Much heard, yet not too known! :O

Hello All!! ^_^

I know this word, Overclocking, since more than 2 years now, so I never thought that people just know the word and not its meaning as yet!! So today I would like to give a brief introduction of Overclocking to the readers of my blog, sorry if I go wrong somewhere.

"Overclocking is the process of running a computer component at a higher clock rate (more clock cycles per second) than it was designed for or was specified by the manufacturer, usually practised by enthusiasts seeking an increase in the performance of their computers." Now that's what wikipedia says. Let me explain it a little bit. Well, the speed of a computer system, the processor in particular(may it be the main processor or graphical processor), is measured as clock rate. Clock rate or clock cycles per second, simply means number of cycles of processes that may go on through the processor in one second! So you can imagine a 2.9 GHz processor is having 290,000,000,000 cycles going on through it per second!!! But we now there is no end to our desires! LOL! And we want more and more speed through our CPU as much as we derive! So what is the thing one resorts to in such a case???? - Of course! Over-Clocking!

The most commonly used process for overclocking one's CPU is Cooling it a bit more! So what is then most commonly used thing for that? - Yes! The Cooling Paste! I remember I read it once that even liquid Nitrogen is used by some people to cool their CPU! WOW! O_O Actually the problem is that, an overclocked CPU tends to generate more heat which might go beyond the tolerable levels of the motherboard and all! That's why one resorts to cooling pastes to cool an overclocked CPU. There are two reasons for that - 1. It is cheap! And 2. It is simple! :)

Going a bit technical, Overclockability arises in part due to the economics of the manufacturing processes of CPUs and other components. In most cases components with different rated clock rates are manufactured by the same process, and tested after manufacture to determine their actual ratings. The clock rate that the component is rated for is at or below the clock rate at which the CPU has passed the manufacturer's functionality tests when operating in worst-case conditions.

The main disadvantage of the overcolcking is that, it significantly reduces the life of the componenents, like your processor! And the main advantage is that, when your computer is too old and you want to get the most out of it, you may try overclocking to move with the world!

I am not discussing how to overclock a computer system though. I just wanted to make everyone a bit aware! Though I may consider discussing the process in future!

Thank you for reading!