Overclocking Raspberry Pi supported, retains warranty
updated 12:20 pm EDT, Thu September 20, 2012
Turbo mode lets System on Chip hit 1GHz
The Raspberry Pi can now be overclocked without affecting the warranty. The credit card-sized microcomputer maker has created a way to make a "turbo mode", which allows the 700MHz processor run at around 1GHz, with nbench reporting it as 52-percent faster on integers, 64-percent faster on floating points, and 55-percent faster on memory.
Previously, the Raspberry Pi foundation supported overclocking and overvolting the system by editing config.txt, however concerns that it would decrease the lifetime of the System on Chip (SoC) forced the creation of a sticky bit, to help in spotting overvolted boards. The new "turbo mode" dynamically enables overclocking and overvolting under the control of a cpufreq driver, which limits the boost when the internal temperature reaches 85 degrees Centigrade.
The five overclock presets in the configuration software will allow the board to reach 1GHz, though the stability of overclocked boards will vary.
In July, restrictions on the sale of the Raspberry Pi were lifted, allowing customers to buy more than one board at a time. A camera add-on is set to arrive later this year, while work on an Android port for the system has also taken place. [via Official website]
