Overclocking Dangerous???

[10cents]

I always thought overclocking was about testing how fast a PC or laptop can go but I've recently camer across a post in another forum that overclocking cooked somebody's laptop. I thught overclocking was about software, how could it possibly damage hardware?

[Robert]

Overclocking a laptop is never a good idea. Their cooling is always over run at stock, by OCing it your just asking for it to cook itself.

When it comes to desktops you can very easily add some after market cooling and temps will not be a problem.

The main thing you have to watch when OCing any computer is the voltage. If you push it to high you could do a lot of damage. It's also the voltage increase that makes all the heat. But if you don't up the voltage you OC can become very unstable.

I have overclocked every computer i have owned and I'm yet to kill one.

The computer i'm now is OC'ed from 2GHz to 2.8GHz and has always been rock solid. I have upped the volts by a small amount but i also added a very nice after market cooler .

Big Typhoon - CL-P0114

[mjd420nova]

Over-clocking is not so much about the CPU, but memory and onboard buffer chips, DMA controllers and all the peripheral chips too. Depending on the MOBO, it is possibly to crater(smoke) many other chips on the board. I've repaired many a MOBO that has had blown buffers and DMA chips, no easy feat, but neccesary due to the high cost of some boards. I've overclocked numerous boards, but in most cases, swapped the critical chips out for faster ones before even attempting the feat.

[zampu]

Is over clocking dangerous to desktop PC's? I heard it's not worth the risk, but that's just 1 persons opinion. Is it worth it? and how much more out of my PC will i get?

[Robert]

I would say it's worth it if you can afford to kill the PC you're using. Overclocking is a gamble, if you cant afford to loss it don't do it.

How much performance you can get will depend on the hardware you have.

[zampu]

Ok, well then it is definitely not worth it for me, because I am broke. Thanks for the info Robert.

[mjd420nova]

Normally overclocking is only done when attempting to get some devices to run faster than intended to acheive some increased performance. BUT that increase would be hardly noticeable unless running a beanchmark to compare it against. I only do this to increase the speed of a slower board to match with a newer MOBO. I have successfully overclocked some boards to increase an otherwise slow frontside buss, but requires extensive research on the mfgrs chips involved and finding replacement chips that would run in the faster environment without damage. Pushing boards to the point of instability is what causes the damage.

[CaTaNha]

Yep, overclocking is dangerous if you are an beginner and you don`t know many about computers.

I overclocked my pc and i almost damaged it

[Ridman]

I would only avoid overclocking if it was my first time and replacing damaged components was completely out of the question (in which case yeah, play it safe). Otherwise, overclocking a desktop is pretty safe and reliable so long as you do a little research beforehand and don't get too greedy.

Is there an element of risk? Yeah, I suppose so, but not so much that outweighs the otherwise free gains in performance that will save money on upgrades in the future.

[Ridman]

Alright, I learned my lesson: Quick Reply hates me. Now to try this one last time...

Overclocking is only dangerous to a first timer, and even then only when replacing the part is impossible. The odds are very against having any problems resulting from overclocking, so long as you do your research, but if replacing it is impossible it is better to be safe.

If replacing it is possible, then do your research and start the process. It is a great way to up the performace of your hardware and save on costly upgrades over time.

And of course, overclocking would void the warranty of whatever company you bought the system from, if you did that route.