overclocking Archives - Rick's Daily Tips

Q&A: Is it safe to ‘Undervolt’ a PC to make it run cooler?

Posted on April 8, 2024

Question from Cory: I have a laptop with Windows 10 on it and it always runs hot. And it’s been that way since day one.

I’ve researched things I can do to make it run cooler but nothing I’ve tried has really helped.

The fan still runs constantly and the CPU temperature is running higher than it should according to the Core Temp app.

A guy I know who does IT work for our local hospital said I should try “Undervolting” the laptop to make it run cooler. He said it’s safe but I’m a little leery because I’ve heard that overclocking a computer can damage it.

I have several questions about this: [Read more…]

Q&A: What is overclocking (and can I do it to my laptop)?

Posted on November 3, 2023

Note: The links in this post are affiliate links.

Question from Brenda: I heard a couple of kids talking about overclocking their computers to make them run faster.

What exactly do they mean by overclocking? And it that something that I can do to speed up my HP laptop?

It’s a pretty slow machine and I’d love to overclock it if you think it’s would really help.

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]

Q&A: Will I have to overclock my PC again if I reset Windows?

Posted on March 8, 2023

Question from Brandon: A guy I play games with online told me how to overclock my computer to make it run the games faster.

I followed his instructions and did it and everything was great for about 2 days.

Then I must have downloaded a virus or something because my computer has started acting strange. It’s locking up on me and shutting down on its own.

I ran my virus checker but it didn’t find anything so I want to follow your instructions to reset Windows 10 to see it that will fix it.

If I reset Windows will it wipe out the overclocking? I’d hate to have to go through all those BIOS settings again.

[Read more…]

Q&A: Is it safe to max out my RAM’s clock speed in the BIOS?

Posted on August 28, 2017

Question from Nathan P.: I just finished building my first computer from a bare-bones kit.

Everything worked fine from the moment I first powered it up, but the BIOS says the RAM is running at 1333 MHz even though the RAM sticks are rated at 1600 MHz.

My CPU is an Intel Core i5 and the RAM sticks are Corsair Vengeance 8GB DDR3 / 1600 MHz. Is it safe to bump up the clock speed in the BIOS to match the RAM’s rating of 1600 MHz?

This is my first build, and I seriously don’t want to fry anything by overclocking the RAM if there’s some reason the motherboard is running it at a slower speed..

Rick’s answer: [Read more…]