With devices having faster and faster processors what is the point? The Asus Transformer Prime is reported to have a quad-core cpu and with the new Snapdragon S3 processors already clocked at 1.5 gHz and the S4 having a max clock at 2.5 gHz with asynchronous technology (meaning the second core is only used when necessary saving battery) I don’t think we’ll see much more overclocking of high-end devices in the near future. Qualcomm even claims that the S4 will save 25-40% more power using their “aSMP” (asymmetric multiprocessing) versus conventional SMP architectures.

I’m sure you all remember Android’s infancy. The G1 barely got anything done unless it was overclocked. We even managed to push it further than I ever thought we would. Mine always froze up after 570 mHz or so, so I always stayed under that clock speed. For a processor that started at 386 mHz (I think) 570 mHz is a 47.6% improvement (as long as my math is right.) This is a huge amount considering most processors really shouldn’t be pushed past 20%. And even within the last year or so with my Vibrant I usually had it clocked at 1.2 gHz. It just wasn’t quite snappy enough without it. I wish I could have pushed it closer to the 1.6 gHz that others were getting but for whatever reason mine hated anything past 1.3 gHz.

Every other device since has been overclocked and pushed past it’s limits. Obviously it’s really fun. Also a little dangerous, but hey that’s one of the beauties of Android, you can hack it and make it do things it wasn’t meant to. But is all this fun a thing of the past or do you thing people will still want to overclock their already ridiculously fast phones and tablets?

There is already an overclocked Kernel for my phone (SGSII). Jugs 0.2. It will let you push your cpu to 1.836 gHz! This is closer to the recommended 20% push that should be the max you ever push a cpu. But I haven’t found a need. In the past I always felt like the overclock was needed. But now it just seems silly, and reckless. What’s the point?

I may try it out, but not for the overclock. There are other things in custom kernels that are desirable not just the ability to break your cpu. I might even push it to 1.836 gHz for a minute just to giggle, Ooh and Ah at it. Then for the sake of not bricking my SGSII I’ll drop the clock right back down.

At the end of the day it’s up to the user. Is Overclocking necessary as we see more and more powerful processors?