Crazy-Mod #52432--1GB Flash Drive OC!

PoisonWaffle · 06-24-2007, 10:20 PM

Yep, you read it right... I'm overclocking a 1GB PNY Attache flash drive! The process is rather simple--rip it apart, put a heatsink on the memory chip, kill a resistor by heating it with a soldering iron, and voila!--An overclocked flash drive!

Here's the flash drive with the case removed (pried it off with a knife)... already got the memory chip AS5'd up.

The other side of it (the top). The chip in the middle is the microprocessor that runs everything on it, I think o.O

The ramsink (provided by none other than THE Rhino56--Thanks!)before modding...

The bottom of the ramsink after a quick lapping and alcohol soak/scrub...

Side view of the ramsink... you can see how thin the fins are, and you can see the alcohol that hasn't evaporated yet o.O

The ramsink after modding. I just took a knife and bent the fins apart

The ramsink stuck on to the chip...

I put it in the smallest clamp I could find...

Here you can see how small the clamp really is...

I'm going to leave it clamped for about a week to let the AS5 settle in and harden. I know I should have used AS Ceramic or something that would harden faster, but all I had was AS5, and it works well enough (I can never get it off of anything I put it on other than CPU's, and those are a pain to get off)...

Once I test it out I'll post up the results, and if everything works out well enough in the end, I'll post up a guide so you fellers (heh) can do it too if you get bored and feel like taking on a retarded/pointless project such as this.

Summary --

Materials:
-1GB PNY Flash Drive - $15
-Copper Ramsink - Provided by Rhino56... probably about $10 for a pack of 8
-Arctic Silver 5 - $5-15 depending on amount. Jab-tech has good prices on it... that's where I got mine.

Total cost: about $20

I'll let you know how the testing phase goes!

Thanks for watching!

rhino56 · 06-25-2007, 12:49 AM

wow so how will you test it? like measure the performance increase? what a cool little project

PoisonWaffle · 06-25-2007, 08:14 AM

It's as simple as clocking read/write speeds. Vista has a thing that shows it

J2T · 06-25-2007, 09:54 AM

just curious, but how did you come across this idea? lol

PoisonWaffle · 06-25-2007, 11:41 PM

Update--IT WORKS!!!

I put superglue around the edge of the ramsink to get it to stick to the chip better, let it dry, and took the clamp off. I plugged 'er in, an' she runs!

Just by some informal testing (haven't gotten a chance to run it on vista or do any speed tests), it's getting 4-6mbps write speed (3mbps stock). I'm basing this on how long it takes to copy/paste files onto the drive (tried both small files and large files....1mb to 100mb.... still getting between 5 and 6 mpbs on smaller transfers!)....

But wow... it runs HOT! Methinks I need another ramsink on the other chip! I just burned myself on it!

I'm trying a 424mb cluster of files... timing it with my system clock... seems to be going very fast... 93 seconds... do the math... that's over 4mbps... not bad...

I think the problem is that when it's doing a large transfer, it starts to heat up and starts slowing down or something... it's somehow losing performance. I'll have to do a lot more testing to confirm this.

J2T, this whole thing started when I took the ugly plastic case off of the drive and superglued the lanyard clip directly to the drive. The clip broke off, taking a resistor with it. I connected the two pins where the resistor was, and it started running really hot... I got to thinking "hey, I bet I overclocked it!" So now once I get some more cooling on this thing I'm going to kill a few more resistors and see how it goes! The drive is disposable... I never use it anyway and I've got another one if I ever do need it. As far as I'm concerened, 1gb of space is completely useless on it's own, and the next flash drive I buy will be
at least 4-8gb.

Anyway... I've got finals this week, so I probably won't have much time to do much more on this project for about a week (unless my comp hardware teacher decides he'll give me extra credit for this project!). I'll update with more pictures, screenshots, etc, etc whenever I've got them. I'll most likely be writing a guide to post up on here on cryo-labs if Illya wants me to.

Lemme know if you guys have any ideas or suggestions on how to test this thing out!

Thanks for reading!

PoisonWaffle · 06-25-2007, 11:49 PM

Another update!

I did some googling, and I guess I can use SiSoftware Sandra 2007 to test it! Stock, it gets 1628 operations/minute. I'll download it and see what I can get with my overclocked one

I'll let you know how it goes... I'm going to bed right now tho

G'nite everyone!

rhino56 · 06-26-2007, 02:03 AM

wow man i cant wait to see the results of this. i have a small flash drive also i could try it on. but you got to teach us how first.

PoisonWaffle · 06-26-2007, 09:04 AM

ZOMG!!! 63% PERFORMANCE INCREASE!!!

1628 operations/minute stock...
2583 operations/minute overclocked!!!

It's still nowhere near as fast as a SanDisk Cruiser Titanium, but it's a helluva lot better than it was stock. I'm considering getting a Cruiser and seeing what happens when I overclock that

I'll do some more testing and write up a guide sometime

rhino56 · 06-26-2007, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PoisonWaffle

ZOMG!!! 63% PERFORMANCE INCREASE!!!

1628 operations/minute stock...
2583 operations/minute overclocked!!!

It's still nowhere near as fast as a SanDisk Cruiser Titanium, but it's a helluva lot better than it was stock. I'm considering getting a Cruiser and seeing what happens when I overclock that

I'll do some more testing and write up a guide sometime

holy crap man how cool, i can help you write a guide if you like.

J2T · 06-26-2007, 02:39 PM

lol, I'm getting tempted.....

06-24-2007, 10:20 PM	#1 (permalink)
PoisonWaffle Command Sergeant Major Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 933	Crazy-Mod #52432--1GB Flash Drive OC! Yep, you read it right... I'm overclocking a 1GB PNY Attache flash drive! The process is rather simple--rip it apart, put a heatsink on the memory chip, kill a resistor by heating it with a soldering iron, and voila!--An overclocked flash drive! Here's the flash drive with the case removed (pried it off with a knife)... already got the memory chip AS5'd up. The other side of it (the top). The chip in the middle is the microprocessor that runs everything on it, I think o.O The ramsink (provided by none other than THE Rhino56--Thanks!)before modding... The bottom of the ramsink after a quick lapping and alcohol soak/scrub... Side view of the ramsink... you can see how thin the fins are, and you can see the alcohol that hasn't evaporated yet o.O The ramsink after modding. I just took a knife and bent the fins apart The ramsink stuck on to the chip... I put it in the smallest clamp I could find... Here you can see how small the clamp really is... I'm going to leave it clamped for about a week to let the AS5 settle in and harden. I know I should have used AS Ceramic or something that would harden faster, but all I had was AS5, and it works well enough (I can never get it off of anything I put it on other than CPU's, and those are a pain to get off)... Once I test it out I'll post up the results, and if everything works out well enough in the end, I'll post up a guide so you fellers (heh) can do it too if you get bored and feel like taking on a retarded/pointless project such as this. Summary -- Materials: -1GB PNY Flash Drive - $15 -Copper Ramsink - Provided by Rhino56... probably about $10 for a pack of 8 -Arctic Silver 5 - $5-15 depending on amount. Jab-tech has good prices on it... that's where I got mine. Total cost: about $20 I'll let you know how the testing phase goes! Thanks for watching! __________________

06-25-2007, 08:14 AM	#3 (permalink)
PoisonWaffle Command Sergeant Major Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 933	It's as simple as clocking read/write speeds. Vista has a thing that shows it __________________

06-25-2007, 09:54 AM	#4 (permalink)
J2T Super Moderator <<<[MP]Major Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,133	just curious, but how did you come across this idea? lol __________________ System 1 5000+ Black Edition @ 3Ghz Biostar TPower N750 SLi 2x2Gb G.Skill PC2 6400 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB XFX Geforce 8800GT Alpha Dog Ultra X3 600W System 2 C2D E8400 @ 4Ghz Biostar TPower I45 2x2Gb G.Skill DDR2 8800 XFX HD4890 1GB Ultra X3 1000W

06-25-2007, 11:41 PM	#5 (permalink)
PoisonWaffle Command Sergeant Major Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 933	Update--IT WORKS!!! I put superglue around the edge of the ramsink to get it to stick to the chip better, let it dry, and took the clamp off. I plugged 'er in, an' she runs! Just by some informal testing (haven't gotten a chance to run it on vista or do any speed tests), it's getting 4-6mbps write speed (3mbps stock). I'm basing this on how long it takes to copy/paste files onto the drive (tried both small files and large files....1mb to 100mb.... still getting between 5 and 6 mpbs on smaller transfers!).... But wow... it runs HOT! Methinks I need another ramsink on the other chip! I just burned myself on it! I'm trying a 424mb cluster of files... timing it with my system clock... seems to be going very fast... 93 seconds... do the math... that's over 4mbps... not bad... I think the problem is that when it's doing a large transfer, it starts to heat up and starts slowing down or something... it's somehow losing performance. I'll have to do a lot more testing to confirm this. J2T, this whole thing started when I took the ugly plastic case off of the drive and superglued the lanyard clip directly to the drive. The clip broke off, taking a resistor with it. I connected the two pins where the resistor was, and it started running really hot... I got to thinking "hey, I bet I overclocked it!" So now once I get some more cooling on this thing I'm going to kill a few more resistors and see how it goes! The drive is disposable... I never use it anyway and I've got another one if I ever do need it. As far as I'm concerened, 1gb of space is completely useless on it's own, and the next flash drive I buy will be at least 4-8gb. Anyway... I've got finals this week, so I probably won't have much time to do much more on this project for about a week (unless my comp hardware teacher decides he'll give me extra credit for this project!). I'll update with more pictures, screenshots, etc, etc whenever I've got them. I'll most likely be writing a guide to post up on here on cryo-labs if Illya wants me to. Lemme know if you guys have any ideas or suggestions on how to test this thing out! Thanks for reading! __________________

06-25-2007, 11:49 PM	#6 (permalink)
PoisonWaffle Command Sergeant Major Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 933	Another update! I did some googling, and I guess I can use SiSoftware Sandra 2007 to test it! Stock, it gets 1628 operations/minute. I'll download it and see what I can get with my overclocked one I'll let you know how it goes... I'm going to bed right now tho G'nite everyone! __________________

06-25-2007, 12:49 AM	#2 (permalink)
rhino56 Administrator General Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 6,813	wow so how will you test it? like measure the performance increase? what a cool little project

06-26-2007, 02:03 AM	#7 (permalink)
rhino56 Administrator General Join Date: Feb 2006 Posts: 6,813	wow man i cant wait to see the results of this. i have a small flash drive also i could try it on. but you got to teach us how first.

06-26-2007, 09:04 AM	#8 (permalink)
PoisonWaffle Command Sergeant Major Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Sioux Falls, SD Posts: 933	ZOMG!!! 63% PERFORMANCE INCREASE!!! 1628 operations/minute stock... 2583 operations/minute overclocked!!! It's still nowhere near as fast as a SanDisk Cruiser Titanium, but it's a helluva lot better than it was stock. I'm considering getting a Cruiser and seeing what happens when I overclock that I'll do some more testing and write up a guide sometime __________________

06-26-2007, 02:39 PM	#10 (permalink)
J2T Super Moderator <<<[MP]Major Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: Orlando, FL Posts: 2,133	lol, I'm getting tempted..... __________________ System 1 5000+ Black Edition @ 3Ghz Biostar TPower N750 SLi 2x2Gb G.Skill PC2 6400 Seagate Barracuda 7200.11 1TB XFX Geforce 8800GT Alpha Dog Ultra X3 600W System 2 C2D E8400 @ 4Ghz Biostar TPower I45 2x2Gb G.Skill DDR2 8800 XFX HD4890 1GB Ultra X3 1000W