Is Overclocking Safe? Whether to Overclock or Not? Look Here
Obtaining high performance of computer is the pursuit of every computer user. Many people want to achieve that by overclocking CPU, GPU or RAM. But they don’t know what exactly overclocking is and what does it mean. Well, MiniTool will discuss some questions related to overclocking in this post.
As you know, computer will become slow or unresponsive after a period of time. Then you need to take some measures to improve its performance like performing a PC cleanup, laptop optimization, and CPU/GPU/RAM overclocking, etc.
Overclocking is one of the best methods to improve performance without spending additional money. You can get higher performance without a little bit of tweaking. Read here, you may have multiple questions like many other users.
Here we list some frequently asked questions about overclocking. What is overclocking? Is overclocking safe? How to overclock safely? What are the risks of overclocking? To get the answers to these questions, keep reading the content below.
What Is Overclocking
Overclocking actually is the process of setting your CPU multiplier higher, which will speed up chip and increase the overall performance of computer. It usually involves the primary processor. Certainly, you can also overclock a discrete GPU to boost graphics processing.
-image from msi.com
What does overclocking do? With overclocking, the CPU or GPU clock run faster than its original clock speed. Clock speed is the rate at which instructions are executed per second. Should you overclock? Well, this is not a simple question. Instead, you should answer it after learning its pros and cons.
You can overclock RAM, monitor, and GPU with the following guides:
- Step by Step Guide: How to Overclock RAM
- How to Overclock Monitor to a Higher Refresh Rate for Gaming
- How to Overclock GPU NVIDIA/AMD to Boot Gaming
Whether to Overclock
Overclocking is a double-edged sword. It has its advantages and disadvantages, so deciding whether to overclock is not easy.
Pros
Overclocking offers two benefits. The most obvious one is the performance improvement of computer. Then the computer can complete intensive tasks faster than before. On the other hand, overclocking enables you to get a speed compatible with high-end hardware from inexpensive hardware. In other word, you can save money because of overclocking.
Cons
Of course, overclocking also has some drawbacks. At first, overclocking is a time-consuming and expensive operation particularly if you are unfamiliar in tinkering with PC components. Besides, you have to change your multiplier, voltage settings, fan rotation speeds, as well as other vital but fragile fundamentals.
The increase performance and power consumption can cause high temperature easily, and the overheating may trigger computer crashing issue. If the temperature gets too high, your hardware can be damaged. This will reduce the lifespan of the hardware. Then your computer may die sooner than expected date.
How to Overclock Safely
Is there is a safe overclock? Yes, there is only if you follow the right procedure. In addition, you need to find a balance between temperatures and clock speeds. Moreover, some preparations like getting a good cooling system and obtaining a good understanding of overclocking are vital too.
If you insist in overclocking CPU after learning its drawbacks, you can refer to the steps below to safely overclock CPU.
- Do some research on your processor and BIOS
- Perform a system stress test
- Check the performance of your CPU
- Access BIOS
- Adjust the CPU multiplier
How to safely overclock automatically? Well, you can do that with a third-party program such as MSI Afterburner, Intel Extreme Tuning Utility, and AMD Overdrive, etc. After installing the tool, follow the on-screen instruction to complete the operation.
Is overclocking safe? You may find the answer from the post. Though overclocking can boost laptop performance, it has potential risks as well. Given to that fact, you’d better think twice before performing it.