. We note them in the
descriptions if this is so. We test them to insure that
they are reliable at the higher speeds.
Motorola,
and IBM manufacturer the processors. Apple many times set
the speed levels very conservatively. We sometimes bump
those processors one notch and thoroughly test them and
check temperatures at the next higher rating. If they
aren't rock solid we don't sell them. Many very possibly
would be stable at even higher ratings. We also make sure
that your heat sink is in solid contact with the
processor and in some cases use a silver heat sink
compound to insure your unit is running as cool as
possible and many times cooler even at the higher ratings
than the stock unit was running. Some of our servers and
many of our work stations which run 24/7 for years have
done so with optimized processors.
I
think you deserve to have all the pedal your computer has
to offer without sacrificing reliability.
I like to think of it
more as OPTIMIZING my G4 Processor. To some folks the
term overclocking has bad connotations. Optimizing your
Macintosh G4 Tower (Digital Audio Motherboard) is an
inexpensive get more speed. It does require a high level
of skill, good desoldering skills, steady hands and good
vision and or magnifying equipment. Almost all G4 Digital
Audios will overclock at least one level. In other words,
your 466 will probably run 433 or your 533 may run 600.
Most G4 processors were very capable. Your machine should
be in good working order. Overclocking will make any
existing problems worse. Good well tested and well seated
ram, a fresh install of the OS and a clean bill of health
from Disk First Aid or the disk utility of your choice is
a good way to start out any upgrade project. These notes
assume that you know how to open your case and feel
comfortable poking around the insides of your computer.
If you are a hamfisted klutz it is better to pay someone
with the expertise. Understanding that electronic
components may be static sensitive and you have taken
appropriate precautions are important.
I
recently had a user call who broke the plastic catch that
the heat sink spring attaches to. Let me repeat if you
are a bit ham fisted it pays to have someone with
experience do this for you. The user bought another
system.. I would have used epoxy (super glue won't work!)
to repair a break like this but again you need experience
using epoxy on delicate materials. If you aren't
comfortable doing your own repairs there are always folks
like us who are happy to help.
Remember if
you foul up the processor you will have to replace it. If
you are not prepared to buy a replacement or upgrade do
not start. You possibly could damage your motherboard if
you don't make sure the pins are properly aligned on the
processor before applying pressure.
THIS IS FAIRLY
HARD TO DO! I don't recommend trying this unless you are
willing and have the funds to replace your processor and
have had experience with micro soldering.
NEVER
turn on the machine with the heat sink off of the
processor. In fact unplug the machine while you have the
heat sink off.
THERMAL GREASE GOOD OR
BAD?
If you use thermal grease
a small amount is simply a very tiny amount. Keep in mind
that when the heat sink is clamped down it is going to
spread. A thin film covering the processor is all that is
required. Too much and it gets under the gasket and
shorts the capacitors. I sometimes apply a thin film on
the heat sink gasket almost wiping it back off. This
prevents the processor from welding itself to the gasket
and probably puts as much heat sink grease as anyone
needs. I like an use the silver based compounds and it is
available at Headgapstore.com.
It is okay to boot your
machine for a minute or two with the door open. Keep the
time down to a minimum. The processor relies on the large
interior fan to cool off the heat sink. For purposes
other than a quick test you should always have the case
closed up.
You do this at
your own risk. I make no claims or warranties about
this information and working on the insides of anything
electronic may result in you messing the things up.
Please note that any modifications you make to your
Macintosh are made at your own risk.
Heat Sink to
the left, remove clamps with needlenose.
Pay attention to orientation of spring clamps.
Sawtooth model shown.
|
Top of
processor after being
removed
|
Backside
of processor, note PLL position in
RED.
|
Note
resistors on R9 and R13 making this a 533 mhz
processor.
|
Some of the images and chart are from the
http://www.bekkoame.ne.jp
website. Since the original was in Japanese and sparse on
info, I converted them to English.
First things first: Use
Apple System Profiler to determine what your present
clock speed is. On the diagram below find out how many
traces are required to set your system's speed up to the
next level. You will need a trace pen like those used to
repair automotive rear window defoggers. I use a pen
called the Circuit Writer Pens (Try http://www.tubesandmore.com)
and search for circuit writer) but these are increasingly
hard to find. They don't work very well and clog up
almost instantly. I ended up opening the pen by screwing
off the tip and using a toothpick to paint the
traces.
USE GOOD
ANTISTATIC PROCEDURES!
- Use needlenose to
remove the heatsink clips. Be extremely careful not to
damage the motherboard beneath the clips. Note
orientation. The dimples that contact the heat sink
must be replaced in the same position. If you forget
simply hold the clamps over the processor. The dimple
should be centered over the copper processor center. I
bend the spring clamps equally on both sides so that
they put a bit more pressure on the heat sink to
insure a good contact.
- Pull the heatsink
straight up and away and set aside.
- Remove the 3 phillips
screws holding down the processor.
- Between the topand
bottom screw on the right side of the processor
underneath is a plug. I put my finger under this point
and grab the left corners of the processor board and
pull straight up.
- Turn the processor
over being careful not to bend any of the tiny
pins.
- Carefully desolder
the resistors. You should view the chart below and
make a strategy before beginning. For example to bump
a 466 to 533 no removal is required. You simply add a
trace in the R9 position. A dental pick is handy for
removing the resistors once you have melted the
solder. Be careful not to apply to much heat or sling
the solder when you remove the resistors.
- Carefully paint in
your traces. I use a toothpick dipped into the
solution from the Circuit Writer Pens (Try
http://www.tubesandmore.com)
and search for circuit writer). Use a dental pick or
small knife to clean any excess off. Once you have
completed your traces and are ready to reinstall
simply reverse the procedure. Make certain you are
lined up and push straight down to seat the plug. Any
misalignment here and pressure will bend the pins and
make the processor unusuable and may damage the
motherboard.
- ONE THING I
HAVE LEARNED: the
trace needs to be fairly thick to give the proper
connection. On units that fail to work, I usually
simply add another layer of the solution to build up
the trace and double check to make sure I have cleaned
up the excess so that no contact is made
elsewhere.
- Reinstall the screws,
don't overtighten.
- Add a dab of heatsink
grease to the black pad on the bottom of heatsink and
wipe most of it off leaving a very thin almost see
through layer. Almost better to have too little than
too much. If excess works its way under the processor
gasket it can cause failure.
- Replace the spring
clips in the same orientation that you removed them.
If you weren't paying attention the dimples are
positions about the processor itself.
- Button up the case
and start up your system.
Your
system relies on the air flow of the closed case for
proper cooling. Running your computer with the case
open for more than a few minutes can cause
overheating.
Your system should make
the normal startup chime and reboot. If it doesn't push
the PMU switch behind the battery (it looks like a tiny
gray doorbell button) and count to 5 slow. Try it again.
Still no luck? Take it back apart and check your traces.
Make sure you haven't jumpered to any parts unintended
and use a small point to clean off any excess material.
Make sure your trace goes from solder pad to solder pad.
If it still doesn't work, put things back the way they
were or order a processor replacment or upgrade.
If it works okay check
Apple System Profiler to see if you are running at the
desired speed.
I usually load up a few
Applications to see if I notice any anomolies. Run disk
first aid which uses the processor, and drives fairly
heavily. If you have the old Test Memory 1.0 program run
it in repeated mode for a few hours. If you have any
freezing or other difficulties then redo the original
setup and call it a day.
If you are successful you
may wish to try the next level of speed up, but I don't
recommend it. Keep in mind rarely will you get a stable
machine at going a full 100 mhz increment. I have
optimized about 100 processors so far and all but one has
went one bump up with no problems even after lengthy
testing. The one that failed I accidently drug solder
sidewise as I was removing the resistor. Next time I have
the iron fired up I probably can get it to work as well.
PLEASE NOTE: Some of the early 466's are the larger 7400
chips. The 7410 is smaller and will overclock just fine.
I have upgraded dozens of 466 digital audio with no
problems, but not every 466 will run 533. Since all you
do is add a trace it is definitelyh worth trying since
you can easily scratch it off should it not work
perfectly.
One trick I have
learned is that if you install the XPC7410 chips in the
Sawtooths and use the Sawtooth jumper chart they work
easily up to 600 mhz. The XPC7400 can run up to 550 mhz
using the same technique.
G4 DIGITAL AUDIO JUMPER
CHART:
Note that on later models the chips
will read R1, R3, R5, R7. The sequence is the
same.
BUS
|
CPU
|
Multipicator
CCU
|
R7
|
R9
|
R11
|
R13
|
133MHz
|
466MHz
|
x3.5
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
0
|
133MHz
|
533MHz
|
x4
|
X
|
0
|
X
|
0
|
133MHz
|
600MHz
|
x4.5
|
0
|
X
|
X
|
X
|
133MHz
|
667MHz
|
x5
|
X
|
0
|
X
|
X
|
133MHz
|
733MHz
|
x5.5
|
X
|
0
|
0
|
X
|
133MHz
|
800MHz
|
x6
|
X
|
X
|
0
|
X
|
133MHz
|
867MHz
|
x6.5
|
0
|
X
|
0
|
X
|
133MHz
|
933MHz
|
x7
|
0
|
0
|
X
|
0
|
133MHz
|
1000MHz
|
x7.5
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
X
|
133MHz
|
1066MHz
|
x8
|
X
|
X
|
0
|
0
|
0:Set Jumper
x: NO Jumper
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help with your G4 hardware? Try
Power-Mac-G4.com
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