Overclocking?

[illippinno]

I just upgraded my computer recently, and I had no idea what overclocking is. My friend who helped me with my computer overclocked my P4 from 2.8 to 3.2 ghz. From what I was told, it's not really safe to overclock your processor.

What exactly is overclocking, the advantage of it, and the risks?

Thanks.

 

[tylertherobot]

The big risk is that it could ruin your motherboard & hardware connected to it (meaning daughterboards, cpu, etc.) There's not really that much risk if you have proper cooling, but if you have crappy cooling it could royally mess you up.

Overclocking itself is pushing your hardware further than the factory-made settings.

 

[Demalii]

You can gain a good 15-23% chip speed increase, mine's a 1.83 OCed to 2.36 with a 76FSB increase also =)

 

[tylertherobot]

Mine's overclocked to 2.2 from 1.97, I'm gonna OC more here soon.

 

[illippinno]

What is the proper cooling I would need?

Right now, I only have the cpu fan it came with the retail box, and 4 fans (2 fronts, blowing in, and 2 in the back, blowing out).

Tim

 

[Ken Masters]

Why do you need to OC? I wouldn't bother unless you really need the extra processing speed.

 

[spfd]

i scanned through the posts i dont think i seen an answer to one of ur questions

oc - changing the clock speeds of ur processor to make it run faster

 

[illippinno]

I don't. I just want to know more about what overclocking is.

 

[trebor]

Spfd stated it simply, overclocking = changing the clock speeds of your processor and or other componets to make them run faster than factory specs.