Mac Daniel's Advice

Introduction to Overclocking Your Mac

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Evan Kleiman - 2002.06.24

One of the most common complaints computer owners have is that their computer is too slow. Unless you own a shiny new G4, you have probably had this complaint in one form or another throughout daily use of your computer.

Most people know of all of the RAM upgrades and daughter cards, etc., that you can add inside your computer to speed it up a little (or a lot). But all these upgrades cost enough money to even make Bill Gates sick, so what is the person with a slow computer and not a lot of cash supposed to do?

Today I'll tell you a about an almost free and rather easy option if you fit into this group - overclocking.

Over clocking is literally setting your processor, whether it is 45 MHz or 900 MHz, to a higher clock speed. Many Macs, as well as other computers, are able to be overclocked. However, some are easier to overclock than others - we'll get to that later.

Basically, overclocking works by tricking the processor into using more power and operating at a higher frequency (or "clock setting") thus the term, "overclocking."

This seems good, but since the whole world isn't overclocking, there has to be some risk involved. And, of course, there is. Since overclocking makes a processor designed to operate at 350 MHz, for example, run at 450 MHz, more power is consumed, and much more heat is generated. Many times people will need to add an additional fan or heat sink (the metal thingy usually sticking up inside your computer, on top of your processor) inside the computer. If the computer overheats, it will not function.

However, under most conditions, as long as you keep the overclocking to under a 15% boost, you won't need to change anything else inside of your computer. In some other cases, stability becomes problem, but as long as you keep the boost low, you won't have to worry about that either.

Okay, now that I've probably bored you with the usual large introduction and warnings of great destruction of your computer, here's the good part.

How exactly do you overclock?

Over clocking can be done relatively easily in many computers (in fact, the Yosemite G3 actually has a box right Yosemite designnext to the processor to adjust the processor settings). However, some computers aren't adjusted as easily. All models of computers are different, and some cannot be overclocked at all.

By now you've probably realized that overclocking isn't really for everyone, but if you've decided it's for you, now it's time to open it up and see what you can do!

Two great places to start are Accelerate Your Mac! and Bare Feats, not to mention Low End Mac's Chipping the Mac index.

Now get out there and start overclocking!

Next time: overclocking the blue and white G3.

Not sure if you should upgrade your old Mac or replace it? Check the Mac Daniel index to see if we've already addressed your problem.

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