- Back to homepage
- Related articles
  Related articles

Overclocking the Pentium M: A Silent Powerhouse

Overclocking/Overclocking Tests by Agent2 @ 2005-01-21

One of Intel?s latest CPU runs at 1.6ghz, no there is no typo here, the Pentium M normally intended for laptops have been given a chance to shine in desktop systems also with the help of resourceful motherboard manufactures. We take a closer look at DFI?s offering to see how far we can overclock this new "Dothan" CPU.

System setup and OC

Test Setup

agent#2's Test Setup
CPU	Pentium M 725 @ 1600Mhz
Cooling	ALU heatsink with 40mm fan
Mainboard	DFI 855GME-MGF
Memory	2* 512Mb OCZ PC3200EL Rev2
Video	Hercules Radeon 9800 Pro
Other	120Gb Maxtor HDD OCZ Powerstream 470W

The operating system installed is Windows 2000 Professional with service pack 4

I used ATI Catalysts 4.12 drivers and DirectX 9.0c for all benchmarks.

Memory timings are 2-2-2-5 at 1600 MHz and at 2000 MHz. 2-3-3-5 were used at 2135 MHz, Memory divider was set to 5/3 in all test.

The graphic card settings are set for optimal performance (no AA and AF) and are running at 430/350 MHz speed.

Overclocking & Temps

I was able to run the Pentium M at 1600Mhz and overclocked to 2000Mhz without CPU fan!!

Max OC without active cooling was 2000Mhz:
Madshrimps (c)

Max OC without vcore voltmod with active cooling (40mm fan) was 2135Mhz
Madshrimps (c)

1.2 vcore was enough for running stable at 1600Mhz and 2000Mhz, 2135 MHz needed an increase to 1.48v (from the default 1.34v). But it doesn't stop there. I volt-modded the DFI so I could push more power through the Pentium M and this is where I stranded at:
Madshrimps (c)

A 50% overclock! Not too bad I'd say! Although I had some problems getting their as it turned out that the AGP lock was not working quite well, and anything over 133Mhz FSB would result in a no-boot. Swapping the ATI AGP card for a cheap PCI VGA card resulted in the overclock seen above. Hopefully 2nd generation DFI boards will resolve this issue.

For the passive cooling runs I had the case side panel removed, I have to admit, but with a room temp of 22-23°C the CPU never over heat! Quite an accomplishment from Intel I have to say. I took some temperature readings at 1600/2000/2135Mhz:

Madshrimps (c)

Benchmarks

CPU at 1600/2000/2135Mhz with these applications and games:

Futuremark 3D Mark 2001SE

Futuremark PC Mark 2004

Super Pi 1Mb

HardwareOC Far Cry Benchmark (640x480 LQ & 1024x768 HQ)

SiSoft Sandra 2005

All information and graphics contained in Madshrimps are sole property of the Madshrimps crew and may not be reproduced or copied in any manner without written permission from us.