PlayStation / PSone Console Overclocking Guide

By: Kyle Riffel

I felt compelled to write this guide after coming across a similar, yet not as informative, guide by a Rob Ivy that ran Underground Console Mods, or www.ucm.com, which is now down… The guide was for overclocking the PSX / PSone console from stock 33.6 MHz to 64 MHz, or double CPU speeds! This guide wasn’t very informative, and left the user wondering many things about the mod… Things like, where does this wire go? And… How do you do this mod!?

I’m being a little sarcastic, but the guide was weak in the information department. It featured like 4 pictures with hard to see points, and everything based on PIN numbers. At the time I didn’t know how to read PIN numbers on ICs. If you don’t know how, use this… Look for the dot on the corner of the IC. The closest PIN, usually to the left, is 1… When you get to the bottom you go directly across, not back to the top and down! Easy… I’ll also use pictures and diagrams to illustrate when necessary.

My Disclaimer

Please do not steal, “borrow” or edit my tutorial. All information has been checked, and double, double-checked. YES, two doubles! I absolutely guarantee success in this mod if done correctly, although you will not receive anything back but an e-mail probably if you have problems… J Since the guide is free, you can’t return it for damages covered on some 90-day risk free “warrantee…” I know, that’s a sad, but very true joke… Anyway…

In no way do I condone someone who doesn’t have experience in soldering to do this. ALSO, if you are scared or “shaky” in the hands about lifting a CPU PIN, then you need to STOP NOW! Lifting the leg on an IC is VERY risky. Good thing it’s easy. Well kind of! I’ll have you know right now, once lifted, just get it to raise enough to clear the other PINs, and LET IT BE! Do not try to bend it back against the top of the IC as this MAY break it. I bent mine back only because I’ve done this mod 4 times, and know when the PIN will give!

Let’s Begin:

Now, there’s actually two versions of this mod. One, you can have a switch that switches from Oc’ed to normal mode. This guide will NOT demonstrate how to install this switch. It requires soldering a wire from the lifted CPU PIN to the part of the board that PIN actually touched before you lifted it. One side of the switch will OC the console, or from lifted PIN to clock chip. The second mode will connect lifted PIN to original place on board like stock.

::::What You Will Need::::

Soldering iron
Thin wire: 22AWG or higher, 8” long TOPS
Hot glue gun: REQUIRED (to hold lifted CPU PIN and soldered on wire from moving!)
Phillips head screwdriver
Razor blade
PlayStation / PSone console DUHH!

NOW Let’s Actually Start!:

Start by disassembling your console. We need to get down to JUST the motherboard. I’ll let you get there, its self explanatory. Locate CPU SONY, CDX8606BQ. Turn the board so SONY reads going down, and so does the model number. The fourth (4^th) PIN from the left over needs to be lifted, like in the picture below… Simply count from the left, 4… Take your razor blade, and place it under the 4^th PIN. Lightly apply pressure where the blade would be pushing on the PIN from the bottom. NOTE: Other nearby PINs will likely move too. Once the CPU PIN is lifted and out of the way, simply adjust the other PINs that moved too.

Now, you need to locate your motherboard’s clock chip. This chip sends out a 64 MHz signal that gets divided by the CPU and another processor. I think it’s the graphics processor, RSX? Anyway… This 6 PIN chip is usually labeled “2194A”, or “2100 8858 JRC.” The lifted CPU pin needs to be linked with PIN 6 on the clock chip. Remember how to read IC PINs from the intro? That’s exactly how you find it. OR, you could just look at the following picture... And NO, the red dots do not mean solder here… That’s the origin of the line… I didn’t know what to type, so I just… Never mind…

The picture shows the clock chip for two older model PlayStations, SCPH-7501 and SCPH-9001. There is a rule of thumb I invented for finding the correct clock chip in case it’s not labeled like above.

To locate the correct clock chip if it’s not labeled “2194A”, or “2100 8858 JRC,” simply look at the CPU labeled SONY, CDX8606BQ like in the CPU picture. When you go directly to the left, you have your systems memory. Directly above the system memory, you have your clock chip, like in the diagram below…

You can either solder directly to the IC, or to the solder point (pointed to in blue) on the 7501 console, and maybe other models too. Simply follow the trace in the board and see if it leads to an obvious, and easy solder point. To do this, locate PIN 6 on clock chip, and look for a light green trace going from this PIN, and follow it to an easy solder point. DO NOT go past in-line components like resistors and capacitors! IF you do not find an easy solder point, you’ll have to solder to the IC itself. No biggie, it’s easy!

Once you make connection to the CPU PIN, I HIGHLY suggest you hot glue the entire area round the PIN so it cannot move! This PIN is VERY fragile! Hot gluing the clock chip point is not necessary, but you can for insulation. I also suggest the line is as short as possible for a good connection, and done with the heaviest gage wire you can possibly solder this with, like 22 AWG. Maybe 20 AWG would work too. Also if you can, I recommend a single strand wire, not wire with multiple copper lines in it. This makes it quick and easy to solder without worry the wire end will fray.

GOOD LUCK!

Special Thanks to Rob Ivy from Underground Console Mods, www.ucm.com, for finding this hack. Based on information I got from him, I was able to write this informative tutorial.

:::Kyle Riffel::: a.k.a. riva16