Worksheet 3 - Overclocking

Overclocking appears to be a way of increasing the performance of your microprocessor, motherboard, video card and other devices. This process relies on pushing these beyond their default settings. At the present time, overclocking microprocessors seems to be the most popular.

What does the microprocessor overclocking consist in?

Every processor contains a device called clock. This clock sets the rate at which the processor performs the instructions it receives. Therefore raising the clock speed will increase the number of instructions carried out per second. Once you have increased the clock speed by changing a jumper on the motherboard, you've overclocked your processor. In the case of old computers (486s), by changing the clock speed you have also changed the memory bus speed. In other words, the CPU and memory bus used to work at the same rate before the DX2 processor, which enabled the CPU to run at 50 MHz while allowing the memory bus to work at 25 MHz, was put into operation. This was achieved by using clock multiplication (in this case the multiplier was 2).

At the present time the clock multiplication offers a much greater choice. There are usually several multiplier values, which can be changed by means of multiplier jumpers, as well as several memory bus speed values that can be changed on the motherboard. It is recommended that users change the memory bus speed first for this changes the CPU efficiency as well (even without increasing the CPU multiplier). That is to say, the CPU (if you raise the bus rate) will not have to wait for the bus to transfer data. Sometimes when you increase the CPU multiplier only, the overall performance will not rise dramatically because the CPU will be delayed by the bus.

What the one who wants to overclock their processor should be aware of is the fact that any overclocking results in the production of excess heat. Hence you shouldn't tamper with your CPU by trying to increase its speed unless you use adequate cooling, because otherwise you expose your CPU to the danger of being melted. Another important thing to mention is that these days some processors have fixed multipliers which cannot be changed. In this case the only value to modify is the bus speed.

NOTICE: The passage supplied above is intended solely for language learning purposes. Be aware that whenever you follow any of the information it contains, you do so at your own risk!!! Remember that overclocking always means changing default settings and may void the warranty of your device in the event of damage!!! By no means am I to be held responsible for any damage resulting from putting the above mentioned information into practice. (Martin Dvořák)

If you want to practice your listening and pronunciation abilities and listen to the whole worksheet, click here. Notice the British accent of the speaker!

Technical note: You will need the Real Audio Player to be able to play the recording. If you do not have it, click here, which will take you to the site from which you can download it for free.