Pi4 8GB cannot overclock gpu_freq at all!

  • Hi all, I am running LibreElec on an 8GB Raspberry Pi 4 inside an Argon Onev2 case with the fan script configured and working.

    I know its wasted on LibreElec/Kodi but being a full time tech, I have to push performance just for kicks. As such I am trying to overclock my Pi4 to make a 'super' media center Pi. Even in stock configuration the thing doesn't appear to break a sweat, very impressive.

    However I have a 'problem' and I think there's something strange going on:

    I am able to overclock the CPU, 'arm_freq' to 2Ghz and beyond with no problems at all, with an over_voltage set to 6. Haven't tried to lower the voltage, but hey ho...

    Logical next step is to bump the GPU frequency up a little, however if I even attempt to bump 'gpu_freq' up a mere 50Mhz to 550 then when I try to playback a h265 file, I will immediately lose video output but the OS doesn't crash and the Pi is still reachable via SSH and responds to commands so I can revert and reboot etc...

    I have tried an over_voltage setting upto 12 which made no difference.

    What could be going on here? Almost every Pi4 user out there reports being able to achieve over 700Mhz on the GPU and I can't even touch mine, yet I can hit 2.147Ghz and probably more on the arm_freq.

    Because I am losing video and not crashing the whole Pi, even when just tickling the GPU frequency, I suspect I need to force another setting to do with HDMI out or something.

    Does anyone have any experience with similar?

    Heres my config.txt, GPU overclock commented out as it doesn't work. Not 550, not 600, not 650 etc.... Just a loss of video, no full OS crash.

    Heres the results of some playback on temps, showing everything is well under control. The argon cools passively until it hits 55c which is where I have the fan set to come on.

    30 mins 4k h265 playback:

    30 mins 1080p h264 playback:

  • Logical next step is to bump the GPU frequency up a little, however if I even attempt to bump 'gpu_freq' up a mere 50Mhz to 550 then when I try to playback a h265 file, I will immediately lose video output but the OS doesn't crash and the Pi is still reachable via SSH and responds to commands so I can revert and reboot etc..

    Disable "adjust refresh rate to match framerate" and I suspect you'll get a picture.

    Your overclock is having the same effect as "hdmi_enable_4kp60=1" and something isn't supporting that.

    Do you have another hdmi cable or 4k display to test with?

  • Disable "adjust refresh rate to match framerate" and I suspect you'll get a picture.

    Your overclock is having the same effect as "hdmi_enable_4kp60=1" and something isn't supporting that.

    Do you have another hdmi cable or 4k display to test with?

    Thanks for the reply. Where do I find that setting? If its within KODI and is Settings > Player > Videos 'Adjust display refresh rate' then its already off.

    I don't see "adjust refresh rate to match framerate" anywhere.

  • Where’s the particular debug log setting and where will the file be?

    Please provide a full debug log.

    How to post a log (wiki)

    1. Enable debugging in Settings>System Settings>Logging
    2. Restart Kodi
    3. Replicate the problem
    4. Generate a log URL (do not post/upload logs to the forum)

    use "Settings > LibreELEC > System > Paste system logs" or run "pastekodi" over SSH, then post the URL link
  • Tried to reproduce this on my RPi4, but i couldn't.

    LibreELEC - LE 10.2

    Raspberry - RPi4 8GB rev. 1.4

    Overclock - CPU 1800MHz GPU 600 Mhz

    Tested :

    - inputstream.adaptive VP9 (SW) - Netflix stream

    - drmprime HEVC (HW) - local video

    - ff-h264 drm_prime (HW) - local video

    bcmstat - ovorclock is working

    Code
    22:14:21 1800Mhz  600Mhz    0Mhz 33.10C (36.51C) 12,106   4,546,123     101,927
    22:14:23 1800Mhz  600Mhz    0Mhz 33.10C (36.51C) 13,138   4,985,402     113,389
    22:14:25 1800Mhz  600Mhz    0Mhz 34.08C (36.51C) 14,350   5,559,116     125,401
    22:14:27  900Mhz  499Mhz    0Mhz 33.10C (36.51C) 11,662   5,026,492     100,140
    22:14:29  900Mhz  499Mhz    0Mhz 32.62C (36.51C) 10,341   4,619,576      82,231^C
    Peak Values: IRQ: 17612, RX: 7546972, TX: 158784

    config.txt

    The forum complained about a censored word (really?) so on arm_b00st replace 00 with oo

  • See debug log here:

    http://ix.io/3TRK

    Attempted to playback but lost video out at 18:25 ish.

    Noticed this at end of log:

  • Can you provide a sample from the video that it's causing this?

    Also, i would try with the RPi out of the Argon case, just to make sure that the case is not part of the equation.

  • Can you provide a sample from the video that it's causing this?

    Also, i would try with the RPi out of the Argon case, just to make sure that the case is not part of the equation.

    It happens with multiple videos. But particularly H265 I think.

    I also happens outside of the case.