From PepperWiki

Contents 1 Why would you want to do this? 2 What are we changing exactly? 3 Procedure 4 Check or confirm the clock speed

[edit] Why would you want to do this?

If your Pad 3 is unstable and getting really hot, lowering the clock speed a bit will cause the CPU to use less power. Less power draw = less heat produced, which almost always leads to a more stable system. It also means trading off CPU speed for a (probably modest) gain in battery life.

The author of this article (vrehorst) had install a 1GB memory module but had major stability issues afterwards. Once he lowered the speed of the CPU, the Pad didn't get so hot and was rock-solid stable.

[edit] What are we changing exactly?

Through the Pad 3's BIOS settings it is possible to change the multiplier for the CPU clock speed and the GeodeLink bus / RAM clock speed. Both are based off of the standard PCI bus speed of 33.3 MHz. In short:

 PCI Speed * CPU Multiplier = CPU Speed
 PCI Speed * GeodeLink Multiplier = GeodeLink/RAM speed

We are only suggesting you change the CPU multiplier. GeodeLink multipler should be left at 10.

[edit] Procedure

• Plug in a USB keyboard into your Pad 3. (It needs to have the function key row F1-F12)
• If your pad is sleeping, turn it on.
• Open an xterm with Ctrl-Shift-1, type the command reboot and press Enter. The Pad will shutdown Linux and reboot.
• Once the screen goes blank, start pressing F1 every second or two. Eventually the Logo screen will appear, followed by the BIOS menu looking similar to this:

• Use the cursor keys to select "System Clock / PLL Configuration" and press enter. The next screen looks almost like this:

• Under "Clock Determined By" the setting will be something like "auto probe" or similar. Press Enter to change it to Manual Settings.
• Press down to highlight "CPU Multiplier" and press Enter. The current (automatically detected) value will be 16, which equates to a clock speed of 533MHz. Enter 15 to change the clock speed to 500MHz and press Enter again.
• The GeodeLink multiplier should already be set to 10. Leave it.
• Press ESC to return to the main menu, then select the last menu option "Save values and exit" to save and exit your settings.

[edit] Check or confirm the clock speed

• Once the pad has booted, go to the Settings tab and click on System. The processor line will tell you the current clock speed.