Windows 7: Help is it possible to overclock a laptop?

Would make a nice water cooker - and then a paperweight.

I have been overclocking every processor I have gotten my hands on for the past 15 years and never once have I made a "paper weight". Heck, I even overclock my phone. I remember all the fear mongering about overclocking back then, and the so-called experts in the computer shops would offer up the same opinions too. Maybe they never realized the joy of getting the same performance as a $1000 processor from a $100 one. Now days overclocking a desktop is so mainstream, as a feature, some processors even overclock themselves. (the i7 2600k is dope!)

You would think in a forum called "Overclocking and Case Mods" there would be some real and constructive information about overclocking laptops other than "Don't it's too scary and your laptop will blows up!!"

I'm not saying there isn't a risk of damage, but if you are in this thread you probably accept the risk. From someone who has actually overclocked laptops: They don't blow up, they are all fine... and faster too.

Try it sometime. Soft clock it higher and test for stability. If it doesn't work, no harm.

I wouldnt rely on Super-Pi as a stability test.

Ive had OCs crash and burn under Prime or IBT in a very short time, yet could make it through a SuperPi bench.


I dont think any one is saying it isnt possible ...
Just not the best idea. Much more of a risk than on a desktop with hardware and cooling designed for it.
I mean afterall, whats the most important thing about about OCing (the most dangerous part)? Heat.

Exactly! Prime 95 on all cores.

The truth is most laptop overclocks are not going to generate a significant amount of extra heat.
Infact it's possible to undervolt a laptop processor and overclock it with the same or less heat output than stock!!
Just like desktop processors, some laptop processors are going to be better overclock canidates than others.

This is a forumla for calculating overclock watt output: Po = Ps * (Fo/Fs) * (Uo2/Us2)

Ps is the power usage of the non-overclocked CPU
Po is the power usage of the overclocked CPU
Fs is the clock speed of the non-overclocked CPU
Fo is the clock speed of the overclocked CPU
Us is the default voltage of the non-overclocked CPU
Uo is the voltage at which the overclocked CPU runs

*taken from http://http://www.heatsink-guide.com/calcpower.htm

An AMD 64 L110 has a maximum wattage of 13 and a core voltage .9 volts @ 1200mhz
I have seen this processor undervolted as low as .6 volts and the common overclock is between 1400 and 1600
Say this processor was overclocked to 1400mhz and undervolted to .8 then the formula would be:
Po = 13 W * (1.4/1.2) * (0.82/0.92) = 11.98 W

This is simple overclock that anyone with this processor should be able to do. Most go higher with less volts. If your model can take a must faster processor than you currently have in it and you OC, than more than likely you are not even going to make a dent in the designed cooling. For example: I have an acer aspire 5517 that came with an AMD L310 stock (13W .9v core 1200mhz) and I swapped it out with a TL-56 (1.025 core 31W 1800mhz) (which I OC on occasion to 2250).

A common overclock for the L310 is around 1600mhz. (limited by clock generator)
Po = 13 W * (1.6/1.2) * (0.92/0.92) = 17.3 W !! If I can use a TL-56 with a TDP of 31W that means even with overclocking I have only used half of the designed thermal capacity of the laptops cooling!!!

When you do the math, heat really isn't that much of an issue.

When you give advice here, the main problem is you don't know who you are talking to....The OP could barely know where the power button is, or they could have designed the logic gates for the i7...There is truly no way of knowing!

That said, anytime a new member comes on here and says "I want to overclock my laptop", the stock answer will be you can't....and you can type your arguments till your fingers fall off and that won't change....

The reason is real simple, anything you post here lives forever....anybody can read it, and apply or misapply it in many ways. The worst nightmare that I'll say anybody has here is to give advice, then have the OP say, said advice ruined his computer....and despite anything you say, overclocking is a good way to add to the paperweight collection, but the gains can be worth more than the risks....in the case of desktops.....

Laptops are nonstandard...have poor cooling systems at best, and are run on surfaces that make the cooling problems worse. The bios is often locked making under volting/ overclocking all but impossible. Any attempts to overclock will void the warranty.

The OP's system could be pristine or it could be spitting fuzz balls out the fan....if it even runs. No way, shape, form, or fashion will I tell anything about overclocking laptops on the open forum, and if/when you have built up some reputation here you won't either

My laptop has a 310 GB hard drive and it is quite fast actually but it's sad that you can't overclock laptop CPU's

I do agree along the lines that Ivan the SoSo has posted. Any thing can be done to a laptop if one has enough money and knowledge. For most that will read this post it is very simple to understand.
All except for special built laptop that cost thousands of dollars heat is the big problem. Any thing you do such as over volting or over clocking causes more heat that laptop can't remove properly. Over heating kill computers of any kind. If one has a lower end laptop that is what it is period. If one wants more computing power then buying a computer that has the extra power and cooling for your needs and desires would be my suggestion. I don't care if it is a laptop or desktop when you start making a computer do more than it was designed to do you first start with improving the cooling. Their are not many practical ways of improving the cooling of a laptop.
Just for fun Google things like:
DIY water cooling laptop
Super cooling for laptop
You will find some people who have time and money doing things just because. Not very practical but they do enjoy their projects.