5 Dangers Of Overclocking on a CPU

If you've been thinking about overclocking your computer, you should first consider the dangers that it poses to your CPU and the Data you have stored in your PC. As a rule of thumb, you should avoid overclocking on a PC which has important data, as it might blow up some day due to your careless overclocking ;) . You should always make use of forums on the internet for expert advice before overclocking your PC.  So, here is a list of dangers of overclocking:

1. Overclocking = Heat

Overclocking invariably produces more heat due to increased power consumption leading to a decreased life of the CPU. So, remember to give your overclocked PC as much cooling as possible. Why not go for a strong heatsink-fan combo instead of the lone heatsink?Also, you might consider water cooling or any other form of effective cooling for the CPU.

2. Malfunctioning Video card and PCI slots

This one might have shocked those of you who thought that overclocking would allow you to play a game better than earlier. If you overclocked the CPU by increasing the system bus speed, be warned that this can also affect the PCI bus speed, either positively or even negatively. Usually, video cards can begin to malfunction if your PCI-bus speed is higher 33MHz. This increases the likelihood of glitches or crashes when you play 3-D accelerated games.

3. Motherboard dies - Static Discharge

One of the major things to be remember is to use a anti-static wrist strap when touching components of a motherboard. If you don't have such a grounding strap, you should ground yourself using other means such as touching a metal surface before assembling the components or even touching them. If you accidentally discharge inside the case, then it is possible that the motherboard gets spoilt.

4. Decreased Lifetime of the CPU

Increased heat to components can cause electromigration which can lead to the eventual breakdown of the components of the CPU. Electromigration causes the chips to short circuit and thus reduces the reliability of the chips over time. So, be careful when altering the amount of current flowing into the CPU by changing the voltage. 

5. Works today . . . Maybe not tomorrow

One major disadvantage of overclocking is that if you update or upgrade your Operating System, there is a possibility of it malfunctioning. You may receive errors such as "file copy error" during windows installation. Also, Overclocking can cause other problems such as Windows Registry Files becoming corrupted.

So, before deciding to overclock your CPU, consider these "dangers" that can cause Data losses and many other unpredictable errors and problems. One of the tips I would offer is to note down each of your steps and the original settings before you overclock so you can always reverse the settings. If you need expert advice on overclocking the following resources might be useful -  

• Tweakboy's Ultimate Overclocking Handbook 
•  Overclocking Your Cpu To The Extreme 

Best Wishes,