Overclocking a Megadrive 2

[Strider77]

Is it "safe" to overclock a MD2 VA1? Assuming one has a switch to flip it back to default clock speed? Is there any reason to not do that mod WITH a triple bypass mod?

I know some games won't run properly, hence the switch for returning to stock speed.

[Xyga]

Don't people commonly say you need a 10Mhz or even 9.20Mhz oscillator for MD2 OC anyway ?

[Strider77]

That doesn't answer any of my questions.

[Xyga]

Kinda does, partly, because if you don't include an oscillator to begin (you didn't mention you would) then the results might be disastrous, whether you do the triple bypass mod or not...

[rama]

Whatever clock source you choose, it will affect just the CPU. Video (and thus the bypass mod stuff) is unaffected.

I think there's a ~12Mhz clock available on the VDP that you could use to try the mod.
If it works, you won't need to wire up an external oscillator.

[Xyga]

There's a variable 10~13Mhz somewhere which iirc is recommended to avoid, but never heard of 12.

Fixed 10Mhz being the reasonable upper limit for the MD2 I've always read about, with 12 being possible in more limited cases. (13 or something for the MD1 depending on revision, but with broader compatibility), hence the usual recommendation for an oscillator...

I haven't had an OC'd one for ages but lat time I did it was a tiny 9.20Mhz, and although I've been far from playing enough games on it to say it's overall totally safe, can't say I had anything to complain about either.

It didn't made enough a difference for me to care to keep it though, sold it. :p

[rama]

Yeah, it's a useless mod in my opinion as well.
It changes minor things in almost all games, so even if most still work okay, it's a compromised experience.

[Strider77]

So in other words if you're going to do it... a triple bypass mod already there wouldn't be a reason not to do it.

I've read up on games that benefit from it and ones that have issues. With a switch in place to return to stock clock speed, I see no reason not to do it?