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Overclocking Tool for the Mac Pro [Updated]

ZDNet.de has posted a new tool called ZDNet Clock Tool 1.0 for Mac Pro which allows you to overclock your Mac Pro. The process of overclocking uses software to increase your computer's processor speed and bus speed, potentially leading to higher performance. Boost the speed too high, however, and the computer may crash as either the processor or some of their components are unable to keep up. Still, ZDNet.de claims to have achieved some impressive results:

ZDNet uses three Mac Pros as test machines. One comes from the first Intel/Mac Pro generation (Mac Pro 1.1) with 65-nanometer processors and 1333-MHz front side bus. The others come from the third generation with 45-nanometer processors and 1600-MHz front side bus, as sold by Apple since January 2008 (Mac Pro 3.1). The first computer is equipped with two 2.66 GHz X5355 processors, and runs stable at 3.10 GHz, see figure 2. The other two have two 2.80 GHz E5462 processors. These can be overclocked up to 3.24 GHz and remain stable, see figure 1.

The multi-page article (be sure to click on 'weiter' for next pages) describes their results including stability tests over 24 hours. There are a few caveats as well:

If you carry out benchmarks such as Cinebench or Geekbench after overclocking, the benchmarks do not indicate any improvement in performance at first. But if you resort to a stopwatch, the higher performance resulting from overclocking can indeed be verified. You also notice that the system clock runs significantly faster after overclocking the computer.

Rebooting (but not shutting down) reportedly corrects this timing issue on all but the 1st generation Mac Pros. More details are available in the article. The application is available for free download from ZDNet.de (click on "Jetzt herunterlade" to download). Some MacRumors readers have already had some experience with this tool, but readers should proceed with caution (see potential disadvantages in overclocking, in general).

Update: Versions for other Mac models are expected in the future, and simply shutting down your Mac and turning it back on will reverse the effects of the overclocking application.

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47 months ago
Thats pretty cool. I've been messing around a bit with my PC in this arena.
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47 months ago
Now the Mac Pro can claim some true cred as a gaming machine. :)
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47 months ago
I always use to overclock my PC back in the day...great to see this out for Mac Pro!
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47 months ago
I think it's awesome, although it just sucks Apple's other computes are so compact that even if an overclocking tool became available for an iMac or Mini, it'd overheat anyway. Cool for the Mac Pro's, though :)
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47 months ago

it just sucks Apple's other computes are so compact that even if an overclocking tool became available for an iMac or Mini, it'd overheat anyway. Cool for the Mac Pro's, though :)


so wouldnt work for mac book pros?
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47 months ago

so wouldnt work for mac book pros?


Ahmen to that!!!
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47 months ago
Most people who have never used PC's don't know what this even is.

Most people who have used PC's and switched to Mac's did so to avoid crap just like this from the PC world.

Personally, I use both on a fulltime basis, and can hardly recommend this. The potential to hose up your Mac or even potentially permanently harm it far outweigh the barley noticeable speed increase.
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47 months ago
What is a Mac Pro discussion doing on an iPhone board?
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47 months ago
:O an EFI overclocker?

Impressive!
Now make it available for all macs!
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47 months ago

Now the MacPro can claim some true cred as a gaming machine. :)


Did it drop in price by 1000.00 and get better video card selection?
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