Figure 1: The config.txt file showing the location of the overclocking settings.
The Raspberry Pi at the heart of the PiBoy DMG can be easily overclocked for better performance with certain demanding emulators. All that’s required is a quick change to some settings in a text file that can be edited on any computer. Continue reading to learn how to overclock your PiBoy.
1. Remove the micro SD card from your PiBoy DMG.
2. Insert the card in to a card reader attached to a computer. Your computer may have a built-in card reader, if not, an external card reader is needed.
3. Using your computer’s file browser, open the contents of the SD card. The volume will be labeled “boot”.
4. Open the file “config.txt” in a text editor of your choice.
5. Locate the entries “arm_freq” and “v3d_freq”. If they are commented out with a “#” character, delete the “#” character. “arm_freq” is the CPU clock speed and “v3d_freq” is the video chipset clock speed.
6. The number following the entires are the clock speed in MHz. These can be set to the desired clock speed by changing them. The maximum frequency for the CPU is 2147 MHz and the maximum for the video chip is 750. Some firmware versions may not work with higher clock speeds, so you may need to experiment. A CPU clock speed of 2000 MHz is the ideal balance of performance and power consumption.
7. Locate the entry “over_voltage”. Uncomment this line to overvolt the CPU. This is required for overclocking. The numerical value it is set to is based upon the clock frequency being set. A value of 6 is sufficient for getting the clock rate to 2.1GHz. Lower values can be set for lower clock rates.
8. Save your changes to the “config.txt” file and safely remove the SD card from your computer.
9. Insert the SD card in to your PiBoy and power it on. Once the system is up and running note the power consumption in the on screen display while idle and while playing games to make sure it’s to your liking. If power consumption is too high repeat the above steps but with a lower CPU clock speed.
It should be noted that more recent versions of the Raspberry Pi feature a “warranty bit”. This register/flag is set when changes are made to the Raspberry Pi that void the warranty for the board. Certain overclocking settings may set this bit and void your warranty.
Article last updated on: 16 Mar 2021
