How to Overclock a Commodore 64 Processor

Introduced in 1982, the Commodore 64 was one of the earliest home computer systems. It was offered with more powerful hardware specifications than its competitors, at a more affordable price. The 6510 MOS CPU, included in the Commodore 64's architecture, offered 0.9875 MHz of processing speed. The Commodore 64 uses the same clock speed for the processor, video chip and video output, so you must alter all three to successfully overclock the machine. Do this by modifying the Clock-Rate setting in the system's BIOS using the BIOSCONFIG command.

Instructions

1. Power on your Commodore 64.

2. Type "biosconfig crefrest=<x>" without quotation marks. Replace <x> with a multiplier. This means if you enter "1.1," you increase the clock rate by 10 percent. If you enter "0.8," you slow the system by 20 percent.

3. Power off the system and power it back on to apply the new settings you have chosen.

Tips & Warnings

• Overclocking can always damage your components as it makes them operate outside of their tested range. You should operate in a cool environment and provide plenty of airflow to the case.

References

• "The Commodore 64 Book - 1982 to 199x "; Andrew Fisher; Andrew Rollings; 2008