WEBVTT - TechStuff Classic: TechStuff Overclocks a CPU 0:00:04.120 --> 0:00:07.160 Get in touch with technology with tech Stuff from how 0:00:07.200 --> 0:00:13.680 stuff Works dot Com. Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. 0:00:13.720 --> 0:00:16.680 I'm your host, Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with 0:00:16.720 --> 0:00:18.680 How Stuff Works in I heart radio and I love 0:00:18.760 --> 0:00:21.880 all things tech. And it's a Friday, which means it's 0:00:21.920 --> 0:00:25.919 time for another classic episode. The episode you're about to 0:00:26.000 --> 0:00:31.240 hear originally aired way back on February twelve, two thousand twelve, 0:00:31.800 --> 0:00:37.280 and it's titled Text Stuff over Clocks a CPU. Now, 0:00:37.920 --> 0:00:39.640 let's go ahead and get this out of the way. 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:44.720 CPUs have certainly advanced since two thousand twelve, but the 0:00:44.800 --> 0:00:49.280 general principles behind overclocking remained the same. So I hope 0:00:49.280 --> 0:00:52.160 you enjoy this discussion that Chris and I have about 0:00:52.280 --> 0:00:56.880 what overclocking is and how it is accomplished and take 0:00:56.880 --> 0:01:00.520 it away old version of me and old version of 0:01:00.600 --> 0:01:04.440 Chris Paulett. Today, to start off our episode, we have 0:01:04.480 --> 0:01:08.360 a little Facebook feedback you be. This comes from Brian 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:10.800 who says, I've been listening to you guys since almost 0:01:10.880 --> 0:01:13.199 the beginning. Keep up the great work. I was wondering 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:15.479 if you could do a podcast about overclocking. You can 0:01:15.520 --> 0:01:17.280 talk about what it is, how it works and the 0:01:17.280 --> 0:01:19.679 pros and cons of it. I've had some experience myself 0:01:19.720 --> 0:01:21.960 and can tell you it's well worth it. Can't wait 0:01:21.959 --> 0:01:24.920 to listen to your next podcast. Well, Brian, this one 0:01:24.959 --> 0:01:27.680 goes out to you. And we've talked a little bit 0:01:27.680 --> 0:01:30.640 about over clocking and past episodes, particularly anything where we 0:01:30.720 --> 0:01:34.240 talked about CPUs and clock cycles. But but let's let's 0:01:34.319 --> 0:01:37.440 kind of go back and talk about what a clock 0:01:37.520 --> 0:01:43.640 cycle is and why it's important and what overclocking actually means. Yes, now, 0:01:43.880 --> 0:01:47.160 this is something we talked about a long time ago. 0:01:47.200 --> 0:01:49.600 A long long time ago, we talked about the Mega 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:53.320 Hurt Smith and you know, the giga Hurt Smith, about 0:01:53.360 --> 0:01:56.480 the the speed of the processor and what it means 0:01:56.520 --> 0:01:59.600 and how it's really not necessarily all that important. In fact, 0:01:59.640 --> 0:02:03.920 it's kind of funny looking at computers now, um, because 0:02:03.960 --> 0:02:06.520 now that the dual core and quad core processors and 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:10.240 and let's just say multi core processors, um, some of 0:02:10.280 --> 0:02:13.560 them look like they're going backward because you'll see, you know, 0:02:13.840 --> 0:02:16.200 a two gig or hurts processor and you wait a minute, 0:02:16.240 --> 0:02:18.440 the one I have now is a three point two 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.040 y a three point two gigg hurts. Well, yeah, because 0:02:21.040 --> 0:02:24.040 it's got multiple cours processing, it's able to do this. 0:02:24.120 --> 0:02:27.200 But the clock speed is is basically the rate at 0:02:27.240 --> 0:02:31.760 which a processor is handling instructions. Very good. Yes, um, 0:02:31.800 --> 0:02:36.920 I actually saw a pretty interesting analogy on a Yale website. 0:02:36.960 --> 0:02:40.959 This was written by H. Gilbert, and Gilbert said that 0:02:41.320 --> 0:02:43.799 think of it like a high school. Right, So you're 0:02:43.800 --> 0:02:47.560 in class and then the bell rings, and that signals 0:02:47.560 --> 0:02:50.160 the end of class. So you leave alrighte and the 0:02:50.240 --> 0:02:52.799 second bell rings and you have to go to your 0:02:52.800 --> 0:02:55.880 next class. So those two bells, he says, think of 0:02:55.880 --> 0:02:58.160 that as a clock cycle. The first bells a tick 0:02:58.240 --> 0:03:01.280 and the second bells of talk, and the entire school 0:03:01.760 --> 0:03:04.880 reacts to those bells. It's not like one class gets 0:03:04.880 --> 0:03:07.760 a bell and then three minutes later another class gets 0:03:07.760 --> 0:03:11.080 a bell. It goes across the entire school. So, uh, 0:03:11.360 --> 0:03:13.800 think of a clock cycle on a on a CPU 0:03:13.919 --> 0:03:15.680 is the same sort of thing, except in steps, students, 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:20.480 we're talking about data ones and zeros, so ones and zeros, 0:03:20.520 --> 0:03:23.240 and and that at every clock cycle, ones and zeros 0:03:23.280 --> 0:03:27.520 are moving around. And essentially every task you want a 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:31.520 computer to do requires a certain number of cycles. Uh, 0:03:31.560 --> 0:03:35.280 some tasks only require one cycle and some will require 0:03:35.320 --> 0:03:38.400 multiple cycles because the task actually has more steps than 0:03:38.440 --> 0:03:41.520 what you might first imagine. And this changes over time. 0:03:41.600 --> 0:03:45.760 I should add back, you know, several years ago, many 0:03:45.840 --> 0:03:48.840 years ago, a couple of decades now, adding two numbers 0:03:48.880 --> 0:03:54.240 together might take six or eight clock cycles to complete, uh, 0:03:54.280 --> 0:03:57.080 and today it might take one clock cycle. So it's 0:03:57.120 --> 0:03:59.920 become more efficient. So that's one way that CPUs have 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:02.120 sped up over time. But an others that we've actually 0:04:02.160 --> 0:04:04.520 managed to fit more clock cycles in per second, and 0:04:04.600 --> 0:04:08.160 that's the speed we talk about with processors. That's how 0:04:08.200 --> 0:04:13.000 many clock cycles or pulses if you prefer, go through 0:04:13.080 --> 0:04:17.600 the the that particular element on your computer every second. 0:04:17.880 --> 0:04:21.279 So if you hear about a here's a dinosaur. Let's 0:04:21.279 --> 0:04:23.880 say you hear about a five hundred mega hurts processor, 0:04:24.480 --> 0:04:29.279 that means five hundred million clock cycles per second go 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:33.960 through that that CPU. All things considered, that's that's pretty fast, right. 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:35.800 But you know, then we talk about things like a 0:04:35.839 --> 0:04:39.120 two point for gigahertz processor that's two point four billion 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:42.559 clock cycles per second, much faster, which is even much faster, 0:04:42.920 --> 0:04:48.479 and they get faster than that obviously, But that's so 0:04:48.480 --> 0:04:50.760 so when we're talking about processor speed. We really talking 0:04:50.800 --> 0:04:54.039 about the amount of work a processor can do within 0:04:54.080 --> 0:04:57.080 a certain amount of time, and faster processors can do 0:04:57.160 --> 0:05:00.279 more work in that in that time frame. So the 0:05:00.360 --> 0:05:04.280 five hundred mega Hurts processor can do five hundred million, 0:05:04.839 --> 0:05:09.800 uh can not five million tasks, but can use five 0:05:10.200 --> 0:05:13.440 million clock cycles toward tasks in a second, whereas the 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.000 two point for gigahurts does two point four billion clock 0:05:16.040 --> 0:05:21.719 cycles toward tasks in a second. So yeah, that's that's 0:05:21.839 --> 0:05:26.000 essentially the speed element. Now, UH CPUs are not the 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.240 only thing that work on cycles, by the way, just 0:05:28.400 --> 0:05:30.600 want to make that clear when we do talk about 0:05:30.600 --> 0:05:35.080 clock cycles. Other elements like memory and IO devices also 0:05:35.320 --> 0:05:38.880 operate on cycles. And all of this is controlled ultimately 0:05:38.960 --> 0:05:43.800 by the motherboard. Yes. Now, if you're wondering how a 0:05:44.880 --> 0:05:47.960 you know, how they come out with these chips, UM, 0:05:48.080 --> 0:05:52.680 Well it's it's it's sort of controlled. Um. If you 0:05:52.720 --> 0:05:55.920 think about it. Let's say, let's take Jonathan's five mega 0:05:56.000 --> 0:06:01.599 Hurts processor. UM, the manufacturer has, you know, knows something 0:06:01.640 --> 0:06:05.920 about the range at which this chip can operate. Um, 0:06:05.960 --> 0:06:08.480 it can operate more slowly than that, it can operate 0:06:08.560 --> 0:06:12.359 more quickly than that. But what goes on is in 0:06:12.440 --> 0:06:15.960 the process of building this and testing this chip, they 0:06:16.000 --> 0:06:18.760 know roughly about how much electricity it's going to use 0:06:18.800 --> 0:06:22.799 and about how hot it's gonna get. Um. Many many 0:06:22.960 --> 0:06:27.400 of us UH have an idea of what happens when 0:06:27.600 --> 0:06:32.679 your computer overheats. UM. It will seize up eventually, UM 0:06:32.920 --> 0:06:36.599 and decrease the operating life of the computer overall too 0:06:37.000 --> 0:06:39.440 if it gets too hot too frequently. Yeah. So the 0:06:40.080 --> 0:06:43.040 thing is the the manufacturer of the processor is going 0:06:43.080 --> 0:06:45.839 to go, well, okay, this is this is a good range. 0:06:45.839 --> 0:06:48.880 This is about what it's gonna do. And essentially, yeah, 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:54.040 and essentially it'll runs as fast as this without going 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:58.279 nuts and requiring you know, a A to be immersed 0:06:58.279 --> 0:07:01.159 in liquid nitrogen to keep it cold. We'll get to 0:07:01.200 --> 0:07:04.080 that right, right, So this is under normal operating conditions. 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:06.120 This is about how fast this chip is going to run. 0:07:06.200 --> 0:07:09.200 Let's say it's five hundred mega hurts and and there 0:07:09.240 --> 0:07:15.960 are instructions UM in the computer actually written into ROM 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:20.080 that will keep it from doing more than that. Yeah. Essentially, 0:07:20.080 --> 0:07:23.000 you've got two elements that determine the speed. You have 0:07:23.040 --> 0:07:28.239 the motherboard which provides a baseline speed, and those tend 0:07:28.280 --> 0:07:32.560 to be around one, three, one sixty six or two 0:07:32.680 --> 0:07:36.640 hundred mega hurts, and then you have a multiplier on 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:40.720 the CPU itself. Right, So for the five hundred megahurts 0:07:40.720 --> 0:07:43.560 machine we were talking about, the multiplayer might be five, 0:07:43.680 --> 0:07:46.640 and the motherboard provides one hundred mega hurts. So the 0:07:46.680 --> 0:07:49.920 clock inside the CPU is going to run at five 0:07:50.000 --> 0:07:53.800 times the speed of the clock on the motherboard. So 0:07:53.840 --> 0:07:57.200 the motherboard sets the pace, the CPU multiplies that pace, 0:07:57.480 --> 0:08:00.720 and that's where you get your processor clocks need So 0:08:01.000 --> 0:08:04.080 the five multiplayer times the one hundred mega hurts, that's 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:07.120 where you get your five hundred mega hurts. Now if 0:08:07.160 --> 0:08:14.320 you had a a multiplayer that was say twenty four 0:08:14.920 --> 0:08:17.200 times one hundred, well that's where you get the two 0:08:17.240 --> 0:08:21.120 point four giga hurts because you get the two thousand, 0:08:21.240 --> 0:08:24.920 one four hundred, and then that two thousand, four hundred 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:28.560 mega hurts is the same as two points for gig hurts. Um. 0:08:28.600 --> 0:08:31.680 So the multiplayers tend to be difficult to change with 0:08:31.800 --> 0:08:34.880 most processors, not all, but a lot of processors have 0:08:35.240 --> 0:08:38.280 the manufacturers have locked down that multiplayer in order to 0:08:38.360 --> 0:08:42.400 prevent people from pushing it too hard and causing problems 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:46.400 down the line. Yeah, because Ultimately, the majority of us 0:08:46.440 --> 0:08:49.120 are going to buy our computers. We're going to set 0:08:49.120 --> 0:08:51.240 it up, do our work on it, play games on it, 0:08:51.360 --> 0:08:52.959 do whatever it is that we're going to do on it. 0:08:53.320 --> 0:08:57.920 And the point is we wanted to last. Most of 0:08:58.000 --> 0:08:59.720 us can't just go buy a new computer. And if 0:08:59.760 --> 0:09:03.760 we don't know what we're doing as far as over clocking, um, 0:09:03.800 --> 0:09:05.840 you know, we're just gonna we want this machine to 0:09:05.920 --> 0:09:07.840 last us a good long time. And if you use 0:09:07.880 --> 0:09:10.560 it under normal circumstances, unless the fan breaks or some 0:09:10.880 --> 0:09:14.600 the cooling mechanism breaks. Even in computers with no fans, 0:09:14.640 --> 0:09:17.320 let's say, uh, you know one of the older Imax 0:09:17.360 --> 0:09:19.400 that they made a point of putting no fan in. 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:22.440 If you clogged up the air vents with something dust, 0:09:22.960 --> 0:09:26.320 a blanket, it will overheat and the computer will die 0:09:26.559 --> 0:09:29.360 or it will shorten the life of it. Um, so 0:09:29.559 --> 0:09:31.520 be un study an old crash a lot, that kind 0:09:31.520 --> 0:09:34.200 of thing. So to the point of the manufacturer setting 0:09:34.440 --> 0:09:38.440 a clock speed a default clock speed is is basically 0:09:38.480 --> 0:09:41.600 to make it a motherboard, a chip on a motherboard 0:09:41.600 --> 0:09:44.600 that it's gonna last the average computer user a good 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:48.440 long while years hopefully, I'd say that's the that's the point. 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:50.679 I'd say that's true in the majority of cases. There 0:09:50.720 --> 0:09:56.040 are a few cases where manufacturers have developed one chip 0:09:56.120 --> 0:10:00.120 to go in a line of computers and have it 0:10:00.160 --> 0:10:05.520 in essentially a a an artificial limit to how fast 0:10:05.559 --> 0:10:08.400 that processor can go per model. So let's say that 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.760 I've got a selection of computers, um, and we're gonna 0:10:12.760 --> 0:10:15.480 say we're gonna call a Model A, B, C, and D, 0:10:16.440 --> 0:10:19.360 and all four of these have the same processor in them, 0:10:19.880 --> 0:10:22.360 but I've put limitations on it so that Model A 0:10:22.640 --> 0:10:26.000 can only go at five hundred mega hurts, and Model 0:10:26.040 --> 0:10:28.880 B as a giga hurts, and and Model C as 0:10:28.960 --> 0:10:31.080 two gig hurts, and Model D is like two point 0:10:31.120 --> 0:10:34.120 four giga hurts, and two point four is really where 0:10:34.160 --> 0:10:36.839 the sweet spot is. But I've put in these artificial 0:10:37.080 --> 0:10:40.120 limitations on the previous ones. The reason for that would 0:10:40.120 --> 0:10:42.680 be I only have to manufacture one chip, and I 0:10:42.720 --> 0:10:46.960 can create devices for multiple markets. Because there's some people 0:10:47.000 --> 0:10:48.800 are gonna be out there who are saying, I need 0:10:48.840 --> 0:10:50.520 a computer, but I don't need it to do the 0:10:51.360 --> 0:10:54.720 latest stuff, or I can't afford to buy a computer 0:10:54.800 --> 0:10:57.640 that has like the top level technology in it. But 0:10:57.679 --> 0:11:00.240 I'm gonna go and get this base model instead, and 0:11:00.240 --> 0:11:01.760 then they're going to be the up people on the 0:11:01.800 --> 0:11:04.880 other side of it, saying I want the fastest machine 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:07.280 I can possibly get, so they're gonna go for the 0:11:07.280 --> 0:11:09.640 other one. Well, they can create a whole range of 0:11:09.640 --> 0:11:13.160 computers meeting all of these demands using the same chip 0:11:13.320 --> 0:11:15.920 if they put those limitations in place. And in some 0:11:15.960 --> 0:11:19.920 cases you can't really get around the multiplier limitation without 0:11:20.120 --> 0:11:25.040 some really deep knowledge and risking ruining your computer. However, 0:11:25.520 --> 0:11:29.559 what you can do has changed the rate on the 0:11:29.640 --> 0:11:34.120 motherboard itself, and you do that through the BIOS system. 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.360 And before we before we get into technical detail, um, 0:11:37.400 --> 0:11:40.920 overclocking is the process that we're talking about. Now. This 0:11:41.000 --> 0:11:46.439 means that you're increasing the limit at which the chip 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:51.440 can process instructions. Yeah, it's essentially pushing more clock cycles 0:11:51.440 --> 0:11:55.040 in per second than what the chip was recommended for. 0:11:55.880 --> 0:11:59.360 And we should say it really is a recommendation because uh, 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.160 like so saying most of these chips, I mean almost 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:06.240 all chips that come out have the capacity to operate 0:12:06.400 --> 0:12:09.400 over what they are rated for. So at two point 0:12:09.440 --> 0:12:13.320 four gigahertz processor can actually work faster than that. In fact, 0:12:13.400 --> 0:12:16.040 usually it's around five to ten percent faster than what 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:19.360 the rating is for. So if you are still five 0:12:19.400 --> 0:12:24.559 to tempercent faster without running the risk of causing damage 0:12:24.600 --> 0:12:27.319 to your computer, so you might be able to boost 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:31.560 your computer's performance by or at least the processing speed 0:12:31.600 --> 0:12:34.680 by five or ten percent without having to worry about 0:12:35.080 --> 0:12:38.720 additional concerns. Once you go beyond that, then you have 0:12:38.760 --> 0:12:41.560 to start looking into creative ways of managing your computer 0:12:41.600 --> 0:12:44.000 so that it doesn't you know, just crash on you. 0:12:44.400 --> 0:12:47.079 And even if you do just overclock your computer a 0:12:47.120 --> 0:12:49.040 little bit, there is a chance that stuff will crash 0:12:49.080 --> 0:12:54.160 because sometimes programs just don't work very well with overclocked processors. Um. Yeah, 0:12:54.200 --> 0:12:58.679 So that's the basis. Though. Overclocking means that you're pushing 0:12:58.679 --> 0:13:03.120 through more clock cycles. Second and uh, before we again, 0:13:03.160 --> 0:13:05.240 before we get into too much detail, this is not 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:08.040 the kind of thing that you want to do casually 0:13:08.200 --> 0:13:11.240 and figure, oh, you know what, let's just go and 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:14.240 try this. You want to think about how what happens 0:13:14.400 --> 0:13:17.640 if it doesn't work, because if you don't follow the 0:13:17.679 --> 0:13:20.600 instructions carefully. Um. And we're not going to give you 0:13:20.600 --> 0:13:23.000 a lot of instructions because there's a lot of depend 0:13:23.040 --> 0:13:25.760 upon what the processor is so yeah. Yeah, But the 0:13:25.760 --> 0:13:28.440 thing is, if you're not very careful, you could damage 0:13:28.440 --> 0:13:32.280 your computer permanently. And most of the time, if you 0:13:32.320 --> 0:13:35.679 try to overclock your processor, you're violating a warranty. So 0:13:35.720 --> 0:13:38.000 if you if you do damage your computer, you don't 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:40.280 have any recourse to get it fixed by the manufacturer 0:13:40.320 --> 0:13:42.480 because they're gonna say, hey, you did this thing you 0:13:42.520 --> 0:13:45.400 weren't supposed to do. Therefore, we have no obligation to 0:13:45.440 --> 0:13:49.679 help you out. So so if you do this, make 0:13:49.720 --> 0:13:51.559 sure you you put some thought into it and make 0:13:51.559 --> 0:13:53.920 sure this is something you feel up to and that 0:13:54.040 --> 0:13:56.439 you're you're willing to try before you really give it 0:13:56.480 --> 0:13:58.960 a shot. If you want to. Uh, it could be 0:13:59.080 --> 0:14:01.640 very very profitable for you if you're looking for a 0:14:01.640 --> 0:14:05.280 faster machine and you have the uh, the ability, and 0:14:05.320 --> 0:14:07.800 the you know, the money if you need it. But 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:09.920 we can get into that now, right right. And the 0:14:09.960 --> 0:14:12.640 reason why you would want to overclock your machine in 0:14:12.679 --> 0:14:15.720 the first place is that it allows you to run 0:14:15.920 --> 0:14:20.320 more advanced programs at a faster rate without having to 0:14:20.400 --> 0:14:23.200 buy a new processor or a new machine. That's that's 0:14:23.200 --> 0:14:26.160 the big attraction for a lot of gamers out there. 0:14:26.200 --> 0:14:28.680 They'll they'll buy a good gaming rig and then they 0:14:28.720 --> 0:14:32.000 over clocked their processors so that they can run games 0:14:32.040 --> 0:14:35.720 at at the highest settings without any slowdown and to 0:14:35.880 --> 0:14:39.200 have you know, the best performance in their game. Uh. 0:14:39.240 --> 0:14:43.160 And also it means that you know, they they're essentially 0:14:43.200 --> 0:14:47.680 getting higher like they're getting the equivalent of a faster processor, 0:14:47.920 --> 0:14:51.080 but they're buying a less expensive one. Right. So if 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:53.320 there were say a two point eight processor out there, 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:55.480 in a three point two processor out there, and you 0:14:55.560 --> 0:14:57.600 knew you could overclock your two point eight so that 0:14:57.680 --> 0:15:01.120 would equal or exceed the three point you say, well, 0:15:01.120 --> 0:15:03.160 why would I spend the extra money getting the three 0:15:03.160 --> 0:15:04.840 point two when I could get the two point eight 0:15:04.880 --> 0:15:08.640 and just over clock that puppy. And of course there's 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:14.160 the maker's reason because they can. Yeah, yes, there's always 0:15:14.160 --> 0:15:16.440 that too. It's just like, hey, I I have the 0:15:16.480 --> 0:15:19.520 ability to fiddle with my computer settings. Gosh darn it, 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:22.080 that's what I'm gonna do. Chris and I have more 0:15:22.120 --> 0:15:25.160 to say about over clocking a CPU, but first let's 0:15:25.160 --> 0:15:36.320 take a quick break to thank our sponsor. So you 0:15:36.360 --> 0:15:40.520 were talking a moment ago about the BIOS Basic Input 0:15:40.600 --> 0:15:44.800 Output System. Yes, now, this is a part of When 0:15:44.840 --> 0:15:46.920 you boot up your computer, it goes through the BIOS 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:49.720 set up, and part of that BIO set up is 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.760 the motherboard checks the processor, sees what kind of processor 0:15:53.800 --> 0:15:56.560 it is and what the recommended settings are, and then 0:15:57.400 --> 0:16:01.040 goes into that recommended setting. For the speed that the 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:06.600 motherboard provides is later on multiplied by the processor. Uh. 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:10.200 The thing is, you can actually interrupt the BIOS set 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:14.360 up system and manually change those settings. So let's say 0:16:14.360 --> 0:16:17.000 that it was set at one hundred mega hurts, you 0:16:17.000 --> 0:16:19.400 could up it up to one thirty three or one 0:16:19.480 --> 0:16:22.720 sixty six or two hundred. Although you know, the more 0:16:22.920 --> 0:16:27.880 you boost this the the closer you ride that dangerous 0:16:28.000 --> 0:16:32.480 edge of possibly ruining your machine. It's like like getting 0:16:32.480 --> 0:16:34.400 in a car and pushing it faster than it was 0:16:34.480 --> 0:16:37.200 meant to go. It can start to shake apart. Yeah, 0:16:37.320 --> 0:16:40.760 most of the instructions I read in the process of 0:16:40.800 --> 0:16:43.600 doing research for this podcast suggested that you would tinker 0:16:43.640 --> 0:16:49.200 with the multiplier and basically, rather than going how high 0:16:49.240 --> 0:16:51.120 can I push this up? Start it all the way up, 0:16:51.640 --> 0:16:54.400 what they suggest doing is taking it up a couple 0:16:54.400 --> 0:16:58.520 of notches. Essentially, again, read the instructions carefully for for 0:16:58.600 --> 0:17:01.720 the the system that you have, and then and the 0:17:02.040 --> 0:17:05.040 materials that you've got on hand. But I'm oversimplifying. For 0:17:05.040 --> 0:17:08.159 the case of explanation, you might crank it up a 0:17:08.200 --> 0:17:11.359 notch or two notches and test it, see how it runs. 0:17:11.400 --> 0:17:13.119 Does it look like it's doing all right? Does it 0:17:13.160 --> 0:17:16.760 look like it's behaving oddly? If applications all crashing, but 0:17:17.200 --> 0:17:19.520 you might need to crank it back down again. Yeah, 0:17:19.560 --> 0:17:22.800 And and like I said, not all multiplayers are You 0:17:22.840 --> 0:17:26.320 can't mess with all multiplayers. It all depends on the processors. 0:17:26.320 --> 0:17:28.479 Some of the processors are locked, so you that you 0:17:28.560 --> 0:17:31.760 can't do that, in which case you your only recourse 0:17:31.920 --> 0:17:34.159 is to change the setting of the motherboard as opposed 0:17:34.160 --> 0:17:37.520 to the setting on the processor. And also some motherboards 0:17:37.760 --> 0:17:41.800 you cannot do this through a software approach. You actually 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:43.720 have to use a physical approach. You have to change 0:17:43.720 --> 0:17:48.040 these components that are called jumpers, which that will uh 0:17:48.359 --> 0:17:51.080 will limit the motherboard speed. You have to you would 0:17:51.119 --> 0:17:54.760 have to physically replace those, which requires opening up your 0:17:54.800 --> 0:17:58.120 computer case and taking stuff out and changing stuff out, 0:17:58.160 --> 0:18:00.719 and that that can get a little utimidating for folks. 0:18:00.720 --> 0:18:03.720 It's a little bit simpler when you just hit a 0:18:03.760 --> 0:18:06.280 couple of buttons and then change some numbers on the screen, 0:18:07.200 --> 0:18:11.359 But that might be necessary depending on the motherboard. A 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:14.440 lot of the stuff about personal computers depends heavily on 0:18:14.480 --> 0:18:18.679 the specific hardware you have, which is why if you 0:18:18.760 --> 0:18:21.719 ever think about building a machine, you should really do 0:18:21.800 --> 0:18:24.880 some research and make sure that you know what components 0:18:24.920 --> 0:18:28.160 you're getting before you you jump into it. Because not 0:18:28.240 --> 0:18:31.560 every processor is compatible with every motherboard. So if you 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:33.960 were to just try and create your own computer, build 0:18:33.960 --> 0:18:35.760 your own computer, and you just you know, you were 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:39.480 buying whatever was on sale, you might discover that, oh, 0:18:39.520 --> 0:18:42.800 I got this great motherboard and this great processor, but 0:18:42.880 --> 0:18:45.679 they aren't compatible with each other, so I can't actually 0:18:45.720 --> 0:18:48.000 build a machine out of it. Well, the same sort 0:18:48.040 --> 0:18:50.720 of thing with overclocking. You just you know, they're different 0:18:50.760 --> 0:18:55.680 limitations based upon the actual hardware you have. And of course, 0:18:55.840 --> 0:18:59.879 uh it might involve depending on what you're doing, you 0:19:00.080 --> 0:19:03.440 might have to play around with the amount of voltage 0:19:03.920 --> 0:19:07.440 uh necessary to run the dangerous to Yeah, well, I 0:19:07.760 --> 0:19:10.679 hopefully there are our listeners when we start talking about 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:15.400 the amount of electricity we're getting into um or any 0:19:15.440 --> 0:19:18.159 any measure of electricity, they start going, oh, maybe I 0:19:18.160 --> 0:19:20.359 don't want to do this without you know, really doing 0:19:20.359 --> 0:19:23.760 some research. Um, I would very much recommend doing that 0:19:23.800 --> 0:19:27.080 if you are going to do getting into really messing 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:30.200 with this. Um. But yeah, there it is worth noting 0:19:30.240 --> 0:19:34.879 though that uh uh certain boards are you know, certain 0:19:34.920 --> 0:19:39.639 processors I should say, come with the the ability to 0:19:39.720 --> 0:19:43.920 overclock sort of sanctioned. Yeah, they're built in. Intel has 0:19:43.920 --> 0:19:47.720 several chips that you can uh go into a specific 0:19:47.800 --> 0:19:51.200 screen and change the settings if you want to overclock 0:19:51.280 --> 0:19:55.479 your processor, like the Extreme edition. Yeah, so that way, seriously, 0:19:55.640 --> 0:19:57.560 you can do like the turbo stuff, or you can 0:19:57.600 --> 0:20:01.240 actually knock up the processors bed you can change the 0:20:01.320 --> 0:20:04.440 multiplier a little bit, that kind of stuff. And uh, 0:20:04.480 --> 0:20:06.720 you know again this is you might ask, well, why 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:08.679 isn't it like that just out of the box. Well, 0:20:08.800 --> 0:20:11.639 for one thing, not everyone needs that kind of performance. 0:20:11.680 --> 0:20:15.200 And for another, uh, here's the thing about processors. We've 0:20:15.200 --> 0:20:17.280 talked about heat a bit and about generating heat, and 0:20:17.480 --> 0:20:19.800 too much heat can be a bad thing. When you 0:20:19.840 --> 0:20:24.560 have electricity running through a circuit, it generates heat as 0:20:24.560 --> 0:20:28.119 a byproduct. Some energy is lost due to heat waste. 0:20:28.160 --> 0:20:31.440 It waste some of its energy as heat. Yeah, so 0:20:31.840 --> 0:20:36.120 the more electricity you're pushing through. The more the more 0:20:36.400 --> 0:20:39.680 uh work you're making your system do, the more heat 0:20:39.720 --> 0:20:43.200 it's going to generate. And before long that heat might 0:20:43.280 --> 0:20:46.720 get to a point that's causing damage or or causing 0:20:46.760 --> 0:20:49.720 malfunctions within the machine itself. So you have to figure 0:20:49.720 --> 0:20:52.720 out a way of dispersing that heat UM to handle that, 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.680 or else your device isn't gonna work for very long. 0:20:55.720 --> 0:20:58.280 You might have the world's fastest computer, but only for 0:20:58.320 --> 0:21:03.440 a few minutes before it just of yeah, well, of course, 0:21:03.920 --> 0:21:06.119 there have been computers with no fans. There have been 0:21:06.160 --> 0:21:08.840 computers with multiple fans. It all sort of depends on 0:21:08.840 --> 0:21:11.160 on the guts on the you know, the stuff that's 0:21:11.160 --> 0:21:14.800 inside the box um. And if you go to different 0:21:14.840 --> 0:21:19.600 overclocking communities, you can learn about the parts and bits 0:21:19.640 --> 0:21:22.800 that people uh seem to feel are the best. Now 0:21:22.840 --> 0:21:25.440 I saw a couple of fans listed as being excellent 0:21:25.480 --> 0:21:28.320 for overclockers because they're reliable and they push a lot 0:21:28.320 --> 0:21:31.399 of air UM. But depending on what you're doing, that 0:21:31.480 --> 0:21:33.280 may not be enough. You might have to go to 0:21:33.359 --> 0:21:36.399 say a water cooling system, which uh you know, water 0:21:36.560 --> 0:21:40.280 is a much more efficient dispersal of heat than than air, 0:21:40.400 --> 0:21:44.840 is it dispersal. I'm making up words now or misusing 0:21:44.880 --> 0:21:47.520 them at any rate. So anyway, water is much better 0:21:47.560 --> 0:21:50.480 at taking care of heat than than air is, and 0:21:50.520 --> 0:21:54.639 so a water based cooling system can be very useful 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:57.320 for people who are overclocking their their machines and they 0:21:57.359 --> 0:22:00.159 want to really push it to the limit. Yeah, I 0:22:00.240 --> 0:22:02.879 was joking about the liquid nitrogen earlier, but there are 0:22:02.880 --> 0:22:07.000 people who have some very elaborate liquid cooled computer systems. 0:22:07.040 --> 0:22:09.840 And depending on how much you're you're pushing, especially if 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:12.320 you have something like the again like the Intel chips 0:22:12.320 --> 0:22:14.960 are the A M. D S Black Edition chips where 0:22:15.000 --> 0:22:18.920 you can you've got the opportunity to really tinker with it. Um, 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:23.680 you might do that. There are actually an over clucking competitions. 0:22:23.800 --> 0:22:28.920 Liquid nitrogen has been used to cool uh CPUs. Yeah, 0:22:28.920 --> 0:22:30.959 I'm just it's not the kind of thing that the 0:22:31.040 --> 0:22:33.879 general public because it's all gonna have. You'm not gonna 0:22:33.920 --> 0:22:36.720 have a steady supply of liquid nitrogen to run through 0:22:36.760 --> 0:22:39.679 your machine constantly so that you can you can keep 0:22:39.720 --> 0:22:42.080 it going. But in any how have you seen my 0:22:42.119 --> 0:22:46.240 liquid nitrogen? It's not under the stage. Why do you 0:22:46.320 --> 0:22:51.280