Root Overclocking = Diminishing Returns

[rjoudrey]

I have struggled with overclocking performance and battery life. I use my phone for more than Linpack & Quadrant.

I have noticed that when I have a higher clock speed of let's say 1.1GHZ and I compensate for battery life by using an on demand setting at 0.4/1.1 my droid runs a little hesitant at times when starting programs. Some times it takes up to 10 seconds for a program to load.

If a have a performance setting at 550/800 everything runs much more reliable and the overall speed and battery life is very good.

I guess what I am saying is that high benchmarks don't always mean good overall performance.

Comments!

 

[johnlgalt]

It is possibly true - but it may be your phone, and / or heat issues, and /or other issues as well.

It also depends upon which apps you're referring to, whether they are on the SDCard or not, if you are on 2.2 or not....

So many variables - and yet, in the end of the day, it's what makes *you* feel good.

I am posting this b.c invariably someone is gonna say "Well, the benchmark proves this or that, and if you don't believe it you're a ______" - to that I say, no.

You're using objective measurement, but your overall opinion is pretty subjective - and I say do what feels right for you.

Forget the naysayers.

 

[Droid_Ninja]

I totally concur with your statement! I have noticed the same on my device as well. I got to the point, where I just say forget about using SETCPU. Right now I am on NEX Froyo and it runs HELLA FAST. I tried using SetCPU, just for Giggles, and made the ROM stutter/Lag a little.

 

[Fabolous]

I'm doing just fine at 800/250

 

[rjoudrey]

I use SetCPU but have not had good luck with settings below 550.

 

[OMJ]

sometimes when flashing a new rom I forget to go into setcpu and set my clockspeed. It quickly becomes obvious to me that I forgot cause my phone doesnt seem as snappy.

Sounds like you guys need to test out some other kernels. Some droids hate some kernels and love others. You gotta find the ones that are right for you.

 

[rjoudrey]

I have experimented with a lot of kernels it just seems my Droid does not like to run at less than 550. Almost like it does not wake up as fast. I think it is more SetCPU oriented than the kernel.

 

[OMJ]

I have experimented with a lot of kernels it just seems my Droid does not like to run at less than 550. Almost like it does not wake up as fast. I think it is more SetCPU oriented than the kernel.

you should give jdflg's kernels a shot. They start at 400 instead of 125 or 250 but the 400 is the same voltage as 250 on other kernels.

jdlfg kernels Updated 1200lv kernel. Testers reporting back with good feedback. - CyanogenMod Forum

If that doesnt work I dont know what to tell you.

 

[johnlgalt]

Those are the ones I am using - specifically, the 1.2 GHz LV kernel....

 

[rjoudrey]

Thanks, I will try them.

 

[anaphora68]

Well, here are my two cents, for what it's worth.

If you're going from 1250 down to 250, you are going to notice lag. It's inevitable. It's almost the same as going from 25 to 100 in a car, it's not going to throttle up instantly. I don't know if the analogy is accurate or not, but still.

I keep my Droid at 800, 250 when idle, and I do not have a single problem running Froyo.

Maybe try a different kernel?

 

[UBRocked]

I have struggled with overclocking performance and battery life. I use my phone for more than Linpack & Quadrant.

I have noticed that when I have a higher clock speed of let's say 1.1GHZ and I compensate for battery life by using an on demand setting at 0.4/1.1 my droid runs a little hesitant at times when starting programs. Some times it takes up to 10 seconds for a program to load.

If a have a performance setting at 550/800 everything runs much more reliable and the overall speed and battery life is very good.

I guess what I am saying is that high benchmarks don't always mean good overall performance.

Comments!

I agree with your comments...benchmarks are nifty little numbers that don't really mean much...just an indication of how various setups stack up against each other.

For instance...a high linpack score doesn't mean that you will QUICKLY find the app your looking for on poorly laid out homescreens

Having said that I am trying to get the max speed and performance I can out of my phone. Battery life and temperature are usually fine for me regardless of my setup. So for me, it's all about max speed and max stability. 1.1GHz is usually where that point is for me so that's how I roll. 1.2 "works" and I could achieve higher benchmarks...but random reboots would drive me nuts (even if just sporadically).

My way isn't right or wrong...it's just MY way. Everyone should have a similar attitude regardless of them running at 600MHz or 1.3GHz. Some people may say that 1.1 GHz and 800 MHz "feel" like exactly the same speed to them...so they opt for the lower whereas I would opt for the higher. But you really have to try different ROMs/Kernels out to find out what works best for you and your phone.

Good post rjoudrey...some of the new rooters should read cause I get the impression that sometimes they load whatever they see other people running trying to match benchmarks they see from others. It's not a contest

 

[Fadelight]

For what its worth, I have setcpu set to "performance" rather than "ondemand" and don't notice any additional battery drain, but I do notice a huge jump in speed. (Time it takes for the phone to speed up.)

Maybe others have different results, but I thought I'd mention it.

 

[johnlgalt]

I should have mentioned that as I did the same, Fade. My bad.

 

[gwlaw99]

What is everyone's experience with diminishing returns with webpage rendering speed?

 

[UBRocked]

For what its worth, I have setcpu set to "performance" rather than "ondemand" and don't notice any additional battery drain, but I do notice a huge jump in speed. (Time it takes for the phone to speed up.)

Maybe others have different results, but I thought I'd mention it.

I should have mentioned that as I did the same, Fade. My bad.

Oh yeah, me too!

Wait...no...I don't I always thought the phone would not clock down when using that setting? I honestly never sway from conservative. Anyone understand why battery performance would NOT be less on the performance profile?

 

[rjoudrey]

I think the performance of SetCPU itself may be affected by clock speed compounding lag.

 

[messenger13]

I clock my DROID the way I ride my bike and play my guitar. As fast and as hard as I can!!!

What is everyone's experience with diminishing returns with webpage rendering speed?

The higher my clock speed, the faster the pages seem to draw up. To me, this is one of the most useful benefits to o/c'ing.

 

[trikotret]

you should give jdflg's kernels a shot. They start at 400 instead of 125 or 250 but the 400 is the same voltage as 250 on other kernels.

jdlfg kernels Updated 1200lv kernel. Testers reporting back with good feedback. - CyanogenMod Forum

If that doesnt work I dont know what to tell you.

I tried the 1200lv kernel and when my phone booted up, the battery percentage was at zero so my phone turned off....

 

[Gunner]

I've also had really bad luck w/ jdlfg's kernels. 1st one I tried killed my Gallery/Camera. 2nd one gave me the same reboot loop w/ battery at 'zero' (battery actually had juice, but the phone didn't believe it). I went back to a P3 kernel and all is well again - but - my batt life has taken a definite hit. I would wait on jdlfg's kernels until all the kinks are worked out.

 

[Fadelight]

Oh yeah, me too!

Wait...no...I don't I always thought the phone would not clock down when using that setting? I honestly never sway from conservative. Anyone understand why battery performance would NOT be less on the performance profile?

I am probably wrong, but it appears to just bypass the stepping. It is all or nothing... switching from your low clock setting to high clock setting when the speed is needed, rather than stepping up to it.

So if I am correct, when a program calls for the speed, it goes (on my phone) like this...

400mhz - 1200mhz - 400mhz

rather than...

400mhz - 500mhz - 550mhz - 800mhz - 1ghz - 1.2ghz - 1ghz - 800mhz - 550mhz - 500mhz - 400mhz

And also, just another "what if", but wouldn't that mean that technically, if you have it set to performance, it would be overclocked MORE on "ondemand" with the stepping? hmm.


Where is the setCPU dev when you need to interrogate him?

 

[rjoudrey]

It would be nice the have the clock speed displayed in the notification bar. That way you could observe SetCPU's operation.

 

[nstallion]

Playing around with these settings can help:

http://www.pokedev.com/setcpu

The Advanced menu allows you to change the "ondemand" settings of the CPU. These values control how the CPU scales up from the minimum speed to the maximum speed. They cannot be changed while the "always max" checkbox is checked. There is a "Set on Boot" checkbox at the bottom of this dialog. This setting is independent of the main SetCPU interface's "Set on Boot" checkbox.

Sampling Rate is defined in microseconds. The lower this value, the more responsive the CPU will be in scaling its speed up or down. However, a lower sampling rate will also negatively impact overall performance.
Up Threshold is defined as a percentage from 0% to 100%. The higher this value, the more CPU load it takes to make the CPU scale up.
Ignore Nice Load is a boolean (1 for true and 0 for false). This determines whether "nice" processes should make the CPU scale up.
Powersave Bias limits the CPU speed to save power. Set this higher to save battery, or lower to increase performance.

 

[ZXMustang]

sometimes when flashing a new rom I forget to go into setcpu and set my clockspeed. It quickly becomes obvious to me that I forgot cause my phone doesnt seem as snappy.

Sounds like you guys need to test out some other kernels. Some droids hate some kernels and love others. You gotta find the ones that are right for you.

Yeah exactly. Mine WILL NOT work on anyother kernel but the P3 kernels, and it WILL NOT go above 1ghz. Mine just bootloops. I sure loves the 1ghz though.

 

[johnlgalt]

Whereas mine has no issues with the Jldf... kernels - both LV kernels have are working well, and in fact, I am getting better clocks and MFLOPS with the new 1.2LV kernel versus the old one.