Basic Overclocking Practice

Conclusions

By raising the voltage a little bit to 1,168 V, a Core i7 930 can be overclocked to 3, 8 GHz. That is already far ahead of the Core i7 950’s –Core i7 930’s more expensive sibling- standard speed. Seen from this perspective, overclocking can get you better performance for lesser price.

Our overclocking practice this time is intended for 24/7 usage, so we suppressed the voltage increase to a minimum. It’s well within the safety limit suggested by the manufacturer. This is necessary because excessive overvoltage would compromise the durability of the corresponding component (in our case, the processor).

Looking at the test results, we can all conclude that the main benefit of overclocking is increased performance. However, like everything else in this world, it comes with a price. Higher clockspeed means higher temperature, and the heat must be dissipated effectively if the system is to gain any benefit from the overclocking at all. What good is a fast system that crashes every 5 minutes, due to overheating? You will need a good cooler that is able to sufficiently cool your overclocked component.

So, is overclocking dangerous? Will it do you more good than harm or otherwise? As a person who is directly responsible for overclocking your system, you must decide this on your own. You will face the risk of damage, but, given the right amount of guts along with the correct methods, you will also reap some benefits.