What is Overclocking?
Overclocking is the process of making various components of your computer run at faster speeds than they do when you first buy them. For instance, if you buy a AMD 2500+ baron core processor, and you want it to run faster, you could overclock the processor to make it run at AMD 3200+


WARNING:
Overclocking can cook your system. Overclocking wares down the hardware and the life-expectancy of the entire computer will be lowered if you overclock. If you attempt to overclock, I and BFC computer help and its Staff or members are not responsible for anything broken or damaged when using this guide.
This guide is merely for those who accept the possible outcomes of this overclocking guide/FAQ, and overclocking in general.

Why overclock?
Well, the most obvious reason is that you can get more out of a processor than what you payed for. You can buy a relatively cheap processor and overclock it to run at the speed of a much more expensive processor. If you're willing to put in the time and effort, overclocking can save you a bunch of money in the future or,you just have the need for speed.

The Dangers of Overclocking
First of all, lets say that if you are careful and know what you are doing, it will be very hard for you to do any permanent damage to your computer by overclocking. Your computer will either crash or just refuse to boot if you are pushing the system too far. It's very hard to fry your system by just pushing it to it's limits.

There are dangers, however. The first and most common danger is heat. When you make a component of your computer do more work than it used to, it's going to generate more heat. If you don't have sufficient cooling, your system can and will overheat. By itself, overheating cannot kill your computer, though. The only way that you will kill your computer by overheating is if you repeatedly try to run the system at temperatures higher than recommended. You should try to stay under 60 C.

Don't get overly worried about overheating issues, though. You will see signs before your system gets fried. Random crashes are the most common sign. Overheating is also easily prevented with the use of thermal sensors which can tell you how hot your system is running. If you see a temperature that you think is too high, either run the system at a lower speed or get some better cooling. see cooling later in this guide.

The other "danger" of overclocking is that it can reduce the lifespan of your components. When you run more voltage through a component, it's lifespan decreases. A small boost won't have much of an affect, but if you plan on using a large overclock, you will want to be aware of the decrease in lifespan. This is not usually an issue, however, since anybody that is overclocking likely will not be using the same components for more than 4-5 years, and it is unlikely that any of your components will fail before 4-5 years regardless of how much voltage you run through it. Most processors are designed to last for up to 10 years..


Courtesy of tazz1964