Overclocking Pi4 with recalbox 7

[Bylos]

Hi all,
I have just installed recalbox 7 on my RPi4 and tried some overclocking settings such as :
over_voltage=6
arm_freq=2140
gpu_freq=750

When running Raspberry Pi OS, this settings work fine and I can track the CPU freq using the command line
watch -n 1 vcgencmd measure_clock arm

This command cleary shows the CPU freq increasing to 2GHz and above, depending on CPU load. However when running Recalbox 7, the same command shows that the frequency stays stuck at 700 MHz.
Is there any limitation in Recalbox for overclocking a RPi4 ?

[myjosito]

@Bylos said in Overclocking Pi4 with recalbox 7:

shows the CPU freq increasing to 2GHz and above, depending on CPU load. However when running Recalbox 7, the same command shows that the frequency stays stuck at 700 MHz.

Hi,

I used "watch -n1 vcgencmd measure_clock arm" a couple of times, and I can tell you it was stuck at 1750 and then 2000 MHz (depending on the value I was specifying in config.txt) when using Recalbox. But I'm using it with the Argon case...

[Bylos]

@myjosito thx for the feedback, that's interesting.
Does the argon case involve particular configuration script which would change the rpi4 behaviour ?
That makes me wondering why it isn't working on my configuration !
Regarding temperature mine is never above 32°C...

[myjosito]

@Bylos said in Overclocking Pi4 with recalbox 7:

Does the argon case involve particular configuration script which would change the rpi4 behaviour ?

Don't think so...
But when running Recalbox, at least with a game, I guess your Pi should show 1500MHz, not 700 (idle I suppose)

[Bylos]

@myjosito indeed, that's what I thought
I decreased settings to:
over_voltage=5
arm_freq=1750
gpu_freq=600
And now it is working as expected !

I will try to increase values step by step, not knowing which one were causing the issue (overvoltage or cpu frequency)
Thx for showing me that this should have been working !
Regards,

[myjosito]

@Bylos No prob. Happy if it works now as expected

[LapinFou]

Very interesting topic. With the official support of the Pi4 with Recalbox 7, I decided to buy a 4Go Pi4 with the "GeeekPi ice tower" for the cooling.
Depending how the dreamcast and PSPP are running, I may try to overclock it. I will post my results here if I do so.

[LapinFou]

Hi folks,

I tested the overclocking on my RPI4B-4Go.
I used those settings:

# rpi4 overcloking
over_voltage=6
arm_freq=2140
gpu_freq=750

I added those lines (just before "include recalbox-config.txt") by following this procedure:

mount -o remount, rw /boot
vim /boot/config.txt

I'm using this to cool down my RPI4 → Tour de refroidissement pour Raspberry
The results are great! After 40min of Dreamcast game, the temperature stabilized to 43°C.
I got a speed gain of about 10FPS.

[Multimaniac]

Thanks everyone. This helped me overclocking my pi4.

over_voltage=6
arm_freq=2000
gpu_freq=700

Stable at 54° C in m Argon One m.2 Case.
Dreamcast runs perfectly and even Conker's Bad Fur Day is playable now

Yep, that game is my Crisis

[LapinFou]

I've done a typo in my overclocking settings.
I'm using those settings:

# rpi4 overclocking
over_voltage=6
arm_freq=2000
gpu_freq=750

@Multimaniac
I'm glad this helped you.

[sergioad]

Friends has the testing already resulted in stablished presets like on the pi 3 or do I need to edit directly config.txt?

[LapinFou]

Since the overclocking is requiring a very good thermal dissipation, I guess this option will never be added to Recalbox.
So, for now, you need to edit the config.txt file has explained few posts above.

[sergioad]

@LapinFou Ok, I did just that and the result is amazing

[LapinFou]

@sergioad said in Overclocking Pi4 with recalbox 7:

@LapinFou Ok, I did just that and the result is amazing

How amazing? Just to have an idea of the obtained performance gain.

[Kilam]

@LapinFou Hi guys, I don't understand how you access the config.txt file under recalbox. on my sd card i only have recalbox install and not raspberry pi OS. How to access the config.txt file if you don't have Rasbian?

[Zing]

@Kilam To edit the config.txt file, you must connect via SSH:

• https://recalbox.gitbook.io/documentation/v/francais/tutoriels/systeme/modification/editer-le-fichier-config.txt

To login via SSH:

• https://recalbox.gitbook.io/documentation/v/francais/tutoriels/systeme/acces/acces-root-via-terminal
• https://recalbox.gitbook.io/documentation/v/francais/tutoriels/systeme/acces/acces-reseau-via-winscp

To access a partition in write mode:

• https://recalbox.gitbook.io/documentation/v/francais/tutoriels/systeme/acces/acceder-a-une-partition-en-ecriture

[Kilam]

@Zing J'ai trouver le fichier config.txt mais a quel ligne je dois mettre :

over_voltage=6
arm_freq=2000
gpu_freq=750

[Zing]

@Kilam You need to put these 3 lines in the config.txt file to get the same result as other users.
Remembering that Overclocking is a procedure that forces the card, then it should not be done if your Rpi does not have a heatsink and cooler. And, of course, you must do this at your own risk, I cannot be held responsible if something goes wrong.
Read the whole topic and you will understand better (I don't have Rpi4, I can't help you fully, I only know what I read in this topic).

[Kilam]

@Zing Yes, I have a One M2 argon case.

I understood that it was necessary to put these 3 lines in the config.txt file

But where in the config file should these lines be inserted?

[Zing]

@Kilam As far as I know, there is no specific place within the config.txt file, the important thing is to add these lines.
All configuration lines are interpreted by the system, regardless of their order.
Put at the end of the file, with some identification before, as already mentioned by another user " # rpi4 overclocking" , for example (any line with the sign # in front is ignored, it is not read as a configuration).