1 00:00:04,120 --> 00:00:07,160 Speaker 1: Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 2 00:00:07,200 --> 00:00:13,680 Speaker 1: stuff Works dot Com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 3 00:00:13,720 --> 00:00:16,680 Speaker 1: I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 4 00:00:16,720 --> 00:00:18,680 Speaker 1: How Stuff Works in I heart radio and I love 5 00:00:18,760 --> 00:00:21,880 Speaker 1: all things tech. And it's a Friday, which means it's 6 00:00:21,920 --> 00:00:25,919 Speaker 1: time for another classic episode. The episode you're about to 7 00:00:26,000 --> 00:00:31,240 Speaker 1: hear originally aired way back on February twelve, two thousand twelve, 8 00:00:31,800 --> 00:00:37,280 Speaker 1: and it's titled Text Stuff over Clocks a CPU. Now, 9 00:00:37,920 --> 00:00:39,640 Speaker 1: let's go ahead and get this out of the way. 10 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:44,720 Speaker 1: CPUs have certainly advanced since two thousand twelve, but the 11 00:00:44,800 --> 00:00:49,280 Speaker 1: general principles behind overclocking remained the same. So I hope 12 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:52,160 Speaker 1: you enjoy this discussion that Chris and I have about 13 00:00:52,280 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: what overclocking is and how it is accomplished and take 14 00:00:56,880 --> 00:01:00,520 Speaker 1: it away old version of me and old version of 15 00:01:00,600 --> 00:01:04,440 Speaker 1: Chris Paulett. Today, to start off our episode, we have 16 00:01:04,480 --> 00:01:08,360 Speaker 1: a little Facebook feedback you be. This comes from Brian 17 00:01:08,400 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 1: who says, I've been listening to you guys since almost 18 00:01:10,880 --> 00:01:13,199 Speaker 1: the beginning. Keep up the great work. I was wondering 19 00:01:13,240 --> 00:01:15,479 Speaker 1: if you could do a podcast about overclocking. You can 20 00:01:15,520 --> 00:01:17,280 Speaker 1: talk about what it is, how it works and the 21 00:01:17,280 --> 00:01:19,679 Speaker 1: pros and cons of it. I've had some experience myself 22 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:21,960 Speaker 1: and can tell you it's well worth it. Can't wait 23 00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,920 Speaker 1: to listen to your next podcast. Well, Brian, this one 24 00:01:24,959 --> 00:01:27,680 Speaker 1: goes out to you. And we've talked a little bit 25 00:01:27,680 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: about over clocking and past episodes, particularly anything where we 26 00:01:30,720 --> 00:01:34,240 Speaker 1: talked about CPUs and clock cycles. But but let's let's 27 00:01:34,319 --> 00:01:37,440 Speaker 1: kind of go back and talk about what a clock 28 00:01:37,520 --> 00:01:43,640 Speaker 1: cycle is and why it's important and what overclocking actually means. Yes, now, 29 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:47,160 Speaker 1: this is something we talked about a long time ago. 30 00:01:47,200 --> 00:01:49,600 Speaker 1: A long long time ago, we talked about the Mega 31 00:01:49,680 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: Hurt Smith and you know, the giga Hurt Smith, about 32 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:56,480 Speaker 1: the the speed of the processor and what it means 33 00:01:56,520 --> 00:01:59,600 Speaker 1: and how it's really not necessarily all that important. In fact, 34 00:01:59,640 --> 00:02:03,920 Speaker 1: it's kind of funny looking at computers now, um, because 35 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:06,520 Speaker 1: now that the dual core and quad core processors and 36 00:02:06,520 --> 00:02:10,240 Speaker 1: and let's just say multi core processors, um, some of 37 00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:13,560 Speaker 1: them look like they're going backward because you'll see, you know, 38 00:02:13,840 --> 00:02:16,200 Speaker 1: a two gig or hurts processor and you wait a minute, 39 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:18,440 Speaker 1: the one I have now is a three point two 40 00:02:18,560 --> 00:02:21,040 Speaker 1: y a three point two gigg hurts. Well, yeah, because 41 00:02:21,040 --> 00:02:24,040 Speaker 1: it's got multiple cours processing, it's able to do this. 42 00:02:24,120 --> 00:02:27,200 Speaker 1: But the clock speed is is basically the rate at 43 00:02:27,240 --> 00:02:31,760 Speaker 1: which a processor is handling instructions. Very good. Yes, um, 44 00:02:31,800 --> 00:02:36,920 Speaker 1: I actually saw a pretty interesting analogy on a Yale website. 45 00:02:36,960 --> 00:02:40,959 Speaker 1: This was written by H. Gilbert, and Gilbert said that 46 00:02:41,320 --> 00:02:43,799 Speaker 1: think of it like a high school. Right, So you're 47 00:02:43,800 --> 00:02:47,560 Speaker 1: in class and then the bell rings, and that signals 48 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:50,160 Speaker 1: the end of class. So you leave alrighte and the 49 00:02:50,240 --> 00:02:52,799 Speaker 1: second bell rings and you have to go to your 50 00:02:52,800 --> 00:02:55,880 Speaker 1: next class. So those two bells, he says, think of 51 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:58,160 Speaker 1: that as a clock cycle. The first bells a tick 52 00:02:58,240 --> 00:03:01,280 Speaker 1: and the second bells of talk, and the entire school 53 00:03:01,760 --> 00:03:04,880 Speaker 1: reacts to those bells. It's not like one class gets 54 00:03:04,880 --> 00:03:07,760 Speaker 1: a bell and then three minutes later another class gets 55 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,080 Speaker 1: a bell. It goes across the entire school. So, uh, 56 00:03:11,360 --> 00:03:13,800 Speaker 1: think of a clock cycle on a on a CPU 57 00:03:13,919 --> 00:03:15,680 Speaker 1: is the same sort of thing, except in steps, students, 58 00:03:15,680 --> 00:03:20,480 Speaker 1: we're talking about data ones and zeros, so ones and zeros, 59 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,240 Speaker 1: and and that at every clock cycle, ones and zeros 60 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,520 Speaker 1: are moving around. And essentially every task you want a 61 00:03:27,560 --> 00:03:31,520 Speaker 1: computer to do requires a certain number of cycles. Uh, 62 00:03:31,560 --> 00:03:35,280 Speaker 1: some tasks only require one cycle and some will require 63 00:03:35,320 --> 00:03:38,400 Speaker 1: multiple cycles because the task actually has more steps than 64 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,520 Speaker 1: what you might first imagine. And this changes over time. 65 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:45,760 Speaker 1: I should add back, you know, several years ago, many 66 00:03:45,840 --> 00:03:48,840 Speaker 1: years ago, a couple of decades now, adding two numbers 67 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:54,240 Speaker 1: together might take six or eight clock cycles to complete, uh, 68 00:03:54,280 --> 00:03:57,080 Speaker 1: and today it might take one clock cycle. So it's 69 00:03:57,120 --> 00:03:59,920 Speaker 1: become more efficient. So that's one way that CPUs have 70 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,120 Speaker 1: sped up over time. But an others that we've actually 71 00:04:02,160 --> 00:04:04,520 Speaker 1: managed to fit more clock cycles in per second, and 72 00:04:04,600 --> 00:04:08,160 Speaker 1: that's the speed we talk about with processors. That's how 73 00:04:08,200 --> 00:04:13,000 Speaker 1: many clock cycles or pulses if you prefer, go through 74 00:04:13,080 --> 00:04:17,600 Speaker 1: the the that particular element on your computer every second. 75 00:04:17,880 --> 00:04:21,279 Speaker 1: So if you hear about a here's a dinosaur. Let's 76 00:04:21,279 --> 00:04:23,880 Speaker 1: say you hear about a five hundred mega hurts processor, 77 00:04:24,480 --> 00:04:29,279 Speaker 1: that means five hundred million clock cycles per second go 78 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,960 Speaker 1: through that that CPU. All things considered, that's that's pretty fast, right. 79 00:04:34,040 --> 00:04:35,800 Speaker 1: But you know, then we talk about things like a 80 00:04:35,839 --> 00:04:39,120 Speaker 1: two point for gigahertz processor that's two point four billion 81 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,559 Speaker 1: clock cycles per second, much faster, which is even much faster, 82 00:04:42,920 --> 00:04:48,479 Speaker 1: and they get faster than that obviously, But that's so 83 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:50,760 Speaker 1: so when we're talking about processor speed. We really talking 84 00:04:50,800 --> 00:04:54,039 Speaker 1: about the amount of work a processor can do within 85 00:04:54,080 --> 00:04:57,080 Speaker 1: a certain amount of time, and faster processors can do 86 00:04:57,160 --> 00:05:00,279 Speaker 1: more work in that in that time frame. So the 87 00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:04,280 Speaker 1: five hundred mega Hurts processor can do five hundred million, 88 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:09,800 Speaker 1: uh can not five million tasks, but can use five 89 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: million clock cycles toward tasks in a second, whereas the 90 00:05:13,440 --> 00:05:16,000 Speaker 1: two point for gigahurts does two point four billion clock 91 00:05:16,040 --> 00:05:21,719 Speaker 1: cycles toward tasks in a second. So yeah, that's that's 92 00:05:21,839 --> 00:05:26,000 Speaker 1: essentially the speed element. Now, UH CPUs are not the 93 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:28,240 Speaker 1: only thing that work on cycles, by the way, just 94 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:30,600 Speaker 1: want to make that clear when we do talk about 95 00:05:30,600 --> 00:05:35,080 Speaker 1: clock cycles. Other elements like memory and IO devices also 96 00:05:35,320 --> 00:05:38,880 Speaker 1: operate on cycles. And all of this is controlled ultimately 97 00:05:38,960 --> 00:05:43,800 Speaker 1: by the motherboard. Yes. Now, if you're wondering how a 98 00:05:44,880 --> 00:05:47,960 Speaker 1: you know, how they come out with these chips, UM, 99 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,680 Speaker 1: Well it's it's it's sort of controlled. Um. If you 100 00:05:52,720 --> 00:05:55,920 Speaker 1: think about it. Let's say, let's take Jonathan's five mega 101 00:05:56,000 --> 00:06:01,599 Speaker 1: Hurts processor. UM, the manufacturer has, you know, knows something 102 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,920 Speaker 1: about the range at which this chip can operate. Um, 103 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:08,480 Speaker 1: it can operate more slowly than that, it can operate 104 00:06:08,560 --> 00:06:12,359 Speaker 1: more quickly than that. But what goes on is in 105 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:15,960 Speaker 1: the process of building this and testing this chip, they 106 00:06:16,000 --> 00:06:18,760 Speaker 1: know roughly about how much electricity it's going to use 107 00:06:18,800 --> 00:06:22,799 Speaker 1: and about how hot it's gonna get. Um. Many many 108 00:06:22,960 --> 00:06:27,400 Speaker 1: of us UH have an idea of what happens when 109 00:06:27,600 --> 00:06:32,679 Speaker 1: your computer overheats. UM. It will seize up eventually, UM 110 00:06:32,920 --> 00:06:36,599 Speaker 1: and decrease the operating life of the computer overall too 111 00:06:37,000 --> 00:06:39,440 Speaker 1: if it gets too hot too frequently. Yeah. So the 112 00:06:40,080 --> 00:06:43,040 Speaker 1: thing is the the manufacturer of the processor is going 113 00:06:43,080 --> 00:06:45,839 Speaker 1: to go, well, okay, this is this is a good range. 114 00:06:45,839 --> 00:06:48,880 Speaker 1: This is about what it's gonna do. And essentially, yeah, 115 00:06:48,920 --> 00:06:54,040 Speaker 1: and essentially it'll runs as fast as this without going 116 00:06:54,160 --> 00:06:58,279 Speaker 1: nuts and requiring you know, a A to be immersed 117 00:06:58,279 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 1: in liquid nitrogen to keep it cold. We'll get to 118 00:07:01,200 --> 00:07:04,080 Speaker 1: that right, right, So this is under normal operating conditions. 119 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:06,120 Speaker 1: This is about how fast this chip is going to run. 120 00:07:06,200 --> 00:07:09,200 Speaker 1: Let's say it's five hundred mega hurts and and there 121 00:07:09,240 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: are instructions UM in the computer actually written into ROM 122 00:07:15,960 --> 00:07:20,080 Speaker 1: that will keep it from doing more than that. Yeah. Essentially, 123 00:07:20,080 --> 00:07:23,000 Speaker 1: you've got two elements that determine the speed. You have 124 00:07:23,040 --> 00:07:28,239 Speaker 1: the motherboard which provides a baseline speed, and those tend 125 00:07:28,280 --> 00:07:32,560 Speaker 1: to be around one, three, one sixty six or two 126 00:07:32,680 --> 00:07:36,640 Speaker 1: hundred mega hurts, and then you have a multiplier on 127 00:07:36,720 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: the CPU itself. Right, So for the five hundred megahurts 128 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:43,560 Speaker 1: machine we were talking about, the multiplayer might be five, 129 00:07:43,680 --> 00:07:46,640 Speaker 1: and the motherboard provides one hundred mega hurts. So the 130 00:07:46,680 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 1: clock inside the CPU is going to run at five 131 00:07:50,000 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 1: times the speed of the clock on the motherboard. So 132 00:07:53,840 --> 00:07:57,200 Speaker 1: the motherboard sets the pace, the CPU multiplies that pace, 133 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:00,720 Speaker 1: and that's where you get your processor clocks need So 134 00:08:01,000 --> 00:08:04,080 Speaker 1: the five multiplayer times the one hundred mega hurts, that's 135 00:08:04,080 --> 00:08:07,120 Speaker 1: where you get your five hundred mega hurts. Now if 136 00:08:07,160 --> 00:08:14,320 Speaker 1: you had a a multiplayer that was say twenty four 137 00:08:14,920 --> 00:08:17,200 Speaker 1: times one hundred, well that's where you get the two 138 00:08:17,240 --> 00:08:21,120 Speaker 1: point four giga hurts because you get the two thousand, 139 00:08:21,240 --> 00:08:24,920 Speaker 1: one four hundred, and then that two thousand, four hundred 140 00:08:24,920 --> 00:08:28,560 Speaker 1: mega hurts is the same as two points for gig hurts. Um. 141 00:08:28,600 --> 00:08:31,680 Speaker 1: So the multiplayers tend to be difficult to change with 142 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:34,880 Speaker 1: most processors, not all, but a lot of processors have 143 00:08:35,240 --> 00:08:38,280 Speaker 1: the manufacturers have locked down that multiplayer in order to 144 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:42,400 Speaker 1: prevent people from pushing it too hard and causing problems 145 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:46,400 Speaker 1: down the line. Yeah, because Ultimately, the majority of us 146 00:08:46,440 --> 00:08:49,120 Speaker 1: are going to buy our computers. We're going to set 147 00:08:49,120 --> 00:08:51,240 Speaker 1: it up, do our work on it, play games on it, 148 00:08:51,360 --> 00:08:52,959 Speaker 1: do whatever it is that we're going to do on it. 149 00:08:53,320 --> 00:08:57,920 Speaker 1: And the point is we wanted to last. Most of 150 00:08:58,000 --> 00:08:59,720 Speaker 1: us can't just go buy a new computer. And if 151 00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:03,760 Speaker 1: we don't know what we're doing as far as over clocking, um, 152 00:09:03,800 --> 00:09:05,840 Speaker 1: you know, we're just gonna we want this machine to 153 00:09:05,920 --> 00:09:07,840 Speaker 1: last us a good long time. And if you use 154 00:09:07,880 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: it under normal circumstances, unless the fan breaks or some 155 00:09:10,880 --> 00:09:14,600 Speaker 1: the cooling mechanism breaks. Even in computers with no fans, 156 00:09:14,640 --> 00:09:17,320 Speaker 1: let's say, uh, you know one of the older Imax 157 00:09:17,360 --> 00:09:19,400 Speaker 1: that they made a point of putting no fan in. 158 00:09:19,840 --> 00:09:22,440 Speaker 1: If you clogged up the air vents with something dust, 159 00:09:22,960 --> 00:09:26,320 Speaker 1: a blanket, it will overheat and the computer will die 160 00:09:26,559 --> 00:09:29,360 Speaker 1: or it will shorten the life of it. Um, so 161 00:09:29,559 --> 00:09:31,520 Speaker 1: be un study an old crash a lot, that kind 162 00:09:31,520 --> 00:09:34,200 Speaker 1: of thing. So to the point of the manufacturer setting 163 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,440 Speaker 1: a clock speed a default clock speed is is basically 164 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:41,600 Speaker 1: to make it a motherboard, a chip on a motherboard 165 00:09:41,600 --> 00:09:44,600 Speaker 1: that it's gonna last the average computer user a good 166 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:48,440 Speaker 1: long while years hopefully, I'd say that's the that's the point. 167 00:09:48,480 --> 00:09:50,679 Speaker 1: I'd say that's true in the majority of cases. There 168 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:56,040 Speaker 1: are a few cases where manufacturers have developed one chip 169 00:09:56,120 --> 00:10:00,120 Speaker 1: to go in a line of computers and have it 170 00:10:00,160 --> 00:10:05,520 Speaker 1: in essentially a a an artificial limit to how fast 171 00:10:05,559 --> 00:10:08,400 Speaker 1: that processor can go per model. So let's say that 172 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:12,760 Speaker 1: I've got a selection of computers, um, and we're gonna 173 00:10:12,760 --> 00:10:15,480 Speaker 1: say we're gonna call a Model A, B, C, and D, 174 00:10:16,440 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: and all four of these have the same processor in them, 175 00:10:19,880 --> 00:10:22,360 Speaker 1: but I've put limitations on it so that Model A 176 00:10:22,640 --> 00:10:26,000 Speaker 1: can only go at five hundred mega hurts, and Model 177 00:10:26,040 --> 00:10:28,880 Speaker 1: B as a giga hurts, and and Model C as 178 00:10:28,960 --> 00:10:31,080 Speaker 1: two gig hurts, and Model D is like two point 179 00:10:31,120 --> 00:10:34,120 Speaker 1: four giga hurts, and two point four is really where 180 00:10:34,160 --> 00:10:36,839 Speaker 1: the sweet spot is. But I've put in these artificial 181 00:10:37,080 --> 00:10:40,120 Speaker 1: limitations on the previous ones. The reason for that would 182 00:10:40,120 --> 00:10:42,680 Speaker 1: be I only have to manufacture one chip, and I 183 00:10:42,720 --> 00:10:46,960 Speaker 1: can create devices for multiple markets. Because there's some people 184 00:10:47,000 --> 00:10:48,800 Speaker 1: are gonna be out there who are saying, I need 185 00:10:48,840 --> 00:10:50,520 Speaker 1: a computer, but I don't need it to do the 186 00:10:51,360 --> 00:10:54,720 Speaker 1: latest stuff, or I can't afford to buy a computer 187 00:10:54,800 --> 00:10:57,640 Speaker 1: that has like the top level technology in it. But 188 00:10:57,679 --> 00:11:00,240 Speaker 1: I'm gonna go and get this base model instead, and 189 00:11:00,240 --> 00:11:01,760 Speaker 1: then they're going to be the up people on the 190 00:11:01,800 --> 00:11:04,880 Speaker 1: other side of it, saying I want the fastest machine 191 00:11:04,920 --> 00:11:07,280 Speaker 1: I can possibly get, so they're gonna go for the 192 00:11:07,280 --> 00:11:09,640 Speaker 1: other one. Well, they can create a whole range of 193 00:11:09,640 --> 00:11:13,160 Speaker 1: computers meeting all of these demands using the same chip 194 00:11:13,320 --> 00:11:15,920 Speaker 1: if they put those limitations in place. And in some 195 00:11:15,960 --> 00:11:19,920 Speaker 1: cases you can't really get around the multiplier limitation without 196 00:11:20,120 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: some really deep knowledge and risking ruining your computer. However, 197 00:11:25,520 --> 00:11:29,559 Speaker 1: what you can do has changed the rate on the 198 00:11:29,640 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: motherboard itself, and you do that through the BIOS system. 199 00:11:34,160 --> 00:11:37,360 Speaker 1: And before we before we get into technical detail, um, 200 00:11:37,400 --> 00:11:40,920 Speaker 1: overclocking is the process that we're talking about. Now. This 201 00:11:41,000 --> 00:11:46,439 Speaker 1: means that you're increasing the limit at which the chip 202 00:11:47,120 --> 00:11:51,440 Speaker 1: can process instructions. Yeah, it's essentially pushing more clock cycles 203 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,040 Speaker 1: in per second than what the chip was recommended for. 204 00:11:55,880 --> 00:11:59,360 Speaker 1: And we should say it really is a recommendation because uh, 205 00:11:59,640 --> 00:12:02,160 Speaker 1: like so saying most of these chips, I mean almost 206 00:12:02,200 --> 00:12:06,240 Speaker 1: all chips that come out have the capacity to operate 207 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: over what they are rated for. So at two point 208 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:13,320 Speaker 1: four gigahertz processor can actually work faster than that. In fact, 209 00:12:13,400 --> 00:12:16,040 Speaker 1: usually it's around five to ten percent faster than what 210 00:12:16,200 --> 00:12:19,360 Speaker 1: the rating is for. So if you are still five 211 00:12:19,400 --> 00:12:24,559 Speaker 1: to tempercent faster without running the risk of causing damage 212 00:12:24,600 --> 00:12:27,319 Speaker 1: to your computer, so you might be able to boost 213 00:12:27,360 --> 00:12:31,560 Speaker 1: your computer's performance by or at least the processing speed 214 00:12:31,600 --> 00:12:34,680 Speaker 1: by five or ten percent without having to worry about 215 00:12:35,080 --> 00:12:38,720 Speaker 1: additional concerns. Once you go beyond that, then you have 216 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:41,560 Speaker 1: to start looking into creative ways of managing your computer 217 00:12:41,600 --> 00:12:44,000 Speaker 1: so that it doesn't you know, just crash on you. 218 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:47,079 Speaker 1: And even if you do just overclock your computer a 219 00:12:47,120 --> 00:12:49,040 Speaker 1: little bit, there is a chance that stuff will crash 220 00:12:49,080 --> 00:12:54,160 Speaker 1: because sometimes programs just don't work very well with overclocked processors. Um. Yeah, 221 00:12:54,200 --> 00:12:58,679 Speaker 1: So that's the basis. Though. Overclocking means that you're pushing 222 00:12:58,679 --> 00:13:03,120 Speaker 1: through more clock cycles. Second and uh, before we again, 223 00:13:03,160 --> 00:13:05,240 Speaker 1: before we get into too much detail, this is not 224 00:13:05,280 --> 00:13:08,040 Speaker 1: the kind of thing that you want to do casually 225 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,240 Speaker 1: and figure, oh, you know what, let's just go and 226 00:13:11,240 --> 00:13:14,240 Speaker 1: try this. You want to think about how what happens 227 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:17,640 Speaker 1: if it doesn't work, because if you don't follow the 228 00:13:17,679 --> 00:13:20,600 Speaker 1: instructions carefully. Um. And we're not going to give you 229 00:13:20,600 --> 00:13:23,000 Speaker 1: a lot of instructions because there's a lot of depend 230 00:13:23,040 --> 00:13:25,760 Speaker 1: upon what the processor is so yeah. Yeah, But the 231 00:13:25,760 --> 00:13:28,440 Speaker 1: thing is, if you're not very careful, you could damage 232 00:13:28,440 --> 00:13:32,280 Speaker 1: your computer permanently. And most of the time, if you 233 00:13:32,320 --> 00:13:35,679 Speaker 1: try to overclock your processor, you're violating a warranty. So 234 00:13:35,720 --> 00:13:38,000 Speaker 1: if you if you do damage your computer, you don't 235 00:13:38,000 --> 00:13:40,280 Speaker 1: have any recourse to get it fixed by the manufacturer 236 00:13:40,320 --> 00:13:42,480 Speaker 1: because they're gonna say, hey, you did this thing you 237 00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:45,400 Speaker 1: weren't supposed to do. Therefore, we have no obligation to 238 00:13:45,440 --> 00:13:49,679 Speaker 1: help you out. So so if you do this, make 239 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:51,559 Speaker 1: sure you you put some thought into it and make 240 00:13:51,559 --> 00:13:53,920 Speaker 1: sure this is something you feel up to and that 241 00:13:54,040 --> 00:13:56,439 Speaker 1: you're you're willing to try before you really give it 242 00:13:56,480 --> 00:13:58,960 Speaker 1: a shot. If you want to. Uh, it could be 243 00:13:59,080 --> 00:14:01,640 Speaker 1: very very profitable for you if you're looking for a 244 00:14:01,640 --> 00:14:05,280 Speaker 1: faster machine and you have the uh, the ability, and 245 00:14:05,320 --> 00:14:07,800 Speaker 1: the you know, the money if you need it. But 246 00:14:07,840 --> 00:14:09,920 Speaker 1: we can get into that now, right right. And the 247 00:14:09,960 --> 00:14:12,640 Speaker 1: reason why you would want to overclock your machine in 248 00:14:12,679 --> 00:14:15,720 Speaker 1: the first place is that it allows you to run 249 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:20,320 Speaker 1: more advanced programs at a faster rate without having to 250 00:14:20,400 --> 00:14:23,200 Speaker 1: buy a new processor or a new machine. That's that's 251 00:14:23,200 --> 00:14:26,160 Speaker 1: the big attraction for a lot of gamers out there. 252 00:14:26,200 --> 00:14:28,680 Speaker 1: They'll they'll buy a good gaming rig and then they 253 00:14:28,720 --> 00:14:32,000 Speaker 1: over clocked their processors so that they can run games 254 00:14:32,040 --> 00:14:35,720 Speaker 1: at at the highest settings without any slowdown and to 255 00:14:35,880 --> 00:14:39,200 Speaker 1: have you know, the best performance in their game. Uh. 256 00:14:39,240 --> 00:14:43,160 Speaker 1: And also it means that you know, they they're essentially 257 00:14:43,200 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: getting higher like they're getting the equivalent of a faster processor, 258 00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,080 Speaker 1: but they're buying a less expensive one. Right. So if 259 00:14:51,120 --> 00:14:53,320 Speaker 1: there were say a two point eight processor out there, 260 00:14:53,320 --> 00:14:55,480 Speaker 1: in a three point two processor out there, and you 261 00:14:55,560 --> 00:14:57,600 Speaker 1: knew you could overclock your two point eight so that 262 00:14:57,680 --> 00:15:01,120 Speaker 1: would equal or exceed the three point you say, well, 263 00:15:01,120 --> 00:15:03,160 Speaker 1: why would I spend the extra money getting the three 264 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:04,840 Speaker 1: point two when I could get the two point eight 265 00:15:04,880 --> 00:15:08,640 Speaker 1: and just over clock that puppy. And of course there's 266 00:15:08,680 --> 00:15:14,160 Speaker 1: the maker's reason because they can. Yeah, yes, there's always 267 00:15:14,160 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: that too. It's just like, hey, I I have the 268 00:15:16,480 --> 00:15:19,520 Speaker 1: ability to fiddle with my computer settings. Gosh darn it, 269 00:15:19,600 --> 00:15:22,080 Speaker 1: that's what I'm gonna do. Chris and I have more 270 00:15:22,120 --> 00:15:25,160 Speaker 1: to say about over clocking a CPU, but first let's 271 00:15:25,160 --> 00:15:36,320 Speaker 1: take a quick break to thank our sponsor. So you 272 00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:40,520 Speaker 1: were talking a moment ago about the BIOS Basic Input 273 00:15:40,600 --> 00:15:44,800 Speaker 1: Output System. Yes, now, this is a part of When 274 00:15:44,840 --> 00:15:46,920 Speaker 1: you boot up your computer, it goes through the BIOS 275 00:15:47,040 --> 00:15:49,720 Speaker 1: set up, and part of that BIO set up is 276 00:15:49,760 --> 00:15:53,760 Speaker 1: the motherboard checks the processor, sees what kind of processor 277 00:15:53,800 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: it is and what the recommended settings are, and then 278 00:15:57,400 --> 00:16:01,040 Speaker 1: goes into that recommended setting. For the speed that the 279 00:16:01,040 --> 00:16:06,600 Speaker 1: motherboard provides is later on multiplied by the processor. Uh. 280 00:16:07,000 --> 00:16:10,200 Speaker 1: The thing is, you can actually interrupt the BIOS set 281 00:16:10,280 --> 00:16:14,360 Speaker 1: up system and manually change those settings. So let's say 282 00:16:14,360 --> 00:16:17,000 Speaker 1: that it was set at one hundred mega hurts, you 283 00:16:17,000 --> 00:16:19,400 Speaker 1: could up it up to one thirty three or one 284 00:16:19,480 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: sixty six or two hundred. Although you know, the more 285 00:16:22,920 --> 00:16:27,880 Speaker 1: you boost this the the closer you ride that dangerous 286 00:16:28,000 --> 00:16:32,480 Speaker 1: edge of possibly ruining your machine. It's like like getting 287 00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:34,400 Speaker 1: in a car and pushing it faster than it was 288 00:16:34,480 --> 00:16:37,200 Speaker 1: meant to go. It can start to shake apart. Yeah, 289 00:16:37,320 --> 00:16:40,760 Speaker 1: most of the instructions I read in the process of 290 00:16:40,800 --> 00:16:43,600 Speaker 1: doing research for this podcast suggested that you would tinker 291 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:49,200 Speaker 1: with the multiplier and basically, rather than going how high 292 00:16:49,240 --> 00:16:51,120 Speaker 1: can I push this up? Start it all the way up, 293 00:16:51,640 --> 00:16:54,400 Speaker 1: what they suggest doing is taking it up a couple 294 00:16:54,400 --> 00:16:58,520 Speaker 1: of notches. Essentially, again, read the instructions carefully for for 295 00:16:58,600 --> 00:17:01,720 Speaker 1: the the system that you have, and then and the 296 00:17:02,040 --> 00:17:05,040 Speaker 1: materials that you've got on hand. But I'm oversimplifying. For 297 00:17:05,040 --> 00:17:08,159 Speaker 1: the case of explanation, you might crank it up a 298 00:17:08,200 --> 00:17:11,359 Speaker 1: notch or two notches and test it, see how it runs. 299 00:17:11,400 --> 00:17:13,119 Speaker 1: Does it look like it's doing all right? Does it 300 00:17:13,160 --> 00:17:16,760 Speaker 1: look like it's behaving oddly? If applications all crashing, but 301 00:17:17,200 --> 00:17:19,520 Speaker 1: you might need to crank it back down again. Yeah, 302 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:22,800 Speaker 1: And and like I said, not all multiplayers are You 303 00:17:22,840 --> 00:17:26,320 Speaker 1: can't mess with all multiplayers. It all depends on the processors. 304 00:17:26,320 --> 00:17:28,479 Speaker 1: Some of the processors are locked, so you that you 305 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:31,760 Speaker 1: can't do that, in which case you your only recourse 306 00:17:31,920 --> 00:17:34,159 Speaker 1: is to change the setting of the motherboard as opposed 307 00:17:34,160 --> 00:17:37,520 Speaker 1: to the setting on the processor. And also some motherboards 308 00:17:37,760 --> 00:17:41,800 Speaker 1: you cannot do this through a software approach. You actually 309 00:17:41,840 --> 00:17:43,720 Speaker 1: have to use a physical approach. You have to change 310 00:17:43,720 --> 00:17:48,040 Speaker 1: these components that are called jumpers, which that will uh 311 00:17:48,359 --> 00:17:51,080 Speaker 1: will limit the motherboard speed. You have to you would 312 00:17:51,119 --> 00:17:54,760 Speaker 1: have to physically replace those, which requires opening up your 313 00:17:54,800 --> 00:17:58,120 Speaker 1: computer case and taking stuff out and changing stuff out, 314 00:17:58,160 --> 00:18:00,719 Speaker 1: and that that can get a little utimidating for folks. 315 00:18:00,720 --> 00:18:03,720 Speaker 1: It's a little bit simpler when you just hit a 316 00:18:03,760 --> 00:18:06,280 Speaker 1: couple of buttons and then change some numbers on the screen, 317 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:11,359 Speaker 1: But that might be necessary depending on the motherboard. A 318 00:18:11,359 --> 00:18:14,440 Speaker 1: lot of the stuff about personal computers depends heavily on 319 00:18:14,480 --> 00:18:18,679 Speaker 1: the specific hardware you have, which is why if you 320 00:18:18,760 --> 00:18:21,719 Speaker 1: ever think about building a machine, you should really do 321 00:18:21,800 --> 00:18:24,880 Speaker 1: some research and make sure that you know what components 322 00:18:24,920 --> 00:18:28,160 Speaker 1: you're getting before you you jump into it. Because not 323 00:18:28,240 --> 00:18:31,560 Speaker 1: every processor is compatible with every motherboard. So if you 324 00:18:31,600 --> 00:18:33,960 Speaker 1: were to just try and create your own computer, build 325 00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: your own computer, and you just you know, you were 326 00:18:35,800 --> 00:18:39,480 Speaker 1: buying whatever was on sale, you might discover that, oh, 327 00:18:39,520 --> 00:18:42,800 Speaker 1: I got this great motherboard and this great processor, but 328 00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,679 Speaker 1: they aren't compatible with each other, so I can't actually 329 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:48,000 Speaker 1: build a machine out of it. Well, the same sort 330 00:18:48,040 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: of thing with overclocking. You just you know, they're different 331 00:18:50,760 --> 00:18:55,680 Speaker 1: limitations based upon the actual hardware you have. And of course, 332 00:18:55,840 --> 00:18:59,879 Speaker 1: uh it might involve depending on what you're doing, you 333 00:19:00,080 --> 00:19:03,440 Speaker 1: might have to play around with the amount of voltage 334 00:19:03,920 --> 00:19:07,440 Speaker 1: uh necessary to run the dangerous to Yeah, well, I 335 00:19:07,760 --> 00:19:10,679 Speaker 1: hopefully there are our listeners when we start talking about 336 00:19:10,880 --> 00:19:15,400 Speaker 1: the amount of electricity we're getting into um or any 337 00:19:15,440 --> 00:19:18,159 Speaker 1: any measure of electricity, they start going, oh, maybe I 338 00:19:18,160 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: don't want to do this without you know, really doing 339 00:19:20,359 --> 00:19:23,760 Speaker 1: some research. Um, I would very much recommend doing that 340 00:19:23,800 --> 00:19:27,080 Speaker 1: if you are going to do getting into really messing 341 00:19:27,080 --> 00:19:30,200 Speaker 1: with this. Um. But yeah, there it is worth noting 342 00:19:30,240 --> 00:19:34,879 Speaker 1: though that uh uh certain boards are you know, certain 343 00:19:34,920 --> 00:19:39,639 Speaker 1: processors I should say, come with the the ability to 344 00:19:39,720 --> 00:19:43,920 Speaker 1: overclock sort of sanctioned. Yeah, they're built in. Intel has 345 00:19:43,920 --> 00:19:47,720 Speaker 1: several chips that you can uh go into a specific 346 00:19:47,800 --> 00:19:51,200 Speaker 1: screen and change the settings if you want to overclock 347 00:19:51,280 --> 00:19:55,479 Speaker 1: your processor, like the Extreme edition. Yeah, so that way, seriously, 348 00:19:55,640 --> 00:19:57,560 Speaker 1: you can do like the turbo stuff, or you can 349 00:19:57,600 --> 00:20:01,240 Speaker 1: actually knock up the processors bed you can change the 350 00:20:01,320 --> 00:20:04,440 Speaker 1: multiplier a little bit, that kind of stuff. And uh, 351 00:20:04,480 --> 00:20:06,720 Speaker 1: you know again this is you might ask, well, why 352 00:20:06,760 --> 00:20:08,679 Speaker 1: isn't it like that just out of the box. Well, 353 00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:11,639 Speaker 1: for one thing, not everyone needs that kind of performance. 354 00:20:11,680 --> 00:20:15,200 Speaker 1: And for another, uh, here's the thing about processors. We've 355 00:20:15,200 --> 00:20:17,280 Speaker 1: talked about heat a bit and about generating heat, and 356 00:20:17,480 --> 00:20:19,800 Speaker 1: too much heat can be a bad thing. When you 357 00:20:19,840 --> 00:20:24,560 Speaker 1: have electricity running through a circuit, it generates heat as 358 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:28,119 Speaker 1: a byproduct. Some energy is lost due to heat waste. 359 00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,440 Speaker 1: It waste some of its energy as heat. Yeah, so 360 00:20:31,840 --> 00:20:36,120 Speaker 1: the more electricity you're pushing through. The more the more 361 00:20:36,400 --> 00:20:39,680 Speaker 1: uh work you're making your system do, the more heat 362 00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:43,200 Speaker 1: it's going to generate. And before long that heat might 363 00:20:43,280 --> 00:20:46,720 Speaker 1: get to a point that's causing damage or or causing 364 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:49,720 Speaker 1: malfunctions within the machine itself. So you have to figure 365 00:20:49,720 --> 00:20:52,720 Speaker 1: out a way of dispersing that heat UM to handle that, 366 00:20:53,280 --> 00:20:55,680 Speaker 1: or else your device isn't gonna work for very long. 367 00:20:55,720 --> 00:20:58,280 Speaker 1: You might have the world's fastest computer, but only for 368 00:20:58,320 --> 00:21:03,440 Speaker 1: a few minutes before it just of yeah, well, of course, 369 00:21:03,920 --> 00:21:06,119 Speaker 1: there have been computers with no fans. There have been 370 00:21:06,160 --> 00:21:08,840 Speaker 1: computers with multiple fans. It all sort of depends on 371 00:21:08,840 --> 00:21:11,160 Speaker 1: on the guts on the you know, the stuff that's 372 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: inside the box um. And if you go to different 373 00:21:14,840 --> 00:21:19,600 Speaker 1: overclocking communities, you can learn about the parts and bits 374 00:21:19,640 --> 00:21:22,800 Speaker 1: that people uh seem to feel are the best. Now 375 00:21:22,840 --> 00:21:25,440 Speaker 1: I saw a couple of fans listed as being excellent 376 00:21:25,480 --> 00:21:28,320 Speaker 1: for overclockers because they're reliable and they push a lot 377 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,399 Speaker 1: of air UM. But depending on what you're doing, that 378 00:21:31,480 --> 00:21:33,280 Speaker 1: may not be enough. You might have to go to 379 00:21:33,359 --> 00:21:36,399 Speaker 1: say a water cooling system, which uh you know, water 380 00:21:36,560 --> 00:21:40,280 Speaker 1: is a much more efficient dispersal of heat than than air, 381 00:21:40,400 --> 00:21:44,840 Speaker 1: is it dispersal. I'm making up words now or misusing 382 00:21:44,880 --> 00:21:47,520 Speaker 1: them at any rate. So anyway, water is much better 383 00:21:47,560 --> 00:21:50,480 Speaker 1: at taking care of heat than than air is, and 384 00:21:50,520 --> 00:21:54,639 Speaker 1: so a water based cooling system can be very useful 385 00:21:54,680 --> 00:21:57,320 Speaker 1: for people who are overclocking their their machines and they 386 00:21:57,359 --> 00:22:00,159 Speaker 1: want to really push it to the limit. Yeah, I 387 00:22:00,240 --> 00:22:02,879 Speaker 1: was joking about the liquid nitrogen earlier, but there are 388 00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: people who have some very elaborate liquid cooled computer systems. 389 00:22:07,040 --> 00:22:09,840 Speaker 1: And depending on how much you're you're pushing, especially if 390 00:22:09,840 --> 00:22:12,320 Speaker 1: you have something like the again like the Intel chips 391 00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:14,960 Speaker 1: are the A M. D S Black Edition chips where 392 00:22:15,000 --> 00:22:18,920 Speaker 1: you can you've got the opportunity to really tinker with it. Um, 393 00:22:19,080 --> 00:22:23,680 Speaker 1: you might do that. There are actually an over clucking competitions. 394 00:22:23,800 --> 00:22:28,920 Speaker 1: Liquid nitrogen has been used to cool uh CPUs. Yeah, 395 00:22:28,920 --> 00:22:30,959 Speaker 1: I'm just it's not the kind of thing that the 396 00:22:31,040 --> 00:22:33,879 Speaker 1: general public because it's all gonna have. You'm not gonna 397 00:22:33,920 --> 00:22:36,720 Speaker 1: have a steady supply of liquid nitrogen to run through 398 00:22:36,760 --> 00:22:39,679 Speaker 1: your machine constantly so that you can you can keep 399 00:22:39,720 --> 00:22:42,080 Speaker 1: it going. But in any how have you seen my 400 00:22:42,119 --> 00:22:46,240 Speaker 1: liquid nitrogen? It's not under the stage. Why do you 401 00:22:46,320 --> 00:22:51,280 Speaker 1: need to know the uh uh where is my super suit. 402 00:22:51,760 --> 00:22:54,720 Speaker 1: The uh yeah, but if you if you, if you 403 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,040 Speaker 1: don't have a stay supply of liquid nitrogen, then you 404 00:22:57,040 --> 00:22:59,400 Speaker 1: know what are cooling or some other method is probably 405 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,480 Speaker 1: the best for you. But during these competitions that the 406 00:23:03,520 --> 00:23:07,960 Speaker 1: purpose of the competitions isn't to build the fastest computer. 407 00:23:08,080 --> 00:23:10,679 Speaker 1: It's to to try and push the limits of overclocking 408 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,960 Speaker 1: as far as you can go. It's not that you're 409 00:23:13,000 --> 00:23:16,840 Speaker 1: going to have a practical machine after you're done, right, 410 00:23:16,840 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: It's just this is an example of a a an artist, 411 00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:24,080 Speaker 1: if you will, an engineer really knowing the limitations and 412 00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,080 Speaker 1: how to play with them and how to push things 413 00:23:26,320 --> 00:23:29,959 Speaker 1: to a super speed. So at ce S two thousand 414 00:23:30,000 --> 00:23:34,680 Speaker 1: eleven there was an overclocking competition where they had several 415 00:23:34,760 --> 00:23:38,480 Speaker 1: different phases and they were overclocking things not just CPUs 416 00:23:38,480 --> 00:23:41,600 Speaker 1: but also graphics processing cards because you can do this 417 00:23:41,640 --> 00:23:44,879 Speaker 1: with various components, not just CPUs. It's just that's what 418 00:23:45,000 --> 00:23:47,159 Speaker 1: we tend to think about when we talk about overclocking. 419 00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:51,040 Speaker 1: But in this competition, they took an I seven nine 420 00:23:51,520 --> 00:23:56,320 Speaker 1: nine X Intel chip, which normally runs at three point 421 00:23:56,400 --> 00:23:59,800 Speaker 1: three three giga hurts with a turbo speed capable of 422 00:24:00,160 --> 00:24:05,440 Speaker 1: points six giga hurts. That's pretty darn fast. They overclocked 423 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:09,399 Speaker 1: it to five point nine three five giga hurts, so 424 00:24:09,600 --> 00:24:13,720 Speaker 1: nearly six giga hurts of of clock speed. UM, and 425 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:19,040 Speaker 1: that was using some pretty phenomenal cooling mechanisms. Uh, not 426 00:24:19,240 --> 00:24:21,440 Speaker 1: something that the average consumer is going to have at 427 00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:26,600 Speaker 1: his or her fingertips. Not the average consumer. Maybe maybe 428 00:24:26,600 --> 00:24:30,440 Speaker 1: if your last name is do find Schmirtz, you might 429 00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:33,439 Speaker 1: have something. Well, yeah, but that's all coming from the 430 00:24:34,040 --> 00:24:40,480 Speaker 1: alimony my coldinator. Hither guys, it's Jonathan FROMT the Future. 431 00:24:40,600 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: I'm just gonna have us take another quick break to 432 00:24:43,600 --> 00:24:53,560 Speaker 1: thank our sponsor. When you overclock your process or, it 433 00:24:53,600 --> 00:24:56,639 Speaker 1: does require that you tweak some other settings on your computer, 434 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:00,400 Speaker 1: including the ram UM. So keep in mind that this 435 00:25:00,480 --> 00:25:04,000 Speaker 1: is not a a if you're just sort of I 436 00:25:04,119 --> 00:25:06,960 Speaker 1: thinking of tinkering with it just for the fun of it. UM. 437 00:25:07,119 --> 00:25:09,600 Speaker 1: Keep in mind that once you start messing with one 438 00:25:09,680 --> 00:25:12,120 Speaker 1: part of it, you might have to tune some other 439 00:25:12,240 --> 00:25:18,120 Speaker 1: factors relating to your your computer's operations. So uh, make 440 00:25:18,160 --> 00:25:21,480 Speaker 1: sure you do a bit of reading about the processor 441 00:25:21,560 --> 00:25:24,520 Speaker 1: you're using, UM and the other equipment, the ram the 442 00:25:24,560 --> 00:25:27,520 Speaker 1: type of ram UM. You might even check out your GPU. 443 00:25:27,680 --> 00:25:30,200 Speaker 1: If you're feeling bold, you might even try to overclock 444 00:25:30,240 --> 00:25:34,600 Speaker 1: your GPU again. This will also increase the amount of heat. Um. 445 00:25:34,640 --> 00:25:37,360 Speaker 1: So you this might be a good time to uh 446 00:25:38,160 --> 00:25:42,400 Speaker 1: move your computer to a small bard in Norway where 447 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:45,840 Speaker 1: it is where I'm told it's rather chilly. Um. But 448 00:25:46,720 --> 00:25:48,640 Speaker 1: the people of the seed vault are be coming. No 449 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:52,560 Speaker 1: move it down there, making the seeds warm up. But 450 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:54,600 Speaker 1: so yeah, it's quite a bit of there's quite a 451 00:25:54,600 --> 00:25:56,760 Speaker 1: bit of tinkering that could be involved with this that 452 00:25:57,040 --> 00:25:58,720 Speaker 1: you know. It's not just a oh well, I'm just 453 00:25:58,760 --> 00:26:01,000 Speaker 1: gonna turn this one up to eleven. Yeah, there are 454 00:26:01,000 --> 00:26:03,480 Speaker 1: a lot of resources out on the net that will 455 00:26:03,560 --> 00:26:05,880 Speaker 1: help you out if you want to try this. And 456 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:10,040 Speaker 1: really the nice thing is there's so many that are 457 00:26:10,040 --> 00:26:12,320 Speaker 1: out there that you've got a good chance. If you 458 00:26:12,400 --> 00:26:16,320 Speaker 1: just plug in whatever processor you have and the word 459 00:26:16,440 --> 00:26:20,040 Speaker 1: overclocking into a decent search engine, you will probably get 460 00:26:20,080 --> 00:26:24,000 Speaker 1: some returns from people who have gone through this process 461 00:26:24,040 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 1: and they can tell you what worked for them or 462 00:26:26,000 --> 00:26:29,159 Speaker 1: what you know, what things to avoid um. And like 463 00:26:29,200 --> 00:26:30,880 Speaker 1: I said, there are a lot of communities out there 464 00:26:30,880 --> 00:26:34,240 Speaker 1: on the net that have just full discussions, like full 465 00:26:34,280 --> 00:26:37,520 Speaker 1: message boards just dedicated to overclocking and the different techniques 466 00:26:37,560 --> 00:26:39,880 Speaker 1: that they used, and uh, you know, some of these 467 00:26:39,960 --> 00:26:42,120 Speaker 1: might be a little technical and might require a little 468 00:26:42,119 --> 00:26:47,880 Speaker 1: bit of backtracking so that you can really understand the 469 00:26:46,880 --> 00:26:51,280 Speaker 1: the subtle, the subtleties of what it is they're saying. 470 00:26:51,520 --> 00:26:56,040 Speaker 1: But but it's totally doable. I mean, in most cases, 471 00:26:56,080 --> 00:26:58,960 Speaker 1: it's doable without you ever having to crack open your computer, 472 00:26:59,080 --> 00:27:00,919 Speaker 1: which is the best part, right, you know, because you 473 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:03,080 Speaker 1: every time you have to open your computer and take 474 00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:07,840 Speaker 1: stuff out, that eliminates a significant percentage of the people 475 00:27:07,840 --> 00:27:10,200 Speaker 1: who would have tried it otherwise just because it's either 476 00:27:10,359 --> 00:27:13,120 Speaker 1: too much of a hassle or they find it too intimidating. 477 00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:17,159 Speaker 1: Um two things though, to to make sure one that 478 00:27:17,240 --> 00:27:22,440 Speaker 1: you don't make assumptions on similarities. That was one thing 479 00:27:22,480 --> 00:27:24,680 Speaker 1: that that I read that if your computer, if you're 480 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:28,040 Speaker 1: reading information reform about overclocking, you're getting ready, you're you're 481 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,120 Speaker 1: gotten the bug. You're seriously thinking about this now, and 482 00:27:32,160 --> 00:27:34,719 Speaker 1: that you're reading a post by someone who's done it, 483 00:27:35,000 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 1: who's who's got a chip that's a little that's just 484 00:27:37,680 --> 00:27:40,560 Speaker 1: a little different than yours. Don't go by that information. 485 00:27:40,600 --> 00:27:43,320 Speaker 1: They said that um from from what I have read 486 00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,880 Speaker 1: from people who have written instructions on so you want 487 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:48,680 Speaker 1: to overclock your computer, well, here's what you should do. 488 00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:50,760 Speaker 1: That was one of the things that I read several 489 00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:54,240 Speaker 1: times was if you've got something that's very similar to 490 00:27:54,480 --> 00:27:58,040 Speaker 1: what you've got to the instructions from, don't don't go 491 00:27:58,280 --> 00:28:01,719 Speaker 1: by strict similarities. Make sure that you are going by 492 00:28:01,840 --> 00:28:06,320 Speaker 1: someone who knows instructions based on the specific stuff that 493 00:28:06,320 --> 00:28:09,879 Speaker 1: you're using, because similarities aren't good enough. When you're messing 494 00:28:09,880 --> 00:28:12,960 Speaker 1: with this, you could seriously damage your computer. And uh, 495 00:28:13,200 --> 00:28:16,760 Speaker 1: that's the other part. Make sure that you're really willing 496 00:28:16,920 --> 00:28:20,119 Speaker 1: to give this a try, knowing that you might really 497 00:28:20,320 --> 00:28:23,240 Speaker 1: muck things up for the insides of your machine. Yeah, 498 00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,080 Speaker 1: if you're careful, you probably don't really need to worry 499 00:28:26,119 --> 00:28:27,440 Speaker 1: so much. But it's good to have in the back 500 00:28:27,480 --> 00:28:30,679 Speaker 1: of your mind because otherwise, you know, if you you know, 501 00:28:30,800 --> 00:28:32,640 Speaker 1: if you do the typical what we like to think 502 00:28:32,680 --> 00:28:35,880 Speaker 1: of as the typical American thing, we're more equals better, right, 503 00:28:36,000 --> 00:28:38,560 Speaker 1: you might be Let's Craig get up to eleven and 504 00:28:38,600 --> 00:28:42,080 Speaker 1: the next thing you know, your machine doesn't do anything anymore. 505 00:28:42,160 --> 00:28:45,640 Speaker 1: It's not it's not doing anything faster than any machine 506 00:28:45,640 --> 00:28:49,280 Speaker 1: you've ever had. My computer does nothing at the speed 507 00:28:49,320 --> 00:28:54,160 Speaker 1: of light. It works great as a doorstop. No, I'm 508 00:28:54,200 --> 00:28:56,200 Speaker 1: sure that there will be somebody out there who's listening 509 00:28:56,360 --> 00:28:59,240 Speaker 1: listening to this podcast who has had experience overclocking, and 510 00:28:59,240 --> 00:29:01,640 Speaker 1: they're going to write in and say no, Jonathan and Chris, 511 00:29:01,680 --> 00:29:05,680 Speaker 1: it's easy to overclock maybe for some people, but for 512 00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:09,720 Speaker 1: some systems and for some systems, but um, you can't. 513 00:29:09,760 --> 00:29:13,720 Speaker 1: You can't. You can't apply that universally across everybody. And uh, 514 00:29:13,800 --> 00:29:16,840 Speaker 1: and it's it is possible that if you're not careful, 515 00:29:17,120 --> 00:29:20,640 Speaker 1: you could damage your computer. And if you don't have 516 00:29:20,680 --> 00:29:24,000 Speaker 1: a need for overclocking, if you're not playing lots of 517 00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:30,360 Speaker 1: of of high like resource demanding games or or other 518 00:29:30,400 --> 00:29:35,080 Speaker 1: applications that just require a lot of processing power. Um. 519 00:29:35,120 --> 00:29:37,360 Speaker 1: I mean, it could be a fun experiment if it's 520 00:29:37,360 --> 00:29:38,920 Speaker 1: something that you just want to try and get your 521 00:29:38,920 --> 00:29:40,600 Speaker 1: hand in, and especially if you have like an old 522 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:42,760 Speaker 1: machine lying around that you don't really care about and 523 00:29:42,760 --> 00:29:45,320 Speaker 1: you just want to have the experience of overclocking something, 524 00:29:45,360 --> 00:29:47,360 Speaker 1: that's fine. But if you don't really have a need 525 00:29:47,400 --> 00:29:49,800 Speaker 1: for it at all, I really don't see any reason 526 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,680 Speaker 1: to do it because Ultimately, if you are overclocking your 527 00:29:52,720 --> 00:29:56,080 Speaker 1: machine to really push its limits, that is, it is 528 00:29:56,120 --> 00:29:58,000 Speaker 1: not just a time investment, but it is a money 529 00:29:58,000 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: investment too, because you will have to find some way 530 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,200 Speaker 1: to address that heat problem. And that concludes this classic 531 00:30:05,280 --> 00:30:07,680 Speaker 1: episode of tech Stuff. I hope you guys got to 532 00:30:07,760 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: learn a little bit about clock cycles and over clocking, 533 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,000 Speaker 1: and like I said, things change. CPUs and GPUs are 534 00:30:15,120 --> 00:30:18,000 Speaker 1: much different. I mean, they work on the same general principle, 535 00:30:18,080 --> 00:30:20,640 Speaker 1: but they're much more powerful than they were in two 536 00:30:20,640 --> 00:30:24,400 Speaker 1: thousand twelve. And thank goodness, because otherwise I would never 537 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:27,040 Speaker 1: be able to play pub g at all. Anyway, I 538 00:30:27,080 --> 00:30:29,160 Speaker 1: hope you enjoyed this classic episode. If you have any 539 00:30:29,200 --> 00:30:32,360 Speaker 1: suggestions for future episodes of tech Stuff, send me a message. 540 00:30:32,400 --> 00:30:35,600 Speaker 1: The email is tech Stuff at how stuff works dot com. 541 00:30:35,760 --> 00:30:38,760 Speaker 1: Drop over to tech stuff podcast dot com. That's our 542 00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:40,840 Speaker 1: website where we have other ways to contact us plus 543 00:30:40,920 --> 00:30:43,640 Speaker 1: information about the show. There's also a link to our 544 00:30:43,760 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: store over at t public dot com slash tech Stuff. 545 00:30:47,120 --> 00:30:49,520 Speaker 1: Every purchase you make goes to help the show, and 546 00:30:49,560 --> 00:30:51,920 Speaker 1: we greatly appreciate it. And I'll talk to you again 547 00:30:52,560 --> 00:31:00,240 Speaker 1: really soon for more on this and Fathlands of other 548 00:31:00,320 --> 00:31:11,840 Speaker 1: topics is that how stuff works? Dot com m