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The original was posted on /r/steamdeck by /u/SlipAccomplished5380 on 2023-08-11 12:57:31.

I’ve tested undervolting and overclocking the Steam Deck a lot and i’ve gotten some really strange results.

When running stock unlocked clocks i can get a lot lower voltage on the core if i don’t touch the soc voltage. If i lower the soc i can get about -50 mv core -30 mv soc stable. I got to about -70 mv core when not touching the soc voltage and didn’t dare to go beyond that. The thing is if i undervolt beyond about -35 mv the cpu downclocks itself, always. Lock the clocks to 3,5 ghz in powertools or bios doesn’t matter it will always underclock itself in steamos. In windows on the other hand keeps the clocks locked but it will run unstable. The only explanation i can think of is that undervolting is not considered undervolting in steamos. Its just lowering the total allowed voltage in the voltage curve therefore the lower clocks. Does anyone have another explanation why this could be happening?

The gpu on the other hand does not downclock itself when locked. Also the higher the clock the better undervolt i can get. When locking the gpu to 1,6 ghz in the bios i can get -65 mv stable while running it unlocked i can only get -45 mv.

The stock voltage curve is not meant for overclocking clearly. Clocks beyond stock use a stupid amount of power. If i lock the clocks above stock then run windows it will completely ignore the set TDP, i’ve seen it spike to like 40 watts when it was set to 20. Like i said before steamos will always underclock the cpu if it exceeds the maximum TDP, but it will never touch the gpu clocks. The higher i force the gpu the lower undervolt i can get. If i lock the gpu to 1,9 ghz i can get around -100 mv stable instead of the -65 mv at 1,6 ghz. Its the same with the cpu but like i wrote before i have to use windows to lock the clocks. I haven’t done enough testing in windows because its gonna fry my soc, it just ignores the TDP.

If we could somehow create our own voltage curve instead of just a total undervolt we could probably fix the insane power usage we see from going above stock clocks. Setting the gpu to about 1,8-1,9 ghz with -100 mv gets a reasonable wattage for the set clock. The cpu on the other hand is just not worth the overclock at the moment. Is it just my deck where the cpu is underclocking itself beyond -35 mv? What results from underclocking are you guys getting on your deck? I believe i got lucky on the gpu silicone lottery. Sadly i am back to running unlocked stock clocks with a undervolt of -35mv core -35 soc -45 mv gpu. The cpu could clearly get lower total powerdraw if i could undervolt the core more and not the soc as much without it downclocking.