Ever heard of overclocking..? The term is quite frequently used these days and it actually means to run a processor faster than the speed for which it is designed and tested. Yes it can be done. Clock speed defines how many instructions a processor can execute per second. And when you overclock it you are actually increasing the number of instructions which the processor will execute per second and ofcourse the performance of the processor will improve ultimately.
Most of the times, overclocking might result in a performance boost of 10 percent. For instance a system with an Intel pentium three processor running at 933 MHz can be overclocked to run at speed which is same as pentium three 1050 MHz processor. Isn't it amazing? Overclocking might not always produce the same results every time for example if two systems which are identical are overclocked, it is not necessary that both of them will give the same results.
Risks involved : Overclocking is a procedure which is always performed at your own risk because there are certain risks involved in it. Overheating is a major concern because overclocked processor will have increased heat output and to counter that you will have to use cooling fans and heat sinks etc. Moreover, overclocking is not supported by major chip manufacturers which implies that the warranty will be void once you overclock. So it is highly recommended that you must know everything before you decide to overclock your processor.
Overclocking methods : The two most common methods of overclocking are to either increase the multiplier or to increase the front side bus (FSB).
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* Besides processors, RAM and video cards can also be overclocked.
