Editing Overclocking (section)

{{short description|Practice of increasing the clock rate of a computer to exceed that certified by the manufacturer}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2023}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2023}}
{{Not to be confused with|odometer}}
{{Original research|date=February 2023}}
[[Image:Overclock.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5|Overclocking [[BIOS]] setup on an ABIT NF7-S [[motherboard]] with an AMD [[Athlon&nbsp;XP]] processor. [[Front side bus]] (FSB) frequency (external clock) has been increased from 133&nbsp;[[Hertz|MHz]] to 148&nbsp;MHz, and the CPU [[clock multiplier]] factor has been changed from 13.5 to 16.5. This corresponds to an overclocking of the FSB by 11.3 percent and of the CPU by 36 percent.]]
In [[computing]], '''overclocking''' is the practice of increasing the [[clock rate]] of a computer to exceed that certified by the manufacturer. Commonly, operating [[voltage]] is also increased to maintain a component's operational stability at accelerated speeds. [[Semiconductor device]]s operated at higher frequencies and voltages increase power consumption and heat.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2014/02/19/why-has-cpu-frequency-ceased-to-grow|author=Victoria Zhislina|date=2014-02-19|title=Why has CPU frequency ceased to grow?|publisher=Intel|access-date=2017-08-02|archive-date=2017-06-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170621074555/https://software.intel.com/en-us/blogs/2014/02/19/why-has-cpu-frequency-ceased-to-grow|url-status=live}}</ref> An overclocked device may be unreliable or fail completely if the additional heat load is not removed or power delivery components cannot meet increased power demands. Many device [[Warranty#Sale of goods|warranties]] state that overclocking or over-specification<ref>{{Cite web |title=LIMITED WARRANTY |url=https://www.intel.com/content/dam/support/us/en/documents/processors/Limited_Warranty_8.5x11_for_Web_English.pdf}}</ref> voids any warranty, but some manufacturers allow overclocking as long as it is done (relatively) safely.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Warranty Guide for Intel® Processors |url=https://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/support/articles/000005494/processors.html#:~:text=Usage%20of%20overclocking%20and%20Intel,the%20processor%20and%20other%20components. |access-date=2025-03-22 |website=Intel |language=en}}</ref>