What is overclocking??

[Bigtoe]

I have seen this term used in varies instances. What is it??

[SuperSparks]

Overclocking is making the CPU run at a faster speed than it's designated MHz rating, i.e. making a 2.4MHz run at 2.6MHz. It obviously improves the PC's performance, but produces more heat, can intoduce instability, and can shorten the life of the CPU if the heat problem can't be resolved.

[ecross]

Overclocking is running your CPU (or other parts) past the speed that it is rated at. Anymore, you really don't need to overclock, and it may not be worth the risk if your computer is running fine as it is. Sometimes you can run the risk of overheating.

[Ridgerunr]

If you'd care to learn a' bit more about it:
http://www.ocinside.de/index_e.html

[Bigtoe]

I figured that is basically what it was. Thanks guys!!!

[onedaddycat]

In short it is a waste of good money, time, and energy.

Many people spend many hours and as much as $300 extra in enhanced components, (you have to have a good case, extra heavy duty fans, a high end motherboard, high end ram, and other system components.) all to get a $200 CPU to run like a $250 CPU.

Oh and by the way, it voids the warranty on almost everything in the system, and even if you keep the heat down you will still shorten the life of the components somewhat.

And none of that counts the cost of burned components that have to be replaced due to finding you "went too far" with the tweaking.

But after saying all that, if it's purely for entertainment and you can afford it go for it, it does have the effect of teaching how components and software interact.

Otherwise just buy the higher priced CPU and get on with life.

Just my $.02 worth

[walker2009]

Over clocking in the long term is no good because to get rid of the heat u will need an advanvced form of cooling!
i.e watercooling or advanced air cooling or if your really loaded vapochill!

And this doen not come cheap! to get a decent watercooling kit cost around £150-300!
Vapochill is around £300-400

Why just not upgrade ur cpu and gpu! and not risk the chance of blowing everything!

A good saying to stick to is "if it aint broke, dont fix it!!!!!"

I learnt the hard way and it cost me nearly £500, never again!

[104456]

You can overclock several components in your system such as graphics,memory and CPU but as mentioned run the risk of damaging the components if they are not properly ventilated and invalidate the warrenty.

Many sites offer both advice and equipment for doing this should you wish to and have the budget to try such as http://www.overclockers.com/

Newer overclocking techniques usually rely on motherboard bios inbuilt features thought there are some you can do yourself on the processor if the motherboard has manualy adjustable Bus speed and Multiplier settings.

As stated good cooling can be taken to the extreme with water or refrigeration cooling units but neither come cheap or you can try the system with several fans providing good airflow control if the changes are minor.

http://www14.brinkster.com/godofuq/water.html

Picture care of A+Tech via a recent discussion on his newly built water coolant system at another forum here

[SuperSparks]

Here's a nice article:

http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/11.03/overdrive.html

[Bigtoe]

fantastic guys. Thanks for all the info!!

[bistro]

And so, dear friends.....the moral of these posts is: Never, but never overclock any component that you aren't sure you can afford to replace...and not only the overclocked component, but any or all of the others within a stone's throw of it.

[walker2009]

I can still smell that burning smell now! *kringes*

[104456]

No they only stop working when the magic smoke escapes