Want to squeeze every power out there in your PC to boost up the performance? CPU overclocking can be a great way to do so. Overclocking is all about pushing your PC components harder and faster than it is designed to go.
That means you can turn your sluggish CPU into something powerful without paying extra money. Sounds appealing? But before you jump into this overhaul, there are some things to consider.
Although overclocking doesn’t do any harm, it can still void any warranty on your machine. It can damage your CPU and other components as well if not done right.
So, if you want to make your overclocking process as fail-safe as possible, here are some things to consider.
Find Out Whether Your CPU Is Overclock-Able
Although most CPU can be easily overclocked, some of them are very limited. Some processors have chips that are unlocked while some models have locked multiplier.
So, you can’t get too much from such CPUs. If you are unclear whether your CPU and motherboard support overclocking, search the model number on the Internet or visit the official website of the manufacturers to get more related information.
You Need To Have a Good Cooling System
Once you are sure that your pc supports overclocking, it is time to have a good cooling system. As discussed above, your CPU produces more heat with the increased clock speed. So, a good cooling system is required to control the temperature of your CPU.
If your speed increases less or around 10%, a heat sink can be enough. However, if the temperature goes further up, using more powerful cooling systems such as water cooling system will help.
Good PSU Is Important
If you follow all the above points but fail to get a good power supply, you will be in trouble. Power Supply Unit or PSU provide clean power to the system. If it doesn’t offer the required power, it will be overloaded. Using quality PSUs is essential otherwise it will simply blow up and fry other components when stressed a little.
Take a Moment to Explore Your BIOS
Before jumping into overclocking process, it’s better to get a benchmark of where your PC stands without extra frequency. Press “Delete” or “F2” when the computer boots to explore your BIOS and go through different categories of settings.
Now, look for “Load Optimized Defaults” option used to reset your BIOS to its bone-stock settings. However, you may also want to do some research on your motherboard. Some motherboards comes with an “auto-overclocking” settings enabled by default and you may turn it off before continuing.
Finally, select the Boot menu and make sure your PC is all set to boot from the right hard drive. Then, click on the “Save and Exit” option in your BIOS to reboot your computer into Windows.
Run a Stress Test
Lastly, ensure that everything is hunky dory at stock settings by running a stress test. Before considering overclocking, you need to run a stress test to check the status of your CPU.
Benchmark your CPU’s temperature at stock to determine how hot it runs when you’ve pushed it to 100%. Many free programs are there that allow you to run an array of stress tests on your computer.
However, if your processor doesn’t support overclocking and it’s too slow to work on, sell used computer processors and get a new one.
Final Word
Overclocking your CPU can be pretty time consuming and you may end up messing with the voltage setting and other fragile fundamentals with little knowledge.
So, overclock your CPUs in small increments and keep a close eye on stability, net performance improvement and heat while testing each boost.
Once you are done with all the things explained above, you are good to go. It’s time to start overclocking your CPU.
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