GearBits

How Low Can You Go: Underclocking the Mobile Athlon XP

There's an excellent article over at Sudhian.com (lots of tables and data) providing the results of running a Mobile Athlon XP at such low voltages, bus speeds, and multipliers that it can operate at even 600 MHz with only passive cooling. However, the same chip can be overclocked significantly as well (but you pay the piper in terms of much more active cooling).

Now, you're going to ask "Why would anyone underclock their CPU?" Noise, my friend -- the less heat you develop, the less fans you need and the less noise you generate. Sometimes, the quietest PC is the best PC. Sitting here next to an Athlon machine with no less than 4 fans running inside is a constant reminder of that fact.