The truth about overclocking, how overclocking works, and whether or not it is safe for you to do.

The definition of overclocking means to force something to run at a faster speed than it was built to handle.

In computers, people will overclock their CPU (processors), memory, PCI slots, and videocards to get a better performance out of their hardware.

How is this possible? Is this smart? Is it safe? Are those geeks claiming to have 4ghz CPU's lying? Is it even possible to have a 5ghz CPU? Why would I want to overclock?

First off...your computer components are all physically connected together and transport data from one to another using a "bus". A bus is simply an open highway that is used to carry data information back and forth between the different components. For example, a click on your mouse would send a signal to the motherboard to convert into a process for which your CPU will handle that will in turn send data to the videocard for it to render and draw 3D graphics so that you will see an effect in your video game resulting from the initial "click". 

The Processor (CPU): this is by far the most popular computer hardware component to overclock. I believe overclocking has been in existence for nearly as long as computers have been! Think of the CPU as a car engine; I'm sure you can think of many people that custom-tune the engines in their import cars or muscle cars to perform at a higher unofficial speed. For computer hobbyists like myself, this is the exact same idea. It's fun to tweak your CPU to see how fast it can go.

What's the point of a faster CPU? Well, it can be faster performance or even bragging rights. Some people do it to save money. Most do it because they can and because they are curious. You learn a lot about computers when you learn to overclock so why not?

Back in the days, CPU's were sold out of the box and made to run at a factory-set speed. Processor speeds are usually set at the factory by a pattern of soldering on their circuit boards. Computer hobbyists back then used their electrical engineering knowledge to figure out a way to re-solder the connectors on the CPU in a pattern that told the processor to run at a faster speed. The crazy caught on and people overclocking CPU's to see which CPU's could overclock the best. Many people posted their "overclocking records" online to see who had the fastest overclocked CPU.

To overclock your CPU, you must understand several things like how your CPU speed is determined. You must also learn how to give your CPU the juice and cooling it needs to keep running at a higher speed.

The CPU processor's speed is determined by the multiplier and the front-side bus speed. You can think of the multiplier as the frequency and speed of which the CPU is forced to run at. Think of the frequencies as the number of processes that the CPU can run at the same time. The front-side bus is the maximum size at which a process can be. Let's look at this simple equation below:

Intel CPU Pentium X           Multiplier of 10   x   Frontside Bus(FSB) 200mhz = 2000mhz or 2ghz CPU 

Now, the number 10 is the frequency of which your CPU is told to perform at. It affects ONLY your CPU processor. Remember back in the days when they sold Intel Pentium 4 CPU's in stores at 2.0ghz, 2.2ghz, and 2.4ghz? Guess how they did that ------ the 2.0ghz is clocked to run at 10 X 200mhz FSB, the 2.2ghz runs at 11 X 200mhz FSB, and the 2.4ghz runs at 12 x 200mhz FSB. Here comes more useful information, processor chip manufacturers like AMD and Intel will FOREVER use the same core to manufacturer the same family of processors. Forever example, Intel code-named many of their processors to differentiate between the performance levels and capabilities. Their earlier Pentium 4 (northwood) cores ran at 1.8ghz-2.4ghz, their later Pentium 4 (prescott) cores ran from 2.4ghz-3.2ghz. AMD's Athlon XP Thoroughbred B cores ran from XP1700 to XP2600 and their Athlon XP Barton cores ran from XP2500 to XP3200. Why is all this stuff important? Again, like I said, the manufacturers will likely use the same core throughout the entire class/family of processors. In other words, when you are buying a Pentium 4 (northwood core) CPU at 1.8ghz, you are probably getting an UNDERCLOCKED 2.4ghz CPU! Wow, makes sense doesn't it? There's no point in manufacturing 3-4 different models when they can just make one and then simply solder it in a different way that tells the CPU's to run at a lower default speed. The CPU multiplier (a.k.a. frequency) is not the only thing that dictates the speed of the CPU. The front-side bus also determines the speed of the CPU. As time passes, processor manufacturers, engineers and scientists increase both the frequencies and front-side bus of the CPU to increase it's overall clock speed. Over the past 25 years, frequencies and multipliers have skyrocketed. Memory nowadays is running faster than CPU's did 10 years ago. Scientists work hard to find ways to make chips run faster and reliably while still requiring only air cooling and minimal electricity.

Now the front-side bus is the next step in understanding the CPU processor. In fact, the FSB has to do with the rest of your computer. The FSB is the speed at which all your major components communicate with each other. The FSB is a universal speed that your processor, motherboard, and RAM use to communicate between the three of each other. Here's another way to look at the relationship between multipliers and FSB speeds. Think of your CPU processor as a highway in which all data bits pass through. The data is the little cars going down the highway. The MULTIPLIER of the CPU means the number of cars that can pass through per lane in a given amount of time. The FRONTSIDE-BUS of the CPU means the number of lanes that are available on the highway. You will notice that over the years, the frontside-bus becomes bigger and bigger, because it is much faster this way. You can quickly a wide variety of different data to pass through without over-extending the CPU. 

Now you can see that to overclock the processor:

1) increase the multiplier - Good because it only affects the CPU/processor and not the rest of the system. Often this is the only different between a slower CPU and a faster one. Remember that for CPU's to run at a much higher speed than it is built for, you MIGHT need to increase the voltage. Now if the voltage is increased, you will also need better cooling since the CPU will run hotter. I highly recommend buying a HUGE heatsink with a big quiet fan that makes less than 30db of noise. A great place to buy these for cheap is www.svc.com They have great prices and frequent sales. I hate water cooling because it is a hassle, takes up space, requires maintenance, the cheap water cooling systems $199 and under are hardly any better than the most expensive air cooling ($50), and the best water cooling systems ($399-499) are as noisy as air cooling systems and are so expensive that you could just BUY the faster CPU. They do look cool but not cool enough for the price in my opinion. 

2) increase the FSB - Good because it gives you a higher performance gains because it overclocks your whole system, (CPU, motherboard, RAM). In some situations, you will come across options to overclock your PCI slots - DON'T DO IT! You risk damage to many of your other hardware like hard drives, sound cards which are not made to be overclockable. When doing this, don't forget to buy ram that has tons of room for the FSB to increase. The FSB increase will affect the memory frequencies directly so make sure everything matches up.

Many of the custom motherboards being sold these days will have very user-friendly options for overclocking in the BIOS. You can usually overclock your CPU and RAM simply by looking at the default frequency variables and then typing in your own frequency variables. I recommend not pushing your system any further than 5-10% at first. Keep in mind that you don't have to worry very much about damaging your CPU. The manufacturers all build their CPU's to easily withstand another 10% push if they have to. They make their chips this way to ensure stability and reliability. Another reason why you don't have to worry is because all hardware nowadays have auto-shutoff mechanisms that will turn off your computer if it is being pushed too hard. If this happens, all you have to do is clear your motherboard CMOS or BIOS jumpers and the system will reset to default. It is very very hard to burn out your CPU or any other parts. 

Q: So is it really that easy to overclock? Do I just put in a slower speed CPU and then tell the BIOS, that it's faster?

A: More or less, yes. With CPU's and GPU's, you usually might have to buy a better cooling solution than the stock cooling fan. Make sure you pay a bit more money for a bigger heatsink so that you don't have to deal with so much noise when a small fan is struggling to keep the processor temperatures down.

Q: What happens if the CPU is being pushed too hard? Will it die? Will my machine blow up?

A: The answer is NO! You are relatively safe, nothing will blow up. All computer parts are designed to shutoff  when they are being pushed to the point of failure. Your system will simply restart or shut off when it becomes unstable. It is highly unlikely, like IMPOSSIBLE, for your CPU to continue to run at levels higher than it can handle for more than a split second.

Simple Overclocking Theories: Yes, in most cases, you're not really overclocking the CPU processor chip; you're simply telling it to run at a higher speed that the CPU can be made to perform at. Here is how most people overclock a 2.4ghz CPU to run at 3.5ghz. They buy a 2.4ghz chip that is in the same series as a much faster 3.2ghz CPU. They make it run at 3.2ghz to see if the system detects it as a 3.2ghz STOCK CPU. Next, they push it another 10% 

RAM: Like the CPU, ram is constantly being overclocked. In fact, most lower speed memory that you buy is actually contains memory chips that are "rated" to perform at higher speeds. But of course, the law of supply and demand cause memory chip makers to scale down the timings of their memory to offer RAM to the consumer at different speeds and prices. The consumer gets to choose whatever he/she can afford and will often buy more and upgrade when the consumer saves up more money. What the consumer doesn't know is that by SIMPLY changing a setting in the motherboard BIOS, the RAM can instantly be told to run at a faster speed. So how can you tell if your memory can run at a faster speed like 667mhz instead of the 533mhz that it says on the box? Well first off, it helps to have "overclocking memory". Why? Because those memory sticks are high performance and built to hander higher voltage and perform at higher specifications. They also usually come with a cool looking metal heatsinks that might even have flashing lights on them. YES, that is overkill. In reality, you don't actually have to buy "overclocking RAM" to overclock your ram. Most lower speed ram sticks can easily run at the next speed or two higher than the speed you see listed on the box. There are many forums online where overclocking guru's trade information with one another to tell you what type of memory chips to look for when you buy RAM sticks. The memory chips are the little black squares on your RAM sticks. The biggest memory chip manufacturers are Hynix, Samsung, Corsair, Mtech, and several others that I don't remember. Often, you will see "secret rumors" online that will tell you "oh buy so and so RAM and make sure there's the Samsung 3.3 chips on them because those overclock the best!" These rumors are usually true.      Keep in mind that you will not be so lucky with higher speed memory when overclocking because they are probably already performing at the highest speed that they can "safely" perform at.  You will often hear the term "timings" when it comes to overclocking ram. Overclocking ram will usually have "timings" numbers on the box like 2-3-3-8. In general, the lower these numbers, the faster the RAM is performing at. You can manually edit these numbers in your motherboard BIOS settings to force your RAM to run at "tighter timings". Force them to run too high and your system will crash or not even boot. In my own experience, tweaking your memory timings have almost NO NOTICEABLE EFFECT and you will generally get better performance by having low or loose timings at a higher clock speed (ex: 667mhz @ 3-4-4-8) than to have tight timings at a lower clock speed (ex: 533mhz @ 2-3-3-7).

Most RAM sticks have lifetime warranty and regardless of what the manufacturer says, you can easily get a replacement if you burn out your RAM sticks but that will RARELY ever happen. Because your system will usually just stop and shut down if your RAM can't handle the timings.  

Videocards: videocards are the heart of your gaming performance. A good CPU with a bad videocard means your video games will still look like crap. CPU is for processing, a videocard is for processing 3D graphics and for drawing 3D graphics. Videocards have special processors inside them called GPU's (graphics processing unit) that makes it very efficient and much better than the CPU at rendering 3D graphics.

Videocards are usually overclocked by software settings in Windows. There are many 3rd party programs out there that will give you the ability to overclock your videocards well beyond "safe" limits. The programs are usually very simple to use and require nothing more than for you to move a slider back and forth to decide how far you want to push your videocard GPU's limits. Like CPU's, videocards need sufficient power voltage and cooling to perform under more forceful conditions. Some people will buy giant cool looking copper heatsinks and fans for the videocard and others will use water cooling.

Like CPU's, videocard GPU's are often manufactured in a series. Like the how ATI Radeon videocards back then had the Radeon 9500 PRO and Radeon 9700 PRO as their flagship models. People discovered that certain 9500 PRO models were actually the same videocard in material as the 9700 PRO but factory UNDER-clocked. Some guru's figured that if they moved a couple wires around, it was quite easy to simply re-clock the GPU to  run like a 9700PRO. What a great deal - learning a lot, getting an ultrafast videocard, AND saving a ton of money from not having to pay for the "premium" card. 

Last note, if you see artifacts (weird spots of color) in your games, immediately turn down the overclocking ASAP or you risk damaging your videocard! 

CONCLUSION: As long as you educate yourself about overclocking and you understand how it works and you buy the right parts, there is NO RISK to overclocking. Non-sensitive hardware like motherboards and CPU's can be replaced easily without you ever losing any data. Most major OEM computer component manufacturers today like Intel, AMD, Asus, MSI, Giga-Byte, Epox all offer excellent service and support in terms of replacing damaged hardware. As long as you don't open tell them that you damaged the part by overclocking, they will replace your broken component no questions asked! By being knowledgeable about overclocking you can save a lot of money and have a faster computer than everyone else.  

Final Questions -

Q: How will I know if my system is really stable?
A: There are many MANY 3rd party programs out there that are used by overclockers to determine if their system is truly stable under the  most stressful conditions.  I use to use Prime95, Burn, and SiSoft Sandra. You're welcome to try others. The key is to make sure your system can at least run stable for 24hours for a whole week!

Q: Where else can I learn about overclocking?
A: I don't have the list now but there are very many sites and forums and clubs dedicated to overclocking where the  OC gurus are very helpful in posting their latest discoveries and sharing their information about the best hardware for overclocking and their tips to tell you what settings to put.

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