subject: Overclocking - Things to Consider Before Attempting [print this page] Overclocking - Things to Consider Before Attempting
Overclocking is, as most of us know, the process of tweaking a CPU or graphic card so that it runs faster than what it is rated at by its manufacturer. For example, you can overclock a CPU that runs at 3GHz to 3.6GHz or more and get more performance from the overclocked CPU.
Usually the amount to which you can overclock your hardware component depends on other components used. To overclock a CPU, you need a good motherboard that can run at high FSB or HTT or BCLK depending on the CPU. You will also need overclockable RAM modules because when you overclock your CPU using FSB/HTT/BCLK, it also affects the speed of RAM and you have to make sure it can handle higher speeds than what it is rated at. Once you have good RAM and motherboard, select which CPU you want. Also keep in mind that you can't run an AMD CPU on an Intel board or vice versa.
There are two most important things to consider before overclocking. Firstly you must have a good power supply (PSU) before attempting any overclock. Because overclocking increases the CPU speed and that naturally increases the load on the PSU. When overclocking, the user may have to increase the CPU voltage to attain high overclocks and stability. This further puts burden on the PSU and it should be capable of providing the required amount of power to all the components while still producing acceptable amount of ripple. Substandard PSUs may burst while overclocking and that can permanently damage components.
The second thing you must look into is temperature. If you want to overclock, it is recommended that you use a third party cooler to cool your CPU as the stock heat sink is only capable of handling stock speeds. If you are increasing the CPU voltage, you will see an exponential increase in temperature and your cooler should be able to dissipate the heat generated. There are many third party coolers available for CPU in the market.
When overclocking, you may be tempted to straightaway increase the FSB to see high overclocks. But it's always recommended to increase it in increments. Usually you will be doing that in BIOS and for each and every increment, you will have to boot into OS and see if the overclocked CPU can handle the desktop. You should also run a stress test to make sure the CPU handles the overclock well. OCCT is one of the best tools to check for CPU stability and you can also use the graphs it provides after the test is complete to assess important factors like temperature, ripple etc. You can also see if the CPU throttles during the test. Typically, the system will crash if the overclock isn't stable.
Overclocking is safe provided you take all the necessary steps prior to attempting and you can see the difference in games, media conversion and benchmarks. But it also voids warranty and if you are willing to take that risk, you can overclock and get more performance.
