The term "Overclocking" refers to the act of pushing the components of your computer beyond their stock settings, which can result in irreversible damage. Overclocking is neither endorsed nor recommended by any semiconductor manufacturer. The second you overclock a component in your computer, any and all warranties for that component theoretically become void. GotFrag Hardware does not take responsibility for any damage that could possibly be done to your computer as a result of reading this guide.

It's a very rare occurrence when you get more out of something than what you paid for. When a product exists that exhibits the ability to scale beyond its original value, people tend to jump all over it. Computer processors are a prime example. By buying a processor rated at lower speeds than a more expensive one, then overclocking it to speeds equal to the expensive one, you just saved yourself some money.

Sounds like the perfect deal: Paying less for the same thing. Only if the process was that simple. Overclocking does not come without its fair share of risks. You could destroy lots of different parts of your computer which would then need to be replaced, costing a lot more than that expensive processor you could have bought in the first place. Nevertheless, the allure of overclocking is two-fold: Getting more than what you paid for, and the thrill of taking your equipment to the limit. PC enthusiasts the world over have banded together to create scores of overclocking websites and databases dedicated to what is becoming an increasingly popular trend among power hungry computer users. Not surprisingly, some of the most avid overclockers consist of competitive eSports athletes like you and me. Competitive gamers can take advantage of not only overclocking their processors, but also their RAM and video cards as well. I don't know of any gamers that wouldn't want to capitalize on any opportunity they had to make their computer run faster without spending any extra money, and indeed, that is the reason I am writing this article.

While any processor can be overclocked in the right conditions, this guide is targeted specifically towards processors from Intel. The techniques used when overclocking both Intel and AMD processors are fundamentally the same, but the different terminology used is enough to warrant their separation into two different guides. For the Intel guide, we plan to educate you about the principles of overclocking, and then take you along on a step-by-step overclocking adventure!