Over the past two or so years, the 'enthusiast' market has matured and the number of products specifically designed to tickle the fancy of Custom PC readers has increased massively. Now, everything, from cases to screws, is made with the enthusiast firmly in mind.
What this means is that getting stuck in and building a custom PC has never been more satisfying, which is also partly due to the fact that you can buy some seriously powerful kit for not much dosh these days. However, building a PC is only the first step down the dark path that every enthusiast must inevitably tread.
Whereas common-or-garden PC users will be happy to leave their PCs untouched for months or even years, enthusiasts have an insatiable need to tweak things. It doesn't matter if your PC is perfectly stable, and runs your applications and games adequately; you still won't be satisfied. The problem is, you've heard of this thing called overclocking. Apparently, it makes your PC faster.
Unfortunately, you've also heard that overclocking is dangerous. You want to try overclocking, but you're afraid of what it might do to your precious hardware. You may have even tried to overclock your PC a few times, but the results have been a perturbing mix of BSODs, random lockups, or even your PC refusing to boot.
If this sounds like you then you've come to the right place, because we've devoted a sizable chunk of this month's issue to the dark subject of overclocking. It's a subject that we've covered before and it's something we talk about (and do) every single issue, but judging by the huge volume of emails we get from confused, newbie overclockers, for many people, it's still a subject that's shrouded in mystery and confusion.
For this reason, the first of our three features on tweaking and overclocking your PC answers the questions 'what is overclocking?' and 'how is it possible?' These are questions that many people ask, so if you don't have the first clue what I'm talking about, turn to p102. The second feature then shows you exactly how to go about overclocking your PC, with before and after benchmark results from two typical systems. However, the focus here is how to overclock safely to make sure damage doesn't occur. If you follow our guidelines then you have nothing to fear from overclocking your PC.
Of course, some of you will already be well versed in the art of overclocking, and a select few will even be members of the extreme overclocking community. This is a small collective of hard-line veterans who enjoy nothing more than using liquid nitrogen to cool their CPUs to sub-zero temperatures and overclock them beyond 6GHz. You can read about their adventures on p118.
If liquid nitrogen is too extreme, but you don't mind the idea of attaching a fridge to your PC, then you could try the slightly less perilous technique of phase-change cooling instead. And if all of this sounds a bit too daring then one of the latest HSFs from this month's Labs test will provide enough CPU cooling to set you on the path to overclocking heaven.
Done properly, overclocking is a great way to boost your PC's performance, and in many cases, it won't cost you a penny, or just the cost of a decent HSF. By reading our features you should gain the knowledge you need to overclock safely and effectively. The rest is down to you.
Author: Gareth Ogden
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