For the ones who would like to try overclocking their S12

WARNING: Neither I or Lenovo are responsable for your actions. If any kind of damage is taken, it will be your responsability. Check your temps and dont push to the extreme limits.

Intel, VIA & S10 owners: THIS WILL NOT WORK since you will need a different .ini file. The .ini file provided is for ION models ONLY.

First, get the ASRock OC Tuner from here (Select your OS, then download from the list)

--> Download <--

Second, download this

--> Download <--

Third, install the ASRock Tuner and put the ion.ini file in the installation directory.

Fourth, in the ASRock Tuner directory there will be a file called asrock.ini , open it and look for [SupportModel], once you find it, add moutcook=ion.ini to the list

Fifth, open the program and enjoy S12 overclock.

Now for the record. In my netbook, only 6 and 12 multipliers work. 10x crashes the laptop depending on my FSB. Might have something to do with the Speedstep or EnergyManagement, idk about other multipliers and I dont plan on trying either (and ill explain why in a sec).

My max overclock is 177mhz FSB and 12x which gives me 2.11Ghz. S12 is FAAAASSTT. Runs street fighter IV decently (640res with background), Modern Warfare 2 at 1024x768 (everything low) with NO LAG and still looks nice. Also plays Counter Strike Source with no lag at 1024x768 most settings low, still looks good. Basically, games that are decent to barely playable will become playable with good enough graphics.

I really got impressed with Modern Warfare 2, even when everything is on low, at 1024x768 it looks great. (Reason is 1024x768 still looks good on 1280x800).

Now, dont try lowering the multiplier to 10, mines crashes no matter what and might be because of energy saving options or speed step who knows. FSB speeds that overclock fine with 12x, crash with 10 so I dont plan on testing 10 deeper since I dont want to keep crashing the PC, 3 tries were good enough to notice this.

Also, many people seem to be having problems after 177FSB, might have something to do with the nForce controller and RAM. If you have 800Mhz RAM, you might be able to break the barrier easily (unless you have a northbridge limit).

For me, 177Mhz FSB works great, 178-181 wont work for some reason. It just doesnt apply the speed, and once I go to 182, the netbook crashes so no need to push higher. Like I said, better RAM might help in this case, but for now I cant try it since Im still running stock RAM.

Lowering the multiplier is not always a good idea, 5Mhz FSB bump is not worth lowering a multiplier since your CPU clock speed will be greatly lowered thus not improving processing power by much. Try to keep it at 12 which works good, its estable and works great together with the Lenovo Energy Management.

About the battery, well, yes the battery will go faster if its not plugged to a power outlet. I suggest you give your PC a try with overclocked settings to see how long it lasts without the AC power. I still havent done it because I been busy but, from what Ive experienced so far, while gaming you get 1 hour less than when you have no OC.

Post your results :)

Edit Moderator shorten Link

I'm definetly gonna try this

Assuming it only works for the Ion model? if so you might want to edit your post to reflect this.

I tried these steps a few weeks ago on my S12 ION.  It definitely works.  I started getting a few crashes with certain programs when I over-clocked above 1900 MHZ, but I am not sure it was due to the over-clocking.

My biggest grip with this method is the OCTuner program.  You cannot minimize it to your notification area.  It always runs as a program on your taskbar.  If OCtuner is going to be continually running on my laptop I want it to automatically minimize to my notification tray when the program starts.

I write about technology, including the S12 ION at my website:

Off-topic.

I think saying Smartbooks will never run Windows may be a little short sighted.

On-topic.

Have you run anything like Orthos to test stability, slim?

@Steep

I clearly stated at the end

"Intel, VIA & S10 owners: THIS WILL NOT WORK since you will need the right .ini file. The .ini file provided is for ION models."

I guess I will move it to the first line to not dissapoint people after a long read.

@Greymarch

I understand what you are saying. Its really annoying that you cant minimze it to tray icon. Maybe a future version will have that implemented? Its not that annoying to have it in the taskbar but more options would be welcomed.

About your crashes at 1900Mhz, you sure you are using 12x right? If so, then it might be related to either RAM limits (if you dont have factory stick replaced with some good 667mhz or 800Mhz stick), northbridge limit, FSB wall or temps.

IMO, that sounds like RAM since most 270 IONS are capable of 170Mhz easy.

@Scorpion

No man I havent tried orthos and I dont plan on doing so either. I have played MW2 and CS:S and the games didnt crash which is good enough. You dont want to reach max temps on a netbook, Im pretty sure you will go over the maximum allowed temps and it will reload (unless you currently living in alaska or something).

Best option try a CPU and GPU intensive game like MW2 and see if everything goes well.

I've used an app in the past called "TrayIt", which puts desired running programs in the system tray instead of the taskbar.  Google it and see if that works for you.

I was abit snappier, but started to crash with your setting and not sure its worth the hour battery tradeoff so I quit& uninstalled.  It does 1080P thats enough for me.

If it goes over max temp running Orthos then your overclock is too high.

All PCs should be able to run Orthos, overclocked or not,

If it can't there's something wrong.

If you've overclocked, that 'something wrong' is your overclock.

@nick

weird, even HP mini 311 users are able to easily reach 170. Dont know what to tell you at this point.

@Scorpion

If it goes over max temp with orthos, it doesnt always mean ur OC is too high but your cooling is not adequate or efficient enough.

Usually, word processing, web browsing and instant messaging wont cause a system crash if your OC is wrong, but a game or benchmark definitely will.

I dont plan on heating up and stress the netbook to the limits with orthos and waste cpu cycles. Besides, orthos has been outdated for quite some time, if you are really into pushing the cpu to the limits, I suggest you try Intel Burn Test, LinX or Prime 25.11 Build 2 (or newer if there is any).

Dont get me wrong, I also like to test estability, but on a netbook? seriously, I dont want that to push that fan to the extreme limit and overheat the CPU. I would seriously hate to go through an RMA.

If it runs a cpu+gpu intensive game, should be good with basic tasks. If not, reduce overclock by a notch.