Guide to Overclocking Your CPU

Overclocking your CPU can provide substantial benefits to your computer’s performance, whether it’s for gaming, video rendering or just daily use. However, if you don’t know what you’re doing, overclocking can do more harm to your computer than good.

In this guide I’ll teach you how to properly overclock your CPU to achieve maximum performance.

Warranty Information

Before you start overclocking your CPU you need to check the warranty for your CPU and/or computer.

Often, overclocking your CPU will void its warranty, and possibly the warranty of your entire computer if you bought it pre-made from a computer manufacturer. However, some computer manufacturers (Usually those that specialize in gaming computers) will actually encourage you to overclock your hardware.

It’s always best to check your warranty about overclocking beforehand.

Identifying the CPU

Before you can start overclocking your CPU you’ll need to identify what CPU you have. You have a few ways of doing this, the first method-and the one I recommend-is to download a program called CPU-Z.

CPU-Z is a program that is invaluable for overclocking, as it contains a vast amount of information regarding your CPU, such as the make and model, the temperatures, its operating voltage and much more.

Your other option is to bring up the Windows start menu, right-click on ‘My Computer’ and then choose ‘Properties’. From here you can view what CPU you have and its operating frequency.

After you’ve identified your CPU you can use this information to find out its overclocking potential, what its safe temperatures are and what after-market coolers will fit it.

Check the Cooling

Good cooling is very important when overclocking, as overclocking your CPU can drastically increase its temperatures.

The stock cooler that comes with most CPUs is typically fine when overclocking by small amounts, however if you plan to overclock your CPU a lot then you’ll most likely need an after-market cooler.

Going into the BIOS

The basic input/output system (BIOS) is where you’ll be overclocking your CPU. To access your computer’s BIOS you’ll need to hold down a certain key while starting up, which is usually either the Del, F1 or F2 keys, but your computer may be different.

Once you’re in the BIOS you should see a menu option called ‘Frequency/Voltage Control’, this option may also be under a menu called ‘Advanced BIOS Features’ or something similar.

Once you’re in the correct menu you should see an option called ‘CPU Bus Frequency’ or sometimes just called ‘FSB’, and an option called ‘CPU Clock Ratio’. To overclock your CPU you’ll be increasing one (or both) of these options.

Increasing the FSB will typically lead to the biggest performance gains, however it also can cause the biggest issues, so I would recommend starting out by just increasing the clock ratio by a very small amount (the next lowest setting available), then continuing to the next steps.

Check Temperatures

After you’ve finished overclocking you’ll want to check the temperatures for your CPU. If you downloaded CPU-Z then you can use that to check the temperatures, otherwise you’ll need to find a different program to use.

You will want to keep an eye on the temperatures while running a program that will stress the CPU a lot, such as a video game. If the temperatures don’t go above your CPU’s safe temperatures for at least 4 hours then you should be in the clear.

However, if the temperatures are getting too high or your computer is freezing or crashing then you’ll need to either lower the clock or get a better cooler for your CPU.

Rinse and Repeat

After you’ve successfully overclocked your CPU you can go back and increase it again by another small amount, check the stability and repeat over again until you’ve either reached the highest clock you can or you’re happy with where it’s at.

Remember, if anything goes wrong you can always reset your BIOS by clearing the CMOS. You do this by completely unplugging your computer and taking out the CMOS battery (Should look like a small disc shaped battery) from your motherboard for about 10-15 seconds, then placing it back in.