Pavilion G7 Overclocking... Sorta

I own a Pavilion G7 with an AMD A6 3420M processor.

Searching around didn't turn up a whole lot...

Did anybody realize that AMD Overdrive actually does work on this unit?

By using the AMD Overdrive feature, you are able to essentially clock an A6 3420M to be equivalent to an A8 3520M. Its technically not overclocking because from the looks of it, the A8 3520M is just a ramped up A6 3420M so you are more or less just doing what AMD would have done from the factory...

I'm running stable, Passmark stressed/ benchmarked Pavilion G7 using a A6 3420 running @ 1.8Ghz all the time with a turbo core capability of 2.495Ghz putting it spot on equal to an A8 3520M. I haven't been able to test the graphic speed but seeing that this chip is of an all inclusive design, my guess is the graphics card is now also clocked at the A8 speed of 444Mhz...

Verified by CPU-Z with no heating issues whatseover...

The only advantage of an upgrade at an actual A8 based system, that I can see anyhow, is the ability to handle up to 16GB of RAM instead of being stuck at 8GB (for most, that really doesn't matter though) as most of the A6 processors are near identical to their A8 counterparts with the exception of some of the higher end A8's.

Now, when Trinity comes online, with L3 cache and different core architecture and 7 Series GPU's, there will be an immediate and noticeable difference.

What do you think???

You know, if it even 90% of what AMD says it will be, I'm all over it. Two things AMD has done completely right, in my opinion. One, their graphics are second to none and Two, they're power consumption and battery longevity is excellent. So, with the introduction of new architecture, 7 series GPUs, L3 Cache and better battery tech, it will become a matter of opinion rather then a matter of fact in regards to performance...

Unless Trinity is awful AND Intel's next round of processing power raises the bar so high that AMD continues to be a year behind...

I'm both excited and scared for AMD actually...

BTW, AMD must have realized that Overdrive was working on their laptops... I installed an update a bit ago and now overdrive is permanently grayed out... Unless it has more to do with the laptop being unplugged... I'll try n see in a few...

Don't feel like movin!:-)

Yeah, turns out it was indeed the AC Adapter... You have to be plugged in to be able to utilize Overdrive... Since my last post, the DV6 AMD A8 went on sale so I went ahead and swapped systems... I now have a DV6 with a AMD A8 3520M (would love to have the MX instead but oh well). My passmark did in screase but biggest thing I noticed was that when using AMD Overdrive, the 3520M runs at constant minimum of 2Ghz instead of 1.78Ghz like the A6 3420M so apparently there is some sort of differences in the two chips OR maybe the increase in speed is due to better cooling in the laptop itself???

The Turbo Core frequency also increased to 2.6Ghz instead of 2.5Ghz...

Not complaining... Its no Intel I series CPU but I still feel like the combination of decent processor and better than Intel graphics as well as better power consumption is an overall better buy, unless you plan on doing some heavy duty number crunching....

Quote:

Originally Posted by qhn 


Yep! Users tend to forget the word combination when judging system performance. We tend paying too much on individual hardware pieces
Regarding the constant high speed, would some updated chipset driver or BIOS version help?
cheers ...

You know, I don't think its an actual problem I just think the TDP might be 45W instead of 35W on the A8 3520M thus allowing it to clock at faster speed. I'm also thinking that because of this, the cooling features on this laptop VS the other is also more efficient... 

I read somewhere that the A8 allows two cores to Turbo instead of one in the A4/A6??? I have not been able to find that fact again since I read it. Can you or anyone else verify this?

BTW, the A8 sent my PassMark score up more than 100 points so something is definitely different... Unless its just different chipsets? Or the whole TDP difference?