Overclocking RT-AC56U

[NightOwl326]

Yes!! This put me on the right track. I started digging around in other settings on the router and modem. Turned out the modem was causing the problems. After telneting into the modem and entering some settings which I haven't got a clue what means, things started working. Thanks Sky1111 for putting me on the right track

Is this thread even about over clocking anymore???? Or is it just a general rt-ac56u thread and should be a new thread?

 

[Sky1111]

Technically speaking, this is a thread about overclocking, so I mostly expected to see others to share their experiences.

However, we don't just do overclocking for the heck of it - there are very tangible benefits and my personal goal was to get VPN running on the router with minimal slowdown - and I am happy I was able to help a little bit to someone else too

Now back to our topic of overclocking: what ASUS routers are overclockable?
- we already know that RT-AC56U is -by the way, did anyone manage to go beyond 1200/800?
- we hope that RT-AC68U will allow overclocking too (same underclocked CPU as AC56)
- we already know that RT-N66U and RT-AC66U are not overclockable - very unfortunately
- how about RT-N56U, RT-N65U, N-16 - did anyone try?
- how do you cool your router? please post pictures

REMEMBER: if you are overclocking, you must improve cooling by any means possible - unless you live in Alaska or something

 

[speedingcheetah]

Now back to our topic of overclocking: what ASUS routers are overclockable?
- we already know that RT-AC56U is -by the way, did anyone manage to go beyond 1200/800?
- we hope that RT-AC68U will allow overclocking too (same underclocked CPU as AC56)
- we already know that RT-N66U and RT-AC66U are not overclockable - very unfortunately
- how about RT-N56U, RT-N65U, N-16 - did anyone try?
- how do you cool your router? please post pictures

REMEMBER: if you are overclocking, you must improve cooling by any means possible - unless you live in Alaska or something

I just stuck a pci slot cooler to the back of my AC56U.

 

[hoang51]

I will post an update on my overclocking once I get my fans mailed to me from China. I did overclock the CPU to 1 GHz for the RT-AC56U, but noticed that during my USB HDD transfer rate benchmarks, it failed to complete the tests.

 

[Sky1111]

I will post an update on my overclocking once I get my fans mailed to me from China. I did overclock the CPU to 1 GHz for the RT-AC56U, but noticed that during my USB HDD transfer rate benchmarks, it failed to complete the tests.

Please check your temperatures. AC56 tends to get too warm with stock clocks, and if you push it higher, it may start overheating.

Regarding USB transfers - how are they under factory clocks - 800/533?

 

[hoang51]

Please check your temperatures. AC56 tends to get too warm with stock clocks, and if you push it higher, it may start overheating.

Regarding USB transfers - how are they under factory clocks - 800/533?

I will monitor the temperatures. I know that when I was just using RT-AC56U only for benchmarking with the USB HDDs, the router itself was already warm to the touch, without the router used on a network.

As for the USB transfers, I've used CrystalDiskMark3 and concluded the following: On stock Asus .37 firmware, my USB 3.0 drive read speed of about 54 MBps, write speed around 37 Mbps. But when I updated to Asus .134 and Merlin's .33 beta 6 firmwares, I saw a small increase in read speed of about 58 MBps, while the write speed suffered downwards to about 27 MBps. And all these are without overclocking.

I tried to overclock the CPU to the default 1 GHz, but the benchmark failed to go through it all, so I'll wait until the fans arrive to re-do the benchmark tests. But from what I saw from the early scores, the throughput increased a bit. The read speed got bumped up to about 60 MBps, while the write speed was about 28 MBps.

 

[PrivateJoker]

I will monitor the temperatures. I know that when I was just using RT-AC56U only for benchmarking with the USB HDDs, the router itself was already warm to the touch, without the router used on a network.

As for the USB transfers, I've used CrystalMarkDisk3 and concluded the following: On stock Asus .37 firmware, my USB 3.0 drive read speed of about 54 MBps, write speed around 37 Mbps. But when I updated to Asus .134 and Merlin's .33 beta 6 firmwares, I saw a small increase in read speed of about 58 MBps, while the write speed suffered downwards to about 27 MBps. And all these are without overclocking.

I tried to overclock the CPU to the default 1 GHz, but the benchmark failed to go through it all, so I'll wait until the fans arrive to re-do the benchmark tests. But from what I saw from the early scores, the throughput increased a bit. The read speed got bumped up to about 60 MBps, while the write speed was about 28 MBps.

With measuring changes in r/w speed that incremental it would be interesting to know what file system the drive is formatted with, how you are accessing the drive (SMB, FTP, etc) and the file size you're using in the test. Just so people that are hitting below or above know if they're doing something different than you are.

Thanks for sharing those #s though, they're impressive. I'm curious what a non-SSD drive via USB 3.0 could pull.

 

[hoang51]

With measuring changes in r/w speed that incremental it would be interesting to know what file system the drive is formatted with, how you are accessing the drive (SMB, FTP, etc) and the file size you're using in the test. Just so people that are hitting below or above know if they're doing something different than you are.

Thanks for sharing those #s though, they're impressive. I'm curious what a non-SSD drive via USB 3.0 could pull.

Here's some additional information as requested:

It's through Samba (SMB). I used an average of three 100 MB test file size runs through CrystalDiskmark 3.0.2f. The HDD is a Western Digital My Passport 2 TB portable USB 3.0 HDD (WDBY8L0020BSL). It is not a solid state drive (SSD). So a max of 37 MBps is quite impressive, but still on the low end of what a USB 3.0 should be capable of doing. I had a Lenovo Y580 notebook with an Atheros gigabit port connected over to the router's gigabit port using Asus supplied CAT5E cable that came with the router. The USB 3.0 HDD was attached to RT-AC56U's USB 3.0 port. Just to note, when I attached the WD My Passport HDD to my Lenovo Y580 notebook's USB 3.0 port, the write speed was about in the 90 MBps range. So I know the RT-AC56U is the bottleneck. The gigabit ethernet is definitely not saturated by the write speed.

I will put all my benchmark results and details up on my website and I will provide a link on this thread later once everything is done.

 

[PrivateJoker]

Thanks so much for sharing @hoang51, it really is very appreciated when people on here are kind enough to test things like that out and share their results and exactly how you got them.

I mean it was only by reading Synology's test notes on their txfr speed tests that I shared the other day that it even occurred to me that my speeds would increase significantly if my client device in question was SSD equipped, even though I wasn't coming close to the max throughput of spinning drives. And I recently wanted to check an external drive's speeds plugged into my N66 vs into the aux USB port on my NAS (but taking advantage of the NAS's different USB controller and faster CPU) and got extraordinarily different results. Also my Win8 machine is my only Win PC that's hardwired into my LAN that I can test with, but it's old and has a PCI (maybe 2.0, but still non-PCIe) "gigabit" card that is know for a fact is bus constrained on throughput. I guess I should start mentioning that when I quote its speeds. Oops.

Again, much appreciated for your testing & your sharing w/ the group.

 

[speedingcheetah]

So....decided to try Merlin firmware on my AC56U again(last I tried was beta 3)...flashed it over current stock...everything seems fine....so far.

I did set the overclock to 1000, 667. I have a adequate cooling, and haven't noticed any temp increases.

Anyway to see what the memory clock is so I can confirm what speed it is at?...I see cpu speed on status page...

Is there a CLI command to pull up such info?

 

[Sky1111]

So....decided to try Merlin firmware on my AC56U again(last I tried was beta 3)...flashed it over current stock...everything seems fine....so far.

I did set the overclock to 1000, 667. I have a adequate cooling, and haven't noticed any temp increases.

Anyway to see what the memory clock is so I can confirm what speed it is at?...I see cpu speed on status page...

Is there a CLI command to pull up such info?

The command is nvram get clkfreq

And now please measure:
- transfer rates via wired network (fast source/destination)
- USB (if applicable)

Now I suggest you to set memory to 800 and measure the same... should see improvement...

 

[speedingcheetah]

The command is nvram get clkfreq

And now please measure:
- transfer rates via wired network (fast source/destination)
- USB (if applicable)

Now I suggest you to set memory to 800 and measure the same... should see improvement...

Transfer speeds over gigabit wire seems a but slower than I remember...I am getting about 83-90MB's between my server system and my desktop. Transferring from my server to desktop is about 83MB's...while transferring to my server is about 93MB's (though it dips down to around 60MB's at one point about 3/4 of the way). My N56U with Padavan firmware gave me a steady 100-113MB's wired transfer speed...regardless of what file i transferred.

This is using cat6a wires, to a Win Server 2012 system and my Win 8 Desktop, both with gigabit NICs.

Wireless performance still a bit dodgy...I get on 5ghz AC about 30-40MB's download from my server, and only about 15MB's upload....which bugs me, as again, my N56U gave me steady 20-24MB's on this same transfer test. Though, I do get as much as 30MB's uplink at times...so...maybe its just my Intel wifi card....I don't have any other AC card to test with.

I don't use the usb storage option on the router...I did have a 16gb micro sd to usb plugged into play around with it at one point, but that class 4 card was slow...i don't have a usb 3 flash drive.

Is setting the memory speed that high(800) a good idea.....its already pushing it going from 533 to 667 isn't it?

EDIT: Set it to 1000,800.....don't notice any difference.

Edit again: Thinking my sever may be slowing things down....I am getting around 100-105MB's transferring the same file over wired to my FreeNas desktop.....o Windows....why must u be so annoying...

 

[primitivo]

I have overclocked to 1000,800 and it doesn't boot now. Blue led is there but it doesn't want to blink while holding reset upon power up hence I can't even get into recovery...

Ideas?

 

[primitivo]

Guys, you better think twice before doing OC if you really need to push up the limits by 20%. I have a useless brick now I thought the recovery mode will always work, beside I didn't go for max settings but 1000,800 failed too.

I run nvram set clkfreq=1000,800 and nvram commit && reboot via telnet if that matters.

 

[Sky1111]

I have overclocked to 1000,800 and it doesn't boot now. Blue led is there but it doesn't want to blink while holding reset upon power up hence I can't even get into recovery...

Ideas?

I have been there - when my router would not boot... it may take few attempts - please keep trying - AND THE DEAD SHALL RISE!

from my second post on this thread:

HOW TO RECOVER IF YOUR ROUTER HANGS AFTER APPLYING NEW CLOCKS:
- power down the router [comment - you may have to unplug power for few minutes]
- press and hold the reset button
- power up while still pressing the reset button
- wait until front power LED starts slowly blinking, release the reset button

Now the router is in recovery mode.

On hardwired PC change NIC Settings to static IP address 192.168.1.10, default subnet 255.255.255.0

In your browser go again to 192.168.1.1

You should see recovery console, with options to clear NVRAM and flash FW firmware

Clearing NVRAM will reset your router. Hence I suggest to save your router configuration before attempting to overclock - greatly speeds up the recovery

 

[Sky1111]

Just setting high clocks and trying to boot with them CANNOT damage the router... only running for extended period of time while overheated and overclocked will do that (hence I preach about cooling of the router)

If you cannot bring it back to live, please try to unplug everything and let it stay for 10 minutes.
Then plug only the wire you are to the system with a correctly set network settings
Follow the steps above, and with some perseverance you should be able to clear the NVRAM and hence restore the router. I had quite stressful hour until I was able to revitalize mine

 

[Sky1111]

Guys, you better think twice before doing OC if you really need to push up the limits by 20%. I have a useless brick now I thought the recovery mode will always work, beside I didn't go for max settings but 1000,800 failed too.

I run nvram set clkfreq=1000,800 and nvram commit && reboot via telnet if that matters.

Technically, 1000,800 should not be called overclocking as it is within the specs of our hardware. Only CPU gets hot due to inadequate ventilation of the router case. You should be pretty safe with this kind of settings.

Primitivo - you bricked your router and you did not contact me?

 

[primitivo]

I have tried like 100 attempts to turn on and off the router but it won't boot. I have also disconnected it for 10 mins, waited, reconnected and it didn't help. For sure it was not overheating because I have installed USB fan behind it which dropped my excessive temperature of 78-80c to 58-60c.

I have also entered recovery mode many times before doing that but this time it simply won't boot into recovery. I have tried a lot of times and simply couldn't believe it, as I thought booting into recovery should never fail. It was bricked with 1000,800 settings...

The good thing is that I have Asus technical centre 10mins from me, I went there, they have confirmed it's dead (won't boot) and exchanged it 1-1 on the spot.

Well, OC topic is closed for me at least. I am getting solid 85Mbit through Astrill's VPN but human nature is like that you don't know until you try. Perhaps there are some other issues and reasons why Asus decided to keep 56U and 68U under-clocked.

 

[Sky1111]

I an sad you had to go thru this ordeal, but if I remember correctly, you had higher temperatures even before overclocking, right? and you got the fan only recently - so your router was running above 70 degrees for a while?

if I am correct, there is a big chance that your CPU had higher leakage and even running at rated speed dramatically accelerated silicon degradation.
Yes, overclocking is ALWAYS a risk, but in my 10+ years of overclocking, I have never seen a dead (fried) silicon.

This sad case makes me raise concerns with:

- thermal design of AC56/AC68 heatsink and that thermal pads they put in between the heatsink itself and the CPU + other elements covered by the heatsink. I know from GPU experience that instead of thin layer of proper thermal paste they put a some sort of crappy thermal spongy pads. Those pads simplify GPU or router assembly process (as they allow not so precisely cut heatsink,etc.), but they are crappy and people routinely achieve much better thermals and or overclocking by using proper thermal paste (thin layer instead of this sponge!). To be fair, router CPU is much smaller than GPU or PC CPU hence mounting a big heatsink without risking the chip is not a trivial task.

- possible leakage issues on BCM 4709/4708 parts which may result in reduced life. this could be a reason why ASUS reduced the clocks - since they give 2 years warranty, they do not want the routers to die during the warranty (but if it dies shortly after it is OK - so you can go back and buy another router - remember this is capitalism and it is company's objective to create a cyclical demand!). That means that current R7000 owners are at greater risk - they have only one year of warranty and their CPU is already running at high clocks (1000,800)

 

[primitivo]

Asus told me the warranty covers 3 years and they will always replace it 1-1, if its life cycle comes to en end and it will break, they will give me higher end model... Pretty good exchange policy!

As for the temperatures, there is nothing wrong with them on my AC56U. If I take my router out of the cabinet and place somewhere else for better air circulation, the temperature was 69-70 (69 reported RMerlin IIRC). In the cabinet though temps goes up to 78-80c, but as mentioned before with USB fan behind this issue is solved with temps reporting at 58-60c.

I doubt it broke from overheating, but I am sure it was bricked because of the OC, however because I have OC two things at the same time, I don't know whether it was CPU OC that failed or memory. Before that it was working rock solid even at 80c with no issues, hangs, reboots etc.

The reason why some units fail and others don't is perhaps due to different hardware suppliers (e.g. RAM sticks could have different manufacturers), I am not an expert but this might be the case. As @speedingcheetah reported earlier, after OC temps remained the same, I guess they would only go up once stressed to max.

Anyway for those happy with the stability of theirs AC56U, I recommend to enjoy it as it is instead of playing with it. Depending on your country, Asus presence and repair policy you might not have the same luck as me.