Summary The reason enthusiasts overclock their hardware is to increase the performance of their computers. The tradeoffs when overclocking are increased power consumption and fan noise due to increased voltage leading to higher operating temperatures. Underclocking is the opposite of overclocking which offers a lower operating speed to reduce power consumption and temperature, as well as cooling requirements. Computer components that are usually overclocked in the overclocking community include processors (CPUs), video cards (GPUs), and RAM. Purpose and ScopeThe purpose of this mini project is to learn how to increase the performance of my computer without spending too much money on complicated cooling and to find out my maximum overclock. Some questions I plan to handle are: • What settings will I need to change. • How much will the overclock cost • How big of a performance improvement will I get in my case Method To learn how to overclock a CPU, I read up on the overclocking scene and the different terms. After gaining some knowledge I followed a step by step guide I found on overclock.net, practicing and using this guide. I started the computer and changed the settings in Ai Tweaker by entering the BIOS when the computer started. I did this by simply clicking the F2 button while the computer was booting (booting), then followed their step by step guide and changed my settings to these. Theoretical Background Processor The processor, also called the CPU (Central Processing Unit), is the brain of your computer, this is the most popular component to overclock due to the improvements in performance. It is the component that handles most of the calculations that the computer must perform. The CPU runs at speed... half of the paper... GI+ Section VRM) Load Line Calibration: High Frequency VRM: Manual Fixed Frequency Mode VRM: 350 Phase Control: ExtremeDuty Control: Extreme CPU Current Capacity: 140% CPU Voltage: Manual CPU VCore: 1.32 Volt DRAM Voltage: 1.5 VCCSA Voltage: AutoVCCIO Voltage: AutoCPU PLL Voltage: 1.4PCH Voltage: AutoCPU Spread Spectrum: EnabledCostsI had a total cost of 600 SEK for a compact water cooling system manufactured by Corsair necessary to lower the operating temperature to a safe level. Performance Gains After 2 hours spent configuring the settings, what I achieved with the help of the Swedish and UK forums, with my specific CPU I was able to get a 29% performance increase, an increase of 0.4 VCore at 1.32 volts and the standard is 1.28 volts. And an x48 multiplier that reaches a maximum overclock of 4800 Mhz (4.8 Ghz), the standard is 3700 Mhz (3.7 Ghz). Discussion