What exactly is overclocking?

[Adonis4000]

I recently got very interested in computers in general, but one thing that keeps coming up is overclocking.

I know it's supposed to boost your cpu in some way but i don't understand how nor why it's possible.

I mean, if boosting your cpu is possible, why wouldn't the company selling them make them that way (overclocked), and sell the for a higher price?

 

I am new to this page so I'm not quite sure if I created this topic in the right place. Sorry about that

[Djole123]

1) Overclocking is possible through your BIOS or special programs like SetFSB.

 

2) AMD was doing this for quite some time. For example, an FX 9590 is essentially an overclocked FX 8350.

[Enderman]

the "over" part of overclocking means YOU increase the speed over the stock speed that the CPU is sold at

 

CPUs are already sold at higher clock speeds for higher price

just like the 6600 is 3.9GHz the 6500 is 3.6GHz and the 6400 is 3.3GHz

 

overclocking is just manually forcing it to do more than it is meant to do

not every CPU can reach high clock speeds

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overclocking

[Naeaes]

Watch this video and ask us any questions you might still have left after that?

[DannyRyu]

because nothing is created equally so its smarter to not sell it overclocked. its smarter to sell the ability to overclock it because that way you don't have to gurantee performance. thats the answer to the why the company wont sell them pre-overclocked. cause that involves binning of the chips or it would be false advertisement if they are saying it comes at 4.0 Ghz and a lot of them don't. although GPU's like EVGA do some times do this.

as for the overclocking part I'm not to sure how its done.

[Godlygamer23]

Overclocking is the act of increasing the frequency of a component beyond the original specification, using multiple methods. Those methods include adjusting the multiplier, and increasing the BCLK or bus speed.

 

In regards to your comment about companies selling overclocked products, many of them do. Intel's 4790K is essentially an overclocked 4770K. Same architecture, just clocked higher. AMD did create the FX 9590, which is really just an overclocked FX 8350. EVGA often sells overclocked products, commonly dubbed SC or FTW. 

[Godlygamer23]

2 minutes ago, DannyRyu said:

because nothing is created equally so its smarter to not sell it overclocked. its smarter to sell the ability to overclock it because that way you don't have to gurantee performance. thats the answer to the why the company wont sell them pre-overclocked.

The 4790K for all intents and purposes is an overclocked 4770K.

[DannyRyu]

3 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

The 4790K for all intents and purposes is an overclocked 4770K.

True, but I was just giving a very exaggerated example. like if Intel started selling all 4790k's at 4.9 GHz out of the box it would require a lot of binning etc.

[TheGamingBarrel]

10 minutes ago, Godlygamer23 said:

The 4790K for all intents and purposes is an overclocked 4770K.

With different TIM And a different FIVR Layout.

4790K Has a second layer of FIVR (Fully integrated voltage regulator) Which means it can it cooler when having more volts pushed through and can have a much lower VCCIN ( VCCIN Override voltage ) 

[alexhelvetica]

7 hours ago, Djole123 said:

1) Overclocking is possible through your BIOS or special programs like SetFSB.

 

2) AMD was doing this for quite some time. For example, an FX 9590 is essentially an overclocked FX 8350.

All brands "Factory Overclock" and make faster versions of the same chip.

The really low end Celeron were i7's that failed being an i7. i5. i3 and pentium or it they were just unclocked because there wasn't enough celerons.

The GTX 970 was a watered down GTX 980, the Fury and Nano and watered down FuryX's/

And so on, it is the binning process, companies don't just throw away the failed models, they sell it as a lower tier products, that could be lowering the clock speed or physically disabling the failed parts of it.

[Godlygamer23]

6 minutes ago, TheGamingBarrel said:

With different TIM And a different FIVR Layout.

 

4790K Has a second layer of FIVR (Fully integrated voltage regulator) Which means it can it cooler when having more volts pushed through and can have a much lower VCCIN ( VCCIN Override voltage ) 

Right, but it's still Haswell. 

[TheGamingBarrel]

Just now, Godlygamer23 said:

Right, but it's still Haswell. 

Yes, but there are differences in how they overclock, one will run much hotter and limit OC Much more.

[Godlygamer23]

1 minute ago, TheGamingBarrel said:

Yes, but there are differences in how they overclock, one will run much hotter and limit OC Much more.

"For all intents and purposes."

[Glenwing]

54 minutes ago, Adonis4000 said:

I recently got very interested in computers in general, but one thing that keeps coming up is overclocking.

I know it's supposed to boost your cpu in some way but i don't understand how nor why it's possible.

I mean, if boosting your cpu is possible, why wouldn't the company selling them make them that way (overclocked), and sell the for a higher price?

 

I am new to this page so I'm not quite sure if I created this topic in the right place. Sorry about that

The basic thing to understand, is that a CPU's frequency is completely arbitrary. If a CPU runs at 4.0 GHz, it's not because it is "inherently" a 4.0 GHz chip or something like that, there is nothing magical or special about the default frequency of a CPU. The chip runs at whatever frequency the manufacturer programs it to, they could have easily picked 3.6 GHz or 3.8 GHz, and in fact they actually do that already; that's what all the "lower" models of CPUs are, the same thing with a different default setting. They are still the same CPU, they haven't changed to somehow "inherently" be a 3.6 GHz or a 3.8 GHz processor now. Just the manufacturer programmed it to run at that frequency instead of 4.0 GHz. Overclocking is just changing that setting to something higher than what the manufacturer chose as the default.

 

Now, why would they choose 4.0 GHz as the default setting if these chips can overclock up to 4.6 or 4.8 GHz or whatever? The answer is that the features on CPUs are too small to be fabricated with exact precision. CPUs are not exactly the same, even within the same model every chip will come out slightly differently. This means some chips from this manufacturing line will be able to achieve a frequency of 4.8 GHz, but a different chip might only go up to 4.5 GHz, and a different different one might only go up to 4.2 GHz. The higher the frequency, the less chips will be able to meet the spec, and the more rejects there will be. So, when Intel or AMD engineers and product managers get together to decide what frequency they want to set their new CPU at (like I said, it's a completely arbitrary number, they can choose whatever frequency they want), they are going to choose whatever they feel is the best balance between the performance level they want it to have (which can be affected by how much pressure the competition is giving them, and things of that nature) and manufacturing yield.

 

Enthusiasts like us of course can then buy the CPU, and raise the frequency to the actual limit of that particular chip, but that limit will be different for each individual chip.