Raspberry Pi Pico 2 at 873.5MHz with 3.05V Core Abuse
5 days ago
- #raspberry-pi-pico
- #overclocking
- #hardware-hacking
- Overclocking Raspberry Pi Pico 2 with RP2350 chip explored using dry ice cooling.
- Initial tests showed max stable clock speeds at various voltages: 1.1V (312MHz), 1.3V (420MHz), 1.5V (512MHz), 1.7V (570MHz).
- Added cooling (heatsink + fan) allowed higher voltages and clock speeds: 1.7V (576MHz), 1.9V (636MHz), 2.0V (654MHz), 2.2V (678MHz).
- Discovered onboard voltage regulator couldn't supply above ~2.2V, limiting performance gains.
- Used external power supply to bypass regulator, achieving higher voltages and speeds (up to 3.3V).
- Maximum stable overclock reached was 864MHz (requested) at 3.05V with dry ice cooling.
- RISC-V cores on RP2350 showed ~5% better performance per MHz compared to ARM cores in CoreMark benchmarks.
- RP2350 proved resilient despite extreme conditions (high voltage, low temperatures).
- Diminishing returns observed above 700MHz; dry ice cooling insufficient for higher stable clocks.
- Suggested future experiments with liquid nitrogen for better cooling and potential higher overclocks.