Below is a list of helpful commands if you want to overclock your Raspberry Pi 3 running RetroPie. The GUI overclock does not work on the Raspberry Pi 3 and if you want to overclock it, you must edit the config.txt file. It is a very easy process and takes little time.
RetroPie Login: (default unless you changed it)
Username: pi
Password: raspberry
There are 2 ways to edit your config.txt file to achieve this overclock. You can either edit the file on your PC by putting your SD card into your computers card reader and the file is located in the main folder.
The other way is to SSH into your Raspberry Pi 3. The first step is to plug your Pi into your router with an ethernet cable or pre-configure your wifi through Retropie. Download SSH software (I use PuTTY (its free). In the Host Name (or IP address) box, type in retropie and use port 22. Use the login information above. Then use the following command:
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
When you restart your Pi and it does not boot or the red light blinks then take out your SD card and edit the config.txt file on your PC and bring down your arm_freq value.
To check and see if the overclock was successful and to see the current CPU frequency along with the minimum and maximum frequencies use (one at a time):
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq
To check your CPU core temperature, type:
vcgencmd measure_temp
I hope that this has helped you and your overclocking needs! Remember that doing this may void your warranty or damage your Raspberry Pi 3. Do this at your own risk.
RetroPie Login: (default unless you changed it)
Username: pi
Password: raspberry
There are 2 ways to edit your config.txt file to achieve this overclock. You can either edit the file on your PC by putting your SD card into your computers card reader and the file is located in the main folder.
The other way is to SSH into your Raspberry Pi 3. The first step is to plug your Pi into your router with an ethernet cable or pre-configure your wifi through Retropie. Download SSH software (I use PuTTY (its free). In the Host Name (or IP address) box, type in retropie and use port 22. Use the login information above. Then use the following command:
sudo nano /boot/config.txt
If you did it correctly it should look like this
 |
| Edited with an SSH session |
Type in sudo nano /boot/config.txt
 |
| Edited with an SSH session |
Scroll down until you see text about overclocking the arm. When it states "uncomment" that means remove the "#" or hashtag. # in front means that the command is not active. When you delete the # you are activating the command. You see where it shows arm_freq=1200, change that to 1300 or what ever you want to try. The 1200 means 1.2ghz. I copied and pasted the below and it is stable.
arm_freq=1300
gpu_freq=500
core_freq=500
sdram_freq=500
sdram_schmoo=0x02000020
over_voltage=5
sdram_over_voltage=5
(If you edit in Windows you can copy and paste this in to any section of the config.txt file and then just put your SD card back in your Pi and boot)
Press ctrl+X to exit and save the file. You then must restart you Pi before the changes take effect. You can do that with the commands:
sudo reboot or sudo shutdown now
When you restart your Pi and it does not boot or the red light blinks then take out your SD card and edit the config.txt file on your PC and bring down your arm_freq value.
To check and see if the overclock was successful and to see the current CPU frequency along with the minimum and maximum frequencies use (one at a time):
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_cur_freq
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_min_freq
cat /sys/devices/system/cpu/cpu0/cpufreq/scaling_max_freq
To check your CPU core temperature, type:
vcgencmd measure_temp
I hope that this has helped you and your overclocking needs! Remember that doing this may void your warranty or damage your Raspberry Pi 3. Do this at your own risk.