N64 Overclock success!!!!

[Robert Ivy]

I recently followed the instructions on the site on how to overclock your N64. I performed this on mine and it is noticably better.It is faster in all the right places. DOnkey Kong 64 doesn't lag anymore despite what is going on, and Perfect Dark with 4 players doesn't lag NEARLY as much...but a little . I highly reccomend this mod, although it is very tricky to perform and very risky!!. Better have a backup N64 .  Good luck!

rob

[robert Ivy]

By the way, there are two ways to overclock: 2.0X the bus clock (62 MHz) or 3.0x.  I set mine at 2.0X which bumps the speed from 93 MHz to 124 MHz. I wasn't brave enough to try 3.0x...but 2.0x runs great....no bugs, no instability.
good luck!!

        link:       http://www.gamesx.com/misctech/n64oc.htm

[NFG]

Funny, when I OC'd mine I noticed zero difference.  =(

[robert ivy]

mine wasn't drastic, but is was faster in some areas, and the same in others. The bonus games in DK 64 count the seconds faster now (which sucks because you have less time).

[mattthemodder]

How bad is it for heat?

[NFG]

In my case it didn't make it much warmer at all.

[mattthemodder]

Cool. I just need an N64, and all the good games I missed out on  

[rockman87]

I overclocked my n64 to 2x and put in a switch so that i could go back to the 1.5x default.  I noticed that it was a little faster in some games, but most games showed no speed improvement.  The one thing I did notice however, was that the system would often lock up after an hour or 2 of playing.  This was especially prevelent when I was playing Majora's Mask.  I'm assuming that was due to the processor overheating.

[NFG]

I just need an N64, and all the good games I missed out on

Luckily that's a REALLY short list.

[lahm]

does the mod just make the games run faster like u walk real fast and all the other characters do things faster or does it affect em like a computer does where it makes graphics better, less lagging etc. sorta like what the expansion pak does?  

other than the bonus games in donkey kong speed up what else changes?
in other games do time related challenges speed up?

thanks for any replies

[Hojo_Norem]

I tried the mod on my PAL N64, Lets just say the results were opposite of the original poster's.  Firstly I tried 3.0x.  No life at all.  At 2.0x I tryied the following games:

Mario 64 - No speed increase, crashes after a few mins.
Majora's Mask - No speed increase, crashes very quickly
LylatWars - No nothing!

EDIT: that is no change what so ever!

And to add injury to insult pin 116 on the CPU broke off!  Thankfully with the help of one of those hand multi tool thingies I was able to grind enough of the black stuff away to solder a wire and repair it.

I do have one piece of advice, while you have your N64 open take a few seconds just to apply some CPU heatsink compound between the square metal bits on the chips and the various bits of metal that go on top.

[fletcher]

The guide to overclocking the Nintendo 64 seems to be down - does anyone know of a mirror of it?  Or perhaps have it saved somewhere?

[NFG]

gamesx.com is spotty at the moment, the hosting company sucks ass in frightening ways.

[Robert Ivy]

http://www.geocities.com/robivy64/ucm.html

Visit my tutorial on how to overclock the N64

rob

[fletcher]

Thanks

[XavierBlak]

Hey I just overclocked my N64 and it worked out great. I definitely notice a difference in speed. Of course the only thing I currently play is perfect dark multiplayer.  It's great so far from what we played lag wasn't really noticable even with 8 bots and many explosions going on.

Just as a warning to anyone who is looking to do this mod be careful about those pins. I desodered them from the board and pulled them up okay but while I was playing around with routing the wire one of the pins snapped off. I was able to fix it with some hot glue holding the wire against the chip.

[XavierBlak]

One other thing,  2x speed worked but 3x locked up the n64. Which seems to agree with what everyone else has found.

[Endymion]

I am wondering if perhaps there is any other intervening reason as to why the fruity N64s had success, while the gray ones did not. Is there a way of checking the CPU revision between the models? Also, I noticed that at least a couple of people mentioned that their flaky N64 mods were done with switches, to return the console to its standard speeds--these folks had gray N64s (I think), but I wondered later if perhaps the reason their games had a lockup tendency after the mod were in fact due to the switch, or to a little sloppy work because of the switch?

That last bit really interests me, as I am thinking about doing this mod, and I would definitely want to switch it in case any given game seemed to run too fast.

[XavierBlak]

I used a colored N64. Got it on ebay for $26 so I didn't have to kill my orginal n64. I didn't use a switch so no help there. I don't think a switch would really hurt it though, since it's only carrying ground or 3.3V not data.

[KeepGood]

Firstly...You would need to be a complete spaz to mess up this mod.  It should be easy for anyone to do, my gran could perform this mod blindfolded with her hands duck taped behind her back, and oh yeah...shes dead.

Why doesnt everyone post the model numbers/serial numbers and any other info about their consoles and the success rate they had.  Then try to work out what systems are more likely to be moddable.

:-)

[Guest]

is there a way to overclock the RCP in the N64?

[robert ivy]

RCP?

[Guest_Fire-WSP]

the RCP is the coprocessor "Reality Coprozessor"
this is the secon big chip on the board.

[RobIvy64]

You CAN overclock the reality engine chip, but that chip also controls the hertz rate going to the TV.
If you overclock it your hertz rate will go up and likely screw up any TV you connect it to .

[KeepGood]

Oooohh I like the sound of that.  My TV can handle 100Hz refresh rate.  Is there some docs for overclocking the reality engine?

My N64 is screaming out for another mod, its overclocked and has the RGB mod.  The wee puppy is running great, a faster graphical engine would be great.

 

[Guest_Matt]

I second that, I would love to see this RCP mod, can someone point me in the direction so I can find out how to overclock it? thanks again, Matt.

[Vorde]

hmm...does this mean that the grey (black, or whatever) N64's don't work in the overclock mod? hmm...
I wanted to do this to a black N64 and would it work or just crash like the rest of them? thanx!

[Skyone]

I already broke ONE N64 by trying this mod.

I ordered another, and I'm going to try it again, hopefully this time I don't screw up!!

[Guest_zyDocx]

I have just OC'ed my n64, and i works nice.
It's a black n64, and it works up to 2.0x!

The 3,0x setting gives me a black screen.

[guest sebi1000]

I overclocked 4 pal N64 (black, color, pokemon) 1.0x & 2.0x multi works great.

[Mike]

I tried this on my black N64 and it works great. And if you modded it with a switch, you can go between 1.5x, 2x, and 3x to see the differences that it makes on the fly.
The only bad thing is that it gets very hot, but that can be fixed with a fan mod.  
Ill post my instructions, pictures, and FPS readings later when I have more time

[Guest]

can someone please show me where I should connect the fan?

[Guest]

hi, mike did u overclocked ur n64? i want to do it too, mine is a grey one,and i have 2 pc fans ;P , anyway add me to msn (elcotomaster@hotmail.com) so we can talk there, c ya.

[sebi1000]

You can look under the german site www.project-casemod.de

[RobIvy64]

Wow!! I'm amazed to see that this thread is still active after almost 3 years!

[Guest]

RobertIvy64 u re just a genius!!!!! i ve read all of ur n64 mods, even ppl talking about a totally success!!! but, (plz add me to elcotomaster@hotmail.com) i need some motivation to oc`the n64, (i ve already opened it , but those chip legs seem too hard to separate from the board) ty, i need some help (in english)  

[RobIvy64]

Thanks for the kind words  

You will need to take your soldering iron and heat up the base of the chips. While doing this, take a small knife and slowly lift up the pin. The pin should lift pretty easily since the solder will be hot.

Hope this helps!

[Guest]

(elcotomaster) Well, thanks ;; but ... is it true that overclocked n64 will run less stabilized? even with 2 cpu fans? need a hand

[sepi]

My report, using grey PAL deck.

Goldeneye and Perfect Dark seems to run smoother, so far everything seems to working correctly.
I added thermalpaste to the heatsink, hopefully this is enough to keep the console stable.

However, all of my 3rd party devices refuse to boot! (Mythcart, action replay)
So if anyone is planning to do this mod and wishes to use 3rd part devices,
switch for normal mode and overclock mode is recommended.

[marqs]

My report, using grey PAL deck.

Goldeneye and Perfect Dark seems to run smoother, so far everything seems to working correctly.
I added thermalpaste to the heatsink, hopefully this is enough to keep the console stable.

However, all of my 3rd party devices refuse to boot! (Mythcart, action replay)
So if anyone is planning to do this mod and wishes to use 3rd part devices,
switch for normal mode and overclock mode is recommended.

Are they really running smoother instead of just faster? I've performed the OC to my PAL N64 and GE & PD just run faster (easily seen from mission time) but the actual FPS seems to be the same, so the playability is actually worse than without OC. Most other games I tried weren't affected by OC, or were only at some parts. MK64's Bowser Castle in multiplayer was  a crazy drive with OC