K10ctl

Note: The last release was in 2009.[1]

k10ctl allows you to overclock and undervolt an AMD K10 processor (e.g. Phenom, Phenom II) by changing its P-States.

Lowering the voltage saves energy and leads to less heat and noise.

Warning: Use this program at your own risk. It may damage your hardware.

Installation

k10ctl is available in the AUR: k10ctl^AUR

Configuration

k10ctl.conf

/etc/conf.d/k10ctl

# For information how to calculate the following values see:
# http://www.ztex.de/misc/k10ctl.e.html#c1

# Change to "true" after you configurated the settings for your CPU
# WARNING: Be SURE that the following values are correct and safe for
# your system before doing this!
CONFIGURATED=false

# Number of cores for your CPU
CORES=4

# List of P-states you want to change.
# NOTE: all following arrays must have the same size!
PSTATES=( 0 1 2 3 )

# List of Northbridge VIDs
NBVID=( 45 45 45 45 )

# List of CPU VIDs
CPUVID=( 36 45 55 68 )

# List of CPU FIDs
FID=( 12 5 0 0 )

# List of CPU DIDs
DID=( 0 0 0 1 )

Pre-Configuration

k10ctl needs the kernel module msr, so run

# modprobe msr

Now you have to find out the default values of the P-States for your CPU.

# k10ctl 0-3

0-3 are the CPU cores so if you have less, decrease the second number.

Adjust your config with the correct numbers from the output.

Tip: The important lines are "P-State 0" - "P-State X".

When you are sure everything is correct, set "CONFIGURATED" to "true" and restart k10ctl:

# systemctl start k10ctl

Up to now k10ctl should work with the default values of your CPU.

How to calculate values

Check "VID interface mode" to know how to calculate your settings.

# k10ctl 0-3 -> first line

Parallel VID interface mode:

 if vid>=64 then U=375 mV
 else if vid>=32 then U=1162.5mV - vid=12.5 mV
 else U=1550mV - vid*25 mV

Serial VID interface mode:

 if vid>=124 then U=0 mV
 else U=1550mV - vid*12.5 mV

Finally you can modify your P-States in /etc/conf.d/k10ctl.

Note: All arrays in the config must have the same size.

Restart k10ctl and check "k10ctl 0-3" again.

# systemctl start k10ctl

# k10ctl 0-3

Enable k10ctl permanently

# systemctl enable k10ctl

For the module 'msr' take a look at Kernel modules#Automatic module loading with systemd.

Tips and tricks

Use mprime^AUR to test the stability of your computer.