Overclocking - Is It Right For You?

I read in one of the forums that I belong to concerning a request for information on the subject of overclocking and whether the person should try it or not.  So what is overclocking? Overclocking in its basic form is merely forcing your cpu or memory to run at a higher rate of speed than the factories rated speed. As an example: Say you have a cpu that runs at a factory speed of 2.2 GHz and you kick up the speed to 2.5GHz or higher. In the case of memory running at say 400MHz you crank it up to run at 425MHz. Basically this should increase the speed in which the cpu or memory processes information and in theory will increase the overall performance of your computer system.

Can overclocking your system damage the hardware? Yes, it is possible. But what may happen before the hardware suffers any damage is that your system may lockup or crash. As you increase the speed, heat may become an issue though most of todays newest cpu’s have a built in thermal sensor that should shutdown the system before the processor overheats. Note the word ’should’. On this your mileage may vary.

So is overclocking right for you? It all depends how gutsy you are. If you have a new computer system that is still under warranty, or you have built a system using a new warranted cpu from Intel or AMD, you should consider this. Overclocking will void the warranty. If you return a overclocked cpu for replacement the odds of it being replaced under the warranty terms are fairly slim. Also returning a significant number of cpu’s for replacement may raise some red flags as well. With that said, the decision to overclock or not is a personal judgment call.

I have personally overclocked a few cpu’s in my day with varying results. Some cpu’s just seem to perform better at being overclocked than others do. It is also advisable to to replace the stock heatsink and fan with a more powerful unit to reduce the heat being generated during overclocking. There are some pretty elaborate watering cooling systems on the market for the die hard overclockers as well. Of course this type of cooling requires some extreme risk taking since combining water and electricity may be hazardous to your health.

Doing a Google search should provide you with a large assortment of web sites, some of which are designed to help the newbie to overclock their systems. Others are less helpful since they are designed for the more experienced overclockers among us.

Be careful.

Comments welcome.

[tags]overclocking, cpu, memory, heat, [/tags]