Basic Overclocking Practice

PC enthusiasts are generally familiar with the term overclocking, which refers to the practice of pushing the frequency of one computer component beyond its factory-rated speed. For example, a 2 GHz processor can be overclocked to run at 3 GHz by changing some settings. While advanced users are well used to manipulating these settings for the overclocking purpose, many of the casual computer users are still left in the dark when it comes to overclocking. Is it dangerous? What are the benefits and/ or risks that one should expect?

Since overclocking is always associated with excessive heat generated by the component running above its intended specification, selecting the right type of cooler, therefore, is of one of the most important things that must be considered before the overclocking even begins. Based on the type of the cooling agent, there are several categories of cooling method available today:

1. Air Cooling (heatsink unit, usually coupled with a fan),
2. Water Cooling (waterblocks, coupled with water hoses and a radiator unit),
3. Extreme Cooling (utilizes extremely cold cooling agent, such as the -160 degree Celsius liquid nitrogen).

The overclocking practice itself can be divided into two separate categories

1. Overclocking without modifying the voltage setting.
2. Overclocking with voltage modification.

Some of the major hardware components, such as the processor, graphics card, and memory module, can be overclocked to improve their standard performance by tweaking certain parameters in the BIOS and/ or Windows using specialized overclocking software.

This time, the Jagat OC team attempted to overclock an Intel Core i7 930 processor (default speed: 2,8 GHz). We deliberately limit the increase to mild overlock only, which is still relatively safe for daily usage. Only a few voltage settings are tweaked in some parts.