Overclocking

[Ninjashizzle]

I can't say I know much about this, but all I know is it increases the clock rate of the Graphics card/CPU, which makes the Graphics card/CPU work harder, right? I just wanted to know, if this is safe, or even a good idea?

[Thrill]

You won't see any noticeable performance increase by overclocking the graphics card, it's fairly pointless. However with the CPU, it's very worthwhile. Aslong as you keep the CPU temperature, fairly cool then you won't have any problems at all. Adequate cooling and knowing your limits will make it a fairly safe process. My CPU came overclocked, that's how safe it is

[CHiLL]

Pushing clock speeds higher than what they're supposed to be is never safe. I've overclocked a few systems, and a couple of them have blown.

 

Lets just take the CPU.

 

Overclocking this means it can calculate faster. However, there are various limitations.

 

1) Your motherboard may not support overclocking. (Laptops and small form factor computers for certain)

2) Your motherboard, if allowing to overclock, may only allow you to overclock so much due to restrictions on the board

3) It has to be done in small increments, too big a gap can cause irreversible damage to components.

4) Do not overclock unless you know what you are doing or have the resources/money to waste in case it blows up.

5) Heat...overclocking means it has to work a lot harder, thus increasing temperature. Ensure you have decent cooling.

6) Power consumption...as with heat, it works a lot harder, thus requiring more power from the PSU. Ensure that your computer is able to supply enough power.

 

If you are still wanting to go ahead with overclocking, like Thrill said, don't bother with the graphics card. The gains are very small, and not worth the risk. The processor is the item to overclock, pushing the multiplier and FSB. RAM is also overclockable, making it perform faster than it should, but that is a whole new game, as you have to mess with voltages and timings, and it really isn't recommended.

[Thrill]

Great reply from ChiLL, but i'm going to say. Don't be scared, the motherboard will protect itself and turn the PC off if anything goes wrong and revert it back, it's sophisticated technology

[Shaunno]

Like previous posts say overclocking just increases how many operations can be doine in one secound, personally I have overlclocked my CPU from 2.8GHz to 3.8GHz, my RAm from 1600MHz to 1770MHz and my GPU (Core and memory clocks) let me just say that overlocking the GPU has a fair amount of benefit, but I have a custom cooler for my graphics card if you dont there aint no point OC'ing your graphics card because they get way to hot and become very unstable. The same can be said for the CPU without decent air flow in the case and a decent cooler you wont go very far, you will be able to increase the frequency to a point before you have to increase voltages to get a stable OC, increasinbg voltages is what massively increases temps. May I ask what CPU you are attempting to OC and whether you built the system or if it is pre-built, because most pree-built systems have their BIOS's locked soyou ant do anything. Best thing to do is to research overlclocking and have confidence in what your doing and changing settings on the BIOS. I dont know how chill managed to blow up any of his systems he must have been pushing them way beyond specs. (Like serious over voltaging)

[Ninjashizzle]

Thanks for the detailed replies guys, I found a video guide. My PC is silent no matter how long I leave it on and it's always nice and cold. I'll see how it goes, thanks again guys.