CPU Overclock, Arch R

The R36S Cortex-A35 has a turbo OPP at 1512 MHz that sits dormant by default. Turn it on for the games that need every Hz and leave it off for the rest, which run cooler and use less battery.

How to enable

In archr-launcher, open Settings › System › CPU turbo and switch it ON.

The toggle persists in /storage/.config/system/configs/system.cfg (enable.turbo-mode=1) and is reapplied on every boot by 095-turbo-mode autostart.

To turn it off, flip the toggle. No reboot required for either direction.

What changes when it's on

                 OFF (default)         ON
─────────────────────────────────────────────────
cpufreq/boost    0                     1
highest OPP      1416 MHz              1512 MHz
voltage @ top    1.350 V               1.400 V

Turbo availability is also restored for the ondemand and schedutil governors. In the menu the frequency depends on load and governor; there is no separate guaranteed 1416 MHz cap there. The extra ~7 % is only used when the CPU actually reaches the top OPP.

Game launch applies the effective CPU governor, including supported per-system, per-game or launch overrides, so performance is not unconditional. The turbo OPP is exposed through scaling_boost_frequencies, and the maximum-frequency helper considers both the normal and the boost lists.

Why this exists

Stock RK3326 BSP exposes 1512 MHz only as turbo-mode in the OPP table. The kernel hides it from cpuinfo_max_freq until cpufreq/boost=1 is set. The vdd_arm regulator default in the upstream PX30 device tree is also capped at 1.35 V, which is too low to drive 1.5 GHz reliably on most chips. ArchR raised that cap to 1.45 V (RK817 DCDC_REG2 spec is 1.5 V), set the OPP to 1.4 V, and exposed the toggle.

Stability varies by device. Disable turbo if instability appears; no failure-rate estimate is established here.

When to use it

Turbo only helps when a game is limited by the CPU, which is more likely on the heavier PSP, Dreamcast and N64 emulators and on box86/box64 PortMaster ports. The gain depends on the game, and no per-game measurements are published here. Try it on the game that struggles and compare.

2D, handheld and 8/16-bit cores do not need it, so leaving it OFF saves battery and heat.

Verify it's working

Over SSH:

# OFF expected: 0
# ON expected:  1
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/boost

# OFF expected: 408000 816000 1008000 1416000
# ON  expected: 408000 816000 1008000 1416000  (turbo OPP shows up separately)
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/policy0/scaling_available_frequencies

# ON expected: 1512000
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/policy0/scaling_boost_frequencies

# Live freq during a game (run in a tight loop):
watch -n 0.5 cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/policy0/scaling_cur_freq

If you see 1512000 flowing through scaling_cur_freq while a heavy game runs, the overclock is active.

Risks

Thermals: 1.5 GHz at 1.4 V dissipates more heat than 1.4 GHz at 1.35 V. The R36S is passively cooled; in a hot room, in a sustained heavy load, it will throttle sooner. The kernel handles this; you just end up capped closer to 1.4 GHz once the temperature reaches the board's passive trip point.
Battery: a higher clock at a higher voltage draws more power under load. The drop in battery life has not been measured.
Per-chip variation: stability varies by device. If your device reboots while playing, turn the toggle off as a first diagnostic.

Reverting / disabling permanently

Toggle Settings › System › CPU turbo off in the launcher. To force-off via shell:

echo 0 | sudo tee /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpufreq/boost
sudo sed -i 's/^enable.turbo-mode=1/enable.turbo-mode=0/' /storage/.config/system/configs/system.cfg

CPU Overclock