What is Overclocking, is it dangerous, how do you do it?

Rulee09

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Jan 24, 2014
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I am building a PC and I was picking out parts and when I chose the cpu they all said their speed then they said their overclocked speed. I really don't know what it is other than it goes faster when it is overclocked. Thank you in advance for you answers and help.
 

Adrian Ocampo

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Overclocking is when you are running a specific part of your cooler, way higher than the manufacturer base is or what you call stock speeds.
THere are numerous guides on how to overclock a CPU, and they can come in different variations such as overclocking with Multiplier or overlocking with the FSB/Bus speed.
You can search out there for guides :)
 

Hazle

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then you already know what OCing is, it can be dangerous to your hardware without taking the right precautions, and via the motherboard BIOS settings.

to elaborate, which in this case is likely the CPU; OCing raises the CPU clock speed for all cores beyond what is normally shown (certain boost functions like intel's turbo boost raises the clock speed while turning off a core at a time. i.e; i5-4670K = 3.4ghz w/ 4 cores > 3.8 w/ 1 core). this raises performance in some but not all applications.

in turn, the CPU may generate more heat, which will shorten the CPU lifespan. more true if you also raise the voltage to achieve a higher OC. this is why it's highly recommended to get a third party heatsink like CM's Hyper 212 EVO to cool the CPU and mitigate the damage. getting a good motherboard with a good power phase design may also help to get a stable OC.

performing an OC takes patience. usually done via the BIOS/UEFI settings, preferably with an unlocked CPU (i5-3570k/4670k, i7-3770K/4770K, FX-4300/6300/8300, etc.) and an accompanying overclockable board (in intel's case, usually the Z*7/Z*5 chipsets only. AMD's more lenient). you got 2 components to OC; the multiplier and the Bclk. the latter's rarely recommended as it can cause stability issues. the former is only possible with an unlocked CPU. normally, you raise the multiplier a bit, and maybe lower the Bclk, to raise your clock rate (multi x Bclk = clock speed, so 34 x 100mhz = 3400mhz = 3.4ghz, for example. you can raise it to 40 x 100mhz to get 4.0ghz). you then run a stress test to ensure it's stable. if it is, you can raise it further, and repeat the test till you reach a point where it's unstable. from there, you can lower the clock back to the last stable setting, or raise the voltage a tiny bit (hence also raising the heat generated) to achieve stability and/or a higher OC. you will eventually hit a wall where you can't OC and raise the voltage any more, not without shifting to a custom liquid cooling solution. how high you can OC without doing so is dependent on how good a chip you got, i.e. your luck.

read a proper guide like the one thatvietguy posted for a better explanation and a more comprehensive walkthough.
 
Overclocking isn't as dangerous as it used to be 15 years ago(thankfully). However, if you are reckless you can render completely useless your Cpu.

If you take the time to understand what you are doing, and are careful with it and take things in baby steps you'll do fine however. Having a better Cpu Cooler is essential for anything above a mild overclock, but that can be had for as little as 30 dollars(Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo). It's also necessary to have a decent motherboard supported by a chipset that allows an overclock.

I owned a Pentium 3 550mhz for about 2 hours before I attempted to change voltage and I completely fried the Cpu. I was shooting for a 733mhz speed, and should have been content with the 650mhz I'd already gotten. But, that was purely my fault for adjusting voltage far above and beyond what I needed to, so if you take your time and are careful you'll run into very few catastrophic failures.