Overclocking RT-AC56U

[kvic]

Probably because it doesn't go any faster - I've seen where one can set an NVRAM setting to a value, but it's beyond range of capabilities, so SW/HW picks the upper end and stops...

Indeed...In Asuswrt/Merlin, there is no 1100MHz step. It's automatically up'ed to 1200 if set to 1100. Hence, the same BogoMIPS.

@ASAT, looking at your openssl benchmarks, the bespoke build performs much worse than the stock. I believe you're missing a couple of optimisation switches.

On a near optimal setup, you shall be expecting something like this:

The 'numbers' are in 1000s of bytes per second processed.
type             16 bytes     64 bytes    256 bytes   1024 bytes   8192 bytes
aes-256 cbc      34041.16k    36542.46k    37816.75k    38310.61k    38351.71k

 

[ASAT]

I believe you're missing a couple of optimisation switches.

For the RT-AC68U, I compiled the firmware myself. Just did a 'make rt-ac68u'. Also, it's probably not a fair test because there was other processes running on the router.

 

[primitivo]

Do I get it right: with upgrading CFE overclocking of RT-AC56U is now safe? I remember when I bought it as soon as they launched it and bricked it trying to overclock. Luckily Asus exchange it 1-1 and I didn't try further as Merlin was saying that it is possible to brick them.

My RT-AC56U 800Mhz CFE is: 1.0.1.9

Which version should I upgrade it to? This is the very first model of RT-AC56U bought in Singapore as soon as it was launched.

 

[primitivo]

How do you check HW Rev of AC56U? I thought it is going to be somewhere at the back of the device.

Basically, is CFE regional to hardware or it does not matter if it is EU or US?

 

[kvic]

Basically, is CFE regional to hardware or it does not matter if it is EU or US?

You have to make a few changes before flashing. More details in hggomes' CFE thread.

 

[Shonk]

667 ram doesnt hold anymore
800 is fine
775 is fine

 

[kvic]

I think 666 still holds? I thought I tried that after installing 378.55. I maybe remember wrong..

 

[bikeboy24]

I've overclocked to 1000,800, but openvpn is maxing out at ~25-30mbit/s.

For those who are getting 50+mbit/s, can you share your settings?

 

[primitivo]

I've overclocked to 1000,800, but openvpn is maxing out at ~25-30mbit/s.

For those who are getting 50+mbit/s, can you share your settings?

The results will differ depending on the latency of the server you are connecting to. Also UDP should be faster than TCP.

 

[RMerlin]

I've overclocked to 1000,800, but openvpn is maxing out at ~25-30mbit/s.

For those who are getting 50+mbit/s, can you share your settings?

AES-128-CBC.

 

[bikeboy24]

AES-128-CBC.

I'm using AES-128-CBC as well. TCP or UDP?

Great work on the FW btw!

 

[RMerlin]

I'm using AES-128-CBC as well. TCP or UDP?

Great work on the FW btw!

TCP. I had some odd buffering issues at the time when using UDP, which was causing a performance drop rather than the expected performance gain. Since at the time I was mostly focussing on implementing and testing the code, I didn't spend any additional time in figuring out why (the buffer control option I recently added to the webui does help with that).

 

[Steve1985]

Hi, i hope someone can help me. I have a RT-AC56U with bootloader 1.0.2.6 and the latest Merlin firmware. I have tried overclocking the router using the commands in this thread however whatever i try i cannot get it to work.
All values i put in for the RAM apart from the standard 533 come back as
usage: nvram [get name] [set name=value] [unset name] [show] [commit] [save] [restore] [erase] ...

However when i put in:
nvram set clkfreq 1000,533

I don't get a responce at all but i get admin@RT-AC56U-3910:/tmp/home/root# without an "answer".

Once i managed to get it to 1000 but after a reboot it reverted back to 800.

What am i doing wrong here? i read in one of the posts that with this bootloader it is now possible to overclock this router without additional steps. For some reason i cannot get it to work. I am very certain i am overlooking something obvious but have been trying (and factory resetting the router to stock firmware etc) since yesterday so I guess i am stuck in tunnel vision a little bit.

Steve

 

[DomFel]

What am i doing wrong here?

Command is nvram set clkfreq=1000,533 then you have to nvram commit then reboot

 

[hasafly]

Hi guys!

I have an AC56U with latest stable 378.55 asuswrt Merlin.

My CFE is 1.0.2.3....all with factory parameters!

May i overclock it to clkfreq=1000,800 ?

 

[DomFel]

1.0.2.3 shouldn't allow for 800mhz of ram frequency, max should be 666. If you want to go 800mhz you have to update the CFE.

 

[hasafly]

1.0.2.3 shouldn't allow for 800mhz of ram frequency, max should be 666. If you want to go 800mhz you have to update the CFE.

So may put clkfreq 1000,666?

 

[wbennett77]

I have 1.0.1.9 and have previously been able to make 1000,666 stick but any more. I have been out of the loop for awhile, am I missing something?

 

[RMerlin]

I have 1.0.1.9 and have previously been able to make 1000,666 stick but any more. I have been out of the loop for awhile, am I missing something?

Something changed in the way Asuswrt handles nvram that are retrieved from CFE in the 378_9xxx series. I suspect this was done to prevent users from overriding their regulation or power output settings in nvram. clkfreq is in a similar situation as it does not exist as a default nvram setting.

 

[hggomes]

The very simple answer to overclock not being accepted on recent ASUS FWs IMO:

Any ARM model (RT-AC56U, RT-AC68U/P, RT-AC87U, RT-AC3200, RT-N18U) can be overclocked to the same speeds (1.4GHZ) than new unreleased models available the end of this year (RT-AC88U, RT-AC3100 and RT-AC5300) and have the EXACT same performance.

Should i say more?